June 25, 2007
Hollywood seeks opening in iPhone
In Hollywood, where Jobs' convention-defying tactics are all too familiar, media executives are eagerly preparing for a new era as they hope to position more content where consumers want it: in their hands. News.com reports.
"... For years, mobile phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint have closely controlled what cell phone users watch, when they watch it, and on what kind of screen they watch it--much the way the networks did with television before new technologies loosened their grip. Many in Hollywood and Silicon Valley hope the iPhone's multimedia features will make it easier for any mobile-crazed consumer to do the same things they do on the Web: watch their favorite television shows, download maps, send e-mail messages to friends and swap videos.
In what is the beginning of many attempts to make the cell phone more Web friendly, Apple has designed its own application so consumers can receive YouTube videos through a Wi-Fi network. Industry executives predict that as it becomes easier to get information via Wi-Fi networks, more consumers will bypass traditional wireless networks altogether. That prospect, while helpful for phone makers and media concerns, is frightening for service providers if consumers begin to regard them as irrelevant."
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