Coming to a small screen...
Network operators are doing some serious naval-gazing, working out just how to recoup the huge investments in 2.5 and 3G networks. They are busying themselves drawing up business plans for a whole new raft of products and services that customers will actually want to pay for. In many cases they have bet their shirts on mobile streaming becoming the cash-cow to get them back in clover.
They need a lucky break - 2 and 2.5G have thus far been disappointing for both operators and customers. If the latest surveys are to be believed, more customers are abandoning WAP than are actually using it and with no-one realising just how much of an impact it would have, SMS has turned into something of a savage pet and bit the industry right where it hurts.
Even WAP 2.0 with its enhanced browser may not be enough. What's needed are compelling business and consumer applications to ensure customer spending. Mobile streaming may well provide the answer, but what's on offer and how soon will services be commercially available.
The real question everyone wants to know is when can users expect to see movies on their mobile phones? RealNetworks, Nokia and Microsoft have been quick to respond by releasing Windows Media Player for the pocket PC and even broadcast a Pocket PC only stream at 8kbps of the live Madonna concert last November. Released in January, Firepad's FireProducer is the first video streaming server for the Palm operating system and claims to play up to 25 frames per second.
Mobile streaming is possible today but the bandwidth restrictions and slow data transfer speeds offered by GSM result in a somewhat disappointing experience for users.
The ‘killer-enabler’ for broadcast quality mobile streaming is predicted to be 3G, UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), which is part of the International Telecommunications Union's vision of third generation mobile communications systems. UMTS offers predicted data rates at up to 2Mbps and the potential of global roaming, it will be UMTS that will speed convergence between telecommunications, IT, media and content industries to deliver new services and create fresh revenue streams for operators. But 3G is not expected to be commercially available until Q4, 2002, and will blatantly not immediately fulfil the above criteria.
Until then, 2.5G networks like GPRS, now commercially available in the UK, herald a revolution in themselves. A new generation of multimedia devices and applications is planned for the Autumn. This will include mobile phones with colour screens and PDAs enabled with video streaming.
GPRS is a packet-switched service for GSM, the primary purpose of which is to maximise investment in the network whilst enabling a seamless transition to 3G. GPRS is an "always on/always connected" technology through which operators are implementing various charging models to suit the needs of different users. A basic service starts at £3.40 per month (Vodafone) plus 2 pence for every 1kbit of data transferred (equal to one WAP page). BT Cellnet's monthly charges start at £3.99 for the basic package, with no bundled data allowance and 2 pence per kb of data transferred.
To achieve broadcast quality mobile streaming, it is impossible using GPRS. Bandwidth and data rates are inadequate to facilitate continuous high-quality, full-motion video. Fine if the network is not busy and there's plenty of bandwidth available, but implementation of a commercially viable service for a large number of users would soon bring the network to it knees. Mobile is not a broadcasting arena, handhelds are narrow-casting devices.
Software vendors like RealNetworks and NewsTakes have pioneered a solution to deliver a high-quality, video steaming experience on wireless networks and to any device. Sure Streaming is a method of bandwidth maximisation for wireless. What the user gets is high-quality continuous audio sound (audio takes up less bandwidth so is easier to stream) together with synchronised continuous video (where bandwidth is available), which is encoded at different bit rates so that connection is continuous but with a reduction in frame rate. Frame rate drops to a slide show of highlights with continuous audio when bandwidth is constrained. Even with this reduction in frame rate most users would find the experience compelling.
ITN is trialing NewsTakes system to deliver live and archived news footage to GPRS wireless devices, a service it expects to launch thisAutumn.
The device obviously plays a crucial role in the delivery of mobile streaming. The industry is in the throes of a shake out -- Ericsson and Psion are the most recent device manufacturing drop-outs, and it's a fair bet there will be more globally.
But there is still a huge market for devices. A survey by Gartner recently predicted that by 2007, more than 60% of the European Union and US population (between the ages of 15 and 50) will be carrying or wearing a wireless device for at least six hours a day, increasing to 75% by 2010.
Mobile phone manufacturers seem to favour Java as a technology backbone for products and applications because it's an open technology. Microsoft, on the other hand, seeking world domination, wants its platform to become standard. Sun's Tempest-Mitchell says: "We see the device as the client whereas Microsoft views it as something to sink to." The war will continue to rage and it is difficult to predict at this stage who will win.
Everyone agrees that to ensure the success of mobile streaming the industry must come up with marketable packages including compelling content, delivered to functional and easy to use devices. No-one seems to have a clear vision of how this will be achieved nor a forward strategy, there is only speculation. But, says Paul Tempest-Mitchell from Sun Microsystems, without adequate market research operators have no idea where the revenues will come from: ‘It's only just recently that subscribers have been willing to pay to view sports events on television. There's no knowing how much of their disposable income they will be willing to spend viewing sports highlights on a mobile. We need to know this and then ask where would they spend it -- £10 per month to watch football highlights, viewed on the mobile or £10 a month to BskyB to watch the whole match?’
