Streaming Media - 2008 Industry Sourcebook - (Page 43) before, the lines are blurring between our computers and our mobile devices. If I can watch content for free on my computer, then I want to be able to watch it for free on my mobile phone. Consumers saw free or ad-supported content online and expected it on their phones. Wireless carriers saw another revenue source and not a value-added service. Verizon, Sprint, and others charged a monthly fee for adding the ability to watch TV, YouTube, and other content on mobile phones. With the iPhone, AT&T (and I am sure others will follow) provided a flat data package that let you watch as many YouTube videos and other online content as you wanted. This war will continue in 2008, and the consumer is not the winner in this one. The other reason the wireless carriers lost out in 2007 was their resistance to third-party integration and applications with their devices. I understand the reason they are resisting these changes—they will lose money. But they need to look at their long-term strategies and see how they can ultimately make mobile video a reality for their customers. Verizon got into a bout with Sling Media over the company’s mobile software, which lets users watch prerecorded SlingBox videos on their mobile devices. Most wireless carriers engage in the locking down of their phones so that they can allow only their own content on these devices, but this is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. 2007 was just the tip of the iceberg in the fight between consumers who want to watch their content and the wireless companies who want to lock it down. Honorable Mentions MTV MOBILE—BEST CONTENT FROM A NETWORK Let’s face it, the big networks are slow, and it is hard to compete with overnight startups that are changing the video space on a daily basis. But one major network has been able to hang with the changes and even innovate in the mobile video space. MTV Mobile (www.mtv.com/mobile) has been partnering with multiple carriers and devices to serve up their TV shows such as Pimp My Ride and music videos for several years now. At the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2007, most of the voting for videos was done via mobile devices, and participants got exclusive video clips and content they couldn’t get anywhere else. Keep on kicking it new school, MTV. I am sure we will see more from these guys in 2008. QIK.COM AND KYTE.TV—BEST LIVE VIDEO FROM A MOBILE PHONE (TIE) 2007 saw the birth of live video from a mobile phone in a format that’s easy to use and easy to share. Both Qik.com and Kyte.tv allow you to send live video from your mobile phone to an online audience. With higher-quality cameras and better data transfer, we got to watch events as they were actually happening. Users are flocking to this new form of content creation, and we can only expect this trend to grow in 2008. What Did We Learn? 2007 was truly the first year that mobile video became a reality. Great devices allowed for the capture and recording of higher-quality video that could be shared online instantly or saved for later. With the advent of the first truly viable widescreen devices, we saw consumers using their phones to watch full-length movies and videos. Content providers tapped into network television, movie studios, and user-generated content to provide our first real taste of variety in mobile video. As our phones became more like our computers, the possibilities expanded. This will allow for even more growth in 2008. The power in mobile video is strongly in the corner of the consumer. Wireless carriers, content providers, and device manufacturers need to be fully aware that their customers can now create, edit, upload, share, watch, and buy videos all from their phones. The winners in 2008 will give their customers what they want. bio Jose Castillo went through a Samsung-A920, Treo 700, Samsung UpStage, and Apple iPhone in 2007. His collection of chargers, cases, and adapters is on display at his home office in Johnson City, Tenn. He can be reached at www.thinkjose.com, via email jose@thinkjose.com, or on his mobile number (which has not changed), (423) 943-5262. Comments? Contact us at letters@streamingmedia.com, or check the masthead for other ways to contact us. WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM 43 http://www.dveo.com http://www.mtv.com/mobile http://KYTE.TV http://www.QIK.COM http://www.Qik.com http://Kyte.tv http://www.dveo.com http://www.thinkjose.com http://WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.