[opendtv] Speeding Ahead for Mobile Video
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 17:26:34 -0500
"One fascinating finding from early MediaFLO users may offer a clue
about early adopters' evolving viewing styles. Viewers create their own,
unexpected, ways to consume mobile video shows. MediaFLO found, somewhat
to its surprise, that customers tuned into shows in nonsequential
segments. For example, viewers watch a half-hour show in several five or
10 minute increments-a few minutes on the way to work or at morning
coffee break, another chunk at lunch time, and the rest of the show
later in the day."
Not sure how MediaFLO handles this. The only easy options are storage
locally in the handset, usable with broadcast schems, or unicast access,
not usable with broadcast schemes. I suppose a broadcast scheme could
transmit multiple streams of the same program, shifted slightly in time,
in a carousel. Is that what MediaFLO is doing?
Bert
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http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/73558
Speeding Ahead for Mobile Video
by Gary Arlen, 01.27.2009
Count on Rupert Murdoch's empire to hedge its bets, or more precisely to
be ready for whatever happens in the emerging "mobile video" world. Its
multiplatform pursuit reflects both the enthusiasm for transmitting
video to handheld devices and the potential for developing new sources
of video content for those portable receivers.
The frenzy of activity also reaffirms the uncertainty about which mobile
video platforms will survive and/or thrive.
Murdoch's MySpace online social network recently began allowing its
members to watch videos from the National Hockey League, National
Geographic, TMZ (the celebrity gossip site and TV show) and other video
suppliers via their mobile devices. In addition, MySpace users can now
see, on their handsets, the homemade videos from other members' pages.
GATEWAY TO THE INTERNET
While this MySpace initiative is unfolding, Fox Television-another
Murdoch enterprise-is supporting the Open Mobile Video Coalition, which
is accelerating its plans to use the digital TV broadcast spectrum to
beam TV shows to a handset. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas, OMVC demonstrations featured shows from Fox Broadcasting ("The
Simpsons," "American Idol," "24" plus local news and weather) and also
Fox cable news programs, including "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity and
Colmes" and "Fox & Friends."
In its multipronged assault on mobile video, Murdoch's News Corp., like
other media behemoths, is preparing for whatever the fickle mobile
audience wants to see-and how they want to watch it. And mobile is
certainly the way to go. As the Pew Internet and American Life Project
pointed out in a study released in December, by 2020 wireless devices
will be "the primary means of connecting to the Internet for most people
worldwide." Pew's "Future of the Internet III" study deemed that the
combination of portability and affordability will make the handset into
"the leading Internet gateway."
News Corp. and other media companies with broadcast and Internet stakes
are not alone in juggling mobile video opportunities. LG Electronics
recently unveiled a 60 Mbps chip for mobile smart phones that will
enable speeds up to eight times faster than today's connectivity. These
4G (fourth generation) microprocessors represent a great step toward the
100 Mbps speed that is planned for the "Long Term Evolution" technology
being planned by some mobile carriers (of course, LTE faces a
marketplace battle against WiMax, another 4G technology.)
ALTERNATIVES GALORE
The still image is from the Qubo Channel, a multiplatform entertainment
destination.
The mobile chip initiatives of LG, like those of Samsung (which is
currently backing WiMax) and others, add more evidence that suppliers
are staking claims in every sector of the mobile video world. The
hardware suppliers-in their familiar role as arms merchants, supplying
any and all providers of mobile content-are preparing for whatever
succeeds in the broadband wireless environment.
Meanwhile, other mobile video options are surfacing. Sling Media's new
version of its "SlingPlayer Mobile" service for BlackBerry allows
BlackBerry users who have connected their handset to their home set-top
box to access their premium home channels via their mobile devices over
a Wi-Fi or 3G wireless connection.
It is too early to declare any winners in the race for mobile video
dominance. The OMVC approach, targeted to reach the market by year's
end, may satisfy many viewers, but the Web-obsessed generation can just
as comfortably use handsets for video coming from other online
aggregators and portals. Such video delivery will exploit the
relationships that viewers have with MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and
countless other sites-relationships that may be far stronger than an
allegiance to TV broadcasters.
AN INCREASING DEMAND
OMVC's Executive Director Anne Schelle voices confidence that mobile
viewers will rely on familiar sources, such as their local broadcast TV
channels.
"We've done a lot of research that shows people want what they see at
home," Schelle said.
But she acknowledged that, "It's a little early to talk about aspects of
the programming."
One content attributes that the Web generation clearly adores is
ondemand access. OMVC is working on an on-demand capability, and Schelle
cites the "Electronic Service Guide" as a "very robust" tool that will
allow access to some "nonreal-time services." Specifics about those
broadcast features-and the business models-are still being developed.
OMVC members are also looking at feebased, as well as free mobile TV
offerings.
For now, OMVC's strongest point is the video quality that its technology
can deliver. Schelle describes the scalable video codec as "layered" to
provide "compelling high quality video." Again, that video quality
depends on the capabilities of mobile handsets as well as on the
broadcast stations' digital transmission and the source video material.
For viewers, Schelle's most important word may be "compelling." It is
unclear what will compel the fickle and as-yet barely tapped audience
who will watch video on a portable handset. Will they favor familiar TV
fare-including news and sports-or will they be more interested in the
short-form user-generated content of the Web?
NEW VIEWING STYLE EMERGES
From the lineup of content that OMVC partners demonstrated during CES,
broadcasters are ready to serve a smorgasbord of familiar shows: "Ugly
Betty," "Grey's Anatomy," "Saturday Night Live," "90210," Gossip Girl,"
"Squawk Box" and music performances plus local weather, news, sports and
traffic reports. Undoubtedly, soap operas and other broadcast fare will
be added to the roster.
Many of those video segments are available via networks' or stations'
Web sites. Portable smart phone users are already grabbing them when
they want. Some comparable material is available via QualComm's
MediaFLO, another competitor in the mobile video race.
One fascinating finding from early MediaFLO users may offer a clue about
early adopters' evolving viewing styles. Viewers create their own,
unexpected, ways to consume mobile video shows. MediaFLO found, somewhat
to its surprise, that customers tuned into shows in nonsequential
segments. For example, viewers watch a half-hour show in several five or
10 minute increments-a few minutes on the way to work or at morning
coffee break, another chunk at lunch time, and the rest of the show
later in the day.
That kind of customized viewing is great for an ultra-personal access
device, such as a mobile handset. However, its ramifications for
advertising, bandwidth optimization and other business purposes remain
to be considered.
All of this means that broadcasters-like other media purveyors and
hardware/software suppliers-have a lot to learn about how customers will
pick and choose, let alone embrace, the expanding options for mobile
video.
Gary Arlen is president of Arlen Communications Inc., a new media
research firm in Bethesda, Md. He can be reached at
GaryArlen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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