www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday, 31st August 2010
Special Feature The Smart Home Everything is connected Homes and all that is electronic inside them are getting smarter Interactive digital TV, smart and ultra energy-efficient domestic appliances, easy-to-use Internet cloud services – are these simply the visions of a far-off future? No. They are part of our present and are on show at this year’s TecWatch in Hall 8.1, featuring the SmartHaus project – a glimpse of the future in this field. Entertainment devices are increasingly networked and home appliances even ‘talk with’ the smart electricity grid to figure out when it’s cheapest to run. In the following pages, we take a look at some of the more interesting and exciting aspects of these new developments, and below, we present some useful data on the market and its potential. Major new market for hybrid services Blu-ray players, game consoles and TV sets are connecting to the Internet, and all online content is becoming accessible on smartphones and other connected devices. Internet video is the new ‘must-have’ service. Hybrid web-to-TV settop boxes will bring a new set of Internet services to TV sets, by integrating Internet capability into cable, satellite, telcoTV (IPTV) and digital terrestrial settop boxes. Work is now being done to create hybrid services that bring apps and widgets to TV programming, along with advanced advertising, according to industry analyst In-Stat. The analyst predicts that the global hybrid web-to-TV set-top box market will reach .3bn by 2014. “TV programs have come to the Internet. Now, the Internet is coming back to TV, and savvy software engineers and smart TV producers are finding ways to create new ‘hybrid’ services that bring it all together,” says Gerry Kaufhold, Principal Analyst for In-Stat. “The set-top box industry is scrambling to create designs that facilitate all these new features.” For more details visit www.in-stat.com Wi-fi adoption of wi-fi to accelerate Wi-Fi-enabled devices are forecast to exceed 1.9 billion units by 2014, according to In- Stat. The quest for connectivity continues to drive Consumer Electronics manufacturers to enable their products with wifi technology. The next five years will see an increase in the number of wi-fi-enabled devices, from over 500 million in 2009 to nearly two billion in 2014, according to In-Stat. Devices leading the pace of adoption include Blu-ray players/recorders, e-readers and digital televisions. “The reality of 802.11n-enabled devices being available is that many of the technical issues that constrained Wi-Fi adoption in video-centric CE devices in the past have been remedied,” says Frank Dickson, Vice President of Research. "As a result, we expect the adoption of wi-fi in the living room to accelerate. Across all 'digital living room' CE, which includes set-top boxes, game consoles, and other such devices, wi-fienabled devices will exceed 200 million units by 2014." Growth forecast in wireless HD Although slow progress best describes the fate of wireless HD chip vendors in 2010, the five-year outlook is for a robust triple-digit growth rate of wireless HD video-enabled products through 2014 according to In-Stat (www. in-stat.com). The number of shipments is projected to rise from the current levels of less than one million to nearly 13 million by 2014. “The long term projection is for significant growth in wireless HD video-enabled product shipments. However, these technologies are likely several years away from hitting the sweet spot of the CE and PC markets,” says Brian O’Rourke, Principal Analyst for In-Stat. “There are still significant price and performance issues that need to be overcome before device manufacturers fully adopt these technologies.” Connected TV Shipments Surge Connected TVs shipments are surging, with forecast growth rising to 119 million in 2014, according to a report from global market research and consulting firm, DisplaySearch. The Quarterly TV Design and Features Report found that Internet connectivity has emerged as a key feature in TVs this year, and that the TV market is entering a new phase, as connected TVs hit the mainstream. The report, which surveyed 2010 product ranges from leading brands, notes that 55% of TV models available across Japan, North America, Europe, China and India have Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) capability. Overall, this is expected to translate to over 45 million connected TV sets, 19% of flat panel TV shipments in 2010. DisplaySearch forecasts the connected segment to reach 119 million units in 2014, accounting for 42% of all TVs shipped worldwide. “We have seen DLNA as a solution in search of a problem for a long while,” says Paul Gray, Director of TV Electronics Research with DisplaySearch, “ but with the surge in media streaming, the technology has found its place, creating business opportunities for TV set makers, broadcasters and retailers. The Internet video battleground will take place in the living room, with all facets of the TV supply chain trying to stake claims. As a result, the competition is creating attractive new viewing choices for consumers, which underpins the value of the TV’s network connection.” For more details visit www.displaysearch.com www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Saturday, 4 th & Sunday, 5 th September 2010 25
