It’s hardly a secret that 3G video hasn’t lived up to its original promise. What’s more the industry is now running out of excuses like lack of availability of 3G phones or service. We’ve all heard talk of the long awaited killer application that failed to materialise, so what – if anything – can pull us out of the doom and gloom now surrounding the future of 3G?
My belief is that there is light, and even video, at the end of this particularly murky tunnel. What’s more I think there are a few reasons to be cheerful about the prospects for 3G video and 3G in general. One of them is the advent of interactive, real-time video applications. Current 3G video offerings have not found a real following. Even the recent World Cup failed to really set the Mobile TV market on fire in the way the industry had hoped. Part of the problem with this was the delay in sending goal clips meant that they weren’t happening in real time. The use of video on mobile is a very different medium to the TV in your lounge. People expect a different experience from it -- fast food on the go rather than a sit down full four-course meal. It should be a dialogue that engages and involves the user and can inform or entertain and be adapted to each individual’s interests and needs at a given context.
An example of just such an interactive application has been launched by ‘3’ in Austria. It allows skiers to dial in to receive a live video feed of many of the country’s leading ski slopes using data from CCTV cameras on the slopes themselves. The key to its success being the fact that they can access the information while on the move; in the car or at the airport and get the actual real time images of various slopes, enabling real-time decision – the mobile style.
Another new capability for 3G video that will enhance the mobile experience is the ability to engage in a real-time dialogue with multiple users creating video communities. The various combinations of ‘see you see me’ capability have the potential to hugely impact the adult entertainment industry, particularly when combined with interactivity.
In order for video telephony to come of age it needs to be more than recorded content on a small screen. It needs to build on the very nature of the mobile medium and allow individuals to communicate and share their experiences while on the move. At the very heart of the mobile experience is the fact that we are used to compromising on quality and size of the screen in return for mobility and timeliness of the medium. The mobile applications of the future will need to embrace this mobility and find ways of allowing people to share what’s happening to them at any given time with a group of friends, family or video community. One such example that has been launched by Orange Israel has enabled 3G users to engage in a nationwide Internet WebBlog, making it like a reality TV show that is broadcast via the Internet. Anyone with a 3G phone out and about can broadcast live what’s happening to and around them – whether it’s an event like a concert or a sporting event, a chance encounter with someone famous – whatever is happening to you while you’re out and about can be seen live by anyone logged on the Tapuz.co.il website. The success of this service has been phenomenal and is an example of the future of video applications and what is possible by mixing the ubiquity of the Internet with mobility.
Which brings me to my next point: the problem with critical mass. It’s all very well having these wonderful rich interactive, bi-directional video capabilities but if too many of the people you want to communicate with don’t have 3G you’ve got a problem. It’s like in the early days of the fax machine, the idea of owning a fax machine was great, but meaningless until there was the critical mass of fax machines to make them useful. So how can 3G escape from the straitjacket imposed by the fact that only one in ten of people own a 3G phone? The answer is simple – transform existing medium to peer with 3G handsets, tap into the proliferation of PCs out there. The fact that we can now provide the capability to turn, for the sake of video calls, your PC into a 3G like device will dramatically change the end game. Imagine the appeal for business travellers away from their friends and family, to be able to dial a number from their 3G phone and be connected to a PC for a live video call. It may not be that compelling proposition to see your business associates on the phone, but a two way visual experience with your nearest and dearest is something that I personally am more than happy to pay for.
Last but not least, I believe that today it might still be worth offering many of the new video services using dialling as a preferred user interface. Not only is dialling the most natural user interface over mobile devices, but the guaranteed quality and fast interactive response enable it to be a real delight, which overcomes some of the current hesitations and limitations of “surfing & streaming" over mobile devices.
The mobile industry is adept at waiting for the next big thing. IMS and HSDPA are the gods the industry appears to be worshipping of late. But, why wait until the next technology is mature when new compelling interactive video experiences are available and working today. Keeping the options open to migrate to new platforms as they become available is a good thing, but there are operators and mobile developers out there today who have realised that the time is now and that we can build on capabilities for 3G which are available today – all we need is a little imagination to develop applications that are truly compelling to grab the attention of mobile users and tempt the video virgins to sample the delights of this compelling new visual medium.
Learn more about 3G products and applications at http://www.radvision.com/Products/3GProductsApplications/
The gurus keep telling us to get real and drive traffic to our websites via search engines, articles, blogs and a multitude of automated avenues that place cash in their bank accounts . Very few of them will recommend traffic exchanges (unless they happen to own one).But the truth is, many hundreds of thousands of people DO use traffic exchanges.
Those hundreds of thousands of people represent millions of dollars. Another truth, is that whilst the gurus may not recommend traffic exchanges, they use them all the time to grab business from the millions of surfers looking for internet success.
For these sufers, multiple pop-ups, pop-unders and time sucking image loading has been an issue they have had to live with in exchange for a bit of web traffic. Now they have something much worse to contend with. THE DREADED NEW VIDEO STREAMING CRAZE!
Traffic exchanges are backing up to the first off-ramp with video streaming splash pages. The gurus tell us this is the next best thing since the solar system was invented. Perhaps, from their point of view, this is correct. Long-suffering exchange surfers have to sit jammed up on their websites for an eternal age whilst the video loads. Of course, this extends the time the viewer sits on the page, which extends the time she has to decide to click in and become a capture.
However, I declare with joy in my heart, that a recent niche market poll that I conducted revealed I am not the only surfer in the world who hates video streaming. There is a lot of frustration out there in the surfers world. Possibly there are smashed computors,mangled modems and exploding blood vessels too.
Being hung up on some hard-sell splash page whilst a video nobody wants to watch is loading, is rage inducing to the point of not just clicking away, but also closing down the browser and taking taking the dog for a walk on a tranquil beach.
Video streaming is being marketed as the Marketing tool of the century, but if it is enraging potential customers, I fail to see the point in it. After all, it is the year 2006. TV and video was not invented last week. Animated footage is so old hat, we yawn through the Breaking news, so how to they expect us to grow breathless with excitement when we are forced to watch a video of a bank balance growing? Especially when it is not even MY bank balance!
If you really feel you do have to use viseo streaming, despite this very negative poll feedback, take this into consideration :
* Not everyone in the world has broadband. * There is still a relatively large consumer base out there still running on dial-up. * Even if only 5 percent of surfers were still on dial up, that adds up to a huge loss of potential profits for the simple fact is, video streaming on dial up is a special kind of hell that only mass murderers deserve! * Not one dial up customer in my poll had ever waited for the program to load. 100 percent of them shut down their browsers rather than die of old age whilst the streaming loaded. * That is 100% of 5 percent of the internet market you just lost!
If you have been using a lot of video streaming in your marketing , stick your head out the window for moment. What is that sound in the distance? I hope you can hear it. I think it is the sound of a giant congregation of angry surfers praying that your business busts!
Both Martin Pladgeman & Jane Flowers are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Martin Pladgeman has sinced written about articles on various topics from How To Grow Wealth, web development and Computers and The Internet. Alon Barnea is a General Manager of the Mobility & Service Provider Business Unit at RADVISION, a leading provider of video network infrastructure and developer tools for unified visual communications over IP, 3G, and emerging next-generation networ. Martin Pladgeman's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.
Jane Flowers has sinced written about articles on various topics from Writing, Marketing and Make Money Online. Submitted with .. Jane Flowers's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.