Incompatible tech confuses consumers

By Michelle Kessler, USA TODAY

Sony`s new PlayStation Portable, a handheld video game system that can play music, movies and display photos, is attracting crowds at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

But when PSP is launched in the USA later this year, shoppers might discover it`s not easy to transfer pictures and music to it. The portable device accepts only Sony-specific video game and memory cards. Cards from Olympus, Canon and Kodak digital cameras won`t fit. (Related: The latest tech gear to drool over)

PSP fans can probably work around that by transferring photos and songs first to a PC, then to a Sony-compatible memory card. But they shouldn`t have to, tech analysts say.

Turf battles — not inadequate technology — cause most compatibility problems. Competing technologies often emerge because electronics makers can`t agree. That confuses consumers, and causes them to spend money on products that become worthless because they won`t work together. Manufacturers pay a toll in wasted resources on redundant work. An intractable compatibility problem can stall the growth of a promising technology.

By Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

Freescale Semiconductor`s Rajesh Gopi uses a cell phone to shoot and transmit a photo to his laptop.

Most of the digital gizmos on display in Vegas this week — and many already in stores — should be able to ``talk`` to each other. They`re built using computer technology, and computers usually get along fine, says tech analyst Tim Bajarin with researcher Creative Strategies. A Hewlett-Packard printer easily plugs into a Dell PC, and a CD burned on a Gateway works in an IBM laptop.

But consumer electronics are different. An Xbox video game doesn`t play on Nintendo. You can`t easily swap tunes between an iPod and other digital music players. Digital camera cards have a variety of formats.

In some cases, more than half of those who buy a digital electronics product return it because they can`t get it to work, says analyst Michael Greeson at electronics researcher The Diffusion Group.

Shoppers are left to wonder, ``What does this thing do ... and how am I going to hook it up?`` says Scott Smyers, a vice president at Sony Electronics. ``Those are two tremendous barriers.``

Electronics makers don`t have as much experience as PC companies in setting common standards, Bajarin says. Traditional analog electronics were uncomplicated, and so was compatibility. It takes a few wires to connect almost any VCR to almost any TV. In the old days, who cared if your stereo couldn`t talk to your PC?

That means there`s been too little cooperation as the industry moves to more complex products. Manufacturers will often simultaneously develop similar, yet incompatible technologies, then fiercely defend them. That needs to change, tech analysts say. ``Consumers are finally saying ... this is not going to work,`` Bajarin says. ``In this age of everything going digital, the (electronics companies) can no longer think of themselves as digital islands.``

Electronics makers say they`re working on the problem: ``You`ve got to give the industry some credit,`` said Intel CEO Craig Barrett. More than 180 joined the Digital Living Network Alliance, a trade group created to ensure that all electronics on a network can talk to each other. At CES, the DLNA is demonstrating prototype products that meet early requirements. A full certification program should be ready this year.

``There are a lot of issues to solve ... but we`re going to make it work,`` says Sony`s Smyers, who chairs the group. He expects many networking bugs to disappear ``by CES a year from now.``

Companies are signing other alliances, too. The UPnP Forum, a group related to the DLNA, has more than 700 members. At CES, Hewlett-Packard touted its membership in the Coral Consortium, which promotes interoperability of entertainment content. ``Simplicity is one of the reasons why we`re so focused on standards ... (and) teaming up with other players,`` says H-P CEO Carly Fiorina, who speaks at the show today.

Despite such efforts, battles are being waged over competing technologies, and consumers who pick the wrong side could find themselves with worthless products. Among the battle zones:

•Ultra Wideband (UWB). The high-speed wireless technology could one day connect all electronic devices in a room to each other without cables. But there are two groups — one led by Motorola, the other by Intel — fighting for different standards. The battle is so pitched that neither has pulled ahead.

The stalemate has lasted for more than a year, so both groups are developing products. Several, including Freescale Semiconductor`s UWB cell phone, were shown at CES, and products could hit store shelves in the next year, says semiconductor analyst Alan Varghese at ABI Research. ``We will let the market decide,`` he says.

•DVD. In the 1990s, two new technologies fought to become the successor to VHS video tapes. The DVD, backed by Sony, beat rival DIVX, and remains the standard. Sony and its partners, including Philips and Pioneer, still earn royalties on DVDs and players. (Even so, there are still battles being fought about slightly different DVD formats. H-P and Panasonic announced a deal at CES to help solve some of these disputes.)

A similar battle is being fought about next-generation DVDs, which can hold higher-resolution video. One side is Blu-ray, backed by Sony, NEC and others. The other is the HD-DVD consortium, which includes Thompson and Warner Bros. The players aren`t out yet, but the fight could resemble the VHS vs. Betamax battle of the 1980s. ``It`s a potential disaster,`` says electronics analyst Mike Wolf with In-Stat/MDR.

•Digital rights management (DRM). Entertainment companies want technology that will keep digital movies and music from being pirated. Many have jumped to the challenge, creating a hodgepodge of often incompatible software. Microsoft, Apple Computer, RealNetworks and Sony are each pursuing separate DRM strategies. Hewlett-Packard and Philips made their own announcement at CES.

If a piece of home entertainment equipment, such as a DVD player, isn`t equipped for a particular DRM system, DVDs with that protection probably won`t play. Electronics makers are ``not even close`` to solving the problem, Bajarin says.

•Portable storage cards. There are several memory cards used to store information in digital cameras and other portable devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs). Many use Compact Flash cards, while others use Secure Digital (SD) cards. Fuji and Olympus use a memory called xD, while Sony has proprietary Memory Sticks. The problem is such that H-P includes readers for nine cards on some of its PCs.

•Digital video formats. Several groups say they have the best technology for next-generation digital video. The Apple-backed Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA) touts one standard, Microsoft another and RealNetworks a third. One standard will have to emerge, because consumers ``don`t want to have to worry about standards. You just plug it in and expect it to work,`` says Rich Mavrogeanes, founder of digital video company VBrick Systems and a board member with ISMA.

A winner

A standards battle doesn`t always stall a market. Take the fight about the cables used to connect many devices to PCs and laptops. Universal Serial Bus (USB) cables got a new competitor in the mid-1990s when Apple introduced rival FireWire (sometimes called 1394 after its technical specification number). If you had a FireWire digital camera and a USB connection to plug it into, you needed an adapter.

But the cables and ports are so cheap that many devices today include both. ``They`re integrated well enough ... and you can usually find room for an extra port,`` says tech analyst Martin Reynolds with researcher Gartner.

Still, any standards battle is likely to waste resources and confuse consumers. That`s why many tech analysts say the industry needs to avoid them — even if it means losing license revenue.

``It`s been so easy for consumers to just plug (analog) devices into each other,`` says Greeson of The Diffusion Group. ``That`s their minimum level of expectation for the new digital equipment.``

The downside, Greeson says, is that any standards fight comes down to politics. ``The best technology doesn`t necessarily win,`` he says.

Contributing from Las Vegas: Mike Snider, Edward C. Baig, Jefferson Graham