Realnetworks Unveils Video System For Cell Phones
Posted on: Tuesday, 12 August 2003, 06:00 CDT
Sprint wireless data-service customers today will be able to watch newscasts and movie reviews on their cell phones because of a deal with Seattle's RealNetworks Inc.
One analyst said the new service signals RealNetworks' intention to eventually have its player software used on as many cell phones as it is on PCs today.
Under the arrangement debuting today, for an extra $4.95 a month, Sprint customers who subscribe to the Sprint PCS Vision wireless data service - and who own a color-screen, Java-enabled cell phone - can watch sports summaries and highlights from Fox Sports, see newscasts from ABC News, NPR and CBS Marketwatch, get TV series and soap opera recaps from ABC News, and see weather updates from The Weather Channel.
The audio-video programming is specially created to be accessible in one or two clicks, to play optimally over the limited bandwidth of a cellular connection, and to last only 90 seconds so airtime consumption is minimized, said Mark Donovan, RealNetworks' director of strategy and marketing.
Sprint PCS Vision, which costs about $15 more per month than voice-only service, had about 2.1 million customers as of June 30, up 62 percent from 1.3 million customers in the first quarter.
But only a tiny fraction of cell-phone consumers in the United States and Canada - about 2 percent - own a data-capable cell phone and use it for that purpose, said Forrester Research senior analyst Charles Golvin.
"We're very, very early in terms of adoption," Golvin said. "The time frame is 2005 for any kind of widespread adoption."
He said today's announcement "is primarily about getting ahead of the curve, about having the services out there for a small audience to use, who then begin to act as influencers on people around them."
He said RealNetworks, which since the mid-1990s has strived to put its media player on as many PCs as possible to gain a foothold in a market no one knew much about, is trying to do the same thing now in the similarly unknown market of data communications.
P-I reporter Dan Richman
can be reached at 206-448-8032
or danrichman@seattlepi.com
Related Articles
- Optimum Online Receives Top Honors From J.D. Power and Associates in Business Telecom Data Services Customer Satisfaction
- J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Optimum Business and Verizon Rank Highest in Satisfying Business Customers With Telecommunications Data Services
- J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Cox Communications and Qwest Rank Highest in Satisfying Business Customers With Telecommunications Data Services
- Mobile Phone Users Embrace Data Services
- Axesstel to Supply Tele Barta With Fixed Wireless Phones to Enable Greater Access to Voice and Data Service in Bangladesh
- Genscape Launches Gas Data Service
- Sprint Announces Industry First: Wireless Data Service Level Agreements for Business Customers
- Horace Mann Selects Sprint to Deliver Voice, Data Services to Connect Operations, Field Agents Across the Country
- Oakwood Homes Selects Sprint for Voice and Data Services
- Sprint Upgrades Wireline/Wireless Data Network for Banking Institutions Across The Southwest
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds