• January 6, 2005

SmartVideo Technologies is one of a new crop of TV programming content providers on cell phones. Thursday, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, SmartVideo announced a content partnership with ABC News to deliver live news and on-demand video to consumers' Smartphones, which are mobile phones that combine computer functionality.

Subscribers will have access to ABC News Now, a 24-hour streaming news channel, as well as on-demand reports such as "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" and "Good Morning America." SmartVideo can deliver streaming video at 15 frames per second to low-bandwidth cell network devices.

"ABC News Now is the first news channel built for digital distribution," stated Bernard Gershon, ABC News Digital Media Group senior vice president and general manager.

SmartVideo President and CEO Richard Bennett said he expects the market for streaming video on cell phones to expand as consumers' dependence on cell phones for news and information steadily increases. SmartVideo also has an agreement with Microsoft to develop mobile video products for Windows Mobile-based devices. SmartVideo subscription packages cost $12.95 per month or more.

--R.F.