Post by SandStorm on Apr 11, 2007 16:45:12 GMT
BenQ will use Siano's mobile TV chip in new handsets
(04/10/2007 4:33 PM EDT)
MANHASSET, N.Y. — Siano Mobile Silicon, a mobile TV chip vendor based in Israel, will announce Wednesday (April 11) that its multistandard mobile TV receiver chip will be designed into BenQ's 3G and 2.5G mobile handsets scheduled for commercial launch in 2008 in Europe and Asia.
The deal with BenQ is significant for Siano as the Israeli company has been steadily increasing its share in a fledgling mobile TV silicon market.
In February, Siano announced that ZTE, China's largest listed telecommunications manufacturer, had launched ZTE's first 3G DVB-H phone in Italy using Siano's mobile TV receiver chip.
Chips from Siano along with of market leader DiBcom, a French fabless mobile TV pioneer, represent a majority of working mobile DTV chips currently available on the market, according to Alon Ironi, CEO of Siano (Netanya, Israel). Several others, including Newport Media, NXP, Texas Instruments and Abilis Systems (Geneva), have introduced samples, but none has progressed as far in the mobile TV market as DiBcom or Siano.
Ironi attributed his company's success to two factors: the receiver chip's feature set (low power, high sensitivity and multistandard) and aggressive pursuit of the nascent mobile TV market.
Before mobile TV broadcast networks were optimized, high sensitivity was critical, said Ironi, adding that "a significant volume market for mobile TV doesn't start until next year." While bigger and more established semiconductor companies hesitated to enter the emerging market, mobile TV "is the only product line we are focused on. This has been our strategy," said Ironi.
BenQ will be using Siano's SMS1010 multistandard mobile TV receiver chip in future handsets. SMS1010 supports several MDTV standards used in different parts of the world, including DVB-T, DVB-H, T-DMB, DAB and DAB-IP, along with four different spectrum bands. Integrated as a system-in-package, the chip features both an RF tuner and demodulator.
BenQ, said Ironi, is putting its bankruptcy debacle behind it by introducing new handsets under the BenQ-Siemens brand. BenQ will be shipping its DVB-H based mobile TV handsets to Europe and will also promote them in Asia. Siano and BenQ are also participating in the DVB-H commercial trial currently underway in Taiwan. Other companies participating in the trial include Public Television Service Foundation, mobile operators Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Far East Tone Communications along with mobile terminal suppliers BenQ and Motorola. After the trial, Taiwan will start DVB-H mobile TV deployment in 2008.
Ironi said mobile TV is becoming a geographically-segmented market. While Siano's mobile TV chips support multiple standards, including DAB, Ironi said DAB is ramping up as a replacement for FM radio rather than a basis for video over DAB. "There is still life [in] T-DMB; its growth is by far slower than that of DVB-H."
www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198900555
(04/10/2007 4:33 PM EDT)
MANHASSET, N.Y. — Siano Mobile Silicon, a mobile TV chip vendor based in Israel, will announce Wednesday (April 11) that its multistandard mobile TV receiver chip will be designed into BenQ's 3G and 2.5G mobile handsets scheduled for commercial launch in 2008 in Europe and Asia.
The deal with BenQ is significant for Siano as the Israeli company has been steadily increasing its share in a fledgling mobile TV silicon market.
In February, Siano announced that ZTE, China's largest listed telecommunications manufacturer, had launched ZTE's first 3G DVB-H phone in Italy using Siano's mobile TV receiver chip.
Chips from Siano along with of market leader DiBcom, a French fabless mobile TV pioneer, represent a majority of working mobile DTV chips currently available on the market, according to Alon Ironi, CEO of Siano (Netanya, Israel). Several others, including Newport Media, NXP, Texas Instruments and Abilis Systems (Geneva), have introduced samples, but none has progressed as far in the mobile TV market as DiBcom or Siano.
Ironi attributed his company's success to two factors: the receiver chip's feature set (low power, high sensitivity and multistandard) and aggressive pursuit of the nascent mobile TV market.
Before mobile TV broadcast networks were optimized, high sensitivity was critical, said Ironi, adding that "a significant volume market for mobile TV doesn't start until next year." While bigger and more established semiconductor companies hesitated to enter the emerging market, mobile TV "is the only product line we are focused on. This has been our strategy," said Ironi.
BenQ will be using Siano's SMS1010 multistandard mobile TV receiver chip in future handsets. SMS1010 supports several MDTV standards used in different parts of the world, including DVB-T, DVB-H, T-DMB, DAB and DAB-IP, along with four different spectrum bands. Integrated as a system-in-package, the chip features both an RF tuner and demodulator.
BenQ, said Ironi, is putting its bankruptcy debacle behind it by introducing new handsets under the BenQ-Siemens brand. BenQ will be shipping its DVB-H based mobile TV handsets to Europe and will also promote them in Asia. Siano and BenQ are also participating in the DVB-H commercial trial currently underway in Taiwan. Other companies participating in the trial include Public Television Service Foundation, mobile operators Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Far East Tone Communications along with mobile terminal suppliers BenQ and Motorola. After the trial, Taiwan will start DVB-H mobile TV deployment in 2008.
Ironi said mobile TV is becoming a geographically-segmented market. While Siano's mobile TV chips support multiple standards, including DAB, Ironi said DAB is ramping up as a replacement for FM radio rather than a basis for video over DAB. "There is still life [in] T-DMB; its growth is by far slower than that of DVB-H."
www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198900555