Sony to ship digital tuner modules for mobiles

Japan’s Sony Corp is planning to begin shipping samples of a micro digital broadcast tuner module this December, which will enable mobile handsets to act as televisions. The chip can be used with mobile applications on cellphones and PDAs and will be of interest to manufacturers such as NEC, which has launched its own prototype handset with TV capability and which is targeting a commercial launch in 2005. The TV-enabled handsets will retail for around USD55 more than their normal counterparts.