March 26th, 2009
Unlimited TV on your BlackBerry?
A few days ago, we saw some numbers from AdMob about mobile Web traffic which showed the iPhone way in the lead. But, there’s some new talk buzzing around about BlackBerry which may cause its numbers to increase.
RIM announced back in October of 2008 that it would be releasing an app store in March of 2009. Well, here we are in March of 2009, and the rumors are running wild. In addition to awaiting the app store, today NewTeeVee.com said there could also be an addition of a TV service: “We’ve heard from multiple sources that RIM is planning to announce a full-episode television service for BlackBerry users as early as next week at CTIA.”
NewTeeVee says the unlimited subscription service will come with a monthly fee. Content will download in the background using Wi-Fi, which means 3G networks would avoid getting clogged. It will have licensed content from multiple broadcast and cable stations. Could this mean Hulu for BlackBerry?
Although BlackBerry is seen to many as being No. 2 to the iPhone, the video service might actually be an improvement over Apple’s. TV.com’s long-form shows iPhone app breaks an episode into clips, and pieces them together for playback. Another alternative for iPhone users is paying to download an individual episode onto your laptop, then transferring it to your iPod. The BlackBerry service is said to offer full-length, high-quality video downloads over Wi-Fi, relieving you from dealing with those issues.
But, could the fact that the video will download over Wi-Fi, and not 3G, mean it won’t be compatible with the BlackBerry Storm? It looks like that would be the case, since the Storm only uses 3G.
Silicon Alley Insider doesn’t seem to have much faith in the idea. It says that mobile TV is just not that popular in the U.S., and only about 2 percent of mobile subscribers watch programmed mobile TV on their phones, according to comScore.
So what do you think? Would you pay monthly for unlimited mobile TV?
Jennifer R. Bergen is a journalist and blogger living in New York City. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
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