BBC launches 24-hour live TV streaming mobile service and new mobile website

The BBC has debuted its 24-hour live television streaming website for mobile devices. The service currently has eight channels, including five general news streams, one BBC Parliament stream, and CBBC and CBeebies children's programming.

The video displays at 176 x 144 pixels on WiFi-enabled devices. The service will not work over-the-air, and it is only available for U.K. residents. Users can see the streaming video service by visiting http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/live/tv/.

The news organization has also launched its BBC Mobile homepage, which gives users customization options such as a WAP version, the choice of more images and graphics, or the full-desktop version of the website. Users can view the news site at bbc.co.uk/mobile.

Pandora Comes To BlackBerry

The music-streaming application is the latest push in RIM's strategy to court the casual market.

By Marin Perez
InformationWeek
March 18, 2009 02:26 PM

BlackBerry users will be able to access the Internet radio service Pandora on the go.

Pandora is a streaming-music service that uses an analysis system called the Music Genome Project to create personalized radio stations for a user based on any song or artist the consumer wants. The service will be free, but Pandora will serve visual and audio ads. The music application will run over a BlackBerry's Wi-Fi, 3G, or EDGE connection.

The music application is available on handsets that have the 4.3 version of the BlackBerry operating system or better, and this includes the Bold, Curve, and Pearl lines. Pandora for BlackBerry is not available yet for the touch-screen Storm or any BlackBerry on T-Mobile's network. BlackBerry users can download the app by pointing their mobile browsers to Pandora.com.

While the enterprise space will always be Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM)'s bread and butter because of the revenue it generates from handsets and BlackBerry servers, the company is increasingly targeting the casual, or prosumer, market. The company said nonenterprise users now make up more than 40% of its subscriber base.

To capitalize on this growing base of prosumers, BlackBerry has placed a stronger emphasis on what it calls lifestyle apps. These include programs that connect users to social networks, make it easier to use Ticketmaster, and provide more entertainment options on the handset.

This strategy will get a big boost later this month when the company launches the App World, an integrated store for browsing, buying, downloading, and installing mobile programs. RIM is hoping to replicate the success Apple had with its App Store, which has seen more than 800 million downloads in about eight months.

GO211.com Selects Azuki Systems to Power Live Streaming via Mobile

Azuki Premiers Feature-Rich Mobile Service for GO211.com at This Week's US Open Snowboarding Championships at Stratton Mountain

ACTON, MA - Azuki Systems, Inc., an innovator powering a new generation of mobile media, today announced that it has been selected to provide a full-featured mobile service by GO211.com, the premier provider of online video and community for action sports fans and competitors. Azuki will provide a mobile extension of GO211.com's popular Web site with rich community, blogging and video features, including live streaming of GO211.com events. GO211.com will leverage Azuki's technology to bring snackable, personalized content and a full complement of socialization features to mobile users. GO211.com's mobile site (GO211.mobi) will provide live video streams from the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships at Stratton Mountain in Vermont beginning Saturday.

"Azuki's platform enables us to deliver live video streaming to mobile users just in time for this week's US Open Snowboarding Championships," GO211.com's CEO Sean Aruda said. "The social features in our new mobile site, including sharing and ratings, will help us build a stronger community for our users. Azuki's cutting edge technology is quickly moving us forward to deliver the rich, interactive mobile experience our users are looking for."

GO211.com's action sports community includes athletes and enthusiasts from snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing and BMX, and is the premier site for live webcasts of major alternative sports events from around the world.

"Our MashMedia platform enables GO211.com to deliver a feature-rich mobile Web site full of interactive, snackable content that will engage its action sports community," Azuki CEO Jim Ricotta said. "Azuki believes firmly in the importance of optimizing and extending content and community for mobile users, and being selected by a leading online brand such as GO211.com is a great endorsement of our technology strategy."

About GO211.com

GO211.com is the leading community and video site for lifestyle sports created by and for action sports athletes and enthusiasts. GO211.com is home to the exclusive live webcasts of the BGOS (Burton Global Open Series), including the Burton US Open. It's the place to hang with the pros and friends to get behind-the-scenes video, blogs, photos, webcasts and podcasts from featured contributors along with other action sports fans. GO211.com offers a broad range of exclusive content submitted directly from the athletes.

