This panel at the Future of Television conference focused on the state of Mobile TV and its chances for success.   How is it doing?  What is needed for breakout success?

Panelists
Bill Sanders, VP Mobile Programming & Digital Development, Sony Pictures Television
Derek Broes, SVP Worldwide Business Development, Paramount Pictures
Steve Smith, Managing Director, Playboy TV International
Douglas Craig, SVP Digital Media Operations, Discovery Communications
Seamus McAteer, Chief Product Architect & Senior Analyst, Media Metrics
Moderator: Ted Cohen, Managing Partner, TAG Strategic

What are the gating factors for Mobile TV acceptance?

Hasn’t been an overwhelming response for adopting Mobile TV.  Insufficient marketing to consumers; marketing is not the carriers’ core competence, just as software development is not the core competence of studios.  The numbers are still small - one or two percent - of the mobile phone market in US and Europe, but it’s meaningful, and five to ten percent of the addressable market of video-capable handsets.  The combination of flat rate data with increasing video capable handset and YouTube-like free video should be powerful drivers of adoption.  If it’s free, everyone will try it at least once.

What are the major content and user interface issues?

Need to build products and services in the way that our kids want, not based on the constraints that we place on them.  Examples of limitations: content deleted after 24 hours, inability to pause and come back to content later.  Short form is performing better than long form, of course.  Foreign language is an issue - need dubbing, subtitles don’t work on mobile (Sony does subtitle, though).  Every panelist is doing a combination of repurposing existing and developing original content.

Whether long or short form, it’s about building habit — people returning to the brand again and again.  For example, Sony did 200 Ripley Believe It or Not clips.  Traditional carrier approach, put them all out there on the shelf and let them die a quiet death.  Bill is pushing to go back to original comic strip format, thirty seconds every day with a shelf life.  Perishability is important to drive habit building.  On YouTube, you want to be the person who discovers the clip and forwards it to your friends.  This is something that we should have learned from traditional media.

On digital rights, the most important lesson is that the consumer will do what’s convenient whether it’s legal or not; we need to get in front of the needs and offer what consumers want legally.  Should you ask for permission first or forgiveness later?  With talent, ask for permission.  In other cases, bias toward asking for forgiveness.

What will make Mobile TV prime-time, with DVR- and HD-like uptake?

Forcing the issue on studios and other content owners by device users figuring out how to get the content on the devices.  These mobile devices increasingly have the capability of PCs, access to broadband networks, and the ability to sync with PCs.

What about the opportunity for direct-to-consumer, internet / browser based mobile portals, bypassing operators?

Hard to market and reach consumers without carrier support.  However, YouTube has some success in mobile.  Operators are very concerned about this, want to stay well ahead of it.  Also, trying to convince carriers that they can be “smart pipes” without being the programmer, e.g. billing relationship.

Hallelujah! In a move long overdue, Verizon announced that it will be opening up its network to “Any App, Any Device” by the end of 2008. I can’t wait to see how it rolls out and whether we can publish podcasts to phones as easily as we can to the Nokia phones. Digital Podcast has provided ongoing support the Nokia’s podcasting application and I would love to see it on the Verizon network, so I can use it too.

Here’s the brief outline of the plan released via a press release from Verizon.

Verizon Wireless today announced that it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon Wireless plans to have this new choice available to customers throughout the country by the end of 2008.

In early 2008, the company will publish the technical standards the development community will need to design products to interface with the Verizon Wireless network. Any device that meets the minimum technical standard will be activated on the network. Devices will be tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab which received an additional investment this year to gear up for the anticipated new demand. Any application the customer chooses will be allowed on these devices.

It seems that this move was driven by a “small but growing number of customers who want another choice”. Yea right, only a few of us would like an open network. Come on Verizon, cut the BS - Everyone who takes pictures, uses email or any other data service needs this and they need it yesterday. I think that means everyone who owns or uses a cell phone wants this.

Verizon Wireless will continue to provide a full-service offering, from retail stores where customers can shop, to 24/7 customer service and technical support, to an easy-to-use handset interface and optimized software applications.

While most Verizon Wireless customers prefer the convenience of full service, the company is listening through today’s announcement to a small but growing number of customers who want another choice without full service.

Both full-service and “bring-your-own” customers will have the advantage of using America’s most reliable network.

It will be interesting to see if they join with the scary guys from Google and join the Google-led Open Handset Alliance Probably wishful think on my part.

Even with my complaints, this should be a very good thing and I can’t wait to have an open phone that works on a network that works like Verizon’s.

Technorati Tags: verizon, open wireless, open handset, mobile

I sat down with Derrick Oien, the President and Co-founder of Intercasting, at Digital Hollywood. Derrick shared with me the exciting new things Intercasting has going on in the mobile space.

 

 Digital Podcast 15: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1012)

Intercasting got started running a mobile social networking service called Rabble. From there, Intercasting has extended its offering to enable wireless network operators to integrate other social networking or community services through a social networking platform interface called Anthem.

