Details of all these stories are available on the DRDB website at www.drdb.org or the consumer site at www.digitalradionow.com
New Products
DAB products that have launched in the UK market this Summer include:
Two from Goodmans
The Goodmans 1106 Micro CD/DAB radio. The Goodmans GPS185DAB Boombox (pictured) with CD, Cassette/FM/MW and DAB priced around £70.
Perstel DR301
A handheld DAB/FM radio with MP3 playback and memory card from Perstel, priced around £149.
Exclusive to Dixons
Dixons adds to its range of own brand DAB radios with the Ferguson CR150D clock radio (pictured) featuring DAB/FM and CD priced around £79, and the Ferguson CR100DAB clock radio - DAB only at £49.
The Hitachi AXM140 entertainment system with 40 gbite hard drive is another Dixons exclusive retailing at around £549.
Two from Denon
Denon joins the DAB family with two new products, the D-M35 DAB micro system (pictured) featuring DAB/FM/Am and CD priced around £380 including speakers, and the TU-1800DAB hi-fi tuner with DAB/AM/FM and Band III and L Band at £250.
Roberts Gemini 20
DAB/FM radio from Roberts priced around £90.
Trinloc PocketDAB
DAB and FM in both Band III and L Band, priced around £79.
Two from PURE
The Evoke upgrades are now in the market - the Evoke 1-XT Tri-Band delivering DAB and FM in both Band III and L Band; and the Evoke 2-XT (pictured) priced around £109 and £149 respectively.
New Sony Micro
The CMT-NEZ7DAB micro with DAB/FM/AM/CD, cassette and MP3 playback from £149.
Nevada ND-01
A handheld from Nevada with DAB/FM and Band III and L Band priced around £79.
Sharp with pause/rewind
The FVDB2ES is Sharp’s newest portable DAB radio with DAB/FM and pause/rewind fuctions priced around £99.
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Blaupunkt at £299
The new Blaupunkt Nashville DAB35 delivers DAB/FM/AM/CD,MP3 playback and record all for just £299.
Two from Sanyo
Sanyo launched a new handheld DAB/FM radio with MP3 playback, the DAB150M priced around £149, and the DC-DAB03 micro with DAB/FM/CD, and MP3 playback at £149 (pictured).
Two from Morphy Richards
Morphy Richards launched two products this summer, the 29401 boombox with DAB/FM and CD priced around £119 (pictured), and the 50 watt 29103 micro system with DAB/FM/CD and cassette for around £139.
New from Intempo
The unique, limited edition, Matthew Williamson designed KTM-01 from Intempo is priced around £125.
Five from Bush
Bush launched five new DAB products this summer:
TR2004DAB portable with DAB/FM and rewind for around £69.99
PSDAB2004 handheld in white rubber finish for around £59.99
DABCR2004 clock radio for around £49.99
LSD36DAB desk top micro for around £69.99 (pictured)
MCD07DAB micro system with DAB/FM/CD and cassette for around £49.99
Hitachi micro
The AXM41DAB micro fro Hitachi delivers DAB/FM/AM and CD for around £99.99.
Ministry of Sound
MOMC130 micro system from Ministry of Sound with DAB/FM and MP3 for around £99.99.
Tivoli launches DAB
The Tivoli Model DAB clock radio with DAB/FM and AM sells for around £229. The complete Radioworks version comes with CD and speakers for £499.
Acoustic Solutions adds to its range
Latest edition is the Acoustic Solutions DAB/FM handheld radio for around £89.99.
Alba TRDAB2830
The lowest priced portable on the market, the Alba TRDAB2830 comes in at just £39.99.
New Products Coming Soon from PURE Digital
PURE Digital presents Oasis - the world’s first rechargeable DAB digital radio that can withstand the rigours of outdoor life.
The Oasis digital radio can survive the environmental conditions of garden, campsite, bathroom, boat or even building site. Oasis’ rugged build makes it the perfect travel mate, but it’s the radio’s stylish good looks, featuring a cast aluminium protection frame, that ensure it’s a companion users will want to be seen out with.
The Oasis can connect to an iPod or other audio device for use as a great sounding portable sound system. Oasis also provides over 15 hours of use from its built-in ChargePAK™ battery system.
Oasis will be on sale from September 2005 for £119.99 inc. VAT.
The DTM-300 micro from PURE is a slim-line micro system that delivers a complete audio experience without taking over the house. DTM-300 happily handles CD, MP3, DAB digital radio, FM with RDS, and CD-R and CD-RW playback.
With its sophisticated space-saving upright design, DTM-300 fits neatly into any lifestyle, placing audio or MP3 CD playback and the great content of digital radio just a remote control click away.
DTM-300 will be on sale from October 2005 for £189.99 inc. VAT.
New Products Coming Soon from Intempo:
The BB-01 boombox is a completely integrated solution, combining CD, DAB & FM functions on a single chip, enabling simple and intuitive user controls and minimalist button layout. It incorporates the most sophisticated DAB digital radio technology, while its powerful full range audio speakers and X-bass boost option ensures great sound quality whether you’re listening to CD, DAB or FM.
The RS-01 is a completely integrated solution, combining CD, DAB & FM functions on a single chip, enabling simple and intuitive user controls and minimalist button layout. The custom-designed LCD displays a large-size clock at all times, as well as DAB text, FM RDS or CD info.
New Product Coming Soon from Trinloc
Trinloc presents its new DAB-radio Sinfonie. Trinloc is Germany’s leading producer of DAB Digital-Radio-receivers. This handheld personal DAB digital radio is equipped with a headphone-plug-in and stereo-audio-input to connect to external devices e.g. an MP3-player or an iPod.
Trinloc will demonstrate the Sinfonie at IFA in Berlin.
Technology News: Frontier Silicon
Frontier Silicon has announced that it is developing Kino 3, a new multi-standard and multi-band MDTV chip set supporting both the Korean and European digital multimedia broadcast (DMB) as well as the DVB-H standard for mobile TV reception. This will be world’s first device to combine a silicon tuner with broad tuning range and a baseband processor utilising software defined radio techniques to address multiple MDTV reception standards – and Kino 3 will compete in terms of cost, size and power consumption with devices that just support a single standard.
Technology News: Future Waves
Imperial College spin-out Toumaz Technology has formed a joint venture with a Taiwanese RF CMOS fabless design house and announced its first product – a very low power all-CMOS tuner chip for DAB radios.
The new company, called Future Waves, has used Toumaz’s low-power AMx mixed signal and RF technology to develop the ‘FENIX’ chip, which will begin sampling in mid Q3 2005. The firm said the chip will enable DAB to be incorporated in handheld devices.
Toumaz founder, Professor Chris Toumazou, who developed the AMx technology at Imperial, is now also chairman and co-founder of Future Waves. Toumaz’s CEO, Keith Errey, said the company would go on to develop products for other DAB-based standards.
Technology News: Sonarics Labs
Sonarics Labs, provider of DAB solutions on a single, general-purpose low cost DSP, announces a new ClearSignal version, offering the industry an even richer DAB integrated software. The new main features are the EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) and real time DAB recording to removable storage or to internal memory for later playback. These features are integrated with the recent capabilities of displaying a photo album and DAB MOT slide shows on a colour LCD, while complementing and completing them.
The EPG capability was released following the recent approval of DAB EPG standard by ETSI, under the auspices of WorldDAB. Using the advanced ClearSignal software, the listeners will be able to scroll through forthcoming programmes for each station, highlight programme information on their radio display and schedule its automatic recording for listening at a later time.
The product will be on display at IFA.
RadioScape showcases DAB/DRM radios at IFA
RadioScape, the world leader in Software Defined Digital Radio solutions, will be showcasing multi-standard digital radios based on its recently launched RadioScape RS500™ module at IFA 2005 in Berlin, Germany (2-7 Sept 2005). RadioScape has worked with several leading manufacturers who will be launching their digital radios at the show that will be able to receive DRM™ (Digital Radio Mondiale™) as well as DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast), FM with RDS, LW, MW and SW.
ETSI approves DMB standard
The European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) has approved the DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) standards for the delivery of multimedia content and services on the move, paving the way for a new era in broadcasting and telecommunications.
DMB, a multimedia application based on exactly this principle, has its roots in DAB, the technology that is taking radio digital around the world and that was specifically developed for mobile reception. DMB is designed to broadcast television and video to mobile handsets, in parallel with existing DAB services, both audio and data, and can be easily integrated wherever a DAB infrastructure already exists. A DAB network is already available to 80% of Europe and there are more than 800 DAB services reaching 475 million people in 40 countries around the world.
Digital One, BT Wholesale and Virgin Mobile pilot
An innovative service to deliver live television to mobile phones is piloted by BT Wholesale and Virgin Mobile this summer. The service is broadcast on the national commercial DAB digital radio network, operated by Digital One. Listeners with standard digital radios cannot pick up the encrypted television channels.
For the pilot, BT Livetime will provide selected Virgin Mobile customers with access to Sky Sports News, Sky News and new music channel Blaze. The four-month pilot of 1,000 users began in June in south-east England, within the M25.
When the full service launches, BT Livetime will enable mobile companies to offer their consumers access to television and radio channels broadcast direct to DAB digital radio enhanced mobile devices such as smartphones and personal media players. This "one-to-many" delivery of mobile TV is a cost-effective method of giving very large numbers of consumers, high quality TV services.
