Mobile video about to explode

[Brian]

Who says mobile video isn't ready for prime time? According to a BusinessWeek Online article titled The Coming Mobile-Video Deluge, the number of mobile video users in the U.S. will grow to 20 Million by the end of 2007, up from less than 1 Million users today. The explosion will come on cell phones and smartphones like the Treo 650 using services like MobiTV, which provides mobile TV services to Sprint Nextel and Cingular Wireless.

If you didn't get a chance to see Jeff Hawkins' presentation at the Palm Analyst Day a couple of weeks ago, here are two quotes about mobile content and video:

"I have four full length, high quality movies on my Treo. If you haven't seen it you'll be blown away, I'll be glad to show it to you later. It's an amazing experience, I would have never thought it, but it's incredible. People are going to watch movies on these things."

"Downloading media and streaming media are two applications which really cry out for a small device, one that you've got with you. You don't really want to stream it to your desktop, you want to stream it to the thing right in front of your face."

While watching a video on a small screen isn't exactly an optimal cinematic experience, the ability to view video content instantly, anytime, and anywhere will be the driving force behind mobile video in your pocket. It's all about mobility.

Related: MobiTV to offer live TV on Treo phones

[via MoCoNews]

[derekweb]

I definitely agree on your last statement, Brian.

While watching a video on a small screen isn't exactly an optimal cinematic experience, the ability to view video content instantly, anytime, and anywhere will be the driving force behind mobile video in your pocket. It's all about mobility.

It's about being able to take it with you on the fly, but having the option later for the REAL, *BIG* deal back home or in the theator.

[Colin Dunstan]

In various European cities (e.g. Berlin) they are already test-driving Digital Video Broadcasting for Handheld (DVB-H), which is to be adopted as the standard in Europe for mobile TV services. First hand reports have been exceptionally good (, and I can perfectly imagine how this is going to be the next mobile "killer application". The small screen could probably mean that in future people will watch TV when the need arises, but it's less likely they'll be hypnotized.

[Pride Of Lions]

Mobile video is REALLY going to take off now with the video iPod. People are going to prefer to download content over converting their own. If you want in, now's the time.

[Brian]

Julie Ask at Jupiter Research mentions MobiTV on the new T|X and Treo here:

I've watched MobiTV on a Treo recently, and I think it looks great even over a cellular network. When I watched it a year ago, I was pretty disappointed by the experience - but not today.

Originally Posted by Pride Of Lions

Mobile video is REALLY going to take off now with the video iPod. People are going to prefer to download content over converting their own. If you want in, now's the time.

Converting is way too cumbersome for the masses, not to mention the legal issues thanks to the DMCA. I've already downloaded an episode of Lost from the iTMS and I'm watching it using my Powerbook hooked up to my 46" DLP. It's better than I expected considering the 320X240 QVGA resolution on a HDTV than can do 1080i and 720p, and it looked OK in a 320X240 window on the Powerbook, so it must look stunning on the new iPod's screen.