Sprint PCS Vision customers can now see live news, catch up with the latest sports scores, or watch new music videos on their mobile phones through a new service called MobiTV, created by Idetic.
MobiTV costs $9.99 a month and is available immediately to subscribers of Sprint's Sprint PCS Vision service, Idetic said in a statement Thursday. The phones that support the service include Samsung Electronics' VGA1000 and A600 models and Sanyo's 8100 model, among others, according to an Idetic spokesperson.
MobiTV is the first video streaming service that broadcasts real-time video to cell phones in the U.S., said Phillip Alvelda, Idetic's chief executive officer. "This is the first deployment of a whole new distribution medium for television," he said.
Real-Time Video
MobiTV will feature real-time video from news channels MSNBC and CNBC, California Music Channel-USA, and other channels including Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel, Berkeley, California-based Idetic said. More channels will be added to the service in the coming months, according to the company.
Some channels with a strong local presence, such as CMC-USA, will get nationwide exposure through MobiTV, Alvelda said. "What is available on the market [are] custom-produced clips," he said. "We offer channel operators an untapped market and more eyeballs."
Sprint PCS Group, the mobile arm of Sprint, in August signed a deal with RealNetworks to provide customers with canned video clips from ABC News, CBS MarketWatch, Fox Sports, National Public Radio, and The Weather Channel for $4.95 a month.
Under the MobiTV service, television networks transmit live image and data signals, which Idetic then optimizes for cell phones, Alvelda said. "It is exactly the same [video] feed as on TV. There may be a slight delay, but not more than 30 seconds to a minute."
Some Limitiations
The resolution of MobiTV's streaming video will be in the "neighborhood of 126 pixels by 92 pixels," depending on the cell phone and the size of its screen, he said. MobiTV will be subject to the same issues affecting wireless networks, including signal failure, Alvelda said, but the service uses technologies that mitigate signal failures to provide the best possible video experience.
MobiTV's interface has been designed so the cell phone acts like a remote control, making it easier for customers to use the service, he said. "Everyone knows how to use a remote control. We have designed the interface to use the cell phone like a remote control." he said.
Alvelda believes that live television on wireless phones will gain a stronger foothold in the market than Internet browsing on cell phones. "What we are providing is a whole new class of content that people wouldn't get when mobile. [People] would rather sit back and be entertained, rather than surf."
