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Thursday, August 24, 2006
Ng: Battle of DVD formats
By Wilson Ng
Wired Desktop
This year we will start seeing the release of new DVD formats that promise even bigger storage. There are currently two camps that are slugging it out to be the standard. One is called HD DVD and the other is called Blu-ray.
But isn’t the DVD as we know it now good enough? For the last few years, we saw that when you view DVDs, you can use multiple language subtitles and even vary the language spoken. You can also watch directors’ comments and behind-the-scenes footage.
If the new formats have much bigger storage capacity, what new features will they be offering – other than purportedly better images and sound? According to some reviews, a lot.
HD DVD players will be equipped with a second video decoder that enables dual video streams. That means a user can call up a separate clip that will appear in a small window along with the main feature. This means for instance, that if you are watching the movie, you have a choice to see while it is showing, a behind-the-scenes clip on how the stunt was produced. Or you can choose to watch the movie at a different angle or simultaneously play a game that comes with the movie. They say that the player can also date trailers so that the person may see different trailers depending on the dates the disc is played.
I think current DVDs are good enough, but who knows. It’s been ten years since the DVD came out (ten years is a long time in technology), and after we see the new ones, maybe our standards will again increase. There was a time when I remembered a Betamax or a VHS was already good enough.
On another technology front, we are always much encouraged when we see that it becomes more and more affordable to surf the Internet and also to use cell phones. Now you can get a very good broadband connection for less than a thousand pesos, and there are always long distance calls, or text plans that allow you to text almost anybody very inexpensively. However, there is still a part in the cell phone service that is prohibitively expensive – roaming.
I have had many friends who bring cell phone overseas and come back to huge bills. If you go overseas and continue to call or receive calls like what you normally do when you are in the Philippines, it is almost sure you will get a bill that is several times more expensive.
So what do travelers normally do? Well, I know many who bring two cell phones with them. One cell phone is the old Philippine number, but they buy a local SIM at the destination. This not only allows you to call many numbers at a lower price but also caps your cost. The Philippine number has to be maintained in order to receive calls from your existing circle.
We may want to adopt what is happening to cell phone providers in Hong Kong and China. As we know, millions of people from Hong Kong and China travel to each other’s country every month. Instead of paying roaming charges, you can subscribe to “call forward roaming” service, which diverts your call, for example, from your Hong Kong number to a China number.
If you do this, you will undergo the hassle of having to switch SIM cards when you arrive at a country, but at least you won’t be missing your calls while keeping only one cell phone. (I wonder why Nokia or any other company doesn’t come up with a phone that can use 2 SIM cards. I know at least dozens of people who carry two cell phones now, and I think they would be open to use 2 SIM Cards while carrying only one phone).
From what I know, they offer this service for only 20 Hong Kong dollars per year, which translates to only about P160 pesos per year, or roughly about 15 pesos per month. Now if only our cell phone companies will offer that.
I know in Hong Kong, people don’t have to switch numbers when they switch providers, but here they do. This prevents many people from switching providers because they don’t want to lose their mobile phone numbers, but in spite of that, I know many people who still switch.
Now, if only Smart, Sun, or Globe can get together to offer this forwarding service.
Why don’t they just offer a service that will allow them to make money but at the same time make it more convenient for users to switch providers? So, for instance, I switch from Globe to Smart, I can just inform Globe that for the next six months, I would be willing to pay them P80 monthly just so that if somebody calls my old Globe number, they can forward it to my new Smart number.
It means that Globe loses a customer but if I am switching anyway and if I subscribe to a forwarding service for six months, it would still give them P480 of additional revenue while making it convenient for phone users. After all, I may still come back to Globe and get that number back one day.
www.ngkhai.net/bizdrivenlife
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 24, 2006 issue)
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