January 27, 2006 4:00 AM PST
Mobile TV gets on a roll
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to bring its TV-on-cellular chipset to the United States. Handsets with the chips should hit North American shelves later this year. To ensure that content is available, Philips has partnered with Crown Castle's Mobile Media.
Handsets for every network
Crown Castle's Modeo has acquired terrestrial rights to 5 megahertz of L-band spectrum and will launch its mobile broadcast network this year.
That's why cell phone makers are hurrying new video-enabled phones to market. Nokia is due to release the N92, among the first mobile-TV handhelds, in the second half of the year, said Bill Plummer, Nokia's vice president of external affairs.
"It's just like watching TV, but in this case the remote and TV are the same thing," Plummer said.
The N92 features an antiglare 2.8-inch color screen that sits underneath the phone's surface. To watch video, a user just flips open the screen.
The N92 will operate on DVB-H technology, which is being tested in 40 markets worldwide. The phone also features a radio, an MP3 player, a 2-megapixel camera and a video recorder. Plummer would not disclose the phone's retail price.
In October, Samsung launched the Vision Multimedia Phone MM-A940, which is compatible with Sprint's EV-DO wireless network. The phone retails for $399.99 ($249.99 after rebate). Samsung and LG Electronics also are developing handsets compatible with MediaFlo broadcast transmissions.
For sports fans, Sanyo offers the MVP phone, which supports the EV-DO network and includes video-download capability tied to its partnership with Mobile ESPN. More firmly in the mobile TV arena, Sanyo recently introduced the MM-9000, which operates on the Sprint Power Vision Network. The network offers three levels of service, including one with live feeds from the NFL Network, Fox Sports, ABC News Now, the Weather Channel and other content providers.
Motorola, which like Nokia will make phones compatible with Modeo broadcast technology, is developing a mobile TV phone the company has declined identify. LG displayed four handsets that supported varying versions of mobile TV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. Three of the four--including the LD1200 (T-DMB) and the SB130 (S-DMB) model phones--were designed for the Korean market.
The SB130 can pause a live broadcast, according to LG, so a user can pick up a call. Once the call is finished, the user can then restart the broadcast where he or she left off.
Among the Palm handhelds that are video-enabled, the Treo 650 and 700 models also offer phone capability.
"We've seen a lot of development in the last six months," said Scott Smyser, principle analyst for consumer electronics at iSuppli. "The sector is still in the early stages. At CES, Samsung, LG and Nokia all displayed handsets with live video capabilities."
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MobiTV, mobile TV, DVB-H, Qualcomm Inc., subscriber
10 comments
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and you don't need to understand french to understand what's happening :)
So, this product is basically glasses with a viewfinder in front of each eye. The glasses plug into your cell phone and receive (what I assume) is the video/audio feed. The frames have an ear piece which carry the sound to your ears.
This product is going to fail terribly because they don't understand the market.
You know why iPod video works? Because people with iPod video share it with others who don't have an iPod (yet).
It's about sharing, not keeping it to yourself.
You don't need to understand French to understand that.
and you don't need to understand french to understand what's happening :)
So, this product is basically glasses with a viewfinder in front of each eye. The glasses plug into your cell phone and receive (what I assume) is the video/audio feed. The frames have an ear piece which carry the sound to your ears.
This product is going to fail terribly because they don't understand the market.
You know why iPod video works? Because people with iPod video share it with others who don't have an iPod (yet).
It's about sharing, not keeping it to yourself.
You don't need to understand French to understand that.
We've broadcast cable news shows and cartoons, music videos, sports channels and more (with agreements of course) to demo the technology.
I hope that this finally takes off.
Although, I don't believe that the big upside will be with repurposing existing content to the new outlet.
Full length movies, although doable, don't play well on cell phones (although OnStar could benefit by offering pay per view to your car - think about it). Sports clips, music videos, news updates and such might be o.k., but still not big winners. The occaisional naked celebrity and blooper will be an infrequent hit.
The potential lies in content that extremely vertical. In order to accomplish this, you need to empower those extremely vertical niches to take advantage of the new medium. That mechanism is not being developed.
We've broadcast cable news shows and cartoons, music videos, sports channels and more (with agreements of course) to demo the technology.
I hope that this finally takes off.
Although, I don't believe that the big upside will be with repurposing existing content to the new outlet.
Full length movies, although doable, don't play well on cell phones (although OnStar could benefit by offering pay per view to your car - think about it). Sports clips, music videos, news updates and such might be o.k., but still not big winners. The occaisional naked celebrity and blooper will be an infrequent hit.
The potential lies in content that extremely vertical. In order to accomplish this, you need to empower those extremely vertical niches to take advantage of the new medium. That mechanism is not being developed.
Austin Moyo Snr.
Austin Moyo Snr.