Reiter's Mobile TV Report

Returned from India so more mobile TV articles will resume

I’ve returned from a hectic but fascinating trip of India with Nokia, as I previously noted, to learn about cellular phone software for agriculture, textile and educational applications.  I traveled with Nokia employees to several locations around the country to speak with an Indian farmer, textile agent, textile factory executive and young boy who are using Nokia software.

I probably won’t be posting anything about it in this weblog (although India just began mobile TV service), but I certainly will be publishing many photos and several articles about the Nokia trip on a few other sites.

When I get caught up a bit, I’ll begin posting more frequently about mobile TV on this site.  There might be less news during these dog days of summer, although there could be interesting developments from members of the Open Mobile Video Coalition, who are beginning trials of Mobile DTV service.

Fewer weblog articles possible as I prepare for India

I’m really rushing as I prepare for a trip to India, courtesy of Nokia, to learn about how “real people” (i.e., non-techies) are using relatively basic handsets for business and educational purposes.

I have to ensure all my travel documents are in order, including obtaining an Indian visa, get any inoculations and medicines and complete my regular work in time for a late July flight.  I should be back around the second week in August.

I’ll have a rather hectic schedule in India and I’m not sure if I’ll always be in areas with reliable Internet connections, so my posts here might be light and/or less detailed than normal until I return.

Happy Birthday Mobile TV Report: We're Three Years Old

Today marks the three-year anniversary of Mobile TV Report.  On June 12, 2006 I posted five articles about mobile television, plus a sixth introductory piece (see below).  Thanks for reading!

I have sometimes been lax in posting (whatdayawant? it's free!), but I've been looking at and evaluating mobile TV for years for my own edification as well as for my wireless data consulting clients.  Before establishing a separate weblog, I covered mobile TV in my camera phone weblog, but decided the subject deserved a weblog all its own.

I've been analyzing wireless communications for more than 30 years, and spend a lot of time pondering what could be and what is likely to be (including writing a column about the future of wireless and wired Internet).

Nyah, nyah to naysayers

Just as there were naysayers about the value and growth of camera phones when I first began writing about that technology, so there are naysayers now about mobile TV.  And, just as the camera phone naysayers have been proven wrong, so will the mobile TV naysayers go down in flames.  (There's nothing quite like a flaming naysayer, wrapped in his/her discredited spreadsheets, to provide warmth and shimmering colors as he/she plunges earthward!)

The future -- and present -- of cellular phones includes all types video:  Streaming and archived mobile TV, streaming and archived videos, long clips, short clips and, yes, full length movies. 

We humans love watching the movement of colorful images accompanied by sounds.  That's the way it is.

Goodbye pygmies

So while the pygmies analysts and journalists (which I am both) continue to debate whether mobile TV will succeed and split hairs over whether a three-minute clip is too short or a movie is too long, the wireless video business will continue to evolve.

Again, thanks again for reading, and please feel free to comment on any article or contact me via e-mail.

More people in 2008 to purchase multimedia cellular phones than TV sets

More people this year will purchase multimedia cellular phones — that can play music and videos and access the Web — than purchase television sets, according to “Mobile Media 2008:  The Third Screen for Entertainment” sold by Research and Markets.  The research report says 300 million people will buy multimedia phones in 2008.

According to the report, Nokia says 25 percent of entertainment on mobile devices will come from online communities.  Currently, 3.3 billion people have cellular phones.

MobileTelevisionReport.com ranked No. 7 for "mobile TV" on Google

Perhaps I shouldn’t be bragging, but “Reiter’s Mobile TV Report” is ranked No. 7 for “mobile TV” on Google out of some 2.3 million results (see left).  I haven’t checked in a few months so I was surprised by the high ranking.

Wikipedia is No. 1 and I’ve been noticing that Wikipedia has been rising to the top of Google for many subjects.  I use Wikipedia all the time and it’s no surprise that its popularity has zoomed during recent years.

Verizon Wireless and Nokia’s Mobile TV Forum are ahead of me in the Google “mobile TV” rankings, but what’s surprising is that there’s only one cellular operator and one cellular phone manufacturer beating me.  I know I shouldn’t be surprised because I’ve been blogging since 2001 and understand the dynamics of weblogs in search engine ranking systems.

Value of corporate weblogs

What is surprising and unfortunate is how few companies — especially large wireless companies — have published weblogs.  It’s not about being cool, but about the value of weblogs for corporations.

As a wireless data consultant part of my work is to help develop and write weblogs for organizations, such as Sprint’s Picture Mail group and the CTIA’s Wireless Internet Caucus.  The benefits for customer education, customer outreach, branding, overall publicity and corporate “humaness” are undeniable. 

Indeed, a weblog can rank higher than a Web site, as many of you certainly know.  Interestingly, my Wireless Internet Caucus weblog, that was discontinued early in 2006, is still No. 5 on Google for “Wireless Internet Caucus”; it was No. 1 when I was writing it.

Especially for mobile TV

Unfortunately, many telecommunications companies are afraid of weblogs.  They should be embracing them, but they just don’t seem to understand the value.  Press releases and Web sites simply don’t provide the type of benefits that are offered by well done weblogs.

With all the controversy surrounding mobile TV — and many analysts and consumers skeptical about its value and chances for success — I would think mobile TV-related companies would jump at a chance to promote their views with weblogs that often do a much better job than relatively static Web site.

I don’t do any specific coding or use any tricks to help ensure my weblogs rank high on Google.  I just write and post.

My camera phone weblog has been near the top of Google rankings for “camera phone” since I started it in, I think, 2003.  I get many more hits for the camera phone weblog compared to the mobile TV weblog — more than one million since I started — although that certainly isn’t much compared to the top industry and consumer weblogs.

Long time, no write

I know, I know.

It has been a long time since I updated this weblog.

It's not because I don't care.  I'm still very much interested in mobile television.  Indeed, even more so since I began the weblog.

I've just been busy with my wireless data consulting work, including helping to develop and write Sprint's camera phone weblog, "Photobility."

Revolutionary product?

But stay tuned.  I hope to write at least one mobile TV article today and it's about a product that could help revolutionize the so-called citizen journalism and traditional journalism environment.

No, I'm not involved in it, although I have used it.

New posts are coming! Stay tuned!

I try to post at least three times a week on my two major personal weblogs (camera phones and mobile television), but I've been remiss for the past couple of weeks.

I've been busy with my real job of wireless data consulting, including working on a relatively new but still quasi-stealth camera phone weblog.

Stay tuned!  There will be mobile television posts later tonight.

Welcome to "Reiter's Mobile TV Report"

For some time I’ve been pondering establishing a weblog devoted specifically to wireless television (yeah, but buzzword is “mobile TV).

I’ve been covering mobile TV in my “Reiter’s Camera Phone Report” and I consider the subject as an extension of wireless imaging that also includes still photos and videos.

Wireless imaging = Photos +  Videos + TV.

A deserving subject

But I thought the subject deserved a separate weblog rather than making my camera phone weblog more of an uber-blog

I’m not sure whether I’m crazy to start another weblog, but since I’ve already been writing fairly extensively about mobile TV I thought I wouldn’t have much more work to write for another free (sigh) weblog. 

I’m probably wrong about that!

I hope you enjoy “Reiter’s Mobile TV Report” and, as with all my weblogs, please feel free to leave comments.  (If you’re a comment- or trackback-spammer, please feel free to shoot yourself in the head.)