Video telephony and home media via the Internet

March 9, 2005

Internet television, video telephony and music from the Internet – the living room of the future will become the communication center for the entire house. Siemens Communications has developed a range of innovative solutions for video telephony and home media – several prototypes of which will be introduced at CeBIT. These include a cordless telephone equipped with a digital camera and wireless local area network (WLAN) for video telephony on TV, as well as a new set top box that enables convenient access to streaming online video and music. An allin- one modem, Internet WLAN router and DECT base station was also developed jointly by Siemens and Telefonica Germany. The device is the basis for so-called triple-play services that will run on the Spanish/German carrier’s technical platform. The router and parallel set top box will enable high-quality TV via ADSL. The first triple-play offering will be introduced in summer 2005 in Europe.

Video telephony on TV

Cordless, flexible and face-to-face: Siemens has developed a cordless telephone with WLAN and a rotatable digital camera specifically designed for home video telephony that brings friends and family closer to home even when they are far away. The clamshell phone’s large display offers a 256.000 colors screen resolution and 3 triple digital zoom that brings details into focus.

This innovative cordless telephone is a flexible and portable alternative to the average "static" videoconference – with the Gigaset, users enjoy video telephony from anywhere in the house, on the terrace or even in the garden. When the telephone is switched to "TV mode", the caller’s videophone image appears on the television screen; all that is needed is a simple WLAN adapter for the television set. The loudspeaker function on the telephone is also automatically activated in TV mode. This way the user can relax on the sofa and converse with a caller – as if face-to-face in the same room.

With 32-cord polyphonic ring tones, a large address book for hundreds of calling card entries and a convenient PC synchronized data security system, the cordless video telephone has many impressive features. The picture CLIP function displays a picture of the incoming caller as soon as the phone rings. The telephone display also offers complete messaging functionality (SMS, E-Mail, MMS, Push-and-Talk) at a glance.

Music on TV – with Siemens M2Y (Music to you)

Downloading music from the Internet is now much easier: Instead of having to use a home office PC to download and listen to music, the new set top box from Siemens lets users download music tracks into the living room. The device also supports Video-on-Demand and offers access to PC audio, video and photo files from the television set. The TV serves as an Internet browser that is easily navigated with the remote control, and provides easy access to Siemens M2Y music portal. The music portal facilitates selecting music. It offers the option of streaming tracks directly on the home stereo system in HiFi quality. With the touch of a button a song can be purchased and immediately downloaded. Siemens M2Y music portal features access to the latest chart topping hits as well as hundreds of tracks sorted according to genre, artist and album. Siemens M2Y, a white label provider for more than one and a half years, operates several of the largest Internet and mobile music portals in Europe and is one of the first providers in the world to facilitate a multi-channel (Internet, mobile, cable) converged music service. The only thing users need for easy access to online music, aside from the Gigaset set top box, is a WLAN Internet router and a DSL connection. With this endtoend solution, Siemens is the also first vendor to provide access to online music via PC, mobile phone and TV.

The all round solution for telephony, Internet and television

An all in one device: Siemens presents a router that enables not only cordless teleph ony (either conventional or VoIP) and simultaneous high speed Internet surfing, but also TV over ADSL; all these communications services via one single DSL Internet connection. The router was developed as part of a joint venture between Siemens and Telefonica Germany, a subsidiary of the Spanish network operator. It is designed to support the triple-play service platform for high-quality digital TV over DSL. The personal video recorder, for example can be remotely set to record subscriber’s favorite programs via the Internet; live TV can be paused and favorite films can be viewed any time with the Internet (Video-on- Demand) option. There is also a built-in child lock. The electronic program guide (EPG) offers current program information at the touch of a button.

The portable phone offers users the option of exchanging short text messages as well as chatting with friends, whether the PC is on or off. The display of the portable phone even shows which buddy is currently online and if there is any new email in the inbox. And just like with a mobile phone, communicating with SMS or MMS is easy. There is a virtual hard drive available in the Internet with plenty of memory to store personal information.

Users can very conveniently and inexpensively call friends anywhere in the world over the Internet with the new router and a compatible cordless phone. There is a built in answering machine for voice messages. The latest generation of portable handsets, the Gigaset S44, Gigaset SL44, and Gigaset C34, offer a broad spectrum of Internet communications. A wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11g) version is also soon to be released.