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Tag: CTIA Wireless

  • MTV US president Van Toffler highlights the importance of short form videos during CTIA keynote

    MTV US president Van Toffler highlights the importance of short form videos during CTIA keynote

    MUMBAI: In his keynote address at the CTIA Wireless 2006 event in the US, MTV Music Group president Van Toffler highlighted the appeal of short-form video from the MTV, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo and Spike TV brands on the wireless platform.

    He described the mobile platform as a rich, creative medium for new and emerging talent to connect with and cultivate new audiences.

    To underscore that point, Toffler welcomed recording artist LL Cool J, to the stage. LL offered an advance look at an upcoming episode of MTV’s Life & Rhymes, which chronicles his life as an artist and is set to debut tonight 10 April on MTV, MTV’s broadband channel Overdrive and on MTV Mobile.

    Toffler noted that audiences have increasingly embraced MTV Networks’ diverse array of mobile programming. Last month MTV Networks streamed nearly 2.5 million videos cross-carrier, an all-time high, Toffler reported, adding that the number is growing by nearly 40 per cent month-to-month for the first three months of 2006.

    He says, “Our audience is responding in droves to our mobile programming. They have a personal relationship with our brands and they increasingly want to consume our content on the handset, the new ‘holy grail’ of electronic
    devices.”

    LL Cool J echoed that sentiment saying, “The mobile phone helps me establish closer ties with my fans, connect with new ones and hopefully inspire everyone I touch through my music. The cell phone — which has become
    the accessory for today’s young adults — is one way that helps me reach them.”

    Among the varied types of mobile programming driving audience consumption are music videos, comedy segments, user-generated content, scenes from television shows, ‘after shows’ developed exclusively for mobile, never-
    before-seen outtakes, and short art breaks, also known as “sharts,” featuring animated and live-action segments.

    In many respects, the burgeoning mobile
    platform is a return to MTV Networks’ early roots, when MTV gained significant
    notoriety for the five- and 15-second art breaks created by brilliant, young talent and which lived between the music videos. For the MTVN Music Group, which encompasses the CMT, MTV and VH1 brands, three types of programming — extensions of on-air franchises; made-for-mobile episodes; and music — are all performing well on the mobile platform.

    Extensions of On-air Franchises
    VH1’s Flavour of Love, the most successful show in that channel’s history, was also the most popular VH1 Mobile content in February
    and March.
    — Web Junk 20 also on VH1 and VH1 Mobile, ushered in the user-generated era to TV and simultaneously to mobile phones.

    — MTV will showcase a 20-year-old college student’s visual interpretation using stick figures based on the lyrics of Fall Out
    Boy’s Sugar We’re Going Down, representing original user-generated content.
    — VH1 is debuting Dingo Ate My Video, a made-for-mobile series that combines VH1’s comedic voice with music videos from a wide
    range of artists, including Green Day, Missy Elliot, Jewel and others.
    — Country Music Television soon will debut a made-for-mobile reality series called Road Hammers about a southern rock/blues band trying to make it in the music business.

    MTV adds that labels and artists like LL Cool J increasingly are embracing the mobile platform to connect with fans and institute new marketing paradigms.
    The Arctic Monkey’s new video I Bet You Look Good on the Dance floor made its debut on: mtvU, MTV’s network for college students; mtvU’s Uber broadband network; mtvU.com and mtvU wireless.

    The approach mirrored a similar one taken by VH1 last year, which debuted Te Amo Corazon, the new Prince single, on VH1, VH1’s
    VSPOT broadband channel, and VH1 Mobile. The Prince debut marked the world’s first-ever multimedia, multiplatform worldwide
    exclusive premiere.
    — Prior to releasing her latest single and album, Madonna distributed an exclusive ringtone for Hung Upon MTV Mobile and VH1 Mobile.

    Spike TV is delivering the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s ‘Ultimate Fight Night(TM) Live’ to Amp’d Mobile subscribers tonight.
    This represents the first time the live sporting event is being simulcast to both mobile devices and to television subscribers.

    “The wireless platform is as important to us as television and computer screens. As soon as we start developing a new concept, we think beyond the television. We think of how that idea can live on broadband and mobile” Toffler says.

  • Motorola makes TV shows available from DVR to mobile phone

    Motorola makes TV shows available from DVR to mobile phone

    MUMBAI: Expanding on the Follow Me TV experience of room-to-room media sharing, Motorola, Inc. will demonstrate a new technology that can move recorded shows from a Motorola digital video recorder (DVR) set-top directly to a Motorola mobile device like the next-generation RAZR V3x.

