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Broadband 3G wireless technologies may be slow in coming ashore in the United States, but once it does it may find the content delivery technology ready and waiting.
Despite the network delay, a handful of key software startups have cooked up 3G-based products and are readying them for action Europe and Asia.
This week San Diego-based PacketVideo Corp. unveiled a second version of its PVPlatform software package at the GSM World Congress gathering in Cannes, France. Based on the MPEG-4 Internet multimedia standard, PVPlatform 2.0 carries upgrades in encoding, transmission and player software aimed at helping carriers create the content to drive adoption of high-speed network products among consumers.
"The goal was to allow carriers to launch commercial service," says Karen Brailean, vice president of product marketing and business planning for PacketVideo.
The addition of the FrameTrack dynamic bit rate technology is particularly important, according to Brailean. Using the variable bit rate scale recently added to the MPEG-4 standard, FrameTrack lets content providers encode material once, rather than providing several versions keyed to different bitrates. As the bandwidth fluctuates, the Frame Track adjusts the frames-per-second delivery rate from less than one frame per second up to 30 frames per second.
Version 2.0 also includes beefed up performance and billing software allowing content providers to track usage patterns.
While the networks may not be ready in the United States, PacketVideo has already gained backing from several content heavy-hitters, including Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Brothers. The company has recently completed MPEG-4 interoperability trials with Japan's NTT DoCoMo, and it is participating in 17 consumer and lab trials worldwide.
Still, for all of its functions to be active, PVPlatform 2.0 requires at least 2.5G or 3G networks. U.S. broadband wireless networks are lagging on the upgrade curve, but Brailean thinks that delay may work to PacketVideo's advantage--in giving it valuable overseas test markets before hitting the U.S. consumer markets.
"We really like to be the leading edge and be first to market," she says. "It allows us to learn a lot about wireless multimedia and what customers want, and then help carriers adjust to that."
PacketVideo is also not alone in brewing wireless content products. In France, equipment maker Alcatel and Kalisto Entertainment have announced a joint project to develop applications for 3G networks. The five-year strategic partnership will seek to develop mobile gaming and entertainment content.
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