KOREA: Samsung to couple TV with digital camera

Samsung will launch camera with mobile TV functions to coincide with next year's introduction of terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting

The Korea Times
Saturday, November 19, 2005

By Kim Tae-gyu

Samsung Techwin, Korea’s biggest producer of digital cameras, plans to equip the cameras with a mobile TV and a function to play movies downloaded from computers.

"We will release the versatile digital camera early next year after terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) services are launched," Samsung Techwin spokesman Ahn Ji-hoon Saturday told The Korea Times.

Terrestrial DMB is the locally developed technology that enables people on the move to enjoy crystal-clear video, CD-quality audio and data via handheld gadgets or in-car terminals for free.

Up until now, mobile phones or laptops have been the devices capable of receiving the DMB signals but Samsung Techwin now looks to present an alternative terminal in digital cameras.

Korea’s major terrestrial broadcasters seek to launch terrestrial DMB services starting next month with multiple video and audio channels.

"Our DMB cameras will compete against phones as we will arm them with a screen as large as 3 inches diagonally, much larger than today’s DMB phones at about 2.2 inches," Ahn said.

"In addition, our convergence cameras will have the edge in battery life in comparison to cell phones. We expect people will be able to watch TV with DMB cameras for up to three hours on just a one-time charge," he added.

Another application in the feature-rich cameras is the ability to play movies or other video clips after downloading them from computers, just as personal multimedia players (PMPs) can do.

PMP is an emerging all-in-one handheld tool, which allows users on the road to view full-motion video or still images, listen to MP3 music and record voice messages.

This is not the first time that Samsung Techwin came to the fore in the digital camera market with high-tech products, although it is not a top-tier player in the global arena.

For example, it incorporated an MP3 player into its digital camera, which has a 350,000-pixel camera module, in 1998 for the first time in the world.

"With products such as the DMB cameras, we aim to dictate the dominant trend of digital convergence and become one of the top three makers of digital cameras by 2007," Ahn said.

However, the firm is not mulling over inserting mobile telephony functions into digital cameras, a move that would bring on a confrontation with one of its sister companies, Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Electronics is the world’s third-largest cell phone vendor with about a 14-percent share of the global market, following Finland-based Nokia and the U.S. firm Motorola.

Samsung Electronics is now leading the digital convergence trend among cell phone makers by cramming many functions into the mobile handset.

"For the time being, we have no plan to embed mobile telephony features into our gadgetry," Ahn said.

Date Posted: 11/19/2005