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Tag Archives: Video
Is work the next bandwidth killer?
The glitterati of the tech world are once again descending on a chilly Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. Over the next few days, reports of the latest smartphones, tablets and netbooks will flood RSS feeds and whet the industry’s appetite for the latest must have gadgets. Of course, most of these new devices are geared towards one thing – driving data demand.
From the latest Android tablets to 4G phones, the speculation as to what will be displayed is rampant. What’s common to many of these devices is the focus on media consumption and sharing, specifically video. Whether in the form of movie downloads, video conferencing or online gaming, video’s impact on the tech industry is in many respects still in its infancy. We have yet to see the true impact of ubiquitous video. In a previous post, I highlighted how Netflix’s Instant streaming service now accounts for over 20% of North America’s traffic, even though only 2% of Netflix customers subscribe to this service.
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Is OTT video changing the future of TV forever?
Over the weekend I was struck by the fragmentation of TV distribution. On Sunday afternoon, I found my wife with her iPad watching a rerun of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC iPlayer, my son using his iPod Touch to watch an episode of Peppa Pig via Slingbox and myself watching a pay-per-view rugby match. Aside from wondering why we don’t have stock options in Apple, I was struck by the splintering nature of TV consumption.
There can be no question that the Internet has radically altered how we consume TV. There is no longer a central access point. Laptops, smartphones and the wealth of other connected devices mean we want TV whenever and wherever we are. The impact on our global networks is profound. Recent figures in the US reveal that Netflix’s Instant streaming service now accounts for over 20% of North America’s traffic. What’s even more staggering is that only 2% of Netflix’s customers currently use its streaming service. What would happen if the other 98% suddenly signed-up?
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Could video kill the mobile web?
Video’s record for causing disruption and widespread panic in the technology and media industry is nothing new. In the 1980s, video was accused of killing the radio star (escaped jail on a technicality). In the 1990s, it was implicated in bringing down cinema (thrown out of court). Yet in 2010, video faces its toughest allegation yet: killing the mobile web.
Although this may appear a bold statement, the concern over video’s impact on mobile broadband is starting to take hold and is supported by a wealth of new research that highlights the dramatic growth in mobile data, driven by continued strong sales of smartphones and tablets. Recent figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal that there’s been a 20-fold increase in mobile data in the past year, with over 31% of Internet users now connecting to the web via a mobile device. These figures will only increase as more tablets enter the marketplace and video-centric applications move from WiFi to cellular networks. In a recent post, I discussed the challenges posed by Skype and FaceTime as they prepare for mobile mass adoption.
A weekend in the cloud
Steve Jobs recent iTunes 10 announcement provided a number of clear signposts as to the future of Apple’s music and video services. As with many other multi-media content providers, this future is marked with one word: cloud. Since this announcement, I’ve been considering what the implications of this migration are and the impact it will have both from a professional and personal standpoint. In fact, I went a step further than considering and actually tried to live within the cloud for a weekend. I have to confess, living in this bubble proved harder than I thought.
From a work standpoint, the cloud is well established. There already exist a number of strong online tools that enable effective productivity. These include:
Mobile broadband: Why don’t you call anymore?
On a recent train journey to London, I found myself shoe-horned into a fully booked quiet coach. When I pulled out my usual travelling companions – iPhone and Blackberry – I thought I would be greeted by looks of disdain or at the very least some ssshhhing. However, this wasn’t the case and when I looked around I began to see why. The carriage was full of people with laptops and 3G dongles, iPads and some with the Holy Trinity of smartphones: iPhone, Android and Blackberry. All around people were engaged in a flurry of emails, tweets, status updates, location check-ins and other app-based activities.
Although I spend a great deal of my time discussing the development of mobile broadband and its impact on the world’s networks, it’s very rare that I see such a concentrated example of the service in use. This thought was brought to the front of my mind today when I saw this infographic (see left). This graphic highlights the geosocial universe and most critically the proportion of each platform accessed via a mobile device. Even a cursory glance at this information shows the impact mobile broadband is having on the way we communicate and access services. This is particularly true when we consider that nearly half of Facebook’s 500 million users access the site through a mobile device. This means mobile gaming, mobile uploads of images and videos, mobile messaging and one can anticipate that in the near future that Facebook may also develop some form of video conferencing service.
Although the move towards mobile connectivity is nothing new and is critical in the move to rollout connectivity in both developed and developing nations the figures continue to impress. This is underlined in Ofcom’s recent Communication’s Market report that reveals a 240% increase in the UK’s mobile data volumes in 2009 when compared to 2007. The report goes on to note that in 2009, 13.5 million people surfed the web via their phones. A figure that has almost tripled since 2008.
Aside from the impact on the networking infrastructure to support this dramatic increase in mobile data, it’s also important to consider the cultural significance of this. In the mobile universe, the demand for data is increasing at the same pace as the demand for voice is decreasing. Om Malik highlighted this trend in a recent Gigaom article, where he discussed the move from voice to data and how we no longer talk anymore.
I can certainly see this trend with myself. How many times do I tweet someone as opposed to calling them? The answer is higher than I care to imagine.
However, I’m hoping that soon this trend will come full circle. In an earlier blog post, I discussed if video would soon become the new voice. Gigaom seem to believe so and are predicting 30 billion video calls by 2015. The iPhone 4 and the rollout of true mobile VoIP solutions are enabling this development. The big question is what the impact will be on the cellular networks when VoIP services move from WiFi connections.
There is one important side-effect of mass mobile video conferencing that I need to consider though and that’s what will my neighbours on the quiet coach say when I pull out the latest iPhone for a video conference with my extended family.
How has the mobile changed your life and communication patterns? Do you talk less and tweet more?
Read more on the challenges of mobile backhaul here.
