Wide Selection of Popular Mobile Content Creates Personalized Video Experiences
Cingular Wireless of late announced the immediate availability of Cingular Video on-demand streaming video service with a large selection of popular mobile content. Consumers can now watch video clips of their favorite television shows, sports, news and weather, entertainment and premium content on their high-speed 3G capable Cingular phones.
The new service allows viewers to select short three- to five-minute clips from 18 different channels, including selections from shows airing on the Cartoon Network, NBC and ESPN.
Demand for wireless video and other data services continues to grow with the proliferation of wireless broadband networks. To provide a personalized, more complete video experience, Cingular has partnered with leading media and entertainment companies to offer exclusive content from sources such as Fox News, which will offer short clips of news, and HBO, which will offer clips of "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Entourage."
More of What Consumers Want to See:
Cingular Video will also includes a wider, more diverse selection of video, apart from exclusive content, such as Fox News clips, and the most comprehensive sports coverage of any wireless carrier with ESPN, FOX Sports, FUEL and SPEED.
In addition, Cingular Video includes local weather forecasts in 100 cities across the country, three times more cities than any other service provider. Basic Cingular Video service includes more options for families and, later this month, basketball fans can watch NCAA(R) men’s basketball video highlights available only on Cingular Video.
Cingular Video offers the highest degree of personalization and the widest selection of desirable content in the U.S. market, said Sam Hall, vice president, Mobile Browse and Developer Program, Cingular Wireless. "The service is designed with today’s mobile consumer in mind and users are never more than a few clicks from their favorite programs."
Cingular Video now includes the following content highlights and more:
- ABC TV – Trailers of the hit Touchstone Television series "Desperate Housewives," "Grey’s Anatomy" and "Lost"
- Adult Swim – "The Brak Show," "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," "Sealab 2021" and "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law"
- CNN – Content from Now in the News (updated hourly) and programming offered from categories, including Top Stories, Business News, Sports, Politics and Entertainment
- Cartoon Network – "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy," "The Powerpuff Girls," "Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends," "Codename: Kids Next Door" and "Dexter’s Laboratory"
- Disney Channel – Promotional clips of popular programming for kids and "tweens," including "That’s So Raven" and "Kim Possible," as well as selections from Playhouse Disney, Disney Channel’s curriculum-based programming for preschoolers
- Disney Mobile Studios – "The Muppets," Disney Classics and Disney Originals 2D and 3D animated shorts
- ESPN – ESPN Fantasy sports programming, college sports content, news, X Games, original programming and ESPN Deportes
- FOX News – Video clips from the day’s headlines
- FOX Sports – In-depth regional coverage of all major pro and college sports
- FOX TV – "House" and "King of the Hill"
- FUEL – Action sports, athlete profiles and crashes
- HBO Family (Premium) – "Crashbox" and "El Perro"
- HBO Mobile (Premium) – "The Sopranos," "Sex and The City," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Entourage"
- iFilm – Movie trailers and clips, celebrity interviews and updates
- Music Choice – Diverse selection of music videos, artist interviews and performances, and music news
- NBC – News, headlines, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Access Hollywood," NBC Universal’s hit entertainment magazine
- SPEED – The #1 source for motor sports news, expert insight, analysis and lifestyle programming
- TV Guide Channel – Reviews of the hottest shows and movies on TV
- The Weather Channel – Local and regional updates, as well as severe and tropical weather reports
Coming Soon:
- CBS Sportsline – Exclusive NCAA(R) March Madness(R) men’s basketball content
- Cingular Sounds Live – Made-for-mobile concert events
- NASCAR.COM — A weekly video program highlighting an upcoming NASCAR race and a weekly video program recapping the most recent NASCAR race
- TCM – Famous movie scenes and clips, original movie trailers, cartoons, short subjects and behind-the-scenes footage focusing on classic movies
Personalized Mobile Video Experiences:
Similar to Cingular’s MEdia Net wireless Internet service, Cingular Video offers quick access to content users care about most. Cingular Video users can create a personalized home page with up to three links to their favorite video sites. In addition, the service is pre-set to automatically stream localized weather information to a user’s personalized "News & Weather" page each day.
Mobile operators, such as Cingular, are hoping mobile TV is a big hit with consumers, generating additional revenue that will help offset the billions of dollars operators have already spent to build new 3G high-speed wireless networks.
Exclusive Services from HBO:
Cingular Video also offers exclusive content from HBO Mobile and HBO Family Mobile. Cingular Video is the only place where consumers can watch select episodes and unforgettable scenes and bonus material from award-winning HBO shows, cartoons and never-before-seen comedy and sports. “HBO content is available for $4.99 per month for HBO Mobile and $2.99 per month for HBO Family Mobile.”
Best Deals on Cingular Video:
Cingular Video will be available free of charge to Cingular customers purchasing an unlimited 3G data package, which costs $19.99 per month. The data package also allows for unlimited text messaging, e-mailing and picture sharing over the network.
Cingular Video uses the power of 3G phones as well as Cingular’s new high-speed 3G wireless broadband network. Cingular Video will initially be available in the markets of Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tacoma and Washington, D.C. Additional 3G markets will be rolled out throughout the year.
Cingular currently offers 3G services on the LG CU320 or Samsung SGH-ZX10 handsets and will add the Nokia 6282 and LG CU500 to its 3G product line later this spring.
Additionally, Cingular currently offers a live TV service over its 2.5G network through MobiTV. That service costs $9.99 per month. In addition to the MobiTV subscription, customers must sign up for a data package, ‘which ranges from $4.99 per month for 1MB of data usage to a $19.99 package for unlimited data usage.’
Cingular Video is powered by RealNetworks’ Helix OnlineTV platform and provides consumers the ability to easily access and enjoy the most up-to-date content. Helix is a multi-format digital media platform that provides the highest quality end-to-end carrier-grade digital media applications and services for carriers around the world.
Helix Media Delivery System comprises of “Helix Mobile Server, Helix Mobile Gateway, Helix Digital Rights Management (DRM), Helix Service Delivery Platform, Helix Mobile Producer and Helix DNA Client.”
Prices for Cingular 3G handsets start at $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate for a two-year service plan commitment. Cingular Video requires a $19.99 MEdia Net Unlimited data package. Premium content, such as HBO Mobile, is available on a monthly subscription basis, while other content, such as music video clips from Music Choice, is available on a pay-per-view basis for a 24-hour period of time.
Cingular’s competitors also offer video clips. “Verizon Wireless offers a service called V cast over its 3G wireless network for $15 per month.” The subscription includes 300 channels of packaged video clips between one and four minutes long.
Sprint Nextel charges $9.99 for its on-demand video service, but users must also subscribe to a data package, which can cost an additional $10 to $20 per month.