Thin Multimedia is demonstrating a mobile IPTV concept here at 3GSM in Barcelona. Thin's platform endows handsets with the capacity and functionality of STBs. Last week another mobile IPTV player made some noise: Ubicode, after it won a contract with handset providers in Korea to provide users with mobile IPTV. These services will run over HSDPA and making use of the IPTV protocol enables unicasting on-demand rather than adopting an analog-like broadcasting. Thin said it scored a contract with KT Corp., Korea's largest telecom infrastructure vendor. HSDPA is widespread enough in Korea to make mobile TV a reality, but there's still a ways to go here in North America before that service is realized. And while such a service would dovetail nicely with telcos' living room IPTV services, chances are that MediaFLO and DVB-H have gathered enough momentum to trump any latecomers in the short-term.
For more on Thin:
- check out this article from BetaNews