Tempest-Mitchell and others view the introduction of mobile streaming as an opportunity for further market segmentation. For example, business users on the move who want access to IP services, sports enthusiasts wishing to be kept up-to-date with results and sporting highlights and the youth market, wanting entertainment and gaming facilities.
Sport will be one of the biggest drivers of 3G mobile services, including mobile streaming. As Lee Joseph from RealNetworks points out: "Not everyone is going to want to watch a two and a half hour movie on a tiny PDA over a 100mb connection. But a travelling businessman, who's also a football enthusiast will want access to football highlights and will be willing to pay for that."
Video requires substantially more bandwidth than stills or raw data, and because of this, mobile streaming is set to be an expensive pastime unless the industry can come up with ways of reducing the costs to the user. M-commerce could pave the way for services like gambling, which may help to reduce the costs to people who want mobile streaming of sports events. Horse racing, for example, where the actual race is short in duration, could be subsidised by betting organisations such as the TOTE, which would offer a system of betting using mobile phone. BskyB offers a similar system across its digital TV network, which has proved hugely popular.
For the youth market the prospect of gaming via the mobile network is an exciting one. At the moment GSM has latency problems, which means it is hard to offer anything like the gaming experience enjoyed by internet users via PCs. As Richard Hubble from Exact Software says: 'The GSM network is just not responsive enough. Because there is more bandwidth available in 3G networks, latency is not an issue and gaming is then possible.' But Hubble also points out that operators will not recoup their investment in gaming by charging a flat rate fee, but through content-based or per event charges.
The potential problem here is that gaming is primarily aimed at the Youth market, not known for their diligence when it comes to keeping tabs on mobile phone usage. Invariably it's parents who will foot the bill.
News is another main driver for 3G services and information. Alongside ITN, other news organisations are planning live and archived news services streamed to PDAs. Some tourist boards around the globe are offering promotional information in the form of streamed video clips of resorts, hotels and places of local interest to tempt visitors.
Many mobile users will also be excited about a future where Big Brother highlights can be streamed to their mobile phones.
Meanwhile, Virgin Radio has teamed up with RealNetworks to provide commercial content for the RealPlayer Mobile on the Nokia 9210 and other Symbian OS-based mobile handsets. The service promises three exclusive interviews for users from the Stereophonics, James and Wheatus. Virgin Radio will also be providing RealNetworks with music content maximised for the mobile network daily, alongside news, views, interviews and competitions. The service will be available later this year. (http://www.real.com/player/mobile)
3G has suffered several set-backs recently, not least of which has been BT's decision to slow down trials on the Isle of Man, which was the most advanced trial of 3G in the world and set to become the first commercially available service. The Isle of Man Government awarded a licence to Manx Telecom in April 1999 and BT Wireless is hoping that the trials will provide a blueprint for the technology that will be deployed throughout Europe within the next two or three years. On 28 June, the company apparently made its first public 3G video call over the network using NEC's palm-sized Image Viewer Terminals (IVTs) connected to a 3G handset.
The Nokia 9210 is now available through retail outlets in the UK and is being heavily advertised on network television. It declares itself a world-first, an integrated mobile multimedia device and it is certainly stylish with many improvements on its predecessor but priced at over £1,000 it comes at a premium and is not classed as a mass-market product.
The 9210 has a high-resolution, colour display and comes with a suite of office products pre-installed. It's pocket-sized but with a full keyboard. It has been designed around productivity and is aimed at the business user using office applications. Java support and the Symbian operating system, which brings open development interfaces to the device will make it more appealing to the enterprise market.
Mitsubishi is addressing the multimedia market with its Trium range of products including Eclipse, Sirius and Mondo. Eclipse, which is expected to ship late summer, is a GPRS mobile phone offering a 256 colour display (120x143 dots). The Mondo is a GSM/GPRS phone enabled pocket PC designed for multimedia use, including mobile streaming. It includes a full suite of Microsoft Pocket PC software including Media Player (for listening to MP3 files) and Microsoft Reader for digesting eBooks. The Trium Mondo is expected to be priced at around £350 (subject to contract).
In the world of mobile streaming we do indeed live in exciting times. Never again will users miss their son's league football match or daughter's school play because of an evening flight to Geneva. All they need do is send their partner with a digital video camera and they can watch the action live on their PDA or mobile phone.
For singles everywhere, having to endure the embarrassment of the dating agency will be a thing of the past once they can view streamed video clips of potential love matches via a mobile phone.
And Ryan Giggs fans the world over will be able to watch archived footage of ‘that goal’ until they go cross-eyed. However, as the industry looks forward to a bright new, streamed future, the advice is exercise a little patience, there's still a long way to go.
Interested in this topic? Check out the Streaming Media Europe 2001 Wireless conference track!