Yesterday, The New York Times published a piece about the phenomenon, how the services, and take up amongst consumers, vary around the world, and how the fight is still on to be the single standard of choice for mobile video.

Asia Leading The Way

At the moment, Japan is the world’s leader in direct mobile television, with over 20 million mobile phones thought to be equipped with television receivers, and capable of receiving signals.

South Korea is not too far behind, with 8.2 million mobile phones in use with the ability. Worldwide, the number of people who view mobile TV is estimated to be about 29.7 million, although this is expected to double by the end of 2008.

Asia may be leading the way, but Europe and America are gradually catching up.

AT&T Mobile

In the US, AT&T starting a mobile TV service just last week, and with 71.4 million current phone customers, it only needs a small percentage to take up the service to become a success.

The service has started with 10 channels on offer, which customers have to pay $15 a month to receive. One of the channels is Pix, which includes moves from Sony Pictures, so the content isn’t all bad.

Europe Catching Up

In Europe, Italy and Switzerland are leading the way. 40,000 Swiss watch a 100 second news bulletin on their mobile phones, while over the Alps in Italy, a million people pay heavy subscription fees for the privilege of watching mobile TV.

However well mobile television is currently doing, it needs a standard broadcasting system to emerge. At the moment, Europeans generally use DVB-H, while in the States, a rival standard called MediaFlo is currently used by AT&T and Verizon. Asia uses other standards again.

A Single Broadcasting Standard

Lars Felber, product marketing manager at Elgato said:

“It is fair to say that no single global standard has emerged as dominant yet. What appears to be emerging is a collection of different, complementary technologies.”

Mobile television has seen incredible growth in a short space of time, and is sure to carry on growing as the quality of content on offer, and choices of devices to watch it on improves.

PlayTV – PS3 with Digital TV in Europe

The first was PlayTV for the PS3. Essentially via a slightly ugly but easy to tuck away box that you use to link your PS3 to your signal receiver/cable etc, the PS3 will be able to display live TV from any of the hundreds of free digital channels available throughout Europe.

Not only that, but the service will come complete with its own interface which although slightly grey and austere, looks very intuitive and not altogether different from that of Sky+.

PlayTV also includes seven day scheduling so that you can check what is coming over the next while as well as support for HDTV as and when HD signals begin broadcasting on the continent.

PVR Functionality

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the service however is that it offers TiVo PVR like functionality. During the demo, one of the service’s chief architects, Mark Bunty, illustrated how easy it is to record programs for watching later.

This aspect of the service sports a full on library section (imaginatively titled Library) complete with video thumbnails to make finding what you have just recorded all the easier. Of course, no up-to-the-minute TiVo style device would be worth its weight in gigabytes (something the PS3 has 60 of) if it was unable to display live TV whilst recording from another channel and the PS3 is certainly capable of that.

SlingBox Type Placeshifting – PS3 to PSP

Now comes the broadband video stuff…

After wowing the crowd with this, Bunty went on to demonstrate how both live TV and recorded programs could be broadcast to a PSP via the PS3 using the remote play function.

What is particularly impressive about this aspect is that the PSP is not just a remote viewer for content controlled by a PS3, but can also browse through any of the available channels and saved videos. It is an elegant solution to on-the-move TV, as your PS3 is wired and has a constant signal so long as you have a solid wi-fi connection wherever you are, the PSP should maintain a steady live stream.

All very impressive stuff and it certainly propels the PS3 into WevTVWire’s realm. What will be interesting to observe is whether Sony opts to include on demand downloads such as movies and TV shows for the PS3.

PSP Video Calls

The PSP will also be able to perform video calls as part of its VoIP phone system. It will also have instant messaging and regular voice calls.

It will use the Go!Messenger wireless software. Sony is partnering with BT on this project and it will be launched in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy before extending its reach to over 100 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Anything PS3 Can Do, PSP Can Do Smaller

Wireless TV for PSP

Which brings us neatly around to what Sony has planned for the PSP in the TV stakes.

At the same press conference, Sony confirmed that it will be rolling out a wireless on-demand TV, movie, sports and news download service for the PSP in conjunction with Sky.

The service will be branded under Sony’s new line of Go! products and services for the device (Go! Messenger, Go! Cam and Go! Explore) which has not been given a definite name yet.

Users will be able to either download individual shows or movies for a single fee as well as subscribe to more long term packages for more sustained quantities of downloads. This is the first time Sky has ever licensed its technology over to a third party so aggressively which gives some indication of the magnitude of this deal.

Will it be on the PS3?

We’re gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps the PSP’s Go! branded video service will make its way over the PS3 in some form and might even be embedded in the PlayTV set-up as opposed to separately on the Playstation Network.

