Dave Horvath
10 Apr 2007 7:47
The next generation of mobile phone broadband, aptly named 4th generation or 4G is shaping up to change how mobile users receive and consume their digital media. The major supporter of the fourth generation mobile broadband is Intel by way of their WiMAX technology. WiMAX is similar in capacity to Wi-Fi but has the strength simliar to cellular signal for reaching much greater distances.
Should companies choose to adopt the WiMAX standard, this would significantly lower the cost of providing digital content over the current jammed mobile broadband network. Because of the flexibility of WiMAX, labels are looking into its benefits to support their content.
"We're negotiating over a much larger number, rather than the tight margins we have today,"said Warner Music's strategic management VP Michael Nash.
A representative from MobiTV stated that the benefits of WiMAX would not just be for mobile phones. At a recent trade show, the company showed high definition content being streamed over WiMAX with little to no degradation of quality. This power would enable media to be streamed to virtually any device capable of receiving a WiMAX signal, be it a computer, phone or even future compatable televisions.
Mobile company Sprint is the major supporter of WiMAX and hopes to begin testing in a few cities in the US this year. They also hope to have as many as 19 US cities fully operational by April 2008.
Source:
Electronista