A look at the growth of mobile TV worldwide

I’ve discussed the concept of mobile TV a lot of times in this blog and ever since Verizon and AT&T launched their mobile TV service, I see a lot of debates going on in the internet and people taking sides for or against mobile TV. Just so you know, this concept doesn’t start and end in the United States. It’s a global phenomenon and let me broaden the horizon for you.

Italy, which is considered one of the most developed mobile phone markets in Europe, is also the leader when it comes to mobile TV in Europe. There are a dozen channels available in mobile TV in Italy and there is a loyal user base of more than one million subscribers who pay 19 Euros every month.

In Switzerland, there is a 100-second news broadcast on mobile phones and it is very popular with mobile users there. There are more than 40,000 people who watch this TV news broadcast in their mobile phones every day. People here can get up to 20 channels in their mobile phones and they pay around 13 Swiss Francs every month.

Japan is the undisputed leader when it comes to mobile TV. There are around 20 million mobile phones in Japan which are equipped with TV receivers. South Korea, another market leader in Asia, has more than 8 million mobile phones equipped with TV receivers. India, with more than 250 million mobile users, has also shown a strong inclination for mobile TV and is considered a potential market in the near future. Thanks to these markets, mobile TV in Asia is growing rapidly and is miles ahead of the U.S. market.

This apart, countries like Britain, France, and Germany have plans to start mobile TV service this year.

Do you see the complete picture? There are people all over the world who pay money for mobile TV and it’s considered one of the most successful revenue-generating services for operators.

So, in my opinion, mobile TV will not remain a niche service in the U.S. for long. I think it’s a pretty useful service for people who are always on the move and it will find its takers eventually. Also, with mobile advertisers eyeing mobile TV, we could soon have free, ad-supported TV on our mobile phones, just like television.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile TV.

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News Corp to join Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo?

Remember Microsoft’s multi billion dollar bid for Yahoo? The move made headlines all over the world and things got slowed down when Yahoo announced that it is not interested in the offer unless Microsoft raises its bid. Now, the story has taken a new turn. According to sources, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation might join hands with Microsoft in its bid.

If Rupert Murdoch could pull it off, it would be a terrific union. Just imagine – Microsoft, MySpace (which belongs to News Corp.), and Yahoo on the same side. That would be one hell of a force to be reckoned with.

I think such a union is very much possible. Yahoo’s main reason for ignoring Microsoft’s offer is that it feels that the offer is too low to be accepted. With a powerful company like News Corporation on its side, Microsoft will be able to raise its bid considerably and thus Yahoo might be tempted to accept the offer. If it does happen, it will put Google under tremendous pressure and its number one spot in the internet might be under threat. Moreover, such a union could also have a significant impact on the mobile web space, as all three – Microsoft, Yahoo, and MySpace – are somehow interested in the mobile web space.

Nothing has been decided so far and it will take quite some time for the concerned parties to arrive at a mutually agreeable decision. I’ll keep a close eye on this issue and will keep you guys posted. Meanwhile, feel free to tell me what you feel about this possible alliance.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Yahoo, Microsoft.

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Video broadcasting - Right on your mobile phone

If you happen to have a high-end mobile phone from Nokia, you can be a reporter of sorts. You can send live video to the internet right from your mobile phone.

Qik, a web startup based in Silicon Valley (where else?), has come up with a new software which allows you to send live video right from your Nokia mobile phone to the web, wherever you are. All you have to do is, point your mobile phone and capture anything you want through the mobile phone camera. You can go live and send it to the web and also save it for future reference. When you are done with your broadcasting, the video will be saved automatically.

The company has a list of Nokia N60 phones that support this software. You need to have any one of those phones to be able to use this software. Also, you need to have an unlimited data plan in order to be able to send live videos to the web, as videos can eat a lot of bandwidth.

This could be a great opportunity for people, particularly young ones, to share something live with the world. It could be anything – a simple party hosted by your friend, a small rock concert in your backyard, or your girlfriend making faces at you – you can stream videos to your friends right from your mobile phone. Damn; I’m kicking myself for not having bought a Nokia phone.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Nokia, Mobile Web.

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China Mobile takes action against spam mobile ads

China Mobile has set the precedent for mobile phone operators all over the world by taking a strict action against a company which sent spam mobile ads to users.

Last weekend, a media report claimed that Focus Wireless, a subsidiary of Focus Media, was sending spam ads to mobile users. China Mobile, in return, has closed the message service ports through which the spam ads were sent.

Focus Wireless is a company which deals with mobile advertising and has a considerably big customer database, which it purchased from leading operators in the country. These mobile ads are usually sent from the message service ports of big operators. Through these ports, Focus Wireless sends highly targeted ads to the mobile users in its database. Recently, it started sending irrelevant, spam ads to customers and received a lot of flak all over the country. When this was reported to China Mobile, whose service ports are used by Focus Wireless, the response was swift.

China Mobile has three channels through which customers can file a complaint against spam ads. Within 48 hours, you will get a response regarding your complaint, and that is a guarantee from China Mobile. The General Manager of China Mobile said that China Mobile has a strict no-spam policy and it will do everything to make sure customers don’t receive spam ads.

This, according to me, is a very good statement from a responsible mobile operator. Because, spam ads are something people detest the most – in the internet and even more so in the mobile phone. So, this sort of incidents will reinforce customers’ faith in operators.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Yahoo dominating mobile internet

If you’ve watched the journey of Yahoo ever since it started out, it has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. It was once in an enviable position as far as the internet was concerned, but now it is nowhere in the competition thanks to Google. While Yahoo has been constantly trying to regain its spot in the internet, Google still is way ahead of Yahoo. Also, the recent furor about Microsoft taking over Yahoo didn’t do any good for the company as well. So, Yahoo needed to do something to reassure its customers, stock holders, and most importantly, itself. This is where mobile internet comes into the picture.

Yahoo has been making great progress in the mobile phone market, especially the high end ones. There is a lot of need for mobile browsing among people, as they always want to check out something or the other via mobile internet. However, browsing in a mobile phone is not easy, unless you own an iPhone. With this being the case, Yahoo slowly started to work on improving mobile browser experience for people. The result was Yahoo Go.

Recently, it was announced that Yahoo Go 3.0 will be soon launched in Canada. Going by the positive reviews Yahoo Go got in the U.S., one can safely assume that it will have a similar reception in Canada.

Also, this seems to be a brilliant strategy by Yahoo, as there is not much competition here. Microsoft is busy with Windows Mobile Operating System and Google is busy with Google Android, another operating system, thereby leaving a gap for Yahoo to enter the market of mobile internet and mobile browsing.

With lots of acquisitions, partnerships, and deals, Yahoo is very busy strengthening its hold in the mobile phone market. As someone mentioned, forget about web 1.0, Yahoo is aiming to become the leader of mobile 1.0.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Yahoo, Mobile Web.

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