According to a study conducted by Ericsson and CNN, 34% of respondents ranked TV as the most in-demand application for their phones. About 44% said they are ready to adopt mobile TV in the next two years. I guess it’s time mobile operators start giving consumers what they want. Some of the current mobile TV applications out now–MobiTV, Sprint and Verizon’s VCast–leave a lot to be desired.
On my Sprint Mogul phone, I can’t receive Sprint TV at all, which is a crying shame. The Mogul is a Windows Mobile-based smartphone with EVDO and Wi-Fi connectivity. It’s an expensive phone with lots of advanced features. Yet I can’t get Sprint TV on it. Can someone please explain why this is the case? Fortunately, I can tune into videos on the mobile version of YouTube. But even then, I can’t watch just any video–they have to be popular, featured YouTube videos since they have to be converted from YouTube’s Flash-based video into something that can be viewed on my mobile phone.
I would definitely watch more TV on my phone if it was offered. Right now, my best bet is to download video onto my phone manually, store it on my phone and watch it later. That’s a slow, tedious process, when I should be able to watch streaming mobile TV right now.
Anyway, the report also said that 24% of current mobile TV users watch content daily with around half (52%) tuning in on a weekly basis. The most popular type of video was news (77%) followed by scheduled television at 48%. Among other findings were that 57% of consumers use mobile photo to send and receive images on a monthly basis, making it the most popular activity.
Technorati Tags: Ericsson, CNN, mobile TV, mobile video, Sprint TV, Sprint, Sprint Mogul, EVDO, MobiTV, YouTube, VCast
Popularity: 26% [?]
Mobile TV is on the uprise, for sure. Mobile users are starting as young as 13 years old these days and are literally attached at the hip, it seems. The mobile is becoming an essential necessity of every day life as making sure you’ve got your wallet in your purse or jacket pocket. So it’s definitely more reason to bring features such as TV to the hand-held device.
I have not experience youtube on the mobile before, but from your description, it seems there are some kinks that need to be addressed to give users more ability to see what they want, while on-the-go.
If this is what you seek, then I’d highly recommend checking out Kyte.TV! It’s both web-based and mobile-based. Whether you have a compatible mobile to acquire the application that can be used on your mobile, or if you have web access on your mobile, you can view videos, photo slideshows, and more, on Kyte. Furthermore, you can create your own channel and produce multiple shows on that channel [just like a TV]. Say for instance your friend is on vacation and you want to check out his latest videos while on the trip? Simply search for his channel and you’re ready to start watching the shows. Leave a message on his channel and he can instantly get back to you; a conversation on-the-go [just like using an instant messenger application, but the channel and this feature are all-in-one!].
Personally, I use Kyte.TV for video blogging and creating photo slideshows of my times with friends and family. When I see something while out and about, it’s great to be able to bust out my mobile, create a show featuring this moment, and be able to share the experience with others — instantly!
So if that’s what you seek, then from one mobile tv desirer to another… I’d recommend checking out Kyte.TV
http://kyte.tv
Comment by jwong — February 22, 2008 @ 4:09 pm