The World of Digital Entertainment - Essay Example

1 Introduction The world of digital entertainment is transforming at a robust pace. Mobile television emerges as a practicable form of portable entertainment. The robust technological change, in the mobile communication market, has enabled usability of high bandwidth and declining of network operation cost. By introducing advanced mobile data services including enhanced voice and data communication to customers, these opportunities are eliminated. New prospects including broadcasting, Internet, telecommunications and vendors coming from different markets makes a new market highly competitive. Various alternate services are available in the new market in terms of usability and value. For example an individual wants to watch an episode of a missed serial via Internet on the computer. This may decrease the use of mobile TV. The era of a dynamic environment also brings challenges for vendors to make considerations regarding consumer preferences. The new market continues to be robust and evolving media, Internet services, mobile communications and consumer electronic products. The mobile TV global ecosystem consists of content providers, aggregators, retailers, service providers, networks, device software solution providers, and device OEMs. It concludes that the mobile TV ecosystem cooperatively provides an end-to-end information services and entertainment that is widespread from permanent and broadband networks above broadband wireless networks for the consumers of mobile devices in the 3rd generation or 4th generation mobile networks. Advanced mobile data networks consist of IPTV and mobile TV services provided by mobile operators in the western countries. A comprehensive definition of IPTV is available on www.iptvdictionary.com which says “Internet protocol television (IPTV) is a process of providing television (video and/or audio) services through the use Internet protocol (IP) networks. These IP networks initiate, process, and receive voice or multimedia communications using Internet protocol. These IP systems may be public IP systems (e.g. the Internet), private data systems (e.g. LAN based), or a hybrid of public and private systems”.Mobile TV is considered as a superb application by stakeholders in the context of falling ARPU and profits of mobile operators. Organizations are involved in content provision and they have learned the technological improvements and advancements along with service availability. These factors lead to adoption globally with high revenue streams. Although the predictions related to the mobile television market are positive, experiences from small diffusion rates of mobile data services in the western countries highlights the requirement for better analysis of the cognitive process is required while adopting a decision to buy a product. Well knows adoption research theories on Information technology concludes that mobile television focuses on the individual’s approach towards the technical scope of the innovation. 2 Mobile Digital Television Arrives The term digital television comes from the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). The evolution was triggered when the television stations retransformed from analog to digital infrastructure. The changed gave the opportunity to the technology players by freeing up the digital spectrum for television transmission. For supporting the functions of digital transmission of mobile television, redesign of hardware infrastructure is also required. The transmission offered standard definition, wide screen which was best suited for smaller screens (Quain 2010). 3 Mobile TV in the US Mobile television has different geographic effects. Countries have mastered this new innovation to generate revenues but in case of USA it is a different story. In USA Mobile television is always been a big question mark due to improper equipped devices incorporated with ineffective business cases to support this technology. The prime barrier is the technology issue for enabling mobile television services efficiently. The executive director of open mobile video coalition said that the signal broadcast in the U.S is not suitable for any kind of receiver which is not stationary as compared to the rest of the world (REEDY 2010). 4 Technology Leaded by Korea While U.S and some European countries analyze some issues related to technology standards, South Korea is watching soap operas and news programs. Seven million consumers were facilitated to watch mobile TV and in just two years after launching the service, Korea became the first country on the planet to broadcast streaming media to cell phone (Yung, Kim et al. 2009). The name of the channel via which mobile broadcasting is conducted is Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB). The major area of focus for customers on mobile television is entertainment. Research conducted to evaluate the popularity of contents concludes that 65% of the DMB users in Korea are being entertained by watching movies, sport games and music (Yung, Kim et al. 2009). 5 Cultural Value Cultural value, For example, the culture in Latin America embraces TV viewing, with consumers in Brazil watching an average of five hours per day and using it as a primary source of information and entertainment. The role of the operator, where voice usage is purchased by pre-paid SIM cards, subscription mobile TV faces an adoption barrier because users do not have existing subscription arrangements with operators. In these markets, free-to-air mobile TV can play a key role in influencing adoption, and additionally forge a stronger tie between the consumer and the operator. 6 Digital rollovers Most of the industry’s attention has been focused on emerging digital standards, with attention given to planned digital rollovers; however, six billion people globally do not have access to any kind of digital standard today. All these factors added strength to the case for free-to-air mobile television as an establishment for motivating global adoption. In markets that place strong cultural value on Television, it delivers the content that viewers are used to watching. In markets where customers typically pre-pay for voice usage, it provides a platform for encouraging additional use of the handset beyond voice, increases the connection between the consumer and the operator, and addresses the mismatch in the business model presented by subscription Television. In addition, free-to-air mobile Television portrays an existing Television ecosystem that is ubiquitous and deployed globally. Because the technical barriers to delivering mobile television using the existing standards have been addressed, this stride needs re-evaluation by industry operators and handset manufacturers to enable and achieve worldwide adoption. Digital standards will perform a role on a long term objectives, but evolution to a new digital transportation globally is far from impending. 