Shani: I am a weird combination of film/tv producer and public relations consultant/writer who is a podcasting and content manager for a U.S. civil agency. My dissertation is examining mobile TV and gaming. James Gee is a good start on the power of gaming. However, Sprint/Nextel which is located in the DC area has embraced mobile TV and so has Verizon in the United States. My research indicates that South Korea and Japan along with the UK have some of the best mobicasts. The U.S. is a major content creator but the telecomms, entertainment companies, software firms and electronics makers are spending too much time suing themselves and their customers to really develop this type of programming. However, the new iTunes phones from Cingular allows the downloading of only 100 songs but I am not sure how many television shows one can download. Many of the new Motorola phones and Verizon phones; however, have Windows Media which will allow one to watch television via phones. This is a new area but the pending telecom deal between AT&T and Bell South will actually speed up the process of television by phone because the new AT&T and Bell South own Cingular jointly and can provide this service. Verizon is already providing cable service in the Washington area. The real war for viewers is the telecomms versus the cable companies. The winner of this battle will take control of the satellite industry and battle with Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Apple for eyeballs. Apple controls handhelds currently with its popular iPods and iTunes music store. The music industry is trying to charge higher prices but Apple has held the line on prices (.99 U.S. for music and $1.99 for television and films). Apple chair Steve Jobs called the industry greedy several months ago and now there is a legal investigation of the music industry again. They lost the last time and settled for alleged payola and other offenses. Apple is the key. If Apple develops a cell phone with larger capacities, this industry will flourish. There are rumors that a new phone iPod with heavier storage will be available by years end. However, its competitors and allies like Motorola are utilizing Windows so that they can sell more phones. Apple wants people to buy more of its PC's hence they have switched to Intel chips and they want people to connect their phones to laptops. Its competitors charge $1.99 for a computer free download to the phone directly which is where Apple may be forced to go. Remember, Apple just had its 1 billionth download a week ago so it is still the leader. If you find some good things send them my way. Thanks! You just got the quick abbreviated version. Chris Heidelberg PhD Student Morgan State University Chris.Heidelberg@ssa.gov -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of S.S.Orgad@lse.ac.uk Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 7:58 AM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] Mobile TV I am seeking recommendations for readings on mobile TV. This may seem slightly off-topic, as this is not a directly Internet-related topic. However, with the increasing trend towards the convergence of technology, it becomes harder to make a distinction between Internet and new media and so I believe this is not that off-topic after all and may be of interest to others on the list. If you've come across interesting studies on early adopters, interviews with people in the industry or anything you think may be relevant, I'd be grateful if you could email me your recommendations offlist and I will post a summary to the list. Thanks for your help, Shani ********************************** Shani Orgad, PhD Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE United Kingdom e-mail: s.s.orgad@lse.ac.uk tel: +44 20 79556493 fax: +44 20 79557248 http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad>