RealNetworks, Sprint to Offer News, Sports Via Wireless Phones

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.startribune.com/stories/789/4035431.html' target='_blank'>http://www.startribune.com/stories/789/4035431.html</a><br /><br /></div>"RealNetworks and Sprint are teaming up to offer a new service today. Sprint wireless-data customers will be able to subscribe to news, horoscopes, traffic and other information from RealNetworks over their mobile phones. The two companies will share the $4.95 per month fee. It's the first time RealNetworks has offered a subscription to wireless phone customers. The company hopes to spread its audio and video software and services from the desktop computer to the growing market of wireless devices."<br /><br />There's no RealAudio/Video player yet for the Smartphone, but I imagine it's only a matter of time. The question is, I wonder if the content they provide will be worth $4.95 a month? What sort of content would you pay $4.95 a month for? (remember this is a PG-13 rated site :wink: )

[rbrome]

FYI: Be really careful reading the wording of the press release. They try really hard to make you think this is streaming video, without actually saying it, and in fact it's not. It's just streaming audio with an accompanying slideshow of images. Sprint has had this for a while with 1KTV, so the only new part is the brand-name content offered by Real.

A lot of news outlets (including my own, initially) were duped into thinking this was streaming video, so be careful what articles you read about this.

[Jason Dunn]

You're right, I assumed it was video. Given Sprint pimping their 1XRTT network all over the place, it SHOULD be video! :roll:

[Wuss912]

You're right, I assumed it was video. Given Sprint pimping their 1XRTT network all over the place, it SHOULD be video! :roll:
Except for the fact that they are trying to save on bandwidth still

[scottmag]

FYI: Be really careful reading the wording of the press release. They try really hard to make you think this is streaming video, without actually saying it, and in fact it's not. It's just streaming audio with an accompanying slideshow of images.

I read about this somewhere, maybe CNet News.com, and the article was very clear that it was a video slide show. I see that it would seem a disappointment if you were misled first by sloppy reporting.

However I actually like the slideshow video idea. At this stage in the game we have the technology for streaming video, but not the widespread network infrastructure or the pricing plans to make it worthwhile. I would rather have a series of screens accompany the audio than have video that freezes up, exhibits compression artifacts, or skips many frames. The slideshow could take significantly less bandwidth such that it works flawlessly whereas poor delivery of video would disappoint everyone and ruin the market before it got off the ground.

Scott