    This new ability to move content can expand Motorola’s existing whole-home video platform to meet the video needs of consumers anywhere and everywhere.

    A live demonstration of this new feature will be on display at both the CTIA Wireless 2006 and the 2006 National Show. The explosion of digital video technologies in recent years is leading the demand for ever-greater control over TV at home and on the go.

    Starting with a Motorola set-top, consumers can now create a multimedia network that sends content not only to other rooms in the home, but to mobile devices with storage-card capacity. In addition, Motorola mobile devices can be used to program a Motorola DVR remotely. No more worries about forgetting to record your favorite show – control your television wherever you are.

    “By combining the reliability and clarity of Motorola video products with the style of Motorola cell phones, we can deliver a truly personalized television experience. Consumers get the chance to enjoy seamless, mobile entertainment, and service providers get the opportunity to extend their reach beyond the home,” said Motorola corporate vice president and general manager of digital video solutions John Burke.

    The full Follow Me TV experience is enabled by Motorola DVR set-tops and the company’s OCAP software solution. This software solution includes powerful tools designed to offer home media networking using the Multimedia over Cable Alliance (MoCA) standard.

  • Walt Disney unveils wireless service specifically designed for families

    Walt Disney unveils wireless service specifically designed for families

    MUMBAI: Consistent with its strategic focus to pursue technologies that deliver outstanding creative content and services in new ways, The Walt Disney Company unveiled Disney Mobile (www.disneymobile.com) in the US, which is the first national wireless phone service specifically designed for families.

    Disney Mobile will operate as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) utilising the Sprint Nationwide PCS Network. This service will be a follow-up MVNO from the Walt Disney Company. Mobile ESPN, the only mobile phone service built from the ground up for sports fans was launched in the US in February.

    This was launched at the CTIA Wireless 2006 tradeshow in Las Vegas. This wireless service will launch in June with innovative features that, for the first time, allow parents to directly manage their family’s wireless experience.

    Unlike traditional family plans that focus on shared minutes, Disney Mobile will offer a comprehensive, family-tailored service. It will provide customisable tools to balance kids’ cell phone use with controls that allow parents to manage family phone use and help teach kids responsible use. In addition, Disney Mobile will come equipped with all the things tweens and teens are looking for in a cell phone today – from a camera to messaging to popular ring tones and content.

    At the core of Disney Mobile’s family plans are the Family Center features, which allow parents to:

        set spending allowances and track usage for voice minutes, text messaging, picture messaging and downloadable content
        determine the hours of the day and days of the week when kids can use their phones
        program restricted and always-on phone numbers to manage with whom kids may communicate
        prioritize important family messages
        locate kids’ phones with GPS capabilities

    Beyond the Family Center features, Disney Mobile will offer wireless voice service, text and picture messaging, and a broad range of entertainment and content that will appeal to every family member, and to Disney fans of all ages.

    “Given our strong commitment to embracing innovative technology, coupled with Disney’s outstanding creative content, Disney Mobile is perfectly positioned to transform the way families come together and stay connected. Parents will appreciate Disney Mobile’s unique capabilities to manage family communications, and tweens and teens get the functions they’re seeking in today’s wireless service,” said The Walt Disney Company president and CEO Robert A Iger.

    Disney Mobile phones will have a stylish, clam shell-style design that appeals to adults and kids alike, but the parents’ phones will be configured with additional, exclusive functionality for managing the family’s mobile experience. These controls may also be accessed via the Disney Mobile website.

    The service will be available to consumers at www.disneymobile.com and at Disney Mobile kiosks in malls throughout the US. Additional retail distribution channels are planned for later in the year. Pricing plans, which will be detailed closer to consumer availability, will be competitively priced with other family mobile plans and will include Family Center features as part of the basic service. Handset pricing will start at $59.99 when purchased with a two-year service agreement.

    “Disney Mobile uses sophisticated technology to make family communication better and easier to manage than ever before. We have addressed what parents are looking for in a comprehensive mobile service, while also balancing the needs of what kids want in a cell phone. Never before has a mobile service offered such a feature-rich, customisable experience for both parents and kids,” said Walt Disney Internet Group president Steve Wadsworth.

