Hitachi Ltd. displayed a prototype mobile TV for IPTV transmissions at CEATAC Japan 2007 last week. A report from Tech-On said the device had a five-inch IPS LCD capable of displaying 854-by-480 resolution.
The interface was described as "unique," with different channels presented visually like a deck of cards that could be flipped through by touching the screen frame. There was no information in the Tech-On piece regarding the device's decoding technology, or how the IP signals were transmitted.
A handheld "IPTV" device is certainly interesting. On one hand, there are already established options for mobile TV transmissions, including MediaFLO. WiMAX essentially would enable some degree of mobile TV reception. But beyond that, the question of demand remains. Consumers for the most part have met tiny-screen mobile TV with a collective shrug, but that doesn't rule out the application, interface or content type that makes it take off.
For More:
- Tech-On has more here, (Note: it will prompt you for a Japanese language package if you don't have one, and it may not take "no" for an answer.)