Content Providers
Content Providers

Content Providers

Media Companies Take Wireless Route to Consumers

Time Warner Inc. and Walt Disney Co. already ply their wares in cinemas, on television and over the Internet. Now they’re reaching into the mobile phone in your pocket. Some phones can already display pictures and replay video clips, but as networks get faster, it will be possible to watch live newscasts or even a whole movie on wireless gadgets. “The opportunity would be based on an ability to provide a very targeted service to a very targeted customer base,” said Steve Wadsworth, president of Disney’s Internet Group. Disney’s Wadsworth said its wireless business is already profitable in markets where it is well established. Disney first started selling mobile content in 2000 via a partnership with Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc.

Image Delivery to a Babel of Handsets

Image Delivery to a Babel of HandsetsMobile image solution developer i-Broadcast appears to have the right profile – over 250 of them in fact. The company’s server engine can recognize the onboard hardware & software profile of specific cell phones and deliver correctly formatted video and image content. On the celly end, a small Java applet displays the content thus avoiding the need for manually creating device-specific files. Why does this matter? Consider that Japan alone boasts over 250 types of mobile phones, and each needs a slightly different version of any given content. Looking to stream video to mobile as 3G takes off in Europe and Asia in 2004? Then you’ll need something like i-Broadcast’s solution. Full Program Run-time 9:40

Mobile Contents for China

UNISK, formed by SK Telecom and China Unicom, is China’s first joint venture telecom service provider that operates with both foreign and national companies. Their pilot service launched on March 13th, one month later, it had obtained about 40 thousand subscribers for the monthly flat rate. The UNISK wireless Internet portal service is offering approximately 2,700 types of content, in five categories, in China.

Mobile TV Solution Coming?

On top of launching full-scale digital-satellite-to-mobile-terminal broadcasting services on July 1, Mobile Broadcasting Corp. (MBCO) and its main technology backer Toshiba Corp. are making a strong, and they believe attractive, push to generate digital broadcasting revenue streams for Japan’s wireless carriers in April 2006 when DoCoMo, KDDI, and perhaps Vodafone K.K. will unleash mobiles with digital TV tuners on them. Talking to Shigekazu Hori, vice president and general manger of Toshiba Corp.’s Network Services & Contents Control Center last week, the planets could finally be aligning for a tailor-made revenue model that will finally convince Japan’s carriers to equip mobile phones with television. And, of course, as mentioned by DoCoMo’s Keiji Tachikawa last week, the fact that MPEG-4 standards have been settled and H.264 is coming doesn’t hurt either.

G-mode goes Java for Games in Indonesia

G-mode has signed a licensing agreement with inTouch Wireless Services of Singapore, and begun providing subscribers of PT Telekomunikasi Selular Indonesia, the leading GSM provider in Indonesia, with Java-enabled cellphone game titles. The GSM provider had 10 million subscribers as of February 2004. The number of mobile phone users in Indonesia is estimated at about 18 million, and is expected to reach 24-27 million by year-end.

Disney Mobile Content for Vodafone live!

Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) announced a global distribution agreement with Vodafone to provide Disney Mobile services to Vodafone live! customers in the following markets: Australia; Egypt; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Malta; The Netherlands; New Zealand; Portugal; Spain; Sweden and Switzerland. WDIG and Vodafone’s relationship began in October 2001 with the launch of the Disney Mobile service on J-Phone (now Vodafone K.K) in Japan.