Written by Liz Gannes
Posted Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 9:01 PM PT

 

BlackBerry to Launch TV Episode Service?

blackberryvideoWe’ve heard from multiple sources that RIM is planning to announce a full-episode television service for BlackBerry users as early as next week at CTIA.

Here’s what we’ve heard so far:

  • It will be an unlimited monthly subscription service for a fee
  • Once a user orders a program, the content will be downloaded in the background over Wi-Fi
  • Multiple broadcast and cable networks have licensed content for the service

A spokesperson for RIM said it doesn’t comment on unannounced products or applications. However the timing seems right, considering the company is on the verge of launching BlackBerry App World, a competitor to iPhone and Android mobile application storefronts. While it might be a bit late to get into the content distribution game, RIM’s service has some advantages, including 19.5 percent of the world’s smartphone sales.

What we don’t know is if BlackBerry carriers are involved, though carriers usually don’t like handset makers going straight to consumers unless they’re helmed by a man named Steve Jobs. And consumers haven’t historically bought into handset content services either. Nokia’s attempt at a content portal, Ovi, could hardly be dubbed a raging success. But BlackBerry users, whose mobile addictions are borderline scary, might buck that trend.

By downloading content in the background over Wi-Fi, RIM would avoid clogging 3G networks. Downloaded programs would be ready to play when users want to watch them on the go. And once 3G networks finally get up to speed, customers may just want to upgrade.

By contrast, TV.com’s long-form shows iPhone app chops up episodes into clips and strings them together, with different versions of each clip encoded for 3G and Wi-Fi (the Wi-Fi quality is way better). The BlackBerry content experience would offer reliable, full-length, high-quality over-the-air (well, Wi-Fi) premium video downloads. So that’s an improvement over Apple’s system, which requires you to pay to download an individual episode onto your laptop, then transfer it to your iPhone. But this BlackBerry content service would be a little bit different from what you might think of as mobile video as you’d be using the phone because it’s convenient rather than because it’s connected to the network.

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Topic: Mobile

Comments (8)

  • This will be so cool if true. I should point out however that the BlackBerry Storm pictured, which is the best BB for this content due to that big gorgeous screen, lacks WiFi. It’s not clear then how the Storm would fit in this new service.

    James Kendrick, NewTeeVee — 5:06 AM on March 26, 2009 Reply

  • It would be similar to the German mobile TV service dailyme.tv. On the other hand, they offer the service for free, based on an ad-funded model. Plus it works on more than 250 devices. The general idea seems very, very smart. RIM will push entertainment: finally someone who gives Apple an edge.

    Chris — 6:28 AM on March 26, 2009 Reply

  • Sounds like a great idea and definitely needed to compete with iPhone for entertainment… but the Storm is the obvious phone for people wanting more entertainment than work. They have been promoting the Storm more than any other phone, and of course the Storm would be best for viewing media. They couldn’t be dumb enough to set this up only via wifi when the Storm doesn’t have it.

    Jay — 8:33 AM on March 26, 2009 Reply

  • It’d be nice to see this in the UK, though it sounds like it’ll be US-only for the time being. Licensing sucks.

    One of the biggest reasons people use services like the Pirate Bay is that they simply can’t get the content they want through legitimate means.

    Duncan — 10:14 AM on March 26, 2009 Reply

  • Anything is possible on mobile phones now

    rates — 9:27 AM on March 27, 2009 Reply

  • The BB needed this app to stay competitive! Its good news.

    Rob

    ExecTons | Professional Ringtones
    http://www.exectones.com/

    Rob — 12:25 PM on July 14, 2009 Reply

  • This will be so cool if true. I should point out however that the BlackBerry Storm pictured, which is the best BB for this content due to that big gorgeous screen, lacks WiFi.

    暴力摩托下载 — 11:13 PM on December 10, 2009 Reply

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