If hype is to be believed, mobile phones will be doing just about everything soon. Playing 3D games, packing their own hard drives, providing video conferencing.... whatever is next? Well, mobile phone fans will be pleased to hear that the next trick to appear on the mobile is that it will be able to play TV broadcasts. This is apparently coming to us in Q4 of this year, just in time for Christmas.

Philips today announced it will deliver a system-in-package (SiP) will enable consumers to connect to live TV while on the road. The technology contains the complete functionality of a digital TV receiver in an area the size of a thumbnail.

This technology is not really new, since it builds on the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting: Handhelds) standard that is an extension of the specification of the already existing DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting: Terrestrial). This uses a technology whereby data is transmitted in IP datagrams. Nothing new there. But what is really new and cool is that Philips are now able to cramp the functionality of a digital TV receiver in a thumbnail-sized chip. This brings TV to mobiles and PDAs, and with innovations coming for storage for these devices, perhaps they will be doing video capture soon as well.