Dedicated Mobile TV Networks Losing to Web Delivery?

Disappointing adoption levels of existing mobile TV services, in large part because of competition from streamed mobile services, might indicate that special-purpose mobile TV networks do not have the appeal mobile Internet services and applications do, say researchers at Juniper Research.

The Juniper Research report found that the number of paying subscribers to networks based on standards such as DVB-H, DMB, CMMB and MediaFLO were not expected to exceed 10 million globally until 2013 at the earliest, by which time more than 180 million mobile customers will be subscribing to 3G/4G/WiFi enabled mobile TV services.

Press Release: Dedicated Mobile TV Networks Face Uncertain Future, Reaching only 5% of 190m paid mobile TV Users by 2013

Kickstand for Smartphones

No kickstand on the back of your smartphone? Use a pair of glasses. It works if you are near-sighted. It probably won't work for the far-sighted unless the kickstand uses a separate pair.

New technology and applications require new physical capabilities. This helps when watching video. Or you could buy an HTC with a kickstand. A bit more elegant, but this is a great impromptu "retrofit."

How Many Screens Now are Relevant?

Not so long ago, "three screens" were the foundation of consumer multichannel video strategy, those screens being the TV, the PC and the mobile device. With the advent of the e-book reader, perhaps one can add a fourth screen. One can argue that the tablet PC now becomes a viable fifth screen.

There are probably other ways to conceive of "screens," some based on behavioral metrics or applications, rather than devices. Right now, though, it is virtually every other screen than the TV that is getting most of the attention, and rightly so.

read more

Virgin Mobile USA Aims Prepaid Mobile Broadband at Self Employed Workers

Virgin Mobile USA is aiming its new nationwide prepaid service at self-employed and independent workers.

The Broadband2Go family of mobile broadband products now includes a new $40 unlimited mobile broadband plan. The new offer replaces the previous $20, $40 and $60 plans, allowing consumers to access unlimited internet use at home or on-the-go for $40 per month. The $10 option for 100 MB, good for 10 days from purchase, remains for less frequent internet users.

A recent study from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that the self-employed and independent workers represent approximately 30 percent of the nation’s workforce, Virgin Mobile USA notes. The study determined that this segment of the self-employed population, consisting mainly of small business owners and freelancers, represents a large market of consumers who need to stay connected, mainly with email and internet browsing, without the constraints of a contract.

That's one way to segment a market.

Virgin Mobile USA

Multichannel Video Entertainment Business Loses Subscribers

Is it time to start talking about "plain old television" service, as we talk about "plain old telephone service"?

It might be just a bit early to say. We will need several more quarters of reports until we can say for sure.

But is seems likely something has changed. Multichannel video has been a legacy service for some time, as has POTS, but video has continued to grow subscriber counts, while landline voice lines have been contracting since about 2000 or 2001.

DirecTV to Stream NFL Sunday Ticket

In the emerging online video entertainment business, content rights remain a key stumbling block. Lots of people might like to buy their professional video on a more customized basis. Lots of people might prefer to buy programming they want on a more a la carte basis, rather than paying for traditional multichannel video service.

Now DirecTV says its exclusive "NFL Sunday Ticket" service will be sold as a streaming service, costing $350, without the need to buy the regular DirecTV service as well. When DirecTV subscribers buy NFL Sunday Ticket, they pay $300 on top of a DirecTV subscription.

The still-unnamed service will mean fans can get a full slate of games without switching their current cable, telco or satellite providers. The service will not offer the full resolution of the DirecTV-delivered service.

"We will make a full 720p HD resolution stream available online, but most viewers won't be able to experience the service at that resolution," says  Jon Gieselman, DirecTV spokesman. The picture quality will depend on a user's Internet connection.

For broadband Internet access providers, the implication is that chance to upsell connections featuring higher speeds that will increase the odds that the full 720p picture can be viewed properly. Latency and congestion issues can still pop up, and users might have to work harder at creating a setup able to send the streamed pictures to a TV set for viewing. For some, it will be worth it.

The larger point is that latent demand for viewing alternatives will not develop robustly until rights issues are settled and the whole process becomes nearly as easy as watching plain old TV.

read more

Tablet Buyers Are Early Adopters: What Does That Mean Now, and for Future Sales?

U.S. online consumers who own or intend to buy iPads and other tablets fit a typical early-adopter profile, and their characteristics have implications for product strategists designing tablets to compete with the iPad, says Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

They own multiple PCs and connected devices; they’re voracious media consumers; and they have an affinity for other Apple products but aren’t exclusively “Apple-ites.”

On average, consumers who own or intend to buy an iPad (“iPad buyers”) have 3.6 PCs at home, compared with three PCs for consumers who own or intend to buy a tablet (“tablet buyers”) and 2.3 for all US online consumers, says Rotman Epps.

All of that is important for manufacturers who want to enter the market now. What remains unclear is how characteristics might need to be modified to appeal to the greater mass of "typical" users who are not early adopters, may not own so many other devices, and arguably will be less willing to spend as much money on a tablet.

Of particular note is the rate of netbook ownership: 24 percent of iPad buyers already own a netbook, compared with 16 percent of tablet buyers and eight percent of all U.S. online consumers.

Potential iPad buyers also live in an ecosystem of connected devices, she says.  A whopping 69 percent of iPad buyers and 57 percentof tablet buyers also own a latest-generation game console,  compared with 37 percent of all US online consumers. Also, iPad buyers are four times as likely as U.S. online consumers to own a connected TV (nine percent, compared to two percent).

Some 24 percent of iPad buyers own wireless speakers compared to six percent of other U.S. online consumers.

Also,  iPad and tablet buyers are more likely to store data in the cloud.  Some 33 percent of iPad buyers say they store files in their email inbox and 12 percent say they use an online storage service. About 24 percent of all online users say they store files in their email inbox and four percent say they use an online storage service.

Tablet buyers really care about media as well. Compared with all U.S. online consumers, they are more likely to use every type of media. In addition, they spend more hours consuming all types of media than all US online consumers do, with the exception of offline TV.

These characteristics have obvious implicaions for would-be tablet manufacturers.

Tablets don’t have to, and shouldn’t, recreate the complexity of the PC. Curated computing experiences
that are simple and streamlined, seem both possible and desirable.

Better media experience and tablets optimized for enterprise use also suggest design avenues.  Perhaps there are ways to provide a better media experience or are designed for business use. Specialized devices aimed at children also are conceivable.

Also, other devices and peripherals might assume new importance as complementary to tablets. For example, consumers who own tablets will still need computers with keyboards, bigger screens, and more processing power, but they may not need the portability of a laptop anymore, so desktops could see some renewed interest if marketed correctly, says Rotman Epps. They’ll also need printers and other peripherals that “talk” to tablets.

It is pretty clear where demand is right now. The bigger question, over the longer term, is how tablet characteristics might have to be modified to appeal to most consumers who are not early adopters.