About Azuki Systems

Azuki Systems is powering a new generation of mobile media. Azuki offers a software service for media companies to deliver and monetize rich, interactive mobile websites. With Azuki, content providers scale on proven infrastructure and extend desktop services seamlessly across the mobile web while their users enjoy unique interactive video features and highly personalized social web experiences across the broadest possible spectrum of devices. Based in Acton, Mass., Azuki is led by an executive team that has built some of the communications industry's most successful companies and has a team of over 35 employees. For additional information, please visit www.azukisystems.com or call 1-978-844-5100.

Arthur D. Little Projects Worldwide Mobile TV Subscribers to Increase From 40 to 140 Million by 2011

• Broadcast mobile TV has disappointed so far: while 40 million users worldwide watch mobile TV, this is only about 1% of mobile phone users. Additionally, many services are offered free of charge or as part of a high value service package so that direct revenues generated by broadcast mobile TV are low
• But broadcast mobile TV can help mobile operators to offset the commoditization of voice and data access services. The industry is continuing to improve broadcast mobile TV business models and work on launching next generation satellite/terrestrial mobile TV networks
• Arthur D. Little therefore expects subscriber figures to increase to about 140 million by 2011.

VIENNA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Approximately 40 million users watch mobile TV based on broadcast networks, in addition to those watching mobile TV streams via 3G networks – but this is well below initial projections and only about 1% of all mobile phone users. Even the business models in markets with sizeable numbers of broadcast mobile TV subscribers - such as Japan with 18 million, South Korea with 17 million or Italy with well over 1 million - have not yet become viable commercial success stories. However, mobile operators remain interested in promoting the service as it can support customer acquisition and retention, and can be used to promote high value "flat-rate packages".

Arthur D. Little's new report, “Mobile TV – Tuning in or switching off?” investigates the status of broadcast mobile TV uptake worldwide and identifies actions that key players need to take to improve the prospects of broadcast mobile TV businesses.

How to improve the broadcast mobile TV business?

Arthur D. Little proposes four ways to improve mobile TV business models:

• Regulators need to support the set-up and potential success of emerging mobile TV businesses
  
  Benchmarks show that national telecommunication and media authorities play a fundamental role in supporting or hindering the success of broadcast mobile TV. They need to be aware that their tender processes significantly affect the way that players co-operate along the broadcast mobile TV value chain. In addition, they should adopt a moderator role to facilitate negotiations between the mobile operators, terrestrial network operators and content providers which otherwise compete in the respective country market.
• All key players need to work on lowering the costs of delivering broadcast mobile TV services
  
  The profit potential from broadcast mobile TV services for mobile operators is low. In an exemplary country market, mobile operators can only generate 1 Euro profit per mobile TV subscriber – under the condition that a critical mass of 10% of all mobile phone users in the market subscribe to broadcast mobile TV services at a monthly fee of 6 Euro. Therefore, any plans for new broadcast mobile TV businesses must ask the question: "How to bring down the three key cost drivers: network roll-out outs, incremental handset subsidies and content costs?" The report suggests combining existing mobile networks with broadcast mobile TV networks and financing the content costs partially with advertising.

• The industry needs to improve the service and price attractiveness of broadcast mobile TV to end-users
  
  The price, usability and attractiveness of broadcast mobile TV services need to be continuously improved, for example, by providing improved outdoor and indoor network coverage and improving the TV channel bouquet.
  
  Mobile users can already choose from various mobile TV offers - they can selectively snack on mobile TV via 3G streaming, download TV clips from Youtube, or, in some markets, watch free to air mobile TV via DVB-T. As such, broadcast mobile TV services need to offer a more superior user experience in order to motivate users to pay monthly subscription fees for the right to watch 10-15 TV channels, many of which they receive anyways at home," Karim Taga co-author of the report and Director at Arthur D. Little’s Telecoms Information Media & Electronics (TIME) Practice.

• Mobile operators need to factor in indirect benefits from offering broadcast mobile TV
  
  Mobile operators can use broadcast mobile TV services to differentiate their services, increase customer loyalty or offload traffic from 3G streaming TV services.
  
