Pocket TV trialed in Tampere — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Digi-tv on PDAs} Pocket TV trialed in Tampere

28 Apr 2003 at 11:26 GMT Ilya Poropudas

VTT, a Finnish contract research organisation, has developed a mobile digital TV-receiver or “pocket TV” which works over the Internet. The pilot program was conducted on HP’s Ipaq PDAs and Fujitsu Siemens’s tablet PCs. The devices have been in test use in downtown Tampere, homes, and cafés since last October. The trial users said they appreciated the freedom to watch the pocket TVs regardless of time or place. The pilot program was organized jointly by VTT and the University of Tampere. According to the findings of the trials, users watched the pocket TVs is situations where they would read newspapers or call friends with mobile phones. The trial system was based on a service in which television programs were available in almost real time with only a few minutes delay from actual broadcast. Programs were also archived and available for one week after they had been broadcasted. The capability to watch programs when convenient to the users was considered to be the system’s greatest benefit. Adults watched mostly news and current affairs programs, though entertainment programs also proved popular. Childrens’ interest in pocket TVs surprised the researchers. Even children under seven, the Finnish school age, were able to use the pocket TV. Screen shots of the available programs were shown in the program listings so even those who could not read were able to choose the programs they wanted to watch. VTT’s and the University of Tampere’s joint effort was funded by Tekes’s NETS-program, VTT, Alma Media, Digita, Elisa Communications, Malibu Telecom, Nokia, Sonera, and Swelcom.