DMB exhibition in Germany

Beats out competition in terms of image, sound quality Satellite and terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) phone demonstrations successfully took place in Malaysia on Jan. 17 and in Singapore on Jan. 19 during the Korea DMB demonstration event organized by the Korea Broadcasting Association (KBA). The Korea DMB event was organized by the broadcasting association along with Samsung Electronics in order to introduce Korea's DMB service and technology to the Southeast Asian market. The event attracted numerous participants from a variety of backgrounds including government officials, broadcasting authority executives as well as members of various media. "Samsung Electronics focused on high performance, especially on image and sound quality, in order to demonstrate the leadership of Korean DMB technology. Samsung's DMB phones demonstrated superior image quality throughout the 30-minute demonstration," said a spokesperson for Samsung Electronics. "Samsung's satellite DMB phone, the SCH-B100, received much attention since it is the world's first satellite DMB phone to go on the market following the trial run of satellite DMB services launched Jan. 10 this year", the spokesperson said. Contents from 10 channels were demonstrated using the satellite DMB phone. Specifically, the contents included seven video channels and three audio channels, as in the case of the test service in the Korean market. Samsung also displayed a DMB chip that was first of its kind in the world in order to promote Korea's advances in DMB technology. Additionally, Samsung Electronics is emerging as a leader in the terrestrial DMB market since the successful demonstration of its terrestrial DMB phone at the MMC 2005 Workshop held in Berlin, Germany. Samsung is expected to continually introduce consumer-oriented DMB phones, each with successively stronger performance capabilities that will be based on the test results of DMB services in Europe, Korea and the rest of Asia. After introducing the CDMA2000 1X EVDO phone that supports TV broadcasts over cellular networks two years ago, together with the world's first analog TV-enabled mobile phone in 1999, Samsung displayed the world's first mobile phone (the SCH-B100) to support satellite DMB services. A company spokesman said this "technologically innovative and revolutionary" mobile phone makes it possible to watch TV via mobile phone without cellular networks".

DMB exhibition in Malaysia

The B100 adopts the company's internally developed chipset for receiving satellite broadcasts, which is more efficient in terms of battery life and broadcast quality. Its unique "swing-bar" type design rotates the 2.2-inch display 90-degrees, so mimicking a TV screen. The B100 also offers basic camera features through a 1-mega pixel embedded camera as well as recording capabilities for up to two hours. A RS-MMC memory slot allows users to extend the memory capacity of the phone and users are able to record video clips while watching TV through the phone. The product boasts a built-in antenna, the so-called "intenna", and an attachable and detachable antenna for use outdoors or in rural areas where signals are generally weaker. With a user-friendly Electronic Program Guide (EPG) function, users are provided with sufficient program information and introduction. The B100 is an outstanding gadget both in technology and design, and will be available once carriers begin offering services. "We envisage that one of the next big things in the mobile industry will be broadcasting services. For instance, while satellite DMB service was successfully launched in Korea, it has also attracted interest from all around the world. We have received numerous requests for DMB demonstrations", said the spokesperson. "We are also working on the production of other types of phones such as DVB-H phone which we expect to display during the first quarter of this year. The exact date depends upon the service schedules of individual carriers. We are working on a DVB-H enabled handset that we intend to be one of the first on the market", the spokesperson added. SCH-B100 Specifications * RF: Phone 800MHz, DMB 2.6GHz * Weight: 170g * Dimension: 122 X 48 X 24mm * Memory: 128 MB * Duration of DMB broadcasts: 150 minutes * Phone talking time: 215 minutes talk time, 230 hours stand-by time * Design: Swing bar type (intenna)