March Madness to stream to iPhone over 3G
Cheer up! You will now be able to get you March Mardeness fixed on your iPhone over WiFi and 3G and the good news is that unlike last year’s version, it won’t require a WiFi connection to stream live games. So, say goodbye to the boss buttonâ€.
The $10app will also include push notification of score, radio broadcasts, social media integration, interactive brackets and a host of other statistics. There will be video highlights in the Lite†version and it will come for free. A Blackberry version is also being expected, though it won’t have video.
According to the SVP and GM of CBS, Rob Gelick, the previous year their company was the first to do a live sporting event with the March Madness app and since then the appetite for video and live video has grown massively for them.
V Cast Mobile TV Goes Live
WirelessWeek writes…Taking the lid off its highly anticipated next great revolution in television, Verizon Wireless officially went live with V Cast Mobile TV in 20 select markets today. The first markets to receive V Cast’s Mobile TV services, which are hosted on a separate network by technology partner MediaFLO USA, are: Tucson, Ariz; Palm Springs, Calif; Colorado Springs and Denver, Colo.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Chicago; Wichita, Kan.; New Orleans; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Kansas City and St. Louis, Miss.; Omaha-Lincoln, Neb.; Las Vegas; Albuquerue-Sante Fe, N.M.; Portland, Ore.; Dallas-Fort Worth; Salt Lake City, Utah; Norfolk-Richmond, Va.; and Seattle and Spokane, Wash.
According to Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson, the FCC’s 700 MHz spectrum clearing efforts provides a preview roadmap of future rollout plans. The 700MHz spectrum that MediaFLO uses must first be cleared of the existing TV broadcast users.
At rollout, V Cast Mobile TV features the full complement of eight channels running 24/7. According to Nelson, the program lineup will include a combination of simulcast, time-shifted and Golden Oldie rerun programming, depending on the individual broadcast partners. Programming on the eight channels comes from CBS, Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, and Nickelodeon.
Programming content will differ based on the broadcaster and channel. Specifically, MTV is offering live simulcast programming that mirrors its regular TV channel. ESPN is broadcasting live college football and basketball games. And just in time for March Madness, Fox and CBS both plan to offer NCAA games. Besides sports, news and popular TV shows, Fox also is offering its most popular programs such as 24??? and Prison Break??? time-shifted from their regular TV timeslots. Besides its own March Madness games, the CBS channel also is showing soap operas, which it will time-shift so viewers may catch up with their favorite serials outside the 9-to-5 timeframe. The NBC channel is simulcasting The Late Show with Jay Leno,??? Heroes??? and Friday Night Lights.???
Beginning today, pricing for V Cast Mobile TV is $15 a month, or $25 a month for unlimited Mobile TV, regular V Cast services and mobile Internet.
Although Samsung and LG have both been designated as handset providers for the mobile TV service, Nelson says the first markets will roll out with the Samsung SCH-u620 device, with the LG VX9400 following in the coming weeks.
V Cast Mobile TV subscribers can view a program guide on their handsets that details a few hours of upcoming programming. Although not yet live, subscribers also will be able to check out programming for the next 48 hours on a dedicated V Cast Mobile TV Website. Besides programming listings, the online guide will feature a search function to discover programs with keywords, content information and previews, editorial and community features as well as service information and support.
According to Nelson, V Cast Mobile TV features built-in parental controls that he calls elegant and easy to use.??? The parental controls use the TV rating system that parents are accustomed to using and it can be applied to handset viewing.
Although the Tier 1 carrier previewed the V Cast MediaFLO launch in January, Nelson says the company doesn’t plan any fanfare for today’s rollout. The carrier’s Website carries details of the service and availability, and he says customers in the live markets will discover the service on their own and begin migrating to it. The strategy may prove to be the more savvy approach especially in light of industry reports early in February in which analysts said consumers were disappointed in mobile TV.
Nelson says he believes this launch will be a defining moment for mobile TV. He says earlier TV-like offerings were merely rudimentary placeholders??? for the real TV that Verizon begins offering today. If you thought you knew what mobile TV was in the United States, you don’t,??? he says.
The MediaFLO USA network uses the 700 MHz spectrum and is capable of providing coverage with a few widely spaced transmitters. According to Qualcomm’s MediaFLO, a major metropolitan area may require only two or three towers to provide TV reception, even inside many buildings.
Gina Lombardi, MediaFLO USA president, says that although eight channels initially will be available, MediaFLO has the capability of expanding that to 20 channels.
Verizon Wireless is the first U.S. carrier to launch mobile TV using MediaFLO’s network. Last month, AT&T’s Cingular Wireless announced it also would use MediaFLO to deliver mobile TV. Sprint Nextel, which currently offers a video service over its 3G network, has been testing the MediaFlo network since last year but has not made any commitments.
