The total output of the nation’s Internet TV industry, including set-top boxes, cable TV operators and digital TVs, is expected to reach NT$763.5 billion (US$23 billion) in 2013, up from NT$466.5 billion this year, an analyst at Market Intelligence & Consulting
Some hurdles will have to be cleared, however, before Taiwan creates a brand new world of Internet TV, Julian Chu (朱南勳), a senior industry analyst at MIC, told a media briefing yesterday.
Creating easy-to-use interfaces and educating users on the technology will be key to accomplishing that goal, he said.
At present, 4 percent — about 200,000 households — use digital TV, with the potential for Internet TV expected to climax in 2012 when TV operators are mandated to go fully digital, the analyst said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which makes set-top boxes on a contract basis, is also eyeing the liquid-crystal-display TV production business, which shows that the prospects for the sector are promising, Chu said.
To expand the niche market, an Internet TV Alliance (電視上網聯盟) was launched yesterday, with the government, industry associations, electronics makers and TV operators cooperating to create solid foundations for the future of television.
The alliance, formed under the guidance of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, included a number of local heavyweights who will cooperate on the integration and standardization of services, as well as platform and product design.
Participating firms include home electronics makers Tatung Co (大同), Teco Electric & Machinery Co (東元電機), electronics parts maker Hon Hai, telecom service provider Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), as well as TV stations Taiwan Television (台視) and China Television Co (華視).
“Internet access is no longer only limited to computers and handsets — TVs are next,” president of Institute for Information Industry (資策會) Ke Jyh-sheng (柯志昇) told the briefing.
TV makers recently launched flat-screen sets that offer Internet access in high definition.
In the next wave of digital integration, all the parties involved should join efforts to make that a reality for the majority of customers, he said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
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