  "Mobile TV is here to stay as an important contributor to offset the commoditization of mobile voice services and accelerate the convergence of the media and telecommunication industries," says Karim Taga co-author of the report and Director at Arthur D. Little's Telecoms Information Media & Electronics (TIME) Practice.

What's the future of broadcast mobile TV?

Broadcast mobile TV will experience continuous, but slower than previously expected subscriber uptake. However, the prospect of establishing profitable, new broadcast mobile TV business models remains and indirect benefits further motivate the industry to push the service. And, in spite of the current recession, consortia such as China Satellite Broadcasting Corporation or Satellite2mobile, based in Dubai, have advanced plans to launch next generation hybrid satellite/terrestrial mobile TV networks. Once these are launched and reach critical subscriber mass, they will lead to a step-change in the nascent broadcast mobile TV business.

The development in China indicates that Asia may remain the key world region for mobile TV. The national broadcast mobile TV service already has 1.2 million subscribers. The planned launch of the satellite platform and the fact that over 200 types of CMMB-enabled mobile devices are available could lead to rapid mass adoption of mobile TV.

Arthur D. Little expects the number of broadcast mobile TV subscribers to increase from 40 to 140 million users by 2011 – and recommends that executives stay tuned rather than switch off on the topic.

“Mobile TV – Tuning in or Switching-off?" is now available for download at www.adl.com/mobiletv

About Arthur D. Little

Arthur D. Little has supported clients in a wide range of mobile TV related projects such as license bid support, tender support and mobile TV strategy definition projects worldwide.

Founded in 1886, Arthur D. Little is a global leader in management consultancy, linking strategy, innovation and technology with deep industry knowledge. We offer our clients sustainable solutions to their most complex business problems. Arthur D. Little has a collaborative client engagement style, exceptional people and a firm-wide commitment to quality and integrity. The firm has over 30 offices worldwide. With its partner Altran Technologies, Arthur D. Little has access to a network of over 16,000 professionals. Arthur D. Little is proud to serve many of the Fortune 100 companies globally, in addition to many other leading firms and public sector organizations. For further information please visit www.adl.com.

Further information from:

Karim Taga (taga.karim@adlittle.com) and Christian Niegel (niegel.christian@adlittle.com)
Arthur D. Little’s Telecoms Information Media & Electronics (TIME) Practice

MobiTV and CBS Mobile Bring Popular Primetime Shows to Mobile Users

MobiTV delivers full-length episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Numb3rs and more over mobile networks

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- MobiTV and CBS Mobile are bringing the most popular CBS television shows to the mobile phone. MobiTV now delivers full-length episodes and clips from CBS Mobile, a channel featuring primetime hits like "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Numb3rs," "CSI: NY," and "The Young and the Restless." Viewers will also be able to access video on demand news, sports and comedy clips from CBS Mobile.

The new CBS primetime shows add to MobiTV's daily lineup of live TV, made-for-mobile and video on demand programming available to more than five million subscribers on over 350 mobile devices.

"Together with CBS Mobile, we are excited to give television viewers the chance to watch hit shows like 'CSI' and 'The Young and the Restless,' on their mobile phone," said Charlie Nooney, Chairman and CEO, MobiTV. "With the addition of CBS content, MobiTV's subscribers have access to the most comprehensive mobile lineup of primetime TV, so that they never have to miss their favorite shows again."

Full episodes featured on CBS Mobile are available to MobiTV subscribers on AT&T Wireless and Sprint the day after broadcast, adding to MobiTV's lineup of more than 40 channels of content from partners including ABC, NBC, ESPN and Discovery Networks(TM).

"Partnering with MobiTV allows fans of our most popular shows to stay up to date on their favorite characters wherever they go," said Jeff Sellinger, Executive Vice President & General Manager, CBS Mobile. "This partnership further reflects our desire to provide CBS viewers with access to the shows they love, wherever they are, and extend our reach within the mobile universe."

