Could the Apple iPhone stimulate demand for mobile television? Maybe, but not likely this year.
One of the major problems with mobile TV is the crummy LCDs on most cellular phones, especially in the United States. The screens are typically small and low resolution, and that doesn't make for a fun viewing experience.
The iPhone's 3.5-inch (diagonal) screen at 320 x 480 with 160 pixels per inch would go a long way towards enhancing viewing. The size of the screen is a huge plus for mobile TV.
The iPhone's ability to automatically switch from portrait to landscape mode also is an advantage. In addition, the ability to display movies in either full-screen or letter box mode, as Apple's CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated with "Pirates of the Caribbean" during his Macworld presentation (see below) offers users viewing options.
iTunes content powerhouse
Apple is promoting the iPhone as a great device for watching videos, television shows (not mobile TV, though) and movies uploaded from iTunes (see below). Indeed, it's difficult to underestimate the value of iTunes as an amazing "content pusher" that will be Apple's powerful multimedia engine feeding the iPhone.
Granted, not everyone likes iTunes for a variety of reasons, ranging from the design to Apple's digital rights management. But no cellular operator in the United States comes anywhere close to offering a content portal that compares to iTunes for the amount and variety of content combined with ease of use.
Apple also does a great job of marketing and people love Apple products. How many people love their cellular operator?
So, the combination of the iPhone hardware and features, iTunes and Apple's marketing produce a powerful team.
EDGE = Awful mobile TV
That's the good news. There is also a lot of bad news.
One big disadvantage is the first version of iPhone works only with Cingular's GSM EDGE network, not the cellular operator's faster HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) system. If you've ever watched mobile TV on a slow network, such as Sprint's CDMA 1xRTT system rather than its faster 1xEV-DO, you know that it's like watching a slide show with audio.
Apple is slated to offer the iPhone in Europe by the end of this year and I assume it will incorporate HSDPA. HSDPA is so prevalent in Europe, and Europeans subscriber are so much more used to advanced applications, that Apple would be committing sales suicide if it offered an EDGE-only phone.
I assume the iPhone will be available with HSDPA in the U.S. in 2008. I guess there's also a possibility that Apple would decide to offer HSDPA when it launches in the U.S. this June, but it's highly unlikely.
Cingular's no leader
Apple is counting on iPhone's WiFi capabilities to offer higher speed data rather than EDGE for the short term. Marketing mobile TV is tough enough without requiring subscribers find a WiFi hotspot!
Another problem is Cingular isn't a leader in mobile TV. It uses MobiTV's content -- and that content is pretty good. But Sprint's mobile TV offering, that also uses MobiTV for much (but not all) of its programs, is superior to Cingular's.
Of course, Cingular certainly could enhance its mobile TV offerings if it wants.
Also, Verizon Wireless will set a new bar for mobile TV when it introduces its V CAST Mobile TV streaming service, based on Qualcomm's MediaFLO system, this quarter, as I previously wrote. Verizon will offer two phones when it launches its new service and both phones, the LV (see left) and Samsung can be used in landscape mode.
Verizon's older, non-live, archived-clips-only V CAST service (see below) works on the faster 1xEV-DO cellular system.
In conclusion
So, could the iPhone stimulate the use of mobile TV? Yes, but certainly not in the near term. Unless Apple surprises us, the leaders in mobile TV in the U.S. probably will remain Sprint and Verizon, and they won't be able to offer the iPhone since it's GSM-only.
In Europe, DVB-H is the dominant (but not the only) mobile TV platform. Will Apple emphasize mobile TV when it's available there late this year? Very unlikely.
Sparking a large-screen trend?
The iPhone could spark Americans to accept much larger cellular phones. Unlike in a few other countries, most notably South Korea, Americans go for small, lightweight phones.
Certainly we're seeing more U.S. subscribers purchasing phones with larger LCDs, such as the Treo, BlackBerry, Q and PDA-type phones with the Windows Mobile operating system. But small and light dominates the market.
If Americans flock to the iPhone and accept the advantages of a large screen over the smaller phones, this could indeed change the design of cellular phones for the U.S. Obviously, a larger screen makes viewing all sorts of applications -- e-mail, Web pages, etc. -- a more pleasurable experience.
And, the iPhone certainly isn't the only handset that will offer large, high resolution screens. Take a look at what Hitachi Displays is producing: An 800 x 480 LCD (see left) that is somewhat similar to the quality of a computer LCD. The typical resolution of many cellular phones is QVGA (240 x 320).
Hitachi Displays' new LCD offers five times the number of pixels and has a contrast ratio of 400:1.
iPhone's camera phone
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