Philips Electronics announced a system-in-package (SiP) enabling TV on mobile in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The solution, based on the DVB-H standard, contains all the functionality of a complete digital TV receiver in an area the size of a thumbnail. It will enable consumers to connect to live TV, as well as pictures, movies and music, all on the move.

Facilitating the development of TV on mobile, Philips will roll out a small system board in the second quarter of 2005 to support handset vendors participating in the next phase of DVB-H trials. This will be followed later in the year with a full SiP for DVB-H that will offer a reduced footprint and lower power consumption. Low power consumption will mean consumers will be able to watch TV for over 10 hours before needing to recharge their phone, and the small chip size will make it easier to integrate into the mobile phone.

With DVB-H, operators can also broadcast mobile phone software updates to a large number of handsets simultaneously, enabling the addition of revenue-generating applications after a phone has been purchased.

To further enhance the offering, Philips has partnered with Silicon & Software Systems (S3) to integrate its onHandTV software into the solution, a DVB-H-compliant product that complements the Philips SiP. As part of the agreement, S3 will join the Philips' Nexperia Partner Program, an initiative to enable independent software vendors (ISV) and integrators to deliver middleware, applications and reference designs based on the company's Nexperia family of semiconductors.

"This is a revolutionary development, integrating all the components of a digital TV receiver into a space small enough to fit into a mobile phone," claimed Mario Rivas, executive vice president Communications Businesses, Philips Semiconductors. "As a broadcast technology, watching TV on the mobile phone is the natural progression from listening to radio and downloading video clips. Our work in the Broadcast Mobile Convergence (BMCO) trial, in Berlin, showed the impact for the consumer will be much more spectacular."

From NE Asia Online