7 Integration of Antennas The design and integration of antenna in the mobile television device is a challenge for the designers. The experience of streaming media and voice will impact the battery life along with picture quality, signal and range. These challenges needs to be sorted out as in early handsets external antennas were integrated, not portraying an overall good image of the device. The external antenna is unnecessary for the user and can be damaged by external forces. Radio frequency which is illustrated on www.thefreedictionary.com as “A frequency of electromagnetic radiation in the range at which radio signals are transmitted, ranging from approximately 3 kilohertz to 300 gigahertz. Many astronomical bodies, such as pulsars, quasars, and possibly black holes, emit radio frequency radiation.” tunable technology is required with built in antenna within the mobile television device (RANTA, NOVAK 2008). 8 Integration of Information Technology Television consumers like interactivity and personalization. Internet Protocol television (IPTV) systems support to answer this determination by providing different services including video-on-demand (VoD), network personal video recording (NPVR), and time shift TV (TSTV). However, these services locate an extensive traffic load on the network by requiring a unicast video stream for each active customer. It means to reduce the network traffic load by introducing storage which is complex in the network thus avoiding the need for unicast traffic support over the metro or core network and algorithms to assign content rationally on those storage devices. An algorithm for intelligent redistribution is described that endeavors to place the most relevant content close to consumers (Verhoeyen, De Vleeschauwer et al. 2008). The paper discusses further how this new paradigm of network storage can help improve quality of experience for the IPTV consumer and can assist in the deployment of Internet video and sharing of user-generated content (UGC) (Verhoeyen, De Vleeschauwer et al. 2008). As per computer desktop encyclopedia IPTV is defined as “(Internet Protocol TV) Also called "TV over IP" and "Internet TV," IPTV refers to the delivery of scheduled and video-on-demand (VOD) TV programs and movies over the Internet. By the end of 2009, the telephone companies had nearly 40 million IPTV subscribers worldwide.”The architecture of this new evolution is based on Internet protocol. The data transmission is in the form of Internet Protocol packets. The prime advantage this technology has over the standard RF based mobile networks is the transmission cost. The mobile television can be transmitted via radio frequency base stations following a spectrum of frequencies. The limited frequency ranges also make things difficult for the radio frequency planner. The Internet protocol based television can be broadcasted on existing network infrastructure. For example user a user wants to see a television transmission. The transmission can be transmitted over a wireless switch which can be accessed by the handheld device via an integrated wireless technology. Currently all new cell phones and personal data assistants include integration of wireless technology. In the context of Television history, IPTV embraces all the evolutionary steps that came before. Although IPTV uses a different delivery technology than OTA, cable or satellite broadcast, it is not a revolutionary step but offers a general service: IPTV can be seen as a cable or satellite equivalent delivered over Internet Protocol, offering broadcast and on demand to its subscribers, using Digital Video Recorders and home networks, with Digital Subscriber Line and or fiber optics for transmission. Despite its standard service model, IPTV has disrupted the Television landscape by expanding the television ecosystem and adding new players to the video value chain. Initially, IPTV has disrupted the television landscape by allowing Telephone Companies to enter the lucrative television marketplace. This enabled competing Television providers in most markets, with accompanying pressure on providers to deliver enhanced digital content, with advanced services and features that will encourage subscriber loyalty (Montpetit, Mirlacher et al. 2010). IPTV introduced another new entrant in the television value chain: the middleware provider. In traditional television, the STB, its firmware and the content management system it required were all under the control of a single entity. IPTV has shown that the STB software and its associated back office and video servers can be provided by one entity while the STB and its associated service come from another supplier (Montpetit, Mirlacher et al. 2010). 9 Mobile Television Expectations The infrastructure of current mobile television transmission is based on 3G streaming. Most mobile phone operation is offering on this platform. The use of mobile television worldwide is not prominent as result market players do not see much charm for investing. From the overall 40 million users worldwide, only 1% is identified as mobile television users (Mobile TV may still meet expectations. 2009). Users watching mobile television for free are included in these figures. The revenue which was generated globally from mobile television users was less than $3 billion in 2008. Korea, Japan and Italy have adopted a massive impact on consumers by deploying the mobile television services. These countries do not ensure the sustainability of the technology. The difference of standards is the barrier (Mobile TV may still meet expectations. 2009). 10 Conclusion The example is set by Korea of how to adopt and generate revenue from the Mobile television services. There are implications of standards which vary from country to country. The major impact of mobile television services is the transformation of a new term which is called as Internet Protocol Television. The integration of information systems with the mobile transmission has certainly generated enormous features. The usability of the network infrastructure rather than satellite communication has certainly initiated competition in the market. It provides services of video on demand has certainly disrupted the infrastructure and demanded to add video servers to support video on demand. Due to generalized standard, IPTV has overcome the traditional mobile television transmission. Bibliography , Internet Protocol Television - IPTV Definition and Diagram . Available: http://www.iptvdictionary.com/iptv_dictionary_IPTV_definition.html [12/7/2010, 2010]. REEDY, S., 2010. Mobile Tv Explodes Worldwide -- what Ails the U.S.? Connected Planet, , pp. 28-29. YUNG, K.C., KIM, J. and MCMILLAN, S.J., 2009. Motivators for the intention to use mobile TV. International Journal of Advertising, 28(1), pp. 147-167. RANTA, T. and NOVAK, R., 2008. New Tunable Technology for Mobile-Tv Antennas. Microwave Journal, 51(11), pp. 102-110. Mobile TV may still meet expectations. 2009. Telecom Asia, 20(5), pp. 34-36. , radio frequency - definition of radio frequency by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. . Available: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/radio+frequency [12/7/2010, 2010]. Iptv. 2010. Computer Desktop Encyclopedia, , pp. 1. QUAIN, J.R., 2010. Mobile Digital TV: Coming to a Small Screen Near You. PC World, 28(5), pp. 12-14. MONTPETIT, M., MIRLACHER, T. and KETCHAM, M., 2010. IPTV: An End to End Perspective. Journal of Communications, 5(5), pp. 358-373. VERHOEYEN, M., DE VLEESCHAUWER, D. and ROBINSON, D., 2008. Content storage architectures for boosted IPTV service. Bell Labs Technical Journal, 13(3), pp. 29-43. Read More