RSSSprint to Stream Movies to Cell Phones
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published September 7, 2006, 8:11 PM
Sprint said on Tuesday it has entered into a distribution agreement with Disney subsidiary Buena Vista, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, and Universal to distribute a select group of generally family-friendly movies through a subscription-based on-demand service, for viewing over Sprint cell phones.
What Tuesday's announcement hasn't yet made clear, however, is whether Sprint's gamble will pay off and customers will bite. As the company's entertainment product marketing director, Alana Muller, put it, "Sprint Movies allows our customers to be entertained on the one device that they always carry with them."
Examples of this ever-present form of mind relief include watching a movie while waiting to pick up a child from soccer practice, or during long waits of two hours or more at the airport. At the same time, cell phone batteries tend not to last so long during continuous use.
Sprint did not list particular cell phone models in Tuesday's announcement, although it's likely the company's Sprint Movies service will be available for its mobile broadband devices, manufactured by Samsung and LG. While LG's Fusic model, available through Sprint, boasts a 4.5-hour battery life on paper, small print indicates continuous talking time is limited to 3 hours.
This is the same problem that Japanese phone carrier NTT DoCoMo has faced since as far back as December 2000, when it launched the first pay-per-view service for cell phones anywhere in the world, called M-Stage. Though that service is now considered a success, it offers much shorter-form content, and apparently on screens that can at least be turned sideways for a more reasonable form factor.
Sprint customers will be allowed to purchase the right to view a movie during a one-week period for between $3.99 and $5.99 USD per title. Users can also watch any of the service's selected MSpot movies -- part of a service the carrier launched in conjunction with streaming media provider MSpot last December -- for a monthly subscription fee of $6.95 USD.
MSpot indicated on its Web site it will also serve as the infrastructure provider for Sprint Movies, though in such a way that left open the question of whether that relationship will continue to be exclusive.
I think everyone is missing the point of a Cell PHONE. It's a phone, not a damn mp3 player or tv or camera or anti-missile defense system.
It's bad enough I have to listen to peoples phone ringing at the checkout counter as it sings Jessica Simpons's less then impressive renditions of "These Boots are Made for Walking."
Now I have to put up with some putz watching "The Son of the Mask" while I wait on the subway.
Oy, good bye simple life.
Score: 0
|Yeah cell phones and movies just don't sound like a good mix, you already have people driving down the road with them in t heir ear. Now will they be watching movies to? I can't wait to see those little magnifiers that mount on them, you know the kind they had for the game boy so you could see what was going on. Don't forget the extra battery!
Score: 0
|Still can't decide if I should get the SGH-ZX20 phone from Cingular with HSDA or go with Sprint. I really need the bandwidth since I get a lot of email and remote support my workstations and servers.
Any recommendations?
Score: 0
|As if my battery doesn't poop out too soon already. Now it'll probably die in like 10 minutes.
Score: 0
|For a business traveler or people that commute to work an hour or more a day this might not be bad. It's less equipment to carry.
Score: 0
|Don't forget your magnifying glass. ;o)
Score: 0
|I can't wait! And they had better be in widescreen format! And 5.1 surround sound! :-P
A new low in fidelity...
Score: 0
|Have the 'phone' companies lost their minds... What idiot would sit and stare at at 2 inch screen for an hour and a half? Oh! idiots who have more time (and money) than sense.
Score: 0
|i don't think my battery would last the length of a movie.. haha
Score: 0
|Yeah, I just can't go one single minute without being entertained. $5.99 to watch Lord of the Rings on a 2" screen; what a bargain! Heck, can I get a micro-popcorn to go with that?
Score: 0
|LOL: Yeah, and if its a widescreen movie, divide that 2" screen by 2. But youll get plenty of entertainment, watching people trying to watch movies on their phones, and then throwing a fit when they cant make a call cause their batteries are too weak.
Score: 0
|