With the rise and rise in YouTube video, is another nail knocked in the coffin of the digital mobile TV? With the Nokia N92 that never arrived and with the N77 still yet to put in an appearance in most countries, what does the future hold for phone-borne video? What will be the limiting factors and which technology will dominate? Some Friday musings below, comments welcome!
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Well, from my very own point of view I think that Mobile TV as in DVB-h is something that has a narrow window of oportunity.
As you say you tube is gaining more and more power, and mobiles are getting players and codcs to watch divx programs, movies, the whole show.
When I think "When would I be able or wanting to see tv in my device" The question is only one: Only if it was something live like a football match that for some reason I couldn't see on regular tv. Last week for instance i was working when Portugal was playing against Cazaquistan and that would be a terrific oportunity to see Mobile tv worthing while.
Apart from this, I rather load up my phone with some Prison Break episodes and watch it when I can. Waiting for the bus... when i go to the toilet.. That kind of things. A bit like gaming.
Because if I'm at home, I'll watch propper tv. And if I'm out, I'll probably be with friends, or just enjoying the walk, it won't be necessarily to watch tv outside for the sake of it.
Mobile Tv could also work if they could deliver in a fast way episodes of good shows, movies or other programs you might wanna see.
Maybe I'm wrong, and I possibly am, but I see no big future for something that will take a couple of years yet to come through. And in those couple of years many many things will change.
mention slingbox which works now on any symbian S60 smartphone. I have it and it allows you to want all channels you have at home, not only those orange tv will get to you. You can also remotely manipulate your digital recorder, and see the program later at your convenience. I think this is currently the best option if you want real tv on your handset.
well both n77 and n92 are available here in india and they also stream some local channels 😃
Both phones are available also here in Bulgaria where there won't be any DVB-H license for a long long time.
If streamed video with good video (~400kbit/s minimum for QVGA) quality is to be adopted by masses in the mobile environment, DVB-H is the only way it can work. With cellular / WiFi unicast there will always be a question mark whether one more user can start the stream.
With DVB-H you have always-on, over 10Mbit/s quaranteed transfer rate to every device in the coverage area.
The best alternative is to combine the two: unicast services are for the limitless content selection through limited bandwidth while boradcast networks like DVB-H deliver the content large masses want to consume at the same time like news, live sporting events, business media and so forth.
DVB-H Simply doesnt have the available bandwidth and certainly in the Uk wont have the available bandwidth for a good few years so talk of it is pretty ridiculous at this point. But yes DVB-H is great technology and works well. At least if mobile companies went with DMB (where video bandwidth is available because of the ay it works) we would have mobile TV even in 2008. Nokia is backing DVB-H and Samsung DMB.
I sling quite a bit now the new player is finally out. Allows me to watch several hundred channels, anything I've recorded or On-Demand.
well i am certain, that there is a new trend going to come up real soon and for some people like me has already started.
although i am no technology freak, when i discovered the kyte.tv application for my cellphone, i was just delightet with the possibilities it offers me.
appart from being able to watch posted clips, as on any tv-channel, i can also write blogs and produce slideshows from wherever i am.
the great thing is, i can also invite my friends to have a chat about what i am just filming and it works with just about any mobile phone.
but i think interactivity is a keyword here.
my kytechannel is also integrated into my website, so people who drop by can watch my clips and slideshows.
i am just realy excited about this possibility and to me, the interacting bit is essential !
There will allways be a market for VoD content streamed to mobiles. And if that content can be streamed in high quality over existing networks without need for new infrastructure, the commercial model for streamed VoD mobile TV is excellent.
you can download youtube videos on to your mobile:
go to vixy.net (dont get the name either)
paste your youtube video link on to the box
and selet, convert *.3gp for mobile(mpeg4 + aac) from the drop down
them select 'start' .
you then wait for it to convert, takes afew minutes
it has a progress bar(with file size). the click the link to download the video.
*points*
your not downloading anything apart from when you download the video and when you browse the site.
the easiest way i found tho get the youtube links was to click on the 'share' button on the youtube vid's page and the click 'email video' then copy from there.
tested on n95