The Year of Mobile TV, Really?

I recently re-read the article "2007: The year of mobile TV" by Michal Lev-Ram of Business 2.0, which got me thinking about the phenomenon of "liberating the couch potato." Stemming from the number of announcements around mobile TV made during CES in January earlier this year and other technology innovations (e.g. DSL-like speeds on carrier networks, better video compression, etc.), 2007 is supposed to be the year of mobile TV. Now that the year is half over, is 2007 indeed the year for mobile TV?

Let me start out by saying that there are plenty of mobile TV solutions out there that can turn your mobile phone into a portal to your PVR or cable TV that gets pumped from your house. You can use MobiTV from Sprint to watch live TV via your phone without hardware at home. You can use Sling Media's Slingbox on Palm OS and Windows Mobile smartphones to watch your living room TV while out and about. If you are in certain parts of the world, you can use DVB-H solutions to watch live broadcasted digital mobile TV (much like a Casio 2" color TV circa 1985, but with digital clarity and with a subscription fee).

So now that we are 6+ months into 2007, what's the current situation? I have found that if you ask someone off the street if they want TV on their phone the response is "No" (most likely because either they don't understand it or they think it is an impractical application). However, if you ask that same person if they would like to watch their favorite TV show (e.g. NBC's Heroes, ESPN's SportsCenter, etc.) while they are waiting to pick up their kids or taking the train to work, the answer is much different.                           

So do people really want to be able to watch TV from their mobile device and is 2007 going to prove it? While we have seen a growth in the market, we will not know for sure for a few more years.

If you are one of those people out there who likes the idea of watching TV on your mobile device but don't use it or are sitting on the fence, what would it take to move the needle for you?

Matt Crowley - Product Manager   

                              

Comments

[noahas]

even better, Orb 2.0

www.orb.com

[AC]

For this poor Canadian smartphone user it's my wireless carrier's exorbitant data costs that keep me from downloading video onto my device.

If more smartphones come equipped with built-in WiFi it might force carriers in Canada (and the US?) to offer a compelling alternative over their own networks... Which would benefit EVERY consumer whether they're interested in mobile video or not.

[Joe]

What would it take to move the needle for me? A HSDPA PalmOS (or equivalent) Treo!

[tk421]

It's really a question of screen size. With a TX sized screen, watching video is quite pleasing. Bt with a small Treo screen? Not really.
I think that when smartphones start having larger screens (think iphone or TX), then you'll see this mobile TV thing really pick up.
It's really a question of culture as well as technology. Once bigger screen smartphones become more common and trendy, then people will really start enjoying video and mobile TV on their phones.
Personally, I buy Palm devices because they make for the best productivity devices out there. The simplicity and flexibility of the good ol' garnet cannot be beat, still nowadays. Other devices and OSes might have more bling, but as far as helping me make sense of my life, Palm OS is still king. So mobile TV is a nice addition, but the beautiful PIM and software of the Palm OS are what is making me come back to Palm.
Let me just say I love the Palm OS so much, I need a beautiful large 320x480 to really do it justice. Hopefully Palm is listening.

[Jonathan Fingas]

We need a few things for mobile TV to really click.

Larger screens are a must. Many people complain that the iPod's 2.5-inch screen is small, but many cellphones have screens that are scarcely larger (and often smaller). No matter how inexpensive it is, mobile TV is hard to watch through what feels like a porthole.

The other question is carrier (and sometimes device) lock-in. That's something you can't easily overcome at Palm, but it's important. Verizon makes it impractical to watch any TV other than their V CAST offerings because of their 'invisible' bandwidth cap. And there's no truly independent mobile TV network in the US, unless you don't mind the added expense of a Slingbox and hijacking one of your TVs.

Finally, the video quality has to be there without excessive cost for either the phone or the service. I'd like to see at least NTSC quality (640x480) live streaming without breaking the bank, even if it will usually be seen on a 320x240 phone. Ideally the performance will be enough that I can record unencrypted content to a microSD card (preferably microSDHC) so I can watch it later at home or on my phone at a later date.

[AndAl]

How can we enjoy watching TV on the so tiny Treo screen?
We need a TX with cellphone radio. When will you Palm give us the so waited TX with Cell radio?

I cannot imagine myself trading my TX by a Treo because of the tiny Treo screen. And simply adding a 320x480 screen o Treo is not the best choice because Treo dimensions are also to small. We need a new palm with the same TX dimensions and TX screen and cell radio!!!!!!

[Paul Golding]

Well, "the year of X,Y,Z" is always going to be hype. This is supposedly the year of Mobile Web 2.0 blah. I'm sure the same has been said about the PDA. You can tel me if it's year ever came. Depends on the definition I guess, which is always absent from the hype.

Asking the question "would you want X?" isn't usually useful. Having done this at the beginning of GSM, most people said "no." The same would have been true of the web no doubt. It is different when people are given something to use and then asked do they want to continue. In various trials of DVB-H, users are usually in favour of continuing the service, at the right price of course. The DVB-H experience is far superior to any unicast solution, so it might be worth keeping that in mind. Most users are still influenced by the streaming experience, which is hardly compelling.