The Anthem client is a user interface that provides access all of the user’s social networking providers. Anthem is currently used by Sprint, Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile and will be launching on other top tier carriers. Through Anthem, wireless carriers are able to offer their subscribers access to social networking sites including LiveJournal, Vox, Xanga, AsianAve.com, BlackPlanet.com, Faithbase.com, GLEE.com, MiGente.com and Rabble.

With Anthem, camera on phone can be set up for one-click distribution of photos to PCs, email recipients, imaging services and social networking providers on the Anthem platform.

Anthem also provides users with the ability to connect their address books or Personal Information Manager(PIM) with some of the most popular social networking providers.

It’s exciting to see the extension of social networking services onto the mobile environment. The integration with the phone has so much potential to make social networking even more powerful when you have 24 hour access to your connections and data.

Technorati Tags: derrick oien, derrickoien, mobile, intercasting, anthem, rabble, social networking, mobile social networking

BSG Clearing Solutions is a provider of clearing, settlement, payment and financial risk management services for communication service providers. Lance Devin, a vice president with BSG, sat down with me at Digital Hollywood to discuss BSG and a new service they are launching called Bill2Phone which allows content providers to sell and deliver products to mobile phones and bill those content charges to the subscriber’s mobile phone bill.

The transaction flow shown below shows how the process works from time your user selects your service or product through the billing and payment cycle.

If you want to sell content through mobile phones, BSG seems like an interesting option for getting a payment process set up.

UPDATE:

Here’s the mobile version of the transaction flows:

Technorati Tags: BSG Clearing Solutions, Digital Hollywood, mobile payments, payments, mobile

I met with Matthew Feldman of Versaly.com, a company that produces and publishes a network of different mobile media channels. The service is available from Sprint and some of the other major carriers and is focused on delivering mobile content. You can sample the content at VMBC.TV where there are videos from the mobile channels. The most popular channel is Fast Lane, which focuses on the young male demographic.

Matt told me that the content is free for users and that Versaly offers content providers the opportunity to monetize their content on the mobile platform.

Here’s the interview with Matt.

Technorati Tags: mobile media, versaly, fast lane, vmbc.tv, digital hollywood, digitalhollywood

Apple and T-Mobile today announced that T-Mobile will be the exclusive German carrier of Apple’s revolutionary iPhone when it makes its debut in Germany on November 9.

iPhone is scheduled to go on sale on November 9 and will be sold in Germany through Telekom Shops of Deutsche Telekom and the T-Mobile web shop. iPhone requires a new 2-year T-Mobile tariff and will be available in an 8GB model for €399 including V.A.T. and will work with either a PC or Mac.

Technorati Tags: iphone, apple, t-mobile, tmobile

Apple and O2 announced today that O2, a UK wireless carrier, will be the exclusive UK carrier for Apple’s iPhone when it makes its debut in the UK on November 9th.

Unique to the UK, iPhone users will have free access to the O2’s public Wi-Fi network, covering over 7,500 cafes, restaurants, airport lounges, pubs and other locations across the UK.

iPhone is scheduled to go on sale on November 9 and will be sold exclusively in the UK through Apple’s retail and online stores, O2 and The Carphone Warehouse’s retail and online stores. iPhone will be available in an 8GB model for £269 (inc VAT) and will work with either a PC or Mac. Three iPhone tariffs will be available from O2 starting at £35.

Technorati Tags: iPhone, iPhone UK, O2, Apple, mobile

In the spirit of spreading rumors as far as possible there have been lots or reports(here, here and here for example) recently of the emergence of the Google Phone. How much of this is just circular linking of the same tiny bit of news remains to be seen.

But it is interesting that the buzz level is rising so fast.

From GigaOM, here are claims about “Five Facts About Google Phone”

1. Google Phone is based on a mobile variant of Linux, and is able to run Java virtual machines.
2. All applications that are supposed to run on the Google Phone are java apps. The OS has ability to run multimedia files, including video clips.
3. The user interface is similar to a UI typical of mobile phones…is said to be done in Java and is very responsive. And of course it has a search box.
4. There is a special browser which has pan-and-browse features that are common to modern browsers such as browsers for iPhone and Symbian phones.
5. Initially there was one prototype, but over past few months Google has the mobile OS running on 3-to-5 devices, most of them likely made by HTC, a mobile phone maker, and all have Qwerty apps.

So there is the gossip of the day. Make of it what you will.

The Register is reporting on rumors that Nokia will jump on the music download bandwagon.

Nokia is on the verge of launching its own iTunes-like music downloads service, if rumours are correct. Online reports suggest the handset vendor is to unveil the service later this month, alongside two new music-oriented handsets.

Speculation has it that Nokia will unveil the service on 29 August at the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London. The unnamed service could allow users to download songs, and potentially games, onto their PCs and then transfer them to their mobile phone or other music player.

Nokia already offers a podcasting capability on some of its phones and offering an iTunes competitor that works seemlessly with Nokia phones would be a good addition.