If Phones Are So Smart Why Won't My Video Play?

I thought there was "an app" for that?

For anyone around the Internet in 1995 you will see many similarities in the Mobile space. Each week we are hearing about new opportunities all targeting the Mobile data user. It is hard to keep up with the pace and then which phone should you buy?

Before you sign a contract so that you can subsidize the mini computer wrapped up in a phone, you may want to give some thought to video. Many clients have approached me and asked why an Internet Broadcast I was streaming live would not play on their iPhone. The answer has a few possible reasons but most likely the format of the live stream could not be recognized by the phone itself.

If you have a newer device like the iPhone, Droid and others, you will certainly be able to watch YouTube but YouTube is not live. If you are trying to view Flash you are most likely out of luck. Apple made it perfectly clear that i-stuff would not be running Flash. Droid and the Nexus One which uses the Google Android operating system are supposed to able to use Flash 10.1 but there are reports to suggest all is not going well with this deployment.

So what does one need to do?

Keeping in mind that we are talking about live video streaming to the phone over a data network (mobile 3G or WiFi) not a file downloaded to the memory. Most newer phones can play video within the phone browser, provided the source file is H.264
You will most likely need to get an app for the iphone or Android via their respective stores / markets. While this might work for big brand video such as CNBC news or CBC Hockey Night in Canada, it won't always work for the Little League game from the local ball diamond.

The solution for this is HTML5. A big footnote to this is that the phone browser must be able to read this new standard. Safari, Opera, Firefox, and even IE 9 will be able to understand HTML5, but these browsers are not always installed in your phone. So in response to this, Google has built the Chrome Browser which Android can understand. Chrome 5 or better supports HTML5, so it would seem likely that a video provider publishing H.264 to HTML5 would be the ideal solution.

Well before you run out and buy a Droid, Nexus One or HTC brand phone you may want to wait until after May 19th. Google IO is expected to be a watershed moment for online video. This is assumed due to an acquisition Google made recently where they purchased On2 and the VP8 codec. The announcement all are anticipating is that Google is releasing VP8 to the open source community. Meaning the codec VP8 would be royalty free unlike, H.264 which requires a licence from MPEG-LA.

What all this means to an average phone user: Remember VHS Vs Beta / Blu-Ray Vs HD-DVD? Well VP8 and H.264 is the same. To make things even more confusing, Flash and HTML5 developers are hedging bets on what emerges as the more popular publishing platform. One thing is for sure, open source leads development toward cool technology. A proprietary system like we knew Microsoft to be and what Flash and Apple have become, is great for shareholders but it stagnates development. This time around there is a might big fish in the pond and that is Google. As we start to integrate Gmail, Chrome, YouTube and other Google assets into our daily lives, we vote for open source but... And it is a really big BUT, do we trust Google to "do no evil"?

Likely by the time you have read this, something new will have appeared on the landscape. If that new thing has any chance of adoption it must be accessible to the largest possible user base. With Android phones outselling iPhone last quarter and RIM playing catch up, it looks like it might become a two horse race. If Google can get enough content providers and device manufacturers to back VP8 then we are in for an amazing finish in the mobile video stakes. The only downside at the present time is your ticket to bet (the phone you buy) which will cost you $600. If you have to money to spare take your pick. If you plan on buying a phone that will last you two or three years, then hang on a few months.

But come back to my blog and I'll give you as much insight as possible - Stay tuned.