My view is that Mobile TV, as in broadcast, is bound to be a success simply because it's a no-brainer to use, unlike the "mobile web" that is constantly being promoted as about to have its day (year?) Jakob Nielsen quite rightly demonstrated a while back that the "best" use of mobiles (besides the vastly useful talk/text that they're designed for) is "killing time". There's no better application to date than TV for doing this, so they seem made for each other.

[Carlos]

I own a SlingBox but use it mainly for music because I really do not have the oportunity to watch TV on my Treo 700p while on the go. When I do have the time, I'm relaxing some where and daytime TV isn't the greatest anyway. If on my PVR, I can wait to get home. I do remotely program my PVR if the need arises. I also prefer a larger screen for TV and rather wait for the opportunity.

In short, even though I am an avid TV watcher, I don't REALLY have the need to do so while away from a computer or TV.

[Brian]

Although watching TV shows and movies on a mobile is a fantastic technical feat, it isn't exactly pleasant. The screens are too damn small. (Even the Treo.)

One of the problems, I think, is that when I am on the go, it is easy to multitask audio and walking, etc. (Music, podcasts, etc.)

With video this is either impossible or dangerous.

What is ideal is something similar to mobitv combined with slingbox mobile that is controlling a Tivo pro. (The difference being is that you don't have to prerecord what you want to watch, it is in the service library).

Currently this doesn't exist for non-mobile either. So an ideal service would allow me to:

1) watch any show/movie I wanted (Huge selection will be key. Think video on demand, to the exponential power)
2) save state and resume watching later (either on mobile or at home).
3) Allow caching of content for disconnected use. (Without needing to tether to a PC). It would just do it transparently in the background TiVo style).
4) Have an easy to use interface
5) Affordable.
6) Fast interface, allowing me to switch between phone use and video use quickly.
7) Large screen. (Something similar in size to a pda screen, or iphone screen).
8) Multi-format accesibility to content. (Laptop/PC, phone, TV)
9) Ability to purchase on the go. (Via telephone bill, or prestored credit info).

Basically, what we are looking to do is combine the benefits of Tivo, slingbox, itunes video, video on demand, netflix and straight cable TV into a simple service that doesn't require any extra hardware.

Currently, I find the video quality on MobiTV unacceptable, and the costs of setting up a cable/slingbox/tivo setup too high, and too time consuming.

Downloading video to my phone is also too inconvenient.

-Brian

P.S. - Most of the time I have downtime for watching TV, I am out of cell range.
P.S.S. - Selling a cheap "Nick Jr." kids phone that can show Dora, Backyardigans, Diego, etc, would sell to parents as a mobile pacifier. (I'd buy one.)

[Gil Borman]

OK Palm, I have been using Palm devices for almost ten years, but you guys went over the top this weekend.

I Keep my phone in a special drybag when I sail.

I manged to capsize in shallow water and it took over an hour to get the mast unstuck and sail back. In all the huffing and puffing associated with the righting and rerigging the boat, the dry bag failed.

My palm was deader than dead. I drained it as best I could, set it on the counter and prayed.

Today the phone fired right up, all data saved!

I am simply amazed.

[bob]

Matt,
What would it take? A device and a network that actually works all the time with no errors or resets.

[Ryan Rix]

A Treo smartphone with a hires+ (320x480) screen would make veiwing TV on your smartphone much more fun. I rip DVDs to my PC and watch them on my T|X using TCPMP and I can say that a 320x480 view provides a much, much greater experience than the standard resolution. The screen on the T|X is also very vibrant, which also improves the experience.

[James]

What about being able to wactch the tv in my smartphone while I'm on the road, and also be able to "re-stream" it via Bluetooth to my Tv while I'm at home/hotel...

[shane]

I would like to have comedy shorts and a few tv shows. Seinfeld would be great. With hassle free delivery I think it could be a big market. However, the Treo screen is too small. I'm thinking about getting a T/X to replace my Treo 680 so I can have a larger screen and just bluetooth internet.

[roman]

I have sprintTV w/ my 755p (via kinoma) and the problem is w/ the network. It always stutters. Until the infrastructure is there for stutter free viewing, mobile TV will just be a joke.

Also, the caching has to be handled better, and this also means that the memory provided has to increase. Treo 755p is still at 128mb. Let's talk gigs Palm. Do your part. Your life drive was a flop, but let's do solid state memory for at least 2gbs. They aren't that expensive anymore.

Palm, I hope you get out the basement of the technological forefront.

You used to lead, now you lag.

[Edward Doan]

This is easy -- how about some time/place to watvh mobile videos? Much of the US population lives in suburbs and commutes to work on our nation's highways. Only a small percentage of people in large urban areas have public transportation systems good enough that they can go from door-to-door in a reasonable amount of time. It's this type of commuter to which I think mobile video can appeal. Otherwise, as a commuter who drives half an hour to work each way, I always have access to a "big" screen (TV, desktop PC, notebook PC).

[vixiane khambounheuang]

In have Treo755p from spint
the icon and web to small font size.
I cn't red,I need Xtra large for icon and web to I can red.