We’re still in the starting blocks for 2007, but already there’s a lot of buzz about video as this year’s hottest category for mobile services, surpassing music.
Most vendors I’ve spoken to so far have got video on the top of their list and a lot of my effort will be in creating video services for various operators and media companies.

Why the buzz about video? After all, it hasn’t exactly made an impact thus far. All 3G phones are capable of video, both circuit switched (for video calls) and packet switched for streaming and downloads. Hopes for video calls between users have fizzled out. The anticipated user interest didn’t materialise. It may come back, but meanwhile there is a growing enthusiasm for using video calling to access services.

The appeal is the simplicity: just dial a number and seconds later the user is watching a video clip. It’s a rare case of a service on a mobile actually being easier than on a PC. There’s no setting up the camera and fiddling with settings. Just dial!

The added bonus is that the call is 2-way. This allows a service to receive video messages from users. In other words, “user-generated content” (UGC), another big buzzword for mobile this year.

I will have to descend into the mire, but let me use the recent Big Brother hoo-haa as an example (a program that I have yet to watch - ever!) According to news splashes, there has been some provocative comments made towards one of the contestants to do with her ethnicity. Hardly breaking news, but it has caused a fair amount of coverage. As we all know, Big Brother is the success story in mobile user participation, thanks to texting.

A real-time video alert service could enable users to immediately get clips of the hoo-haa moments beamed to their mobiles. Motorola has such a platform to go from live TV to mobile push in seconds, as being deployed for sports events. Using a video call to access the clips, it would be possible to get instant viewer reaction via a short burst of video input taken after watching the clips. Users could make their voices heard and their faces seen: more real than reality TV.
These are the types of services that can be envisaged and created for mobile video. It is also possible to allow a video call to be completed to a non-video (i.e. non 3G) user. That might sound idiotic, but think of the possibilities. Firstly, it allows video callers to complete a call even if the recipient is not video-enabled. Secondly, the caller has the opportunity to benefit from various video services whilst making the call. It’s an easy way of multi-tasking and if there’s one thing that some users are good at (especially “youthful” ones), it’s multi-tasking. Watch any young person use a PC to see what I mean.

When not talking about video, mobile pundits are talking about mobile advertising. Video calls have plenty of scope for advertising. Video-to-voice call is no exception. A user could potentially get their call paid for by watching the ad before they connect (if it requires sound). Once connected, videos can still be played - adverts don’t need sound (just like most banner ads today), while the caller chats away. Definitely not a call you want to do whilst driving!