Company Press Release:
 
SAMSUNG DEMONSTRATES THE FUTURE OF MOBILE TV
Interactive TV on your mobile: Samsung already supports the open DVB-H-based OMA BCAST standard. Live demonstrations scheduled for IFA and IBC
 
New Delhi, August 29th, 2007 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, is once again breaking new ground. At the IFA in Berlin (August 31 through September 5, 2007) and at the IBC broadcasting trade show in Amsterdam (September 7 through 11, 2007), the world's leading provider of mobile phones and telecommunication systems will treat visitors to a peek into the future of interactive mobile TV in Germany. For the first time, Samsung mobiles now also support the reliable, open OMA BCAST standard. In Berlin, live demonstrations of TV broadcasts using the new DVB-H-based standard will be staged on Samsung's own booth (IFA: Hall 20) and on the booth of T-Systems (IFA: Hall 6, 6.2/103, IBC: Hall 1, 1.279).

Mobile phone manufacturers and telecoms carriers alike see TV offerings as value-added services that will generate substantial revenue streams. A recent "Screen Digest" study, for example, predicts a bright future for mobile TV. According to this study, the sale of mobile TV offerings should be netting global revenues of EUR 4.7 billion as early as 2011.

Since DVB-H was recommended as the standard for television services on mobile phones, interactive TV on the move has begun to roll up the German market too. Handset manufacturers such as Samsung are supporting this development to ensure that customers can take advantage of offerings provided on the basis of DVB-H BCAST.

The new standard enables interactive elements that facilitate direct product purchases or participation in fee-paying surveys and competitions, for example, to be built into mobile TV and video-on-demand offerings. BCAST works as a kind of "add-on" and can – like DVB-H – be used with any and every IP-based transmission technology.
"We are working flat out to enable mobile TV offerings that comply with the DVB-H-based BCAST standard to be rolled out in Germany. We are aligning our handsets with the needs of this market," stresses Dr. Anthony Park, Director Business Development, Samsung Telecommunication Europe. "Samsung mobiles will also support all other relevant standards, such as DVB-H CBMS in Italy, T-DMB in Germany, MediaFlo in the USA and T/S-DMB in South Korea."

Glossary

BCAST is an open standard for mobile broadcast services specified and recently published (version 1.0) by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). OMA supports two encryption technologies, Digital Rights Management (DRM), and Smart Card Profile (SCP).

OMA is an alliance of leading mobile communications service and product providers. Its members have set themselves the goal of developing marketable, interoperable digital services and establishing them as the global standard.

DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handhelds) is a broadcasting standard that enables digital radio and TV programs to be received on small mobile devices such as mobile phones.

In July 2007, the EU Commission proposed that DVB-H be introduced as the standard European system for mobile television. Network carriers, content providers and mobile product manufacturers are working together to promote the use of this standard.


About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2004 parent company sales of US$55.2 billion and net income of US$10.3 billion. Employing approximately 113,600 people in over 90 offices in 48 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones, and TFT-LCDs.