According to Mott MacDonald Schema, a UK based independent management consultancy advising the technology, media and telecommunication industries, 95 percent of British mobile users have not accessed mobile TV and those that do use it regularly (which is less than one percent) don’t access it more than once a month. Grim figures indeed.
That is not to say however that it won’t take off (though it has been on the runway for about two years now by our count) as Mott MacDonald Schema believes that in two years mobile TV will be all the rage.
The company cites engaging content, suitable handsets, affordable packages, the scarcity of spectrum and uncertainty around the competing delivery technologies such as DVB-H, T-DMB, Media Flo, 3G MBMS/TDD and DVB-SH as the current stumbling blocks to success for mobile TV.
Have you got that mobile TV industry? There is your to-do list, now go and make it happen you have two years starting now!
(Via Mobile Europe)
Sling Media has released its SlingPlayer Mobile application for all Symbian S60 devices after the conclusion of a testing period.
According to Register Hardware, Sling Media has posted a version of SlingPlayer on its website for owners of all Symbian handsets, not just those using 3 X-Series devices, to download.
In November 2006 Sling posted its first Symbian version of SlingPlayer and then in August it announced testing of a new, more open Symbian version, alongside existing versions for Windows, Palm and X-Series Symbian devices.
Of course, Symbian owners still need to own a Slingbox and a Series 60 phone, but at least non-3 users can now stream video from their TV to their phone. However, it seems this new version is slightly different to the original UIQ version released in 2006, which is still only available to 3’s UK customers.
There’s a full list of officially supported S60 handsets, and the download itself, on Sling Media’s website. The software costs £20 to buy, but downloaders get a 30-day trial period to try it out before they have to pay.
When it rains it pours as they say. Not that mobile TV is anything new, or even that there is a shortage of services or channels to choose from, but there is certainly nothing out there that can even come close to offering the sort of quantity of content that WhereverTV has planned.
Being a new company and claiming to have 1,200 channels ready to roll on 3G handsets (much of the content is already available on PC’s through the Beta) before 2008, we are a little concerned about quality control. But then, with such a wealth of programmes to choose from, there is sure to be something to cater to every taste even if that means having to invest time separating the wheat from the chaff.
The company has worked hard to secure itself several deals that legally cover all of the content that it is planning to broadcast. Hopefully this move will help to give WhereverTV longer legs than some of its PC and set-top box based on-demand contemporaries, many of which have faced a slow demise after lengthy legal turmoil.
Speaking about the new service WhereverTV’s founder, Mark Cavicchia, seemed especially keen to emphasize the service’s credentials in the PC and set-top box space, so time will tell if the company makes good on its lofty mobile ambitions. Certainly one to watch though.
(Via picturephoning)
Big Brother is watching you, at least if you’re a phone operator. What’s more, it seems Endemol – the company that brought us the defining humans-as-lab-rats reality TV show – isn’t happy with what it sees.
According to news site Unstrung, reporting from Monte Carlo where Endemol’s CEO Peter Bazalgette was speaking at a mobile industry event, two years ago he thought mobile phones were “the perfect place to put content”. But not any more:
Continue reading ‘Big Brother creator slams operators over mobile content’
Just a quick note to mention that there’s been some coverage on the net of a Gizmodo translation of a Clipset story claiming that Sony Ericsson is working on integrating the PlayStation Portable into a mobile phone. Well, we’ll believe it when we see it, because Sony has never really gone for this kind of cross-over product before - aside from with its once-ailing Walkman brand (which was getting very long in the tooth until they started slapping it on mobile phones).
(Via Mad4Mobiles)
That’s right, folks. Despite recent reports that the first people to sign-up for 18-month contracts are now seriously regretting their decision, Orange is working on 24-month contracts. The new deals, as reported by trade site Mobile Today, include a ‘Racoon’ (why-o-why did someone think those animal name contracts were a good idea?) deal to include 1200 minutes, 150 texts and free landline calls at the weekend for £35 a month.
Folks, you don’t need to encourage the mobile operators to start down this road. Orange claims to Mobile Today that 70% of its new customers are already opting for 18-month contracts. Could you really wait two years between phones, when red-hot handsets like the Nokia N95 are hitting the streets on a regular basis? No, we couldn’t either.
(Via Mobile Today)
Slidey picture puzzles on mobile aren’t a new idea, and they’re usually rubbish. How much better, then, to turn your own camera-phone snaps into puzzles, to test your wits at reassembling them?
That’s the idea behind Fuji Photo Piece Puzzle, which chooses a random photo from your phone, and jiggles it up into a blocky mess. You can choose how many pieces you want in the resulting puzzle, as well as selecting different background music. It’s a Symbian application, and costs £5.49.
(Fuji Photo Piece Puzzle)
Just quick note to say that Chinese handset manufacturer Meizu has revealed prices for its not-at-all-similar-to-the-iPhone ‘M8′, which we covered last month.
Seems that the M8 will be shipping for around 1500RMB (£100) in its basic 4GB incarnation and 2199RMB (£150) for the 8GB version. Adding a camera to either model puts roughly another £50 on the price.
Expect to see it in your local Carphone Warehouse… uh… probably never.
ALON MP3 dictaphone is its name, and it also records calls and plays digital music. The main use is the dictaphone feature, allowing you to record voice memos, lectures, interviews or whatever as MP3, AMR and WAV files. However, it can also record your phone calls (great if you’re slightly paranoid, or a journalist. Or possibly both), and play various different music formats. It costs £12.70, and is available for Symbian handsets via the link below.
(ALON MP3 Dictaphone)
Boring to look at, merely functional and quite often disorientating, mobile phone menus are the bane of many phone users experience. Thank goodness you can change them though, but quite often the changes are just superficial. Many of the problems that cause irritation remain, but thanks to the increasing use of Flash Lite in modern mobile phones things are about to change.
At 3GSM next week, German developer Mobile Entertainment Factory (MEF) is to show off several Flash Lite based backgrounds including the swish mobile clocks you can see to the right. We’ll have more about different products from MEF over the next week through individual posts so keep your eyes peeled.
(Mobile Entertainment Factory)
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