DRDB releases Five Year Forecast
- Household penetration more than 40% by end of 2009
- 20 million cumulative units sold by 2009
- Annual retail market value over £450 million by 2009
The report, which provides an annualised forecast of market volume and market value, is broken down by product segment. It also forecasts cumulative volume and household penetration for the period 2005 to 2009.
The forecast predicts that by the end of 2009 there will be around 20 million DAB digital radios in UK homes, up from 1.2 million at the end of 2004. This is a more than fifteen-fold increase, and equates to a household penetration of 40% by the end of 2009.
The annual retail market value in 2009 is expected to be £456 million across all product segments. The 2004 market value was £87 million. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 39% during this five-year period.
The 2005 DAB Digital Radio Five Year Forecast has been produced by the DRDB and Digital One, (the national commercial DAB digital radio multiplex operator) and independently audited by strategy advisors Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates. It combines a knowledge and prediction of future manufacturer, retailer and consumer behaviour with historical data from GfK, which measures sales of electrical goods in the UK
WorldDAB at IFA
DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) has come a long way since the last IFA show. The latest Audio, Video and Multimedia developments will be featured on the stand that WorldDAB will be sharing with IMDR (Germany’s Initiative Marketing Digital Radio).
On the stand, attendees will be able to view over 100 different DAB products currently available on the market, twice the number on display in 2003. Innovations such as pause, rewind and record that were a mere glimmer in the eye at the last IFA are now widely available and will also be on display. DAB radios with built-in EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) and large screens for easy viewing are now coming onto the market, as are products that can double as an MP3 player. This wide selection from nearly 200 DAB products already available on the market, with all the latest features, from all the major manufacturers will be shown on the IMDR/WorldDAB stand.
The imminent arrival of dual DAB/DRM receivers will also be highlighted during IFA.
An important development in the world of digital broadcasting, which will be demonstrated on the WorldDAB/IMDR stand, is that of DAB-based applications used to deliver video and multimedia content on the move.
WorldDAB has endorsed two applications designed to broadcast audio and video streaming and multimedia to mobile handsets, using DAB as a transport medium.
- DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) is a DAB-based application recently approved by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. It is currently being piloted in Korea and several key countries in Europe, including Germany, using devices from LG, Samsung and PersTel. DMB transmission will be provided live on the WorldDAB/IMDR booth via the T-Systems DMB ensemble with broadcasts that will include content by local providers. DAB’s DMB capabilities will be demonstrated through mature devices by Samsung, LG and Perstel. DAB’s DMB will also be demonstrated on the ARD/ZDF/IRT booth in the Science and Technology Forum, Hall 5.3.
- The second DAB delivery application is an IP-based enhanced packet mode. BT Livetime and its partners recently launched a pilot service in the UK, which uses this method to deliver live television to 1,000 mobile phone users in the London area. WorldDAB will be demonstrating both of these DAB based applications at IFA.
The message this year is clear – DAB is a robust technology that can deliver more than audio services. It is a fully-fledged multi-service and multimedia broadcast platform able to serve any kind of receiver in any reception environment with any type of distributive content.
More than 475 million people worldwide can now receive nearly 800 different DAB services, and these numbers are changing rapidly as more licences are awarded and more countries adopt DAB. Visit the WorldDAB/IMDR Stand 5.2 at IFA 2005, Berlin, September 2 – 7.
Multimedia at IBC
This year’s IBC will be a landmark for some of the most exciting developments in the world of broadcast technologies used for mobile multimedia applications.
DAB, the technology that has enabled radio to go digital all around the world, will feature prominently at the event, by showcasing the latest developments in the area of mobile multimedia entertainment via broadcast platforms.
The WorldDAB Forum, the association responsible for coordinating and promoting DAB roll-out around the world, will be exhibiting in Hall 10, Stand 410, together with key partners from Korea and the UK, who will be on hand to demonstrate the latest progress made by capitalising on DAB’s multimedia capabilities. WorldDAB is also liasing with local partners in The Netherlands to provide for the live transmission of DAB-enabled broadcasts, to cover the RAI centre as well as the city of Amsterdam.
The World DAB Forum has endorsed two applications, designed to broadcast AV(audio and video) streaming and multimedia to mobile handsets, using DAB as a transport medium and integrated wherever a DAB infrastructure already exists in parallel with existing DAB services. The first of these is the DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) application recently approved by the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) The second is an application which uses IP to broadcast the content to mobile devices.
LG, Samsung and Perstel were the first to capitalise on these new opportunities with the launch of the first DMB (essentially DAB, with an additional layer to include video) devices in Korea where DMB services will be rolling out later on this year. In addition, DMB trials are currently taking place in several key countries in Europe and other parts of the world, more and more aligning the interests of key industry players and helping create new and very attractive business models.
UBC at IBC
Unique Interactive ("UI") is pleased to announce that it will be exhibiting Digital Radio data products on the Factum Electronics, Hall 8, Stand 492.
