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In addition
to podcasting as an example
of portable media, video-enabled cell phones are
starting to take off. While many experts see IM and cell
phones as a marketing medium for coming generations, a
number of marketing people are getting on board now.
For years
the U.S. has lagged behind both Europe and Asia in cell
phone use. While U.S. users mainly use cell phones for
voice communication and taking pictures, users in other
countries have been using them to receive email, as a
debit card-type instrument, and to perform functions
such as checking onto airlines and communicating with
other interactive devices.
Until
recently, much news about cell phone video services was
hype. But with cell phone companies rolling out new
technologies such as 3G (third-generation phones that
can receive data at 144 kbps, three times the speed of a
dial-up modem) and EV-DO (evolution-data only, a
next-generation wireless technology to be deployed later
this year with speeds of up to 300 kbps, delivering 28
video frames per second), the cell phone video market
appears ready for prime time.
Already,
younger consumers are opting to receive news over the
Web instead of via mass media outlets such as TV and
radio. As the technology of video and audio distribution
over mobile devices improves, some experts believe that
more high quality feeds will be received over mobile
devices than television sets within the next decade.
According to
Discovery Networks, research is showing that consumers
are looking for shorter reports and updates versus the
longer narrative style of current news distribution.
This fits with the portable broadcasting medium.
Discovery has announced plans for a mobile service to be
carried over cell phones. Also, ABC News and MSNBC have
announced plans to launch mobile news services.
Naturally,
the new feeds will be shorter and more concise than
traditional broadcasting. This means that sound bites,
story pitches and interviews will need to get right to
the heart of the matter. When developing media
strategies for this type of distribution, PR people
should plan on cutting content by at least 60 percent
over a traditional pitch/release.
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