Streaming Media - 2008 Industry Sourcebook - (Page 40) industry update Winners: Devices APPLE IPHONE—BEST FOR MOVIES SAMSUNG UPSTAGE SPH-M620—BEST FOR TV The most talked-about device of 2007 was Apple’s iPhone. With buzz beginning even before the announcement at Macworld in January 2007, this device was a clear winner for consuming mobile video. One of the consistent barriers to watching video on mobile devices is the small screen size. With a 3.5” (diagonal) widescreen, the iPhone has enough screen real estate to show videos at 480x320 resolution. With this phone you can watch full-length movies and not have to worry about your eyeballs bugging out. Double tap on the screen and enjoy a full widescreen experience. Those long plane rides went by a lot faster, and I didn’t have to open my laptop to enjoy The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Another winning feature for mobile video is iTunes integration, which allows for supersmooth content import. Any media you purchased through iTunes easily can be synced to your iPhone. Support for .m4v, .mov, and .mp4 formats allows other content to be Apple iPhone With a 3.5” (diagonal) widescreen, the iPhone overcomes one of the consistent barriers to mobile video—screen size—with enough real estate to show videos at 480x320 resolution. As a Sprint Ambassador blogger, I received an UpStage phone to try for 6 months. Apart from some usability issues, I really enjoyed watching live TV on this mobile device. Sprint TV, in partnership with MobiTV, delivered some of the best traditional TV content on a mobile device. With just a few clicks I was watching live news, episodes of ABC’s Lost, and even serial web content. The amount of content was impressive, and they had split their offerings in to packages similar to the tiered levels of cable programming. As part of the Sprint Ambassador program, I had access to all the programming content free of charge, and even after enjoying the ability to watch live news and mobile episodic content, I don’t think I would pay an additional $15 a month for that privilege. Where this device really shone was in delivery of live television programming. I could watch FOX News Live and then flip over to clips from favorite shows. Even with half a signal I could still get a good streaming signal and watch pretty clear content. This is one of the first times I could be in a waiting room, pull out a mobile device, and watch TV. There was limited access to full-length content, but the live channels had a nice assortment of programming covering entertainment, technology, and news. The 176x220 screen was bright and decent for most TV or video content in a 3:4 aspect ratio. Navigating the menus was annoying, and there was a weird multi-use touch button that took some getting used to. Overall, though, it was the best live television experience I have had on a mobile phone. NOKIA N95—BEST FOR RECORDING If the iPhone is one of the best devices for watching video, then the N95 is one of the best mobile devices for capturing video. Several of Nokia N95 With the ability to record 30fps videos at 640x480 resolution, the Nokia N95 is to mobile-device video recording what the iPhone is to mobile video playback. moved onto the device fairly easily. I realize 8GB will only hold so many videos, but we can’t forget that this is a phone. The last mobile video feature that pushes this device over the top is the YouTube channel. Yes, you can watch videos through the Safari browser, but only if they are in one of the supported formats—no Flash Video here! While this is a major flaw, Apple makes up for it by having a whole application devoted to YouTube videos. You really need to have a strong cell signal or be on a wireless network to enjoy the videos in a timely fashion, but I’ve rarely found myself unable to access the channel. As YouTube has made the switch to H.264 encoding for all of its videos, this allows you to see flying cats, flipping skateboarders, and flopping candidates in all their glory. Thanks to Apple, YouTube, and Google, I can now waste time (er, do video research) much more efficiently. 40 STREAMING MEDIA INDUSTRY SOURCEBOOK 2008
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