MOBILE TV—A PROLOGUE

We live in an era surrounded by technology and gadgets. New technologies, products, and services are constantly being developed and introduced into the real world to pass the test of acceptability. Some of the products that match the imagination, perceived utility, and price criteria gain rapid recognition and success. Others fall by the wayside. In rare cases the products go beyond being successful to become worldwide phenomena.

There has been a common thread running through some of the successful products we have seen over the past 50 years. The Walkman, the mobile phone, the Nintendo Gameboy, the iPod, and the Internet are some of the products and services that went beyond acceptability to be used so widely as to create a generic class by themselves. It is not difficult to recognize the thread of success in each of the products—it is about being mobile and being connected. What happens when all the threads of success are combined in a single product?

The other areas that have been immensely successful are in the domain of the broadcasting and media industries. Hollywood and film industries have an appeal that cuts across the age or class profile of the viewers. Radio broadcasting was an equally phenomenal success when introduced through the humble radio. It reached every city and town worldwide. Video broadcasting was equally so, but was waiting for a technology to enable it to break out of the household TV and join the bandwagon of products that were mobile. The Palm devices demonstrated the clear need to break away from the fixed environment of the office PC, as did technologies such as Wi-Fi from the fixed Internet delivered through wires. Digital cameras found acceptance because they set free our creativity. The Skype was successful as it did away with the feeling of having a limited time to talk, as did the iPod by furthering the thought of having an unlimited number of songs to listen to or unlimited pictures to share. The multimedia mobile phone, which has evolved as a realization of all these needs, is indeed such a product. We are now talking about a device that has natively combined the successful elements of dozens of products or technologies, each of which has clearly been seen to be a winner on a stand-alone basis over the past 50 years.

The common threads that have led to the success of these products are related to personal traits in us that we all recognize. These traits are related to the need to have a personal domain; to be free, mobile, connected; and to be able to enjoy and play. To have information available when we want. To have a feeling of unlimited time to talk or listen. To be creative, generate content, and share it with friends and communities.

The multimedia mobile phones have meticulously assimilated these threads of success in a common product. The process has indeed been helped along by a number of technologies. The cellular mobile technologies have been successful on their own by servicing just one basic need—the need to be mobile and able to talk; the 2 billion plus users are testimonies to this success. The 3G technologies are the enablers of connectivity for the applications we have learned to enjoy in a Walkman, iPod, or Gameboy but that are now available off the air using the new networks. They also enable “Internet on the go” and, together with it, instant messaging, chats, the P2P world of content sharing, and the Skype world of endless talking. The broadcast technologies that have allowed us to watch TV, albeit in our own homes, have now been modified to enable the same programs to be broadcast to the mobiles. Digital video broadcasting to handhelds (DVB-H) or digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) are evolution of such products. The Wi-Fi and WiMAX technologies allow us to go from hot spot to hot spot while remaining connected, even in a world of incompatible cellular air interfaces. The Bluetooth technologies eliminate the final wires that had followed us even in the mobile world. Combine this with the abilities of location detection and navigation, and the utility of such multimedia is magnified manifold as a personal mobility tool. The ability to handle office applications and mail and to view and modify documents makes life so much more easier.

The final straw in any product is the affordability. The industry has indeed worked a miracle by bringing in handsets with single chips, some of which can retail below $10. With the chip sets for multimedia phones such as DVB-H also following the trend we are now passing from the domain of desirability to a matter-of-fact affordability.

This book is an endeavor to provide an insight into the world of mobile TV and multimedia applications.