The boom in Short Message Service (SMS) is well documented. According to
the GSM Association, 50 billion messages were sent in the first three months of
2001, and more than 200 billion are forecast for the entire year. For many people,
SMS has become an indispensable feature of their daily lives.
Next-generation networks—GPRS and 3G—have the potential to
take SMS to the next level. Multimedia Message Service (MMS) offers powerful
new opportunities to businesses and the consumer. For example, Accenture
recently unveiled mVideo, which enables sound and video messages to be
exchanged between mobile devices—PDAs, GPRS, or 3G phones—or between mobile
devices and PCs.
Although it represents a significant advance from text
messaging, mVideo is regarded by Accenture as a natural progression.
Video-based communication is easy to use, informative, and entertaining. Plus,
visual cues allow the user to convey a considerable amount of additional
information.
Judging by the early response to the cell phone with camera and video
capabilities, which NTT DoCoMo launched in June, demand for mobile video will
be considerable. Some 140,000 prospective buyers applied for one of 4,500
available handsets—and all signs indicate that the momentum will continue.
Accenture made the decision to launch the mVideo project while working with
3G operators in Sweden. And the best way to explain the potential of this
technology, and the digital content it enabled, was to develop a fully working
prototype.
Unveiled in June 2001, mVideo makes the most of existing
technology. It simply requires a laptop to run the video camera, and encoding
software to produce video that is streamed over a wireless network to a PDA.
With the advent of next generation handsets and PDAs with built in video
capabilities, a pure handset-to-handset method is just around the corner.
The process is as simple as sending an SMS, without the hassle of a phone
keypad to compose the message. Using the camera, the user records a video
message, then encodes and addresses it in the same way as sending an SMS—the
address/phone number can be selected from the address book, or entered
manually.
The process then runs as follows:
- The message is sent to a server, which stores the video
message.
- The server transmits a notification to the intended recipient
’s device.
- A notification will appear on-screen to alert the recipient.
- The notice names the sender, gives the time when it was sent,
and how much it will cost to view it.
- When ready to view, the recipient touches the “yes” button.
- The mVideo message is streamed directly to the mobile device.
Fast and easy, mVideo will add a new dimension to the way
people connect. Tomorrow’s killer application, using today’s technology.
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