Dumbed down consumer electronics: Adding DTV channels
in [Design]
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From: Joel Koltner on 2 Aug 2010 19:38 "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:8bouvnFvitU1(a)mid.individual.net... > Nobody is going to buy new FM radios. That's why I predicted HD-radio to > fizzle, which it did. It hasn't really fizzled. While it's certainly not setting the world on fire, there does seem to be slow but steady growth. See, e.g., http://www.twice.com/article/455377-iBiquity_HD_Radio_Sales_More_Than_Double.php . Shipping over a million radios per year should be enough to keep it viable! I also see Crutchfield devoting a fair number of catalog pages towards pushing it... I do find it a little disheartening that the FCC would license a proprietary standard, though -- iBiquity owns the rights to the HD radio standard; every single one of the ~3 million HD radios built out there resulted in their receiving a royalty. Microsoft is releasing an upgraded, 64GB version of their MP3 player/HD radio/widget, the Zune HD in August, and I have to believe they would have dropped the HD radio chip in it is they didn't think it was continuing to help their sales a bit, as a differentiator with iTouch/iPhone devices. (The original Zune HD came out last September.) Oh, and STMicroelectronics is still interested: http://www.st.com/stonline/stappl/cms/press/news/year2010/t3044.htm . ---Joel
From: Joerg on 2 Aug 2010 19:46 Jim Thompson wrote: > On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:52:27 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> > wrote: > >> Jan Panteltje wrote: >>> On a sunny day (Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:08:20 -0700) it happened Joerg >>> <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in <8botupFq9aU1(a)mid.individual.net>: >>> >>> >>>> Jan Panteltje wrote: >>>>> On a sunny day (Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:36:19 -0700) it happened >>>>> Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in >>>>> <8booi7FqgtU1(a)mid.individual.net>: >>>>> >> [...] >> >>>>>> [...] >>>>>> >>>>>>> Right, do not pay for the advertising! >>>>>>> >>>>>> No, we fast forward through it. One box even has an advertising >>>>>> FFW button that hops it 30sec at a time. >>>>> Good,. There exists soft with scene change detection too, IIRC. >>>>> >>>> Yeah, but it works well enough by hand. I am also rather good in >>>> tuning it out in my head, reading up on stuff during the news when >>>> the ads play. >>> Once I made the mistake to actually edit it out. Those are the >>> commercials I still remember, as I had to see them many times to get >>> start, and end, and audio, right in the editior :-) >>> >> Very few ads remained in my gray cells. The only one I remember from the >> six years I lived in NL is from Douwe Egberts "En dan is er koffie". > > I preferred the Cavendish myself ;-) > Well, that ad was for Douwe Egbert coffee :-) Some of the ads for smokes from Germany also stuck because they were quite funny. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joerg on 2 Aug 2010 19:56 Joel Koltner wrote: > "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message > news:8bouvnFvitU1(a)mid.individual.net... >> Nobody is going to buy new FM radios. That's why I predicted HD-radio to >> fizzle, which it did. > > It hasn't really fizzled. While it's certainly not setting the world on > fire, there does seem to be slow but steady growth. See, e.g., > http://www.twice.com/article/455377-iBiquity_HD_Radio_Sales_More_Than_Double.php > . Shipping over a million radios per year should be enough to keep it > viable! I also see Crutchfield devoting a fair number of catalog pages > towards pushing it... > Still a drop in the bucket. Success to me would mean that modern vehicles are equipped with it. But that isn't the case. We rented three cars a couple weeks ago. A Chevy Cobalt, a Toyota Venza and a Ford Mustang, all nearly brand-new. None had it. But you already mentioned a core reason here: > I do find it a little disheartening that the FCC would license a > proprietary standard, though -- iBiquity owns the rights to the HD radio > standard; every single one of the ~3 million HD radios built out there > resulted in their receiving a royalty. > That's one of the reasons I think HD radio doesn't have a chance. It's the same with home automation standards, except that there the whole market doesn't come out of the hole. > Microsoft is releasing an upgraded, 64GB version of their MP3 player/HD > radio/widget, the Zune HD in August, and I have to believe they would > have dropped the HD radio chip in it is they didn't think it was > continuing to help their sales a bit, as a differentiator with > iTouch/iPhone devices. (The original Zune HD came out last September.) > > Oh, and STMicroelectronics is still interested: > http://www.st.com/stonline/stappl/cms/press/news/year2010/t3044.htm . > Neither of the two chips is available at the major US distributors. That's usually the sign of a dead-end, to me as a circuit designer it is a big red flag. This one has a July 2009 date in the datasheet so not exactly new: http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/14860.pdf -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Jim Thompson on 2 Aug 2010 20:00 On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:46:37 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >Jim Thompson wrote: >> On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:52:27 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >> wrote: >> >>> Jan Panteltje wrote: >>>> On a sunny day (Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:08:20 -0700) it happened Joerg >>>> <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in <8botupFq9aU1(a)mid.individual.net>: >>>> >>>> >>>>> Jan Panteltje wrote: >>>>>> On a sunny day (Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:36:19 -0700) it happened >>>>>> Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in >>>>>> <8booi7FqgtU1(a)mid.individual.net>: >>>>>> >>> [...] >>> >>>>>>> [...] >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Right, do not pay for the advertising! >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> No, we fast forward through it. One box even has an advertising >>>>>>> FFW button that hops it 30sec at a time. >>>>>> Good,. There exists soft with scene change detection too, IIRC. >>>>>> >>>>> Yeah, but it works well enough by hand. I am also rather good in >>>>> tuning it out in my head, reading up on stuff during the news when >>>>> the ads play. >>>> Once I made the mistake to actually edit it out. Those are the >>>> commercials I still remember, as I had to see them many times to get >>>> start, and end, and audio, right in the editior :-) >>>> >>> Very few ads remained in my gray cells. The only one I remember from the >>> six years I lived in NL is from Douwe Egberts "En dan is er koffie". >> >> I preferred the Cavendish myself ;-) >> > >Well, that ad was for Douwe Egbert coffee :-) > >Some of the ads for smokes from Germany also stuck because they were >quite funny. I used to go thru a pound tin per week :-0 ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | Spice is like a sports car... Performance only as good as the person behind the wheel.
From: Jim Thompson on 2 Aug 2010 20:03
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:56:55 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >Joel Koltner wrote: >> "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message >> news:8bouvnFvitU1(a)mid.individual.net... >>> Nobody is going to buy new FM radios. That's why I predicted HD-radio to >>> fizzle, which it did. >> >> It hasn't really fizzled. While it's certainly not setting the world on >> fire, there does seem to be slow but steady growth. See, e.g., >> http://www.twice.com/article/455377-iBiquity_HD_Radio_Sales_More_Than_Double.php >> . Shipping over a million radios per year should be enough to keep it >> viable! I also see Crutchfield devoting a fair number of catalog pages >> towards pushing it... >> > >Still a drop in the bucket. Success to me would mean that modern >vehicles are equipped with it. But that isn't the case. We rented three >cars a couple weeks ago. A Chevy Cobalt, a Toyota Venza and a Ford >Mustang, all nearly brand-new. None had it. But you already mentioned a >core reason here: > > >> I do find it a little disheartening that the FCC would license a >> proprietary standard, though -- iBiquity owns the rights to the HD radio >> standard; every single one of the ~3 million HD radios built out there >> resulted in their receiving a royalty. >> > >That's one of the reasons I think HD radio doesn't have a chance. It's >the same with home automation standards, except that there the whole >market doesn't come out of the hole. > > >> Microsoft is releasing an upgraded, 64GB version of their MP3 player/HD >> radio/widget, the Zune HD in August, and I have to believe they would >> have dropped the HD radio chip in it is they didn't think it was >> continuing to help their sales a bit, as a differentiator with >> iTouch/iPhone devices. (The original Zune HD came out last September.) >> >> Oh, and STMicroelectronics is still interested: >> http://www.st.com/stonline/stappl/cms/press/news/year2010/t3044.htm . >> > >Neither of the two chips is available at the major US distributors. >That's usually the sign of a dead-end, to me as a circuit designer it is >a big red flag. This one has a July 2009 date in the datasheet so not >exactly new: > >http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/14860.pdf Who needs HD content when, as in our Q45, you have AM, FM, multi-disk CD, Tape and SAT all built-in ?:-) ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | Spice is like a sports car... Performance only as good as the person behind the wheel. |