Next Generation Wireless Applications: Creating Mobile Applications in a Web 2.0 and Mobile 2.0 World, 2nd Edition

15.1 INTRODUCTION

Having looked at the various ways that mobile services can be delivered to the device and then rendered into a user interface, let's consider the options for media companies who want to make their content and services accessible via mobile. In this chapter, we shall look not only at the technological means to bring media services to mobiles, but also the commercial options in terms of possible revenue models and how to collect the money from the users (i.e. billing). We shall examine all of the major options for mobilising the media experience.

The ability to reach very large audiences through a single broadcast medium and with a single story or message per audience is becoming increasingly difficult. Media experiences are becoming more diverse and fractured. Young people are tuning out of sitting in front of the TV set to watch broadcast TV and spending more of their time surfing the Web. At the same time, we know that nearly everyone carries a mobile with them at all times and that these devices are increasingly capable of delivering some type of media content to the user. The potential for mobile as a new mass media channel is luring many media companies into the mobile world. However, mobilising the media experience isn't easy. There are many unique challenges to the mobilisation of content. At the same time, the media experience itself is evolving, mostly due to new trends on the Web, including user-generated content, social networking and citizen journalism. ...