Ocean Blue Software, based in the UK and Hong Kong, has developed “talking” digital TV technology in conjunction with The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). The technology is developed for set top boxes and televisions, and the developers say millions of people worldwide could gain from an improved experience of TV.
On-screen text such as TV programme guides, digital displays and menus will be brought to life with the power of speech because of the new technology. It is hoped it will be adapted across the consumer technology market, offering real benefits to millions of people with sight problems and different forms of impairment around the world.
The technology is now an IABM Design Awards Candidate for 2009. “We are absolutely thrilled to have been shortlisted for the prestigious award,” commented Ocean Blue Software CEO Ken Helps. “Ocean Blue constantly strives to develop innovative solutions for the digital TV industry, so we are very pleased with the nomination and look forward to the awards ceremony next month at IBC Amsterdam.”
It is compatible with consumer products, such as televisions, that have screen-based menu systems and converts on-screen text into speech output. “We are really excited by this development as it has the potential to significantly improve the lives of nearly 8 million people in the UK alone. These include the blind, visually impaired, deaf, severely dyslexic and the elderly, who can all benefit from this advance in technology,” said Steve Tyler, the RNIB’s Head of Innovation and Disability Access Services.
Result for: converts
In another challenge to Amazon’s Kindle, Sony has decided to do away with its proprietary software and instead convert all of its e-book store into the ePub industry standard format. Sony made the move to “allows Sony to make its e-book store compatible with multiple devices and its Reader devices open to multiple sources for content,” according to the Japanese consumer electronics giant.
It said that converting its e-book store to ePub is an effort to take the confusion out of the digital book formats. Instead of using its proprietary copy protection software on the Sony Reader, it will use an anti-copying solution that has been developed by Adobe with multi-platform support.
“Consumers should not have to worry about which device works with which store,” Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division, said in a statement. “With a common format and common content protection solution they will be able to shop around for the content they want regardless of where they get it or what device they use.”
The International Digital Publishing Forum backs the ePub format, which was developed by a group of 60 companies and organizations.
Result for: converts
U.S. market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA) is reporting that two of South Korea’s top consumer electronics manufacturers have captured almost half of the North American mobile handset market in Q2 2009. It reports that Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. had a combined market share of 47.3 percent during the quarter in North America.
Samsung sold more units than LG, with a total of 11.7 million Samsung handsets being sold in the United States and Canada during the quarter. This converts into about 24.7 percent of the market share in the region. LG manufacturers handsets sold 10.7 million units in the region during the quarter, representing about 22.6 percent of the market.
In contrast to these figures, Nokia Corp., the Finland-based handset maker that dominates the global market outright, captured just 6.8 percent of the market, down from 7.9 percent in Q1 2009. The success of the Samsung and LG phones is attributed to both companies stepping up efforts in the region to provide a diverse range of products.
