Welcome to my latest experiment in digital living. It's case number 1,051 or thereabouts, and it's called "How I gave up my TV for my cell phone." I'm actually going to give it up only for the day--or maybe just 12 hours--but for the sake of experiment titles, it's best to go with something succinct and catchy. Anyway, here's what I have: one new
Samsung MM-A700 multimedia cell phone, the first to be loaded with Sprint PCS's Vision Multimedia Services and built-in Media Player application.
This mobile is tricked out with an integrated 1-megapixel digital camera that also captures video--pretty well, I might add--and it has some other nifty features, as well as a sharp 262,000-color screen (Cost: $250 with a two-year service plan; $400 without one.) But the thing I'm really interested in is how well it does streaming video. I've always hankered to watch TV on my phone, and recently, Sprint's been talking up Sprint TV and some premium channel partners such as CNN, Fox Sports, E, and the Weather Channel. Allegedly, the MM-A700, which has a zippier processor than your standard high-end flip phone, does stereo sound and can display and capture video clips at up to 15 frames per second (fps). That's not nearly broadcast quality (30fps), but it's not half bad.
I start with CNNtoGo. Popping open the CNNtoGo folder, I launch CNN QuickCast, and I'm treated to a two-and-a-half minute streaming video news digest delivered by anchor Christina Park. Further down in the folder, there are also some supplemental top-story video clips, including the latest from the presidential campaign trail and an Olympics update, as well CNN Radio's top stories in an audio-only format.
Although I'm probably looking at closer to 10fps than 15fps, the presentation is, well, presentable. The audio is loud and mostly clear, as long as you have a good signal, and you get a pretty good idea of what's going on in the video clip, though the audio isn't exactly synced with the video. As expected, you start to run into problems when you get a lot of motion-intensive sequences on the screen--even those as innocuous as a standard panned shot. I watch a movie trailer of
Alien vs. Predator, and the whole thing ends up looking like a jumbled mess on the screen. But the the long and short of it is, for the stuff that really matters, such as news and weather updates, it basically works; it's acceptable.
Naturally, Sprint isn't offering these services as a freebie, a hey-thanks-for-being-a-good-customer-Jack. No, there's a business plan at work here, and Sprint hopes Sprint TV will add some serious cash to the bottom line. Sprint PCS Vision subscribers have to pay an additional $9.99 for Sprint TV--what's described as a "basic cable package for your phone." Unfortunately, your 10 bucks gets you just three channels, two of which are looping previews. A fourth channel called "Athens on Location" is titled to make you think it's Olympics oriented, but it's little more than a warmed-over Greek travelogue. Somewhat more compelling are the premium channels--including the aforementioned CNN, Fox Sports, and E--but they'll run you an additional $4.95 each. A thriftier alternative is opting for the Sprint Multimedia package, which includes unlimited access to Sprint TV, in addition to Picture Mail, Video Mail, Vision, and 100 SMS, for $25 per month.
Typically, Sprint overprices its special services at launch (partially to make sure the network isn't overwhelmed with users sucking away bandwidth), so I'm not going to harp too much on pricing. But I will say that the folks at Sprint do have a little problem charging premium channel prices for stripped-down bite-size versions of channels that most users get with their basic cable TV package. That little jab out of the way, the question is whether this digital digest-style presentation is all that compelling. It's cool that I can watch quick casts of reasonable-quality streaming video on my phone, but personally, I want to watch what's on TV now, live.
The irony is that Sprint already offers just such a service on many of its current handsets. It's called MobiTV, and it allows you to tune into live streams of CNBC and MSNBC, in addition to prerecorded video from several other content providers, all for an identical $10 monthly fee. (Disclaimer: CNET serves up a loop of its video content on MobiTV.) In fact, the technology for both MobiTV and Sprint TV is provided by the same wireless middleware company, Idetic. The downside of the older MobiTV technology is its comparatively slow frame rate. At around 3fps, it looks more like a series of still photos than full-motion video.
As the jump in quality from MobiTV to Sprint TV shows, service providers such as Sprint are banking on--and have big plans for--streaming audio and video on your phone, especially as they roll out their higher-speed networks next year--networks that can deliver speeds closer to those of broadband and help smooth out video. A Sprint representative told me they could stream a live baseball game to a phone; the technology was there, it was just a question of bringing all the parties together to play Let's Make a Deal. With personal video players still a niche market (and hardly pocketable), the "I want my cell phone TV!" battle cry is practically audible. Why not an HBO channel, with streams of its various shows you could watch as you commute to work? Curb Your Enthusiasm on your phone, accessible anytime, almost anywhere--that's worth a few bucks a month, isn't it?
Bottom line: What we're seeing here is a test run, the cell phone pilot episode, if you will. There's still much to be worked out. Playing video is a battery guzzler. The hardware will continue to evolve (alas, you won't be able to use the Samsung MM-A700 with Sprint's next-generation high-speed EVDO data network), and pricing needs to sort itself out. But cable TV-style thinking is coming to a phone near you. Just you watch. And check it out if you get a chance.
Do you want to watch TV on your phone? What types of content would you most want to watch and how much would you being willing to pay for it? Click the TalkBack Now button to get your two cents in.
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