Mobile Video Insider

Sorry - but due to time constraints you have probably noticed that this blog has not been updated for a while.  A rarely updated blog is not overly worthwhile, so for the time being I’m going to take a break from writing here…

Stats from this article on 3g.co.uk.

In Q2 2007 europe saw more new 3G handsets purchased than 2.5G, for the first time - with the annual growth for 3G in Europe running at 90% (nice!).

An exciting milestone for all those capitalising on the opportunity for shifting rich media into mobile consumers’ hands…

Today Mashable - amongst others - reports that News Corp’s potential purchase of the Wall Street Journal is likely to result in charges for their online content being removed (in addition to the New York Times‘ announcement that they will give their content away for free).  Going one step further, Mashable reports that this signals the end of paid for content.  Does it?

In sharp contrast to this, Hot or Not (a thinly veiled dating site) - a very different sort of site - is abandoning its foray into free content.  They controversially totally removed their subscription fees a few months ago - and are now reinstating them, citing spam as the reason (AKA not enough revenue).

So what does all this mean?  Certain content lends itself to free and certain content lends itself to a premium model.  News is available free from so many different sources that people will always seek out the free source.  However, they are prepared to pay for certain ‘high value’ content, such as online dating.

Furthermore, consumers are probaby prepared to pay more for content on mobile that is valuable on the move - as they always have been in the past.  The jury is also out on advertising as a revenue model on mobile - the small screen does not provide the same ad ‘real estate’ that the PC screen does.

Today’s Guardian reports that O2 UK has - as expected - won the iPhone exclusivity in the UK… but is sharing an unbelievable 40% of voice and data revenues with Apple.  I can’t believe that.

This article from IntoMobile tells us that mobile projectors will be available in the market by 2010.  That is only three years away.  I have previously posted about these - but they will truly revolutionise things.  One of the main limitations of a mobile phone is a tiny screen.  This solves it.  Essentially your little mobile will be able to project video++ onto a wall.  All sorts of opportunities for offending/humiliating people in public places… and all sorts of viral guerilla marketing opportunities.

According to ABI Research’s latest report, global mobile video telephony and messaging are set to grow from 2007’s $1bn market to $17bn by 2012 - a massive increase.

This growth will be driven by developed markets such as Western Europe, North America and Asia Pacific (which between them will account for 90% of the market) - one of the few areas where growth is not being driven by emerging markets such as China and India (mainly due to cost).

The above figures are not restricted to person-to-person telephony and messaging (which has disappointed - and probably only has a limited market outside Asia), as they specifically mention the ‘web 2.0′ requirements to upload video to the web.

Bring it on!

Interesting to read that German regulators have approved a mobile TV JV between Vodafone, O2 and T-Mobile.  I don’t know enough about the technology underpinning this JV (though guess it to be DVB-H).

It’s very rare to see collaboration amongst operators in the mobile industry - but perhaps this formula represents the best recipe for success in areas such as mobile TV (in the face of failures such as BT’s DAB-IP Movio) where significant hardware and network investments are required.  Are collaborations on this scale the start of things to come…?

A few months ago rumours circled about a Google phone.  Then they were quashed.  Now they have been resurrected.  This article on The Register implies that they are more than rumours - and if it’s to be believed then it’s going to be packed with toys such as 3G, wifi and GPS.

This, combined with the iPhone, must be starting to cause network operators a real headache.  They are disruptive - and telcos don’t like disruptive.  They are threatening the balance of power - and telcos don’t like that either.  But Apple and Google are SO powerful that the network operators have little choice but to scramble along behind them… Microsoft must be scratching its chin hard, wondering why it has never managed to create such excitement with any of its mobile offerings.  The next few years will be interesting…

UPDATE: A crucial piece of info missed off the above, is that Mashable is reporting that the ‘gPhone’ will be free and ad funded…?!

Today’s Guardian reports that the EU is considering moves to enable mobile network operators to run 3G services on their 2G spectrum - potentially increasing coverage by 40% (300m people in the EU) and extending it to rural areas.

Generally this is a good thing - though it once again raises the thorny issue of the billions that were squandered on 3G licenses…

BT has announced today that it is closing down Movio - its wholesale mobile TV business that runs over DAB-IP (and a project that I was involved in the early days).  Last week’s euro announcement recommending DVB-H as the euro standard for broadcast mobile TV was probably the final nail in the coffin.

Movio had been struggling to sign up network operators for a while - with Virgin Mobile in the UK the only operator with Movio handsets in the market (the Lobster)… being an MVNO it was an easier sell to them given that they hadn’t squandered billions on 3G licenses.  Existing customers will be supported for a limited period…