Its a TV INVASION

"Coming to a phone near you" that's what you'll be hearing on your mobile in the not to distant future, when a leading media company advertises its next movie release date on your phone. The mobile phone (that term feels outdated now) will play TV content direct to the subscriber and has already been trialed in London using various methods of delivering the content. Already massive media company's are uniting in their battle to dominate this up coming market,

companies such as Sky and Vodafone have united to trial this new content delivery service. This service will be charged monthly at around twenty pounds a month and like broadband be on demand content . But is this gonna be as good as it sounds, I mean, can you imagine you've subscribed to this service and start watching the new Star Wars III movie, as the opening credits roll on and the excitement builds, the opening sequence begins and.....disapointment, it looks like a load of specs of light quickly moving with the occasional explosion being the only action you can see. When will you have time to watch the TV phone when your on the train going to work? The average train journey is only 15 minutes, hardly enough time to watch a blockbuster movie not even enough time for an episode of Eastenders so when would the average Joe/Jane get time to benefit from this service that their paying (quite a lot) for.

This is definitely an issue if 'value for money' is to be achieved by the participating companies. The content developed will have to be specially designed just for the mobile, thus causing costs to rise for the developers which will eventually filter down to the consumer. And with the mobile phone able to do so many functions already (take photos, video etc) mode errors can easily occur (Norman 1998).

These errors occur when gadgets take on more functions other than there primary function and buttons have to operate in muti-states, this can cause unnecessary hassle to the user as the phones different modes are used. The potential issues are there for all to see, no doubt this new service will receive the best possible start as the companies involved are the leaders in their respective fields thus no stone will be left unturned regarding the R+D of these products. So whether it is proved a success and the public start watching TV on their phones we will have to wait and see, or more appropriately watch this space.