Competing in the digital TV space

Abstract

"Wake up, Wake up" you hear someone attempting to wake you up from your sleep. It's your television programmed to give you a wake up call. You then go to the same television to search for the contact address of your friend. You quickly send him an email message. You then search the internet from the same television for some information on the topic on which your assignment is due. Later in the day you order the latest video from the web based store on the same television box and sit back to view the same movie. During the movie you see a commercial of a product you would like to buy. You place the order through the same box. After the movie for some more unwinding you play games on the same box. If this all sounds as some far off dream then it is not so. Digital TV can offer all this and more. In fact in many parts of the world many of these features are up and running. It is a recently introduced way of transmitting to the home the pictures and sound which make up a TV program, together with other services like text and interactivity. It gives many advantages over the 'analogue' television transmission system that we have been using for nearly seventy years.