Will Apple's iPhone kickstart mobile video market?

Filed in archive Business Trends , Mobile Video on January 12, 2007

Hmmmm.

A year ago, Apple single-handedly forged a new paradigm into the heads of television network executives with their iTunes/iPod platform. It almost seems historic now, but prior to the Apple/Disney experiment in video, no major television network was experimenting much with new media distribution. We all know what happened after that; and I'm not limiting us to just iTunes downloads. The floodgates opened and all sorts of experiments were (still are being) tried.

Now comes news of Apple's iPhone. Unless you've been in a cave this week, you already know about this device. Here is the really interesting part to me because new devices usually mean new opportunity. So, I like many others checked out the specs on the iPhone. It is a cool looking device, but you already know that. But a few things struck me.

First, unlike the video iPod I bought my wife, this iPhone comes with a 3.5" video screen that automatically rotates its orientation as the viewer wishes. That makes it a device that is much more attuned to watching video. That screen size is also bigger than any phone on the market.

Second, the phone has its Cingular Edge service for connectivity, but it also has built in WiFi and internet connectivity considered. This appears to be the real thing and not the sad service that every cell phone service provider has offered me in the past.

So, is there a mobile video play here that might finally kick-start that sad niche industry? You betcha. Surely, big changes are in the works and we are only one year removed from whatever business model will evolve. The reaction from TV and media companies will be obvious--they'll express optimism to be "anywhere and everywhere" their consumers are. The iPhone will seem to be just another device.

I will stop short of predicting what cool new apps will take over the world because the iPhone has an operating system, too. Instead, I'll settle for the fact that mobile video might just come of age in my lifetime. Take me off the list of mobile video naysayers and cautiously put me in the camp that believes this market might just actually take off.

Amazing what one cool device can do.