FLO TV Going D2C

Apparently even stalwart carrier partners like Qualcomm (QCOM) are beginning to realize that AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, et al aren't necessarily the hottest retailers of content to consumers. According to an article in Telephony the FLO TV mobile video unit will begin augmenting their carrier wholesale business by marketing the service directly to consumers for use with in-vehicle entertainment systems and a variety of other portable wi-fi enabled devices (e.g. netbooks, smartphones, connected gaming systems, etc.). Qualcomm is, it would seem, trying to get FLO-enabled receivers embedded in a broad range of new consumer electronic devices and building plug-in receiver accessories for existing products...probably, in part, to compete with upcoming WiMax video initiatives.

As mentioned in previous posts, FLO TV gives users a high quality mobile TV viewing experience, with full length (though old school linear) programming from NBCU, CBS, MTV Networks, Fox, ESPN, etc...but has gotten very limited traction due to partner operators' seeming indifference to the product (very few handsets support it) & lack of reasonable geographic coverage. The latter issue should be resolved as they pick up a bunch of network spectrum immediately after the broadcast TV digital transition on June 12th, and obviously this D2C initiative is an attempt to fix the former.

Now the big question...is a company deeply rooted in the technology infrastructure business like Qualcomm going to be any better of a retailer of this mobile entertainment product than the operators? Let's hope so. I recommend they use Apple, as opposed to say...Nokia, as a benchmark.

Uh Oh!, Verizon's Voyager Successor Has No FLO

According to a story on EngadgetMobile, Verizon Wireless's imminent & highly anticipated replacement for the LG Voyager, the LG VX11000 enV Touch, will not support V CAST Mobile TV (Verizon's flavor of Qualcomm's FLO TV mobile broadcast product). Does this mean that the #1 US operator is already phasing-out the product, which launched in Q1 2007, as they get ready to rollout their LTE 4G services later this year? Probably. Frankly I've aways questioned Verizon's commitment to FLO TV...they never marketed it very well (or much) and only ever made it available on a few devices. Other issues that have dogged the service, which does give the user a good viewing experience, are a limited selection of channels (with no time-shifting capability) and very uneven network coverage (doesn't work at my house...doesn't work on road trips). My guess is that Verizon has well under a million V CAST Mobile TV subscribers paying the additional $15/mo (on top of the unlimited data fee) and that the churn rate is pretty high....so the revenue loss would be pretty insignificant in the scheme of Verizon Wireless's overall numbers. Assuming V CAST Mobile TV is indeed going bye-bye, hopefully someone at the carrier will read my post from Wednesday and think twice before replacing the service with another proprietary, subset of real TV service, that is destined to fail. Instead, let apps like SlingPlayer Mobile and (eventually) freeVOD sites like Hulu show subscribers how good TV can be on mobile over a high speed data network.

Sling Almost Has The Video Genie Out of the Bottle

After months of wrangling, rumors and posturing the highly anticipated SlingPlayer for iPhone is finally available for download in the App Store...but not before AT&T Mobility took a hammer to it's knee-cap. For now the $29.99 iPhone version called SlingPlayer Mobile will only work via Wi-Fi and not over AT&T's 3G network. The operator claims that the App would use too much network capacity and potentially prevent other customers from having a good 3G experience.

You know, it's all about principles...except that BlackBerry Bolds, Palms and N-series Nokia devices can use Sling applications over the network and nevermind that other broadcast Apps like CBS's TV.com don't seem to be a problem. Some have suggested that this limitation is a slap in the face to AT&T's U-verse competitor EchoStar, who acquired Sling Media back in 2007. I think it may be more about appeasing FLO TV partner Qualcomm (who must hate this) and some of the IP owners who benefit from that service. As usual, no one seemed to care very much when it was just a few early-adopter types who happened to figure out that there was a Sling application for their Centros...but on the highly visible App Store platform everything changes. Non-mobile people actually talk about iPhone Apps.