About MobiTV

MobiTV (www.mobitv.com), the first to bring live TV to mobile devices, draws on its proven knowledge to continuously anticipate, develop and deliver a compelling mobile media experience to more than 5 million subscribers worldwide. MobiTV is shaping the mobile media landscape with a passion for delivering a compelling consumer experience.

Founded in 1999, MobiTV is a privately held company with headquarters in Emeryville, California.

For more information about MobiTV managed end to end services, hosted content delivery technology and solutions, please visit: www.mobitv.com/technology. To learn more about MobiTV mobile television products and services, go to: www.mobitv.com/gettv. To learn more about MobiTV mobile music products and services, go to: www.mobitv.com/getradio

About CBS Mobile

CBS Mobile, a division of CBS Interactive Inc., is charged with building CBS Corporation's wireless business across entertainment, sports and news for CBS, The CW, and CBS Paramount Television. As part of this mission, CBS Mobile offers consumers some of the most innovative and best-of wireless content available today, ranging from the nation's first mobile video alerts for CBS Mobile News, CBS Sports Mobile and entertainment properties, to some of the nation's largest mobile Web sites, made-for-mobile video on all major carriers, a 24/7 mobile television network, and partnerships with the world's more leading edge mobile technology and ad targeting companies.. CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A) (NYSE: CBS) is the parent company of CBS Interactive, Inc.

MobiTV and the MobiTV logo are trademarks, service marks, and/or registered trademarks of MobiTV, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. All other trademarks, service marks, and product names used herein are the property of their respective owners.

Website: http://www.mobitv.com/

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone announced

Six months after announcing its intention to bring SlingPlayer to the iPhone 3G, Sling Media has another announcement to make--just not the one you're wishing for.

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone isn't ready yet, Sling said on Tuesday, but it is on its way.

Like SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian, UIQ, and BlackBerry (beta) platforms, this iPhone version will let you access one or more Slingboxes from your mobile device, and watch your TV stations on-the-go. It will also be compatible with the iPod Touch.

You'll also be able to manage your DVR from the iPhone, and can synchronously add and remove favorite channels directly from the phone's interface--a first for the SlingPlayer Mobile line.

In our demo, the client streamed live, high-quality video of stations like MTV and TBS on both Wi-Fi and the iPhone's 3G network. Swiping the screen horizontally advances you through favorite stations, and flicking up and down rotates through all your home channels.

Sling Media says it will submit the file to the iTunes AppStore by the end of the first fiscal quarter. While Sling Media shared no firm price tag, it could mirror the $29.99 lifetime fee of SlingPlayer Mobile on other platforms.

Before getting too excited, just remember that Apple has been known to kill promising apps, ostensibly for the crime of a large data transfers. SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone could suffer the same fate. Assuming it doesn't, the client still faces competition from Orb, whose full version, OrbLive, delivers live TV and media stored on your PC for $10.

i-Vision Launches Mobile TV Channel ‘Mobile Cheering Station’ with Beijing TV in August

BEIJING, July 31 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Beijing TV (“BTV”) announced its launch of mobile TV services at a press conference held on July 30, 2008, a week before the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As a technology platform and content partner, i-Vision helped demonstrate the good quality live streaming TV services onto mobile phones, and the collaborative channel with BTV, “Mobile Cheering Station -- Sui Shen Jia You Zhan” at the event.

i-Vision has focused on the development of mobile digital TV technology and interactive TV applications. The Company’s end-to-end mobile TV platform enables operators to drive revenues from interactive value added services and personalized advertising in addition to the traditional subscription business model. To celebrate the launch of mobile TV services, i-Vision collaborates with Beijing TV to offer a special “Mobile Cheering Station”, a channel specially produced for mobile TV that consists of continuous streaming of 2-3 minute clips of celebrity interviews, their cheering messages to the athletes, top brands’ events and behind-the-scenes party activities in the capital city during August. Beijing’s citizens and celebrities will get to participate and cheer for the China team and their favorite athletes on the new personal media platform. Mobile TV is also one of the ways to demonstrate how new technologies have made the Beijing Olympics stand out from the previous Games.

