 | Issue: | EMEA 2012 |
| Article no.: | 8 | |
| Topic: | Mobile video –delivering on consumers’ expectations | |
| Author: | Kay Johansson | |
| Title: | CTO | |
| Organisation: | MobiTV | |
| PDF size: | 380KB |
About author
Kay Johansson serves as the Chief Technology Officer at MobiTV, Inc. driving the creation, development and deployment of video and TV technologies on hundreds of mobile handsets on all major device platforms. In this capacity, he is responsible for the strategic direction of the company’s technology plan. He has been instrumental in scaling MobiTV Inc.’s end-to-end video and TV delivery infrastructure to meet the increasing consumer demand of entertainment on mobile handsets and devices. He is also driving the vision behind the company’s DRM offering, its hybrid approach to mobile DTV and its vision for Multiple Screen delivery.
Prior to joining MobiTV, Inc in 2006, MrJohansson served as the CTO of Popwire, a former Ericsson company, where he led development and product strategy. He has extensive experience building media delivery solutions from server to handset. Heis the co-inventor of two patents for streaming and bandwidth adaptation techniques over wireless networks submitted by Popwire.
Article abstract
The growth of demand for video-anywhere challenges mobile operators with issues of security and scalability. Delivery issues are intensified by the rapidly launching ofwide range of smart devices that areused over networks that have not been designed for video broadcast. They lack facilities such as digital rights and handoff of media as well as discovering, navigatingand managing video consumption.These issues can be alleviated with a purpose built Mobile TV platform enablingmulti-screen usage and content shifting based on time, place and quality, plusvideo content management with extensive personalisation options.
Full Article
As smartphones continue to improve and tablets enter the mainstream,consumers are increasingly using their mobile devices to watch live and on-demand video both inside and outside of the home.Being able to choose when, where and on which device content is watched issomething consumers are now demanding. Moreover, consumers want to be able to shift video content seamlessly across multiple screens.In this evolving landscape, the trend toward digital media contentcoupled with advancements in wireless technology, network quality and content availability is changing the way consumers discover, access and view video programming.
The changes in television viewing habits, availability of broadband Internet access, increased digitization of content and demand for multiple device support have created a challenging environment for wireless carriers, cable and satellite operators, television service providers and content providers. As a result, we’re seeing an evolving market that is getting increasingly crowded as:
• Wireless carriers offer additional services, including television and video, both inside and outside the home.
• Cable and satellite operators are expanding their services, including offering mobile video and other services outside the home to attract and retain users.
• Providers who distribute video content directly to consumers over third-party network connections, or over-the-top providers, are also emerging in greater numbers.
• Content providers are exploring new distribution channels, including direct-to-consumer offerings and over-the-top models. To monetize these new models, content providers face the challenge of ensuring their content is widely distributed, while simultaneously ensuring it remains controlled and protected.
With this in mind, the question of how operators can best deliver on subscribers’ expectations for mobile video, while managing the increased video data load across their networks will be,undoubtedly, a key topic at the IBC 2012 conference. Manufacturers have created devices with larger screens, high resolution and faster processors and, as a result, consumers can easily access video on their mobile devices, and live and on-demand television services have become more available across Internet-enabled screens. In response to this, wireless carriers have rapidly built out 3G and 4G networks, but with picture resolution and device functionality constantly improving and driving mobile video consumption, will this action alone be enough in the long-term?
Innovators in the video technology industry have developed cloud-based approaches that combine all the components needed end-to-end to deliver video from the content originator to the consumer. This technology is used to ingest the video content onto host servers and manage all the software, systems and operational services required to move that content to each consumer’s device, wherever they may be located. Throughout the process, the video is delivered securely and can readily scale tosupport many more viewers, while providing a consistent, high-quality experience for consumers.
Industry observations -solving the toughest challenge first
The first steps in creating such a platform is to solve the industry’s most challenging problem: how to deliver mobile video. Providingvideo to mobile phones and tablets in a way that produces a high-quality, uninterrupted stream and also makes efficient use of the network’s bandwidth is no easy task. My experience in the industry has led me to believe the following:
• Many technology companieshave only been able to offer discrete components of a solution that the carrier needs, in order tobuild end-to-end video services, with appropriate quality, scalability and innovation.
• Delivering high-quality live television over wireless networks requires network hand-offs, device authentication, digital rights management and effective use of the network’s capacity. Each of these challenges must be metwith an overarching commitment to high-quality of experience.
• Differing network standards, operating systems and OEM implementation approaches, along witha constant flow of new device types,acutely complicates the delivery of video across platforms and devices.
• Consumers expect to see high-quality video on their mobile phones. However, historically television and video services have not generally been customized for mobile screens. As a result, discovering, navigating, viewing and managing video on smartphones become difficult, and access to real-time live programs is limited.
• Wireless networks were designed for voice and data traffic, not for dedicated live-television delivery. With data and video consumption increasing rapidly, it becomes even harder to ensure that video services are reliable, efficient and able to scale up to large concurrent audiences while being “network friendly”.
The industry is working to addresseach of these issues with comprehensive solutions that are flexible, easy to deploy and can be tailored to each carrier’s network infrastructure and specific needs. Thesesolutions provide a compelling way for wireless carriers, network operators and other television service providers to extend the reach of their programs beyond the home to multiple screens anywhere, anytime.
Overcoming the hurdles
A mobile TV platform must havetechnologythat supports video services across all device types, offeringa comprehensive solution that works seamlessly and efficiently with carrier and operator networks.The platformshould deliver high-quality live and video on demandcontent that is optimized on a device-by-device basis. In addition, users should be able to shift content on time, place and quality basis across screens both inside and outside the home.The platform need to provide fast access to programming on any type of screen—phone, tablet, computer, TV, Internet TV—along with personalization tools. This TV-everywhere system should enable providers to gain analytics and reporting of aggregated data related to usagethat could potentiallylead to additional revenues.
Meeting consumer demand for video anywhere, anytime
With these disruptive solutions, the industry is now furnishing a broad suite of TV and video capabilities to consumers who are increasingly demanding an innovative high quality viewing experience, anytime, anywhere and on any device.
