CNET recently launched its CNET TV beta with “thousands” of technology videos available online. I’m looking at the “Tour CNET TV” video that explains the user interface (see below).
It’s worth looking at how CNET has created a remote control-type of graphic that offers many features, including setting up your own playlists of videos and channels, expanding and contracting lists, e-mailing videos, dragging and dropping categories to see the newest videos, etc.
Cellular operators, handset vendors and content providers have a lot of work ahead of them in developing user interfaces for mobile TV. Today’s navigation for mobile TV is often awful.
User choice!
Users can’t create lists of their favorite programs and categories and it’s difficult — often impossible — to view a directory on the Web of all the cellular operators’ mobile TV offerings.
Easy methods of navigating, viewing complete “mobile TV guides” and setting up preferences will be crucial to the growth of mobile TV.
CNET already offers one channel for cellular subscribers, that I watch on Sprint. But it would be much more useful to be able able to select the videos — at least some subset — that are available online to view on my cellular phone.
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