    The centerpiece of the Disney Mobile experience is the innovative Family Center features, which are accessible on Disney Mobile phones and www.disneymobile.com. Its features include:

    Family Monitor
    Disney Mobile’s Family Monitor feature can help make surprise cell phone bills a thing of the past by giving parents the unique ability to manage their kids’ cell phone use real-time. A parent can set monthly allowances for each kid for key aspects of cell phone use, including voice minutes, text and picture messages, and downloadable content such as ringtones, wallpapers and background themes.

    Call Control
    Disney Mobile’s Call Control feature allows parents to use an online tool to designate when kids can use their cell phones, as well as who they can and cannot call. Parents can choose the day of week or even the time of day they will allow their kids to use their phones, eliminating use at inappropriate times such as during school hours or late at night.

    Family Locator
    The Family Locator feature allows parents to locate their kids’ phones using advanced Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Parents can access the Family Locator feature from their phones or from www.disneymobile.com by entering a PIN which each parent personally selects. Once access is authorized, parents can locate their kid’s phone by selecting “locate” through the feature. When the phone’s location has been found, the location, a map of the location, and an indication of accuracy appear.

    Family Alert!
    Family Alert! allows family members on the same Disney Mobile family plan to send each other prioritised messages so the messages are unlikely to be missed. Family Alert! messages prominently appear on the handset screen whenever the phone is idle, causing family members to acknowledge messages before using the phone for other services.

    “Parents told us that they value the extra convenience and security a cell phone provides the family, but they also expressed a desire to be able to supervise their children’s cell phone use and avoid the horror stories they have heard about excessive mobile bill surprises. Disney Mobile’s Family Center features give parents the best of both worlds. It provides the ultimate in flexibility for parents, giving parents maximum visibility to their family’s phone usage, and allowing them to apply as much or as little control as they see appropriate for their kids,” said Disney Mobile senior vice president and general manager George Grobar.

    ENTERTAINMENT
    In addition to its Family Center features, Disney Mobile will also offer parents, tweens and Disney fans of all ages a wide variety of Disney and other family-appropriate content to personalise and customise their Disney Mobile phones. The “Theme-It” function will allow multiple screens of the phone to be re-themed with a selection of related content chosen by the subscriber.

    Disney Mobile subscribers will also enjoy a broad offering of Disney content. The Disney Zone includes exclusive ‘Vault Disney’ content only available to Disney Mobile subscribers and applications that will extend many of the online and offline worlds of Disney. At launch it will include a Radio Disney application that will allow direct interaction with Radio Disney and its family friendly music.

    There also will be a broad assortment of general entertainment content to complement the service’s Disney offerings.

  • Nortel and Qualcomm claim industry’s fastest HSDPA data call

    Nortel and Qualcomm claim industry’s fastest HSDPA data call

    MUMBAI: Nortel and Qualcomm have successfully achieved the industry’s first 7.2 Mbps HSDPA mobile data calls. The tests achieved data downloads at speeds up to four times faster than most current fixed broadband connections, companies claimed in an official release.

    According to the official communiqué, the companies completed the initial series of pre-commercial category 8 HSDPA data calls using test terminals based on Qualcomm’s Mobile Station Modem (MSM), MSM6280 solution and HSDPA network equipment from Nortel.

    The calls covered frequencies in all commercially available UMTS spectrum currently used by mobile operators throughout the world. The 2100MHz spectrum is the basis for most European 3G networks and the 850MHz spectrum is now in use for new UMTS networks in North America, the Caribbean and Latin America. As spectrum at 900MHz is expanded for UMTS services, Nortel believes this can also become an important part of European HSDPA roll out.

    “Nortel continues to be an industry leader in driving HSDPA technologies to faster, more cost-effective capabilities that will help power mobile communications to beyond 3G services such as high quality live TV and HD video on demand,” said Jean-Luc Jezouin, vice-president, GSM/UMTS product line management, Nortel. “Together with Qualcomm, Nortel is an industry pioneer in advancing the potential of HSDPA to help wireless operators maximize their existing UMTS infrastructures by offering new and faster services for subscribers.”

    HSDPA is designed to boost network capacity for data transmissions up to four times and enables twice as many wireless users per cell site compared to current UMTS networks. By making more efficient use of existing network capabilities, HSDPA helps reduce operating costs while delivering a high quality end-user experience.

    Nortel and Qualcomm will be demonstrating high-resolution video streaming enabled by HSDPA data calls at 7.2Mbps during CTIA Wireless 2006 in Las Vegas, 5 April to 7 April.