Either way these are exciting times for PS3 owners and that gigantic price tag is slowly starting to justify itself. So far all of these products and services have only been announced for the European market (arriving in 2008) but if they are successful, and there is a good chance that they will be, it is entirely likely that Sony will look for partners in the US and Eastern territories to launch similar services.

A PS3 IPTV service in the Pipeline for USA?

Have you noticed something here? The USA is being left out of many of these features including video calls, a TV service and PVR functionality.

I somehow don’t think that Sony has forgotton about its U.S. customers. Instead I think it may have an IPTV service up its sleeve.

There is no reason why the PS3 can’t do this – the technology is in place and it is something that the Xbox 360 will be doing.

Buzzwire Inc. today announced a beta preview of its streaming mobile media service, which lets users create their own customised program line-up and access it on their mobile phones anytime, anywhere.

Buzzwire.com includes audio and video feeds to cater for almost anybody bringing personalized content to suit every individual taste. Should they choose, users can organize, save and share their selections within minutes.

“Consumers are living mobile lifestyles and should have their media readily accessible on-the-go, whenever they want it. There is an amazing world of audio and video content available on the Web, and consumers can’t make sense of how to get it while mobile,” said Andrew MacFarlane, CEO of Buzzwire. “Now Buzzwire will provide a place where consumers can find, add and share audio and video feeds, including their own – with instant, hassle-free access on their mobile phones.“

Buzzwire so far offers more than 1,000 video feeds, 2,000 audio clips and 1,700 live Internet radio streams, with contributions ranging from the world’s biggest organisations to small independent content producers.

With a simple web interface and no need for a mobile client download, Buzzwire provides an uncluttered entry into the world of accessing the latest video anywhere, and with no subscription fees either – nice!

[Via PR Newswire]

British Telecom has announced that it is to trash its white label mobile television service after sole partner, Virgin Mobile, said it would cease to carry the service.

BT Movio launched less than a year ago in September 2006, but despite positive feedback from customers, BT admitted uptake had been lower than expected due to a lack of compatible phones on the market.

Just one handset, HTC’s so-called ‘Lobster Phone’, was available to Virgin subscribers wanting in on the venture.

Due to the service using the existing DAB multiplexes around the UK that were built solely for digital audio radio, ominously, The Register dubbed BT Movio an “impending disaster” at its launch.

Instead of the 400 kbps mobile video likely across Europe, BT Movio delivered terrestrial channels BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and E4 at just 70kbps, an almost unwatchable quality in comparison.

Thanks to a number of factors, BT’s plan to get a head start over rival services from the UK’s biggest mobile networks seems to have bombed. We imagine there’ll be quite a few red faces at BT HQ this evening, along with a warning that rushing in first to beat the competition isn’t always necessary the best option.

[Via Broadband TV News]

According to a recent report by ABI Research, IPTV over wireless broadband is an attractive offering for consumers and carriers – but there are many challenges to overcome to ensure it can be delivered effectively.

Whilst IPTV can currently be delivered to homes over wired connections, its bandwidth hungry nature means carriers are constantly scrambling to upgrade infrastructure. Adding to this cost, they have to connect homes (generally via coax cable) to the main cable running down the street.

This is where wireless is clearly advantageous: It’s more cost effective in reaching more consumers and there are no cabling issues to speak of. However, according to the research paper, conventional wireless technology simply wouldn’t cut it when it comes to high quality streaming media.

Is Wireless the way to go?

It’s not all bad news though – With the development of “smart wifi”, which improves on conventional wireless through some fancy engineering of the signal transmission, there’s a real possibility that wireless IPTV could be delivered to consumers with the same reliability and quality of service as wired connections.

It seems though that consumers don’t care how IPTV is delivered to them – as long as its affordable, high quality and they can see value in it. So it’s up to the carriers to do the sums and decide which is the more viable medium going forward – wired or wireless?

At the speed technology changes, and with the popularity of internet video, I feel it won’t be long until we find out.

[ABI Research report]

The SlingBox is a device that can rebroadcast anything on your TV, DVR etc., across your own private internet channel.

This basically means you can take your living room TV on the move whenever you have access to a PC, Mac, or Windows Mobile-based device where you can get a standard internet connection (3G Cellular, WiFi, USB, ethernet).

Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Compatibility

The SlingPlayer software is the “remote control” program that you use on your PC, Mac or cell phone to connect to your home television. The SlingPlayer Mobile software client is now compatible with Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile 6 operating system

In addition the new software release brings:

• New remote control skin with refreshed look and feel.
• Remote control functions for additional A/V devices incorporated.
• Inclusion of a localized UK client utilizing Queen’s English and appropriate channel logos.
• Automatic installer support broadened to include Windows Vista.

