Even Crisper, But Still Not Wanted, Mobile TV

from the slow-down,-fellas... dept

Thu, Oct 21st 2004 10:04am — Mike Masnick

We've questioned for quite some time whether or not anyone actually wants TV on their mobile phones, and before that question is even solved, the industry is already working on putting HDTV on your phone. Because, apparently, someone believes the reason TV on phones hasn't been a huge success so far is because the resolution isn't good enough. We're talking about tiny screens here. Somehow, I think the crispness of the picture comes pretty far down the priority list of things that potential users are looking at. Shouldn't the industry be focused more on figuring out what people want in terms of mobile video? Mobile phones are communications devices, not broadcast devices. Being able to pick up live TV (HD or not) is likely to have some niche appeal, but there are plenty of other, more compelling, video applications for phones.

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Chris, 21 Oct 2004 @ 10:47am

No Subject Given
While actually viewing TV on the mobile phone may be tedious, putting the technology in place could be a beneficial process. It seems the big shift right now is to make any type of content available to people at any given time. While watching your favorite television show on the tiny screen might be a drag, I imagine there will be some device that develops to make it a more enjoyable experience (I know, I know - why not just use an existing portable tv). And it may not always be television programs that are broadcasted to your phone, but another form of video communication (or spam) that develops. So should we take advantage of technology just for the sake of it? Of course! We're geeks - that's what we do.
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- Steve Mueller, 21 Oct 2004 @ 11:08am
  
  Re: Portable TVs
  While watching your favorite television show on the tiny screen might be a drag, I imagine there will be some device that develops to make it a more enjoyable experience (I know, I know - why not just use an existing portable tv).
  The reason using a phone could be better than a portable TV is because the carrier could redistribute satellite and cable feeds. Portable TVs are pretty much limited to broadcast TV (and even then the reception often stinks).
  Also, carrying a portable TV means you're carrying a second device. I already take my phone with me almost everywhere, so why should I carry a TV, too?
  I do agree that I'd want a bigger screen, though. In fact, as I also carry a Pocket PC with me everywhere, it would be great if I could watch TV on that with its 3.7" screen. Unfortunately, not enough people have PDAs yet to make that a winning proposition. (Although there is a Compact Flash TV tuner card out that works with Pocket PCs, that suffers from what I mentioned in the first paragraph.)
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  - Anonymous Coward, 21 Oct 2004 @ 6:08pm
    
    Re: Portable TVs
    hmmm ... woder if I could get that TV B Gone feature installed in my mobile phone
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