Vodafone takes new angle on mobile TV

Vodafone UK has launched a trial scheme with Babelgum Mobile that'll let customers watch video clips 'free' on compatible handsets: initially the Nokia N96, N95 and 6210. Babelgum is a web TV service that, unlike many other video sites, generates its own original programming as well as showing clips from other television channels. [Press release (pdf)]

5% of American mobile users watch video

Talking of mobile multimedia, a report from The Nielsen Company says 10.3 million Americans currently watch videos on their phone each month - that's 5% of all mobile customers (compared to 3% in the UK). The majority of users - 66% - say they watch their video through the web, rather than downloading clips to their phones. The Apple iPhone is the most popular phone for mobile video consumers, comedy is the most popular mobile video content and waiting for someone or something is the most popular occasion for video usage. [Report (pdf)]

35% of US households to get mobile TV this year

The Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), which is an alliance of commercial and public broadcasters in the USA, says 63 TV stations will launch mobile digital television services in 2009, covering 35% of US households that watch TV. Services will use the ATSC Mobile DTV standard and can only be received on a compatible device. [Press release (Word document)]

Half of US mobile users ignore multimedia features

A new report by The NPD Group says 45% of American mobile phone users don't use the multimedia features on their handsets. In fact, only 20% use their mobiles as an all-in-one device for music, videos, web surfing and other activities. 21% were not sure if their handsets would play music and 23% weren't sure if their phone included GPS - although NPD calculated that 55% of phones sold from January to November 2008 had GPS technology. [Press release]

Adult mobile content market worth almost $5 billion in 5 years

Last week we were told that mobile betting was a recession-busting industry segment. This week Juniper Research says money spend on adult mobile video chat services will exceed $1 billion by 2011 - and the entire mobile adult content market will be worth £4.9 billion by 2013. Despite global economic conditions, the company says individual users' spending on video chat will be higher than previously forecast. Western Europe is and will remain the largest regional market for mobile adult services, followed by the Far East and China. Juniper Research [Press release]

Customers happy to pay extra for decent cameras on mobiles

Research company Strategy Analytics says consumers in the USA and Western Europe are most willing to pay extra for a camera on their mobile phone. Over 60% of all respondents said they'd be willing to pay extra for a quality camera on their mobile. Other popular options included a video camera, music player and removable memory cards. Customers aged 35 and older were less willing to pay extra than younger consumers. [Press release]

Nokia considering unlimited game and video services?

There are suggestions that Nokia's "Comes With Music" unlimited music service could be expanded to offer unlimited games or movie downloads in the near future. [Sources: NMA.co.uk; NokNok.tv]

Bang & Olufsen drops mobile phones

Danish hi-fi manufacturer Bang & Olufsen says it's going to focus on developing and manufacturing audio and video products - which means it'll stop developing mobile phones, co-branded products an stand-alone audiovisual devices. It's previously produced the Serene and Serenata phones in partnersip with Samsung. As a result of the reorganisation, 165 staff are being made redundant. [Press release 1; Press release 2]

US mobile consumers aren't using 'high-end' features

Consultancy firm Accenture says US consumers aren't using 'higher-end' applications on their mobile phones. The organisation's recent research shows 88% of users never use mobile devices to watch videos, 84% don't use mobiles to send email and 79% never play games on their mobiles. [Press release]

Mobile Content Tools worth over $8 billion in 2008

Companies that offer mobile services - including music and electronic game publishers, television broadcasters, video production companies, content aggregators and telecommunications networks - are expected to spend more than $8 billion on the tools needed to create, edit, manage, and load content onto mobile devices by the end of this year, according to new market research from The Insight Research Corporation. [Press release]

US mobile video users watch over 3 hours per month

Market researchers at The Nielsen Company have just published a survey showing video and television usage on conventional TV sets, on the web and on mobile devices. Perhaps it's no surprise that Americans are watching more TV than ever before - an average of 127 hours and 15 minutes per month - but they're also spending more time watching on the move. When they looked at the 4 million mobile phone users who used TV or video services, average usage was 3 hours and 15 minutes per month. [Press release; pdf report]

Lack of awareness and perceived costs are major barriers to mobile TV

QuickPlay Media, which provides mobile TV and video services for network operators, says lack of consumer awareness and perceived costs are two of the major barriers to mobile TV and video adoption. Its recent UK survey showed that 44% of consumers didn't know if their network offered a mobile TV service, with 33% saying cost was the main barrier to usage. In fact, 65% of consumers were willing to watch an advertisement on their phone in order to access free or discounted TV and video. 41% of consumers have already watched TV or videos on a mobile phone, with 18% watching more than once a week. [Press release]

Adult Mobile Video Chat services expected to grow dramatically

Adult Video Chat Services on mobile phones are expected to make $1.5 billion worldwide by 2012, according to a report from Juniper Research. The company says that adoption levels are currently low but that the average monthly spend is up to 20 times higher than for other adult services. They estimate that 33% of all money from adult services will come from video chat by 2012, compared with 8% in 2007. [Sources: Telecoms.com, Juniper Research]

TV 'Terminators' campaign uses personalised video messages

TV channel Virgin 1 is promoting the new "Terminators: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" TV show with a personalised mobile video campaign. The campaign, describes as a "media first", encurages people to visit www.terminate-a-mate.com and text their friends with a warning that "terminators are nearby". The friend is then sent a text message that can be followed up with a personalised video message including their name and a map of their location. [Source: BrandRepublic.com]

O2 and 3 to merge user-generated video services

O2 and 3 have said they're going to combine their existing user-generated video services in the UK. 3's SeeMeTV and O2's LookAtMe! will become a new service called EyeVibe and will now be available to any UK mobile phone user. The service will continue to pay users when their clips are downloaded; the two individual sites have currently seen 32 million video downloads, earning over £800,000 for users who have submitted over 60,000 clips. [O2 press release]

YouTube increases availability to mobile users

The full catalogue of videos from YouTube.com is being made available to almost any mobile phone users with 3G connectivity and the ability to watch 'streamed' video. A scaled-down version is currently offered to many mobile users. The company is also testing software that'll make it easier to upload videos from mobile phones to YouTube. [Source: Reuters.com]

Mobile video messaging worth $10 billion in 5 years' time

The money made from mobile video messaging services is expected to rise by an average of 60% per year between now and 2012, according to ABI Research, hitting $10 billion (£4.9 billion) in 5 years' time. It says mobile video messaging is is in the right place to take advantage of increased mobile device capabilities and consumers’ desire to stay in touch using more than just voice. [Press release]

Nokia launches video service

Nokia has launched Medeo, a mobile video service that's available via www.nokia.mobi

The streaming video service is funded by advertising, which means users only pay for their data connection. It promises "everything from red carpet news, interviews with your favourite TV and movie stars, film trailers, fashion and music" but is currently only available on Nokia Nseries and Eseries devices. Other Nokia devices that are capable of video streaming are expected to be supported shortly. [Press release]