Mobile TV Needs Fine-Tuning

The growing number of Far-East handsets supporting DMB mobile TV makes looking at our own providers' attempts to funnel the big-screen experience onto the tiny screens in our pockets quite timely.  Operators are hoping that digital TV will be the next cash-cow, maybe even recouping some of the massive outlay in 3G licences and infrastructure, while consumers are beginning to be swayed – in small numbers, perhaps – into trying out some of the fledgling services.  MEX analyst Marek Pawlowski took the time to fire up Vodafone UK's offering on his Nokia N80 and write about the experience; sadly, for Vodafone at least, it doesn't sound like he's particularly impressed.

The Vodafone service relies on 3G to stream video, and Marek's first hurdle was getting a stable signal.  When he finally managed that, the poor choice of packages was the next stumbling block – Vodafone have themed options, such as 'Factual' or 'Entertainment' but don't let you build your own custom package of particular channels.  The user experience fell flat on its face, too, with no dedicated TV app and instead cryptic instructions to choose options that either weren't there or weren't made clear.

The MEX analysis makes for troubling reading if you're an operator, and is well worth a look if you were considering investing in some portable entertainment. 

My Mobile TV is broken [MEX]