MEX

Intel and Freescale are among the companies supporting a EUR 24.5m funding round for DiBcom, the French fabless mobile TV chipset provider. DiBcom is developing a DVB-H chipset capable of receiving mobile TV broadcasts even at high speeds, such as on trains or in cars.

Freescale was previously known as Motorola’s semiconductor unit and has already been active in supporting the development of the DVB-H standard, along with many other major equipment manufacturers in the mobile industry. Intel has recently announced a new focus on mobile chipsets, promising the integration of a wide range of capabilities, including WiMax, into its processors for handheld products.

Intel’s investment in DiBcom is geared towards a ‘Centrino-style’ inclusion of mobile TV in its core processor capabilities, allowing low-power and highly integrated solutions for DVB-H in the same way as it has for Wi-Fi. DiBcom and Intel see opportunities for Mobile TV in both the mobile telephony and the laptop markets.

As discussed in today’s article on Sony Ericsson and NTT DoCoMo, one of the biggest challenges facing mobile TV is one of design rather than technology. It may be that laptops provide a more suitable form factor for TV than mobile handsets, at least in the initial stages of commercialisation.