I think the real big news here is that SlingMedia is on the verge of catalyzing a movement that will make proprietary mobile streaming & broadcast services to the handset an anachronism. I have no doubt they will soon get access to AT&T's network for this App...and that by virtue of the aforementioned iPhone effect the service will quickly get unprecedented popular/industry mindshare. This will inevitably lead to an explosion of imitators, innovators & Boxees on iPhone/AT&T who will make it easier and easier for consumers to push/pull TV and other rich media content to/from handsets...and demand by consumers on other carriers to get those same services. I see product offerings like V CAST, MobiTV, Sprint TV, GoTV and FLO TV disappearing as consumers opt to watch hundreds of channels of real TV (including recorded TV), wherever/whenever, for the price of a set-top box and a one time app fee. This movement will intensify as the MSOs and Satellite guys get into the mix with their own Sling-type offerings...and as some of these services migrate to the mobile web, once Adobe (or whomever) gets a mobile video browser plug-in working properly and meaningfully deployed. Whew!...can't wait. Ultimately, the effect of Sling on iPhone will be big win for the consumer...more TV, more often, for cheap. The same can't be said for the carriers, who'll soon be wondering where their video subscription revenue went, or for the IP owners, who'll soon be wondering where their mobile licensing window went.

Not @MWC & Apparently Not Missing Much

OK I'm a little bitter that I'm not in Barcelona...but until my Adsense revenues turn into Adollar$ I am just not going to be flying, hoteling, conventioning and wine/dining/dancing like fool in Spain on my own dime...CTIA in Vegas, maybe. That being said the news out of the show has been pretty unspectacular donchathink?:

• Nokia (NOK) announced it's widely anticipated Ovi Store for applications and announced that it would preload Skype on to upcoming N-Series devices (a move sure to piss off carriers)
• Microsoft (MSFT) announced it's new Windows Marketplace for Mobile available with its new Windows Mobile 6.5 OS (does anyone aspire to have a Windows Mobile device?)
• Besides a new HTC handset for Vodafone, Google's Android has been a total bust.
• RealNetworks (RNWK) took over the backend of Verizon Wireless's V Cast streaming video service from thePlatform
• Qualcomm's (QCOM) MediaFlo is sucking wind in the US and they vow to do things differently in Europe
• Acer and maybe Dell are entering the smartphone fray
• And the biggest story of all...the GSMA announced that 17 carriers and handset manufacturers were going to create a universal phone charger by 2012 (cue Kool & the Gang)
• btw -- where hell has RIM/BlackBerry (RIMM) been hiding?...did they purposely keep a low profile at MWC because of their SEC issues?

Anything else I'm missing?

Store Wars: The Clone Wars

The pre-Mobile World Congress buzz is that everyone and their mother is going to make some kind of application store announcement at the show. I think that many of these companies are going to learn the hard way that D2C mobile content retailing is not for the faint of heart...and that it takes real merchants (not engineers) to pull it off artfully. The best outcome may be that this trend keeps pushing Apple to enhance their offering. Anyway, keep posted to Cabana Mobile for more details on announcements that may or may not come from:
1) Google/Android
2) Samsung
3) Nokia
4) RIM/BlackBerry
5) Qualcomm
6) Palm

FLO TV Gets A Seasoned Handango

According to a Fierce Wireless story yesterday, mobile industry vet Bill Stone (former AirTouch, Vodafone, Verizon Wireless, Amp'd) has left his positon as CEO of smartphone app portal Handango to lead Qualcomm's (QCOM) money losing MediaFLO USA FLO TV mobile broadcast business (-$202mil on $12mil revs in FY 2008). He replaces Qualcomm vet Gina Lombardi. The linear service is up and running on Verizon & AT&T in the US, but is only available on a limited number of handsets.

At Handango another industry veteran, Alex Bloom (former Verizon, Motricity) will step up to be CEO.