Unlike traditional media, new digital media such as mobile TV is still at its infant stage. Nevertheless, the interactive, accountable and personalized features of new media have already attracted much attention from innovative brand marketers. i-Vision partners with top brands including Olympics partners to pioneer the personal media platform of mobile TV on its “Mobile Cheering Station”, bringing an exciting new experience to the mobile TV users in Beijing at the country’s most exciting time.

About i-Vision

i-Vision China is a Beijing-based company that focuses on the development of mobile digital TV solutions and innovative interactive TV applications. In 2007, i-Vision received the "Red Herring Asia 100" Award and was selected as one of fifty ‘Top Innovators’ for the GSMA’s Mobile Innovation Summit. In 2008, the Company was named as one of the Top 50 Potential Investments for Mobile Phone Value-Added Products, and the Sony Ericsson sponsored Golden Olive Award for the Best Mobile Phone Advertising Platform.

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Half a dozen ways to watch TV on your mobile

Here are five current options and another that's coming soon to a screen near you—one that might already be in your pocket.

Flo TV: Sold under different names by Verizon and AT&T, this broadcast service delivers 10 channels of television to selected cellphones. The signal arrives from a TV tower and not over the cellular network. The quality is good, with a TV-like experience—no buffering, no waiting, and it comes with a programming guide. Maintaining reception can mean walking around or swaying the handset, much like jiggling a TV's rabbit ears. The service is available in more than 50 metro markets and offers channels from CBS News, Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox, and MTV. Verizon offers four channels for $13 a month, and both carriers offer all 10 for $15 a month.

SlingPlayer Mobile: If you have a smartphone and a SlingBox at home, this software lets you, er, sling whatever's playing in your living room to your handset. The video stream arrives over a wireless Internet connection, so it can be smooth and it can hiccup. Much as with the PC SlingPlayer, you can control a TV, a cable box, or even a TiVo using a sometimes balky software remote. It works on many phones that run Windows Mobile, Nokia Symbian, and Palm systems—and soon the BlackBerry. The software costs $30, and a SlingBox starts at about $130, with no monthly fees.

MobiTV: Network and cablelike channels arrive on handsets offered by Sprint, Alltel, and AT&T. Similar services are available from Verizon and other carriers. Quality can be good, but the video starts after a bit of a lag over cell networks, meaning it can also stutter or die as can voice calls. (Can you hear me now?) MobiTV includes live streams from the Weather Channel, ESPN Sports, and ABC News. Or download movies and full-length TV shows at your convenience. MobiTV, whose many parent subscribers are entertaining the kids, recently added the Disney Channel and Hannah Montana episodes. There's a monthly charge of about $10 in addition to fees for data plans.

Sirius Backseat TV: Satellite radio is no longer just about radio. Sirius sells a kit at electronics stores that adds a three-channel video feed to car LCD screens. New-car buyers can also get the system preinstalled on some Chrysler vehicles. They include minivans, not surprisingly, as the service aims at half pints with channels from Disney, Nickelodeon, and the Cartoon Network. It isn't high-def TV but looks good on small LCD screens. The kit costs $300 plus installation, and the service adds $7 to the $13 monthly charge for Sirius radio.

Sat-Go: When you can't tear yourself away from your satellite TV, take it with you. You have to aim the briefcase's lid at the southern sky, meaning you can't be on the move while watching. And it weighs 27 pounds, so you're not going to walk around with it. But while on a tailgate, you can enjoy all the sports, movies, and sitcoms that DirecTV offers. Sat-Go comes with a 17-inch LCD screen for watching. Lining up the antenna can be tricky, especially if there are tall obstacles nearby. And don't venture far, as the battery can die out in an hour. Cost: $1,000 plus monthly subscription fee. Or if you want 185 channels while on the go, consider the $3,000 (plus subscription fees) TracVision A7.

Mobile Broadcast: By next year, this new standard could be delivering broadcasts from local TV stations to hand-held devices. Stations are expected to simulcast local broadcasts and offer extra, cablelike channels. Some will be supported by advertising; some will carry monthly fees. The first devices could appear in 2009 as hand-held media players but can be built into navigation devices, laptops, and cellphones. The experience should be similar to MediaFlo, which uses similar technology, with TV-like viewing and reception issues, depending on a handset's position.