I have recently worked on Mobile TV under Symbian 9.2 for Philips. It’s an interesting area with competing technologies and no-one really knowing whether consumers will really take it up. However, if they do, it’s likely to be popular.  I have a growing list of links if your want to see the current situation.

I am working with DVB-H which is much like a mobile version of freeview in the UK. i.e. It doesn’t use the existing 3G network to receive channels. Instead, information is received in much the same way as conventional television.

Whatever Mobile TV standard prevails, it should eventually provide viewer interaction (via the 3G network), PVR functionality and electronic programme guide (EPG) functions which are already common in the home. As I have said before, I believe mobile applications should add something extra or provide access to timely information in order to compete with existing technology (in the home) which is usually easier and cheaper to use.

For me, one key differentiator for mobile TV is the capability to quickly receive (large) media files or applications in addition to the TV broadcast - in the case of DVB-H even without using the GSM/3G connection. This means that TV programs can provide, for example, extra audio or video clips. Imagine a ‘Handango’ channel where you could download a new application. Imagine a music channel where you could download the actual tune for playing on your phone. Imagine a travel channel with an application to re-route your car or train journey. I am not saying any of these things will happen - just the kind of things that are possible. In fact, they are possible today to a limited extent, via WAP, but it’s far too clumsy, unattractive, costly and slow.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 4th, 2006 at 10:27 pm and is filed under Mobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.