DTV Tuner for iphone…ideas for Europe’s DTV

Japanese carrier Softbank released a kit that is both a TV-tuner and an additional battery pack for the iPhone. According to the above-mentioned source, Softbank’s TV tuner and battery pack will include an internal Wi-Fi module and external antenna for tuning in to the One-Seg (1seg) mobile terrestrial broadcasting service. The cost is at 100$US/Pack.

The receiver is supposed to stay in users’ purse or pocket, but it can also connect to iPhones via the dock connector. This is where the TV-tuner’s second nature kicks in, acting as a secondary battery for the iPhone. “Around 3 hours” of continuous One-Seg viewing time is advertised.

The signal will be available in Japan and parts of Brazil and it will be delivered to iPhones via Wi-Fi through a specialized application launching soon on the iTunes App Store. iPhone users will be able to visit the venue and download the app free of charge.

In terms of digital TV, the standard supported by this TV Tuner is the ISDB-T (more information on oneseg). This TV standard is a Terrestrial Digital TV Standard such as DVB-T. There are only two countries who have approved this standard: Japan and Brazil.

In Japan there is approximately 500k iphones (source). In Brazil there are maximum 200k iphones (source).

It means that Softbank is launching a product with a market size of 700k and, I imagine they are looking at a growth of 10% per year which means a market size of 1 Million in 4 years time. With a 5% penetration they will get 5 MIllion $.

The question now is how long should we wait to see such a device with a DVB-T Tuner! Market size is much much bigger (as free DVB-T is available in almost all western countries).

Who can possibly do this device: a partnership between DVB-T specialist such as Teamcast/Dibcom and a specialist in mobile development & integration (e.g Atelier) could work together and launch a device for a mobile operator such as SFR. (as usually there are the first to release new services in France)

The other big question is: Will DVB-H ever be in the iphone?