After PCs & laptops, your TV now beams on smartphones. Shibaji Roychoudhury reports
With technology bettering itself on a daily basis, achieving the unachievable is no longer a surprise. Not too long ago, it was unimaginable to even think that one could watch live TV while on the move. But, after PCs and laptops were installed with this technology, it was only a matter of time before mobile phones, too, were enabled with this new medium of entertainment along with the existing ones.
This technology has already been accepted and is being used extensively in the West since the last couple of years. In India too, TV on cell phones was introduced in 2012, but it has only become familiar with consumers in the last few months. There are several companies offering apps which enable consumers to view small-screen shows on their mobile handsets. Zenga TV, Mundu TV and MimobiTV are only few of such apps for live TV viewing.
“We use our own in-house developed technology which helps user to be able to watch TV and other video content on mobile seamlessly on a very low bandwidth. We have App and WAP based streaming available for users. The quality is first class with continuous streaming without buffering and it is clear. With additional bandwidth we could show up to HD quality streaming,” Shabir Momiin, founder and CTO of Zenga TV, says.
All these apps are paid for and are compatible with a variety of smartphones and tablets using different platforms such as iOS, Blackberry, Android, Symbian, Windows and Java based handsets.
Also after the introduction of the 3G network, viewing videos, TV and other sources of entertainment have become better in terms of quality. Yet, according to data collected by Zenga, 2G platforms still has more users as oppose to wifi and 3G network consumers. “90 per cent of our subscribers watch TV on 2G networks, while only seven per cent watch it on wifi, leaving just three per cent for 3G subscribers. Although, the 3G subscribers are expected to increase,” he tells you.
One thing that consumers need to know is that this medium of entertainment can’t be acquired. One can’t just buy a mobile phone, download the app and start viewing TV. The device has to support web browser, GPRS and wifi connectivity. So, users will need to get their GPRS activated, following which they can download the TV apps.
Another consequential factor in Mobile TV viewing is that, when the subscriber watches TV for 10 minutes, 2MB of data will be consumed from their internet availability. Consequently, if the user’s usage is 20 minutes per day, he will need 1.2 GB of data in a month. Most telecom companies provide 2GB data for Rs199 (minimum data plan). Hence, even after spending 1.2 GB of data on mobile TV, the subscriber will still be left with 80MB to browse emails, Internet and social networking sites.
Those worried about what TV viewing will do to their handsets and battery-life will be relieved to know that it will be the same as watching and no additional battery consumption or damages will incur. “Any kind of use of different application or service used on phone uses up battery, so does using mobile TV, it is the same as watching any stored video content on phone. Ideally one should have the other network related functions switched off like Bluetooth or NFC,” Momiin adds.
Mundu TV is available for Rs79 per month and Rs129 quarterly, the app allows you to view an 8- channel package. While on the other hand, MimobiTV, has more channels to choose from. Airtel users have to pay Rs40 per month to avail this facility, while Vodafone users need to pay Rs30 per channel per month. However, Zenga TV is absolutely free app for users to download and view.
So how does one download and activate this facilityIJ “For WAP based streaming all one needs to do is go to there browser and type http://m.zengatv.com and for web www.zengatv.com and for mobile apps it is available on the app store for Android, IOS and windows. All the services and apps are free to users,” he concludes.