With Factum Electronics, UI will be demonstrating it’s innovative software and technical solutions for providing and broadcasting Digital Radio Display Text and Electronic Programme Guide ("EPG") data.
The EPG demonstration will consist of the creation and management of detailed programme information prior to live broadcast at IBC onto an EPG capable, stand alone DAB tuner. This exciting end-to-end demonstration will show broadcasters how simple it is to set up services and programme information on UI’s ’WorkBench’ application.
Unique Interactive’s EPG Management system currently services the majority of the UK and Worldwide broadcasters who are broadcasting an EPG data stream over DAB. It also delivers EPG data for DVB-S, DVB-T and the Web.
Unique Interactive will also be demonstrating it’s "ManDLS" Display Text Management System. ManDLS enables broadcasters to monitor and update display text messages on their DAB, DRMondiale, DVB-T and FM RDS services from anywhere in the world.
Marketing News: The Essential Guide
Regional multiplex operator, MXR has put more than one million copies of a new Essential Guide to DAB into major UK retailers.
It’s a free guide for staff to hand out to consumers with programme highlights, specialist shows and details of all the latest DAB Digital Radio kit, plus the top ten reasons to go digital.
The route to analogue switch over
A report by Rt Hon the Lord Smith of Finsbury
Chris Smith, former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, calls for more DAB Digital Radio frequencies, and a reconfiguration of existing services to enable a fully digital future for the UK’s radio industry.
In a report out in August considering the criteria for analogue radio switch over in the UK, the Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury says that the switch to an all digital environment for radio “…is an objective to be sincerely sought. It is a desirable aim both for the industry and for consumers.”
Digital radio offers a much wider choice, greater ease of use, and a range of data options and interactivity. “These,” says Lord Smith, “are goals that are worth striving to achieve and represent the reason why policy decisions to enable and encourage the switch from analogue to digital need to be taken.” While he does not believe it is yet possible to establish a switch over date, Smith believes “we should be working towards the point where we can, indeed, establish it.”
“Incomplete coverage of local radio services represents the greatest obstacle to the move to an all-digital environment.” Lord Smith recommends that Ofcom should give urgent consideration to reconfiguration of existing frequencies to make more efficient use of existing DAB spectrum. He also calls for a wider range of multiplexes with a view to resolving all configuration issues within a twelve month period.
The report, commissioned by the DRDB (Digital Radio Development Bureau) whose stakeholders include the BBC, GCap Media, Emap, Digital One and the Chrysalis led MXR consortium, examines the issues that need to be resolved before a full switchover from analogue to digital radio service might be possible in the UK.
Although 46% of local commercial radio stations, and nearly three-quarters of BBC local and regional services are already broadcasting on DAB Digital Radio, there is insufficient spectrum to allow all such services to migrate to the DAB platform. Even when more spectrum becomes available next year, many smaller local stations simply cannot afford to make the transition to digital.
Along with additional spectrum and more efficient use of existing spectrum, Smith also recommends that a cross-industry working group be established to identify possible financial arrangements to assist smaller stations to bear the costs of moving to digital broadcasting.
The report also recommends:
- New frequencies should be earmarked for radio and not left open for non-radio purposes
- Complementary technologies, such as DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale), could be broadcast alongside DAB if necessary. Ofcom should examine the “dual-use” option as an alternative or additional solution
- The benefits and services of data in DAB digital radio broadcasting should be factored into the Ofcom studies
- Government, Ofcom and radio broadcasters should use Britain’s Presidency of the EU to “persuade excite and encourage” EU partner nations to progress the development of DAB radio in Europe
- Government should shed its “technology neutral” stance and act as a champion for progress to digital radio
- Once a route to digital switchover is established, Government should facilitate a public campaign to inform and encourage people about the possibilities of digital radio
In preparing this report, a working group was established drawing on the expertise of the DRDB, DCMS, DTI, Ofcom, BBC and CRCA. In addition, a number of experts gave evidence and assisted the discussions of the working group. These included individuals from BT, Arqiva (formerly NTL), WorldDAB Forum, Crown Castle, ADRT, and Ford, along with leading DAB digital radio manufacturers Sony, Roberts and PURE Digital, and senior figures from local and national UK radio companies.
Latest Market Data
ENDS
Summer 2005
The Digital Radio Development Bureau is funded and supported by BBC, Digital One, Emap Digital Radio, CE Digital, MXR (Chrysalis, GMG, Capital and UBC), Capital Digital and GWR’s Now-Digital. The DRDB’s task is to ensure digital radio’s wide accessibility and swift adoption in the UK with consistent and effective marketing.
Visit the DRDB's consumer web site www.digitalradionow.com, or our Business to Business site, www.drdb.org.
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Mandy Green
Press and Publicity Manager
DRDB
The Radiocentre
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