On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Apple: Next Console War Challenger?

December 06, 2010 | Marco Attard | Gaming

EA VP Patrick Soderlund tells CVG Apple has a "relatively good chance to succeed" should it take on Sony and Microsoft in the video game console market.

iPhone games Anyone else would find it very hard to compete with Playstation and XBox, he continues

Soderlund's not the only one. Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime believes Apple is Nintendo's biggest threat, not Sony or Microsoft. Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allair points out Apple should go ahead and make a games console.

Webush Morgan analyst Michael Patcher predicts the next Apple TV box will be game enabled-- using either iPad or iPhone as a controller.

Such opinions are not surprising. After all, games are the App Store's biggest-selling category, with millions of games sold each month.

Angry Birds alone sold over 10 million downloads-- making it top-grossing iDevice title so far.

Alongside rumours of its plans to buy a massive games property (it has $51 billion burning a hole in its pockets, apparently), the Cupertino giant develops the next iPad.

It should have a faster processor, Airplay support, higher resolution screen (iPhone 4 style retina display?) and more. This will only open the doors to more sophisticated offerings-- especially with developers like Epic and iD already showing off impressive iPad titles (Epic Citadel and Rage respectively).

If Apple decides not to take its games to living rooms, developers will-- Big Bucket releases an update for its game "The Incident" allowing users to play on their TV, with an iPhone as controller. An iPad (connected to TV) mirrors the game as it's paired to the iPhone.

Go Apple can Challenge Sony, MS (CVG)

Go Flush with Cash, will Apple Go shopping? (NY Times)

Watch The Incident Played on TV, Controlled via iPhone

CE Market Looks at 2010 Rebound

December 06, 2010 | Marco Attard | Market Trends - Stats

Global CE OEM revenue is set to rebound for the next 4 years, iSuppli says.

CE Market The research company predicts 2010 OEM revenue will reach $340.4b, up 6% from 2009 ($320.7b)-- reversing 2009's 4.4% decline.

Projections show the market climbing through the next 4 years, ending to more than $385b by 2014.

This year's consumer confidence levels are globally higher than 2009's-- suggesting buyers are more likely to purchase new devices or upgrade old equipment.

However should the fragile economic recovery fail, consumers will withhold their spending money.

Over-accumulation of CE inventories could also rear its head-- oversupply starts to appear in LCD and TV supplies. While unit shipments will grow, the continual price erosion will lead to flat revenue after 2012.

2010's strongest performing CE segments are LCD TVs and blu-ray players, iSuppli says.

LCD TVs will ship more than 178m unit in 2010. Blu-ray player shipments will reach 16.4m (up 82.2% from 2009), but movie streaming on video game consoles, set-top boxes and TVs will reduce the segment's lifespan.

The portable media player market is the weakest, as it faces competition from cell phones. ISuppli says PMP shipments are to fall short of earlier forecasts.

Go Consumer Electronics Market Rebounds 2010

Playstation Phone Up Close and Personal

December 06, 2010 | Marco Attard | Mobile (Phones)

Videos of Ericsson's much rumoured "Playstation Phone" surface online, if in blurry form on a Greek blog.

In translation, the phone's name is Z1 (Zeus) and runs Android 2.3, with a 4" screen and 8MP camera. What makes the device special is the joypad control, complete with Playstation-style shoulder buttons.

It is said the phone carries a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 chip, 512MB RAM, 1GB ROM and supports microSD cards.

In 2 close-up videos one can see a Playstation icon on the screen. Sony are supposed to open an App store-style offering games for the device.

Go Sony Ericsson Z1 Playstation Phone

Watch Playstation Phone Closeup videos

A Widevine for Google's Garden

December 06, 2010 | Marco Attard | Vendor News

widevine logo Google buys DRM and video optimisation solutions developer Widevine.

No details of the sale are out, but with Widevine raising over $51.8m since 2003 one assumes it cost Google a fair bit.

Widevine services are used by a number of companies, including Blockbuster, Netflix, Sonic Solutions and Lovefilm.

The search giant says Widevine will maintain its agreements and provide support for existing and future clients-- while working on its technologies in relation to Google's products.

With proven DRM in its stable, will Google manage to content the media companies blocking their content from Google TV? Not to mention potential new adaptive streaming technologies for Android devices.

Go Google acquires Widevine