Dumbed down consumer electronics: Adding DTV channels
in [Design]
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From: Joerg on 2 Aug 2010 20:08 Jim Thompson wrote: > 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 ?:-) > That's what I've asked myself the first time HD radio was announced. In medical we call that "me, too" technology, and this one essentially came too late. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joel Koltner on 2 Aug 2010 20:08 Hi Joerg, "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:8bp4acFqojU1(a)mid.individual.net... > Still a drop in the bucket. Agreed, but I wouldn't be all that unhappy if I were the CEO of iBiquity right now -- becoming Microsoft or Apple is great, but running a profitable company with ~150 employees isn't bad either. > 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. http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/hd-radio-now-standard-on-all-2011-bmw-models-ar87517.html ??? Guess you just need to rent fancier cars? And it comes with, "fewer static!" How can you beat that!? :-) They have a list here, although it's not entirely clear which models HD radios come standard on and which it's strictly optional: http://www.hdradio.com/buyers_guide.php?prime=autonew&price=any#BuyersGuideController > 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. I think it's going to be around for the forseeable future, although I don't think it's going to kill off traditional FM... ever. RDS is largely a fizzled standard though, you know? -- And that seems like, at least today, it'd be dirt cheap to make standard on all cars. ---Joel
From: Joel Koltner on 2 Aug 2010 20:18 "Jim Thompson" <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon(a)On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote in message news:04ne56dvd5at21fnaogrdsgh13pcpk6akv(a)4ax.com... > Who needs HD content when, as in our Q45, you have AM, FM, multi-disk > CD, Tape and SAT all built-in ?:-) In theory HD radio could give you the best of FM and satellite: Lots of high-quality sound choices and local news -- without paying $13/month. In practive, as Joerg observes, it's not at all a viable alternative. At least not yet.
From: krw on 2 Aug 2010 20:21 On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 16:38:59 -0700, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgroups(a)yahoo.com> 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... > >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. Who cares about HD radio? If you don't like it don't buy it. There are *many* alternatives.
From: Joerg on 2 Aug 2010 20:31
Joel Koltner wrote: > Hi Joerg, > > "Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message > news:8bp4acFqojU1(a)mid.individual.net... >> Still a drop in the bucket. > > Agreed, but I wouldn't be all that unhappy if I were the CEO of iBiquity > right now -- becoming Microsoft or Apple is great, but running a > profitable company with ~150 employees isn't bad either. > Yes, having landed a de-facto monopoly provides a plum position in the marketplace no matter how small that monopoly is. >> 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. > > http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/hd-radio-now-standard-on-all-2011-bmw-models-ar87517.html > ??? Guess you just need to rent fancier cars? And it comes with, > "fewer static!" How can you beat that!? :-) > Oh yeah, I always wanted to rent a BMW750iL but I guess the CEO of the client who ends up with that tab will want to have a word with me :-) > They have a list here, although it's not entirely clear which models HD > radios come standard on and which it's strictly optional: > http://www.hdradio.com/buyers_guide.php?prime=autonew&price=any#BuyersGuideController > I vaguely remember one of the domestic car manufacturers offering it (Polk i-something) but I also remember seeing a $500 price tag there. > >> 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. > > I think it's going to be around for the forseeable future, although I > don't think it's going to kill off traditional FM... ever. > > RDS is largely a fizzled standard though, you know? -- And that seems > like, at least today, it'd be dirt cheap to make standard on all cars. > In Europe it hasn't fizzled AFAIK. They had similar things since a long time. I remember buying my Audi station wagon over there, via a dealer. 1987 model year (it's still on the road). Just as I wanted to leave the lot I inadvertently hit the brakes because the radio started blasting and I hadn't even turned it on. I thought something had come unglued. Turns out that when it receives a certain data code via some local transmitter it would let off traffic jam alerts unless you explicitly disable that feature. I asked a neighbor who had a similar Audi and he said they all come with it. I have no idea how it is over there now. They do have some sort of digital radio system on the FM band. Last time I was over there the programming was boring and when alone I tried to tune in to AFN. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM. |