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White Paper
Z500a
10 June 2004
The term streaming refers to the technique it is based on.
Previously an entire file had to be downloaded before it
could be played, whereas the use of streaming means the
end user can almost immediately begin to watch or listen
to the content of a requested file. The data in the file is
broken down into small packets that are sent in a
continuous flow, a stream, to the end user. It is then
possible to begin viewing the file as the rest of the
packets are transferred.
Applications
The applications which can be built on top of the
streaming services, can be classified into on demand, and
live information delivery applications. Examples of the
first category are music and video clips, news on demand
as well as on demand instruction material. Live delivery
of radio and television are examples of live information
delivery. The following video and music codec support is
provided:
• MPEG-4 Simple Visual Profile Level 0
• H.263 Profile 0 Level 10 (decode only)
• H.263 Profile 3 Level 10 (decode only)
•AMR
•MP3
•3GP
Examples of usage
Streaming of music (on demand)
Anna browses to a Web page and decides to check out
the latest top ten list of pop music. She wants to know if
there are any new cool songs. She picks out a few,
streams the music to her mobile phone and listens to the
songs through the headset or receiver.
Streaming of news (on demand)
Bob browses to a morning paper’s Web page and decides
to check the news. He wants to see the five-minute
version of the latest financial news. The news is streamed
to his terminal, and he can watch it on the bus on his way
to work.
Streaming/download of music video (on demand)
Mike browses to the a Web page and decides to check
out the latest rock videos. He finds a video he wants to
watch, so he clicks the link and then streams a one-
minute version of the video. He then decides to
download and pay for the complete video. A memory
check is automatically performed to make sure that his
mobile phone has enough free memory.
Streaming of live radio (broadcast)
Linda wants to check out and listen to the coolest radio
station. She browses to the home page and starts to
stream the content. The content is audio or audio with
pictures of the artist.
Streaming of live traffic information (broadcast)
Nick wants to know if there is a traffic jam on the
highway before he heads for home. He browses the page
for local traffic information. There is a traffic jam, so he
takes an alternative route home.
User-created content (Web album)
Sheila and Tom are on vacation. They want to show their
friends how cool the beach is. They record a video clip
and upload it to a Web album. Their friends can then
stream or download the clip to their PC or mobile phone.
Market and revenue possibilities
As streaming means “seeing the product without having
it”, it can be extensively used in the music and film
industry. There are also great revenue possibilities for
subscription-based content: for example, the user can
subscribe to several on demand services like news and
traffic information.
In addition, the content is not stored on the phone so the
user does not have to manage the memory usage.
Gaming
Gaming is now seen as a standard feature in mobile
phones, where Sony Ericsson promises to be a step ahead
in this regard. This does not only have to do with fast
download through the network. Three other things make
the actual gaming experience better – the way Java has
been implemented, the fact that more processing power
has been dedicated to the games and the large 65,536
color display. The result is games with improved
graphics that react faster to user commands when using
the navigation key as a game controller. The phone takes
mobile gaming to new levels.