Nokia is the biggest backer of mobile TV broadcasting, but most of us prefer to download video using a 3G network than live stream it. Can the N96 buck the trend?
“It’s all a bit in turmoil” said Niklas Savander, head of Nokia’s Internet services at a Helsinki conference. “We have seen that there are multiple segments who are not interested in the broadcasting, but rather in downloads.”
A couple of years ago, Nokia pictured us all glued to the footie on our future handsets, but although the hardware and service is in place in Europe (check out this footage of the N96 digital TV in action) it just hasn’t worked out like that. Meanwhile, 3G services that charge for data downloads are more than happy to provide content.
Given the efforts Nokia has made to put Eastenders on our phones, this won’t be the end of the story and we’re sensing another push for mobile TV. The Nok-backed DVB-H has only just got the go-ahead as the premier way to broadcast digital TV to mobile devices, and could the fact that Nokia’s next handset is called the ‘Tube’ and features a 16:9 widescreen suggest a proper TV phone is in the offing? We hope so.
Via Afterdawn.
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