Motorola To Launch Mobile Media Player For Live TV, On-Demand
- by Mark Walsh @markfwal, January 4, 2008
The Motorola Mobile TV DH01 will be formally launched at the upcoming International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The pocket-sized device, which is compatible with the DVB-H mobile broadcasting standard, is likely find a more receptive market across the Atlantic.
That's because the European Commission last year officially endorsed DVB-H as the European Union's official mobile TV standard. At the same time, the standard appears all but dead in the U.S., with mobile infrastructure company Crown Castle International pulling the plug on its DVB-H-based Modeo mobile TV service last year.
Qualcomm's rival MediaFLO mobile broadcast system has emerged as the unofficial U.S. mobile TV standard through deals to power the mobile TV offerings of Verizon Wireless and AT&T. The latter is expected to unveil its mobile TV service early this year--with eight channels featuring programming from CBS, Fox and NBC, among others.
There has been some speculation, however, that AT&T may try to roll out its own DVB-H network in the U.S. following its 2007 purchase of Aloha Partners, parent of mobile TV startup HiWire.
Because of the technical hurdles, Motorola's new mobile TV device for now will only allow U.S. consumers to play back programs recorded to a DVR, said Venkat Eswara, senior marketing manager for application services in the company's Home and Networks Mobility business. He said live TV programming probably won't be available until at least the latter half of 2008.
Eswara said Motorola is focusing initially on alliances with content and wireless partners for the DH01 player in Europe and Asia, where the DVB-H standard has gained more traction. Even so, Motorola could have a hard time selling the device abroad, according to Avi Greengart, research director for mobile devices at technology research firm Current Analysis. He pointed out that mobile TV is often just one of many functions offered on handheld devices in Asia, for instance.
"Motorola will have the dual challenge of entering a new market and competing with converged DVB-H phones and media players," said Greengart.
The overall outlook for adoption of media players is bright. Park Associates expects the number of portable media players with video capability to grow at an annual rate of 30% over the next five years, with 132 million units shipped in 2011 alone. The players also hold the potential for increased mobile advertising. A separate report on mobile TV and video published by eMarketer last year revealed that 41% of Americans would watch advertisements in return for free mobile video content.
