The mad idea of trying to sell TV-to-the-cellphone is running into totally predictable problems.
According to
In the
There will come a day when fold-up or roll-up screens in a hand-set will make it a tolerable experience to watch TV on a screen. But that day has not yet come.
The oft-quoted adage the commuting Asians and teenagers will watch TV on their cellphones has turned out to be wrong. Teenagers don't, apparently, watch TV anymore, preferring YouTube and social web-sites, whereas the commuting Asians have found watching TV on their cellphones to be a resistible experience.
Analysts TMC Media show that, of Koreans with TV-enabled mobile phones, only 1.17 per cent were using their cellphones to watch TV.
Even in the commuting rush-hours, the TV-watching mobile phone users were a mere 3.58 per cent of the total number of enabled users.
It's not hard to see why. Tiny TVs have been on the market since the early days of Sir Clive Sinclair's operations - that's 30 years ago - and have turned out to be only a niche market.
People don't want to watch TV on three inch screens. It's as simple as that.
Do the TV licensing folks pop onto the radar here at some point?
Now that's a very interesting point, Rk, I haven't a clue. I'll ask around
I wonder what the sweet-spot size is for Mobile TV. Would it make more sense on a 5" MID that's still sufficiently thin to be easily pocketed? Maybe even 4"? What about a 7-9" Netbook? TBH, I still wouldn't expect it to be very successful, but heh.
I think it's all very subjective, Arun, but from personal observation I'd say that the fact that 4 inch tellys have never really taken off, despite being around for 30 years, means that people won't go as low as 4 inch; whereas the success of mobile video players at about 7 inch suggests people will watch telly on 7 inch.
So the question is: Is there somewhere between 4 inch and 7 inch where people think the phone isn't too big to carry around while giving an OK telly-watching experience?
Personally, I think the answer to that is No. And that 7 inch is minimal.
Cheers
David
Maybe an odd clamshell design might work. Fold out a 4.5 x 2inch phone and you'd have (pythagorus) a 5 or 6" screen. Albeit with a bar down the middle.
PS - i want royalties if that gets used by Samsung.
Sound works well but I think you're right, TV isn't for the mobile especially as there are other mediums that work well and don't announce to the world that you've got an expensive device that could be pick pocketed - magazine, newspaper, mp3 player.
Nice approqach Rob, but unless it can be done without a noticeable break in the middle, I don't think it would work.
Anyone heard of radio (formerly wireless)? You can even use it while driving. Why do manufacturers think their mobile phones have to do everything? They're already almost unusable by some. If they brought out one with a built in loo – now that would be useful.
Steve, You are so right. It's pathetic seeing the urge to add more and more functions to what is already a horribly complex piece of kit. Far better to have a simple phone onto which you can download applications - as the iPhone does.
But, as you say, there's an exception - a cellphone with a loo would represent progress for mankind.
And think of the advertising slogan: 'A small sh. . . for a man a giant leap for mankind.'
What's TV anyway? Watching youtube (on a mobile) *is* tv, just as watching netflix via an IP-STB is.
Keeping aside the semantic jugglery of broadcast vs broadband, I agree that watching TV (in the general sense of the term) on the move does not appear a very natural thing to do.
And this is because watching TV has always been a lean-back (keep your brains away) experience; whereas gadgets like PCs, game stations and "smart phones", due to the inherently complex nature of their operation, are "lean forward", "borrow some brains if you don't have enough" kinda experience.
Marketeers pushing for an "additional tick mark" on the mobile box need to understand that in spite of tech feasibility and cost competitiveness, it really doesn't help to bypack a pair of chop sticks with a pizza delivery. You can't gain market share that way.
heese, you're absolutely right. Strange how so many people can delude themselves that there is a market for it.