Useful Links

• Download SlingPlayer Software
• Buy a SlingBox from Amazon
• SlingBox Deals on eBay:

  Slingbox Pro HD SB200 100 US $180.00   0 Bid Auction Ends: 6h 5m Make it yours…

  Used Slingbox AV SB240 100 US $57.00   8 Bids Auction Ends: 9h 59m Make it yours…

Press Release

Sling Media Releases SlingPlayer Mobile Software Compatible with Microsoft Windows Mobile 6

New version of SlingPlayer Mobile supports all versions of Windows Mobile 6 allowing customers to watch and control their home TV via a Windows Mobile handheld computer or mobile phone

Foster City, CA — June 21, 2007 — Sling Media, a digital lifestyle products company, today announced that its award-winning SlingPlayer™ Mobile software client is now compatible with Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile 6 operating system. SlingPlayer Mobile gives Slingbox owners the ability to watch and control their home TV from a network-enabled Windows Mobile powered device. With today’s announcement SlingPlayer Mobile is now compatible with devices that run Windows Mobile 6 Standard and Professional editions, Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition. SlingPlayer Mobile is available for download from Sling Media’s U.S., Canadian, and UK web sites, which can all be accessed from www.slingmedia.com.

“Windows Mobile 6 is powering a whole slew of new, feature-rich multimedia smartphones, and Sling Media is happy to announce SlingPlayer Mobile support for this next generation mobile platform,” We look forward to continuing our support for Windows Mobile-based products, providing customers with the best possible mobile TV experience available.”

SlingPlayer Mobile is available for U.S. customers from Sling Media’s web siteat http://us.slingmedia.com/page/downloads.html. The retail price of the application is $29.99. SlingPlayer Mobile is available for Canadian customers at http://ca.slingmedia.com/page/downloads.html. The retail price is $34.99 CAD. SlingPlayer Mobile is available for UK customers at http://uk.slingmedia.com/page/downloads.html and can be purchased for £19.99 GBP, including VAT. A localized Japanese version will be available in the weeks to come from Sling Media’s web site. All versions of SlingPlayer Mobile include a 30 day free trial.

Customers who have already purchased SlingPlayer Mobile and are upgrading to Windows Mobile 6 need to request a new registration key from Sling Media after upgrading from Windows Mobile 5 to Windows Mobile 6. They can do so by contacting Sling Media customer care at http://support.slingmedia.com or by calling (877) 467-5464.

“Windows Mobile helps people stay connected to the information they care about whether they are traveling or staying close to home,” said John O’Rourke, general manager at Microsoft Corp. “New features in Windows Mobile 6 like support for wide screen viewing will offer SlingPlayer Mobile customers an enhanced mobile TV experience for viewing their favorite TV programs.”

Complete TV Experience
SlingPlayer Mobile gives consumers their entire home TV experience, including local channels, local sports teams, video on demand, pay per view, etc. Any program that you can watch on your sofa back home, you can now watch via a PC, Mac, or Windows Mobile-based device anywhere you can get a standard network connection (3G Cellular, WiFi, USB). In addition, SlingPlayer Mobile users can also control their home digital video recorder (DVR) to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward live TV, or even queue new recordings while on the road.

About Sling Media
Sling Media, Inc. is the world’s leading digital lifestyle company offering consumer services and products that are a natural extension of today’s digital way of life. Sling Media’s product family includes the internationally acclaimed, Emmy award-winning Slingbox™ that allows consumers to watch and control their living room television shows at any time, from any location, using PCs, Macs, PDAs, and smartphones. For more information on Sling Media or the Slingbox, visit www.slingmedia.com.

Media contact:
Brian Jaquet
Sling Media, Inc.
jaquet@slingmedia.com
(650) 293-8022 office
(415) 235-4844 mobile

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

At the event Celrun, an IPTV Set Top Box manufacturer, along with Metalink Ltd, a leading provider of high performance wireless and wireline broadband communication silicon solutions, launched a wireless HD IPTV Set Top Box.

Celrun’s new set-top box is designed to deliver HD IPTV over Wireless LAN. The wireless delivery of HD video streams is enabled by Metalink’s 802.11n WLANPlus.

Metalink has already worked with Samsung on a HD IPTV Set TOP Box that it announced in March.

AT&T is very keen on reaching all three screens: the TV, PC and mobile devices. AT&T already has a web TV service for the PC called AT&T Broadband TV, the IPTV packages AT&T Homezone and U-Verse and high speed internet and telephone services.

AT&T recently announced that MobiTV would power the broadband TV/PC service called AT&T Broadband TV. The service now features about 25 channels of news, sports, and entertainment content and is continuing to grow.

MobiTV recently made headlines for securing $100 million in investment. This new deal continues to strengthen the relationship between MobiTV and AT&T.

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