Ask a dozen folks how delivering IPTV over mobile devices is going to work, and you will get a dozen answers, reports Unstrung. At least that’s their impression from CTIA Wireless 2006.
Currently MediaFLO, DVB-H and DMB aim to provide portable devices with multicast wireless video. That’s in contrast to today’s cellular-based streaming video technologies, such as Verizon’s V-Cast and MobiTV, used by AT&T and Sprint, that require a separate stream for each viewer.
Among the announcements this week:
MobiTV , which already works with several mobile phone providers and boasts an impressive $70 million recent round of financing, announced Tuesday that AT&T will use its technology to bring the MobiTV video platform to the broadband world. The service expands upon an earlier agreement that enables AT&T to offer MobiTV to customers who use thousands of AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots. AT&T’s broadband TV service will initially have approximately 20 channels of live and made-for-broadband television content spanning national news, sports, entertainment and full-length music videos from top artists. Consumers will pay $19.99 a month for the streaming mobile television service.MobiTV also demonstrated live High-Definition television delivered over a pre-mobile WiMAX network. The real-time demonstration will showcase the MobiTV® service running over Navini’s Ripwaveä MX equipment to both fixed and mobile customer premises equipment.- Sprint is creating original programming for its made-for-mobile video network. It features sports and entertainment news, features and original programming at no additional charge for its Sprint Vision and Power Vision customers. The programming will originate from the Sprint Power View desk located in New York in partnership with IMG Media. In addition, 15 mobile camera crews will file on-location stories from venues and events from major markets in the United States. mSpot, a mobile multimedia entertainment company, will provide a free Java multimedia application and manage the ongoing operations of Sprint Power View.
- Texas Instruments is ready to go with its Hollywood chip which, along with solutions from PacketVideo and Silicon & Software Systems (S3), will enable Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld (DVB-H) handsets to offer users personal video recording (PVR) and picture-in-picture (PIP) applications.
- The Mobile Digital TV Alliance (MDTVA) today announced that its members have approved the first set of implementation guidelines. It will assist operators and device manufacturers to facilitate interoperability of DVB-H gear for mobile digital TV in North America.The guidelines include:
- Transmission parameters
- Network and transport protocols
- Interactive operation
- Electronic Service Guide
- Service and content protection
- Mobile Personal Video Recording
DVB-H is an open standard developed by the DVB Project and is supported by more than 100 companies working on DVB-H components, devices and services. The DVB-H standard incorporates OFDM for immunity to multi-path fading and good mobile performance. The Mobile Digital TV Alliance members include Intel, Microsoft, Modeo, Motorola, Nokia and Texas Instruments.
- Qualcomm is linking MediaFLO to CDMA licensing. In essence, Qualcomm is giving away FLO for free to CDMA phone manufacturers, says EE Times. Qualcomm said it will license its essential FLO patents for use in multimode CDMA/FLO (forward-link-only) handsets “with no increase to its standard royalty rate for CDMA-based handsets.” Qualcomm owns the IP essential for developing chips and systems based on FLO technology. In contrast, rival mobile TV standards such as DVB-H and T-DMB/DMB-IP were developed by several companies.Qualcomm is spending $800 million building out the nationwide MediaFLO network. It will be able to handle 20 channels of full-motion QVGA live television plus 10 audio channels and a selection of time-shifted content. Verizon Wireless may begin integrating the technology into handsets late this year.
- Sprint Nextel will deliver short commercials, teaming up with new media advertising house Enpocket. Enpocket is launching its Enpocket Marketing Engine 6.0 that allows publishers and mobile operators to add banners to mobile browsing services.Users making voice calls or sending instant messages probably won’t be subjected to the ads, which might appear as anything from a tiny banner to a full-screen video clip. But download a ring tone, Sprint city guide or map service, and you might also get an ad for a local hotel or restaurant.
Currently, ads on cellphones are typically connected to third-party Web sites and not controlled by cell companies. As cellphones increasingly add sophisticated features such as Web browsing and online gaming, the ads will grow more common, experts say. And they also expect Sprint’s competitors to adopt the practice.
- Nokia purchased Seattle-based Loudeye to become a “global leader in mobile music.” Nokia claims to be the largest MP3 maker in the world because a majority of its phones have music players, and it sells more phones in the world than Dell sells computers.
- Seattle-based Medio Systems is powering the new Get It Now Search function from Verizon Wireless. The service allows people to type or speak into their phone and get search results related to music, games or photos.
- Real announced a $350 million deal to buy Seoul-based, publicly-held WiderThan, notes Katie Fehrenbacher.
It might seem like a high price for a not-so-well-known Korean mobile company with only 470 employees total (around 300 are in Korea), but WiderThan is the company behind SK Telecom’s wildly success music-on-demand and ringback tone services, as well as Verizon’s VCAST music service and mobile entertainment services for other carriers.
Informa Telecoms & Media projects spending on mobile advertising will reach $1.5 billion next year, double this year’s spending. Within five years, mobile ad sales are expected to hit $11.5 billion, the company estimates.
The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is the foundation for next-generation fixed/mobile convergence based on IP. It allows, for example, a single video clip to be played on a cellphone, laptop or television set. It allows interoperable messaging, data exchange and billing across different platforms (like a WiFi/Cellphone). Keith Higgins explains IMS in Glenn Fleshmann’s podcast (MP3).
For more the mobile content news, check out MocoNews.net. It’s a part of the paidContent.org family.
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