Video streaming gets ready to deliver: streaming multimedia to the wireless device is more promising than it may appear

America's Network, July 15, 2004 by Joan Engebretson

Now that more wireless networks can support higher-speed data connectivity, operators have begun to dabble with streaming multimedia to the wireless phone. To some, these initial offerings may be disappointing. With maximum speeds of just a few frames per second, video offerings are jerky. Rather than attempting to simulate motion, some content providers have instead opted to deliver the equivalent of a narrated slide show.

But apparently, a nation of couch potatoes is so eager to get its fix that it will put up with the challenges involved in getting it while on the run. Talk to anyone involved in providing these services and you'll encounter an enthusiasm reminiscent of the earliest days of the Internet.

"The product is wildly successful. People love it, and we get really positive feedback on it," says Paul Scanlan, vice president of marketing and sales for Idetic, the developer of MobiTV, which converts content from MSNBC, ABC, Fox, the Discovery Channel, and other sources for delivery to users of Sprint's PCS Vision service. "It's really easy to use," says Scanlan. "It's like a TV, and everyone can use a TV. There's no training involved. It literally is like using a remote control to a TV. The phone is almost like a remote control. We call it the 75-year-old killer app."

Other multimedia boosters sound a bit like media visionary Marshall McLuhan in their pronouncements. "We think of it as the third screen," says Jeff Hallock, vice president of consumer marketing for Sprint PCS, the wireless operator that has been most aggressive in delivering streaming multimedia offerings. "Television is the first screen, and the personal computer is the second. We've got the opportunity to deliver an experience where users can watch things happen on the third screen that combine a lot of the functionality of the first two--and it's the only one that's with you at all times."

MULTIMEDIA PIONEERS

Sprint launched its first streaming multimedia applications, available as part of its PCS Vision service, in January 2003. Wireless customers can get MobiTV or other streaming multimedia offerings when they sign up for one of several data service packages.

Each package includes either five or ten discretionary dollars that customers can spend on games, multimedia or other offerings. MobiTV costs $10 a month for unlimited usage and provides 18 content channels, which are primarily based on feeds from cable TV networks. Sprint also offers streaming multimedia services from V-Star, RealNetworks, Sony and Warner Music that start as low as three dollars a month. Some of the content is audio-only, but some of the music services include an accompanying visual slide show.

Sprint has more than a dozen phones that support the streaming multimedia offerings. Some come pre-loaded with the software required to access the content, while others require the user to download the software, which can be done over the air. The software provides a menu for content selection and provides connectivity to servers owned and managed by the content providers.

Other network operators, including Nextel and AT&T Wireless, also have begun to offer similar streaming multimedia services from some of the same content providers, although their offerings are not as extensive and may not include unlimited monthly usage. Content providers say they're seeing interest from all the major network operators, however. All of them seem to be gearing up to get more serious about streaming multimedia when a new generation of phones becomes available later this year that will support higher frame rates.

HANDSET LIMITATION

Current frame rate limitations are not related to the wireless networks but rather to the handsets available today. "We didn't want to limit our service to a $500 phone, so we chose to stream at one or two frames per second to start," says Scanlan. "We did a lot of research on frame rate versus sound and picture quality. We could have done more frames per second with a more compressed image, but we found that the best experience was very high quality sound and high-resolution images at a lower frame rate."

The next generation of phones, however, will support 15 frames per second. MobiTV and other content providers are planning to launch new offerings that will use that capability. "Once you get above seven frames per second and into 10 on up, that's when the video becomes a lot smoother," says Ian Freed, vice president of mobile products and services for RealNetworks, which calls its wireless streaming service RealOne Mobile.

RealNetworks converts content from some of the same sources that MobiTV draws from, including ABC and Fox. But rather than converting live feeds, RealNetworks has chosen to make one- or two-minute clips available that customers select from a menu. About 100 clips are available at all times, and about four hours of new content are added each day. RealNetworks also gets streamed content from sources that deliver their product primarily through the Internet, such as Hollywood.com, which provides movie previews.