The mobile phone industry is racing to improve its ability to deliver content as the popularity of watching TV series and films on small screens surges, forcing a shift in focus for the sector.<\/p>\n
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Mobile video traffic is forecast to grow by around 50 percent annually to account for over two-thirds of all mobile data traffic by 2021, according to a forecast by Sweden-based telecommunications operator Ericsson.<\/p>\n
The growing popularity of video is pushing phonemakers to come up with devices with better screens and sound quality.<\/p>\n
For telephone operators it is pushing them to work closely with media giants like Vivendi and Turner, who are ramping up production of video content made specifically for mobile devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cVideo is not an option, it is a must for telecom operators today,\u201d Eric Xu, the CEO of China\u2019s Huawei, the world\u2019s third-largest phone maker after Apple and Samsung, said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the phone industry\u2019s largest annual trade fair, which wraps up on Thursday.<\/p>\n
French media group Vivendi, which owns YouTube competitor Dailymotion and France\u2019s No.1 pay TV service Canal+, set up Studio+ last year to make high quality mini series made to be watched on smartphones.<\/p>\n
The company has so far produced 25 original series in five languages.<\/p>\n
Each series consists of ten episodes lasting ten minutes which are distributed to paying subscribers via an app for people on the go.<\/p>\n
Vivendi has reached an agreement with telecom providers in Brazil, Argentina, France and Italy to provide the service and it will debut in Russia in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur aim is to be the preferred partner of major carriers,\u201d said Vivendi chief executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine at a conference at the trade fair called \u201cthe content gold rush\u201d.<\/p>\n
The service allows telecom firms to \u201cdifferentiate themselves\u201d and encourages customers to sign up to plans with bigger data bundles so they can watch more video, he said.<\/p>\n
US media giant Turner Communications, a division of Time Warner whose HBO channel is the home to popular shows such as \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d, has also started production groups that make short form content \u201cthat is really, really specific for mobiles,\u201d said Turner chief executive John Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cMobile is an enormous opportunity,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Several phonemakers meanwhile unveiled new devices at the trade fair geared for watching video.<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s LG presented a new flagship phone, the G6, which comes with a massive screen to target Netflix-loving, stream savvy commuters who want to watch films and series on the go.<\/p>\n
Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, who has won Oscars for \u201cApocalypse Now\u201d and \u201cThe Last Emperor\u201d, was on hand to praise the advantages of the phone\u2019s 18:9 screen aspect ratio, a step up from the conventional 16:9 found on most phones, for watching film.<\/p>\n
The LG device is the first smartphone that can support Netflix\u2019s higher quality HDR video streaming which makes colours more vivid.<\/p>\n
Netflix announced at the fair that it is set to introduce new technology that will deliver decent video quality to mobile devices while using less data.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are doubling down on mobile,\u201d said the company\u2019s vice president of product innovation, Todd Yellin.<\/p>\n
Streaming Netflix shows on mobile phones is rising around the world and in three major markets \u2014 India, Japan and South Korea \u2014 people stream more Netflix video on their phones than on TV, he said.<\/p>\n
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings claims he is among the converts to watching series on mobile phones.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched \u2018The Crown\u2019 on mobile, and it was incredible, you see these great panoramas.. but when I told the writer Peter Morgan about that, he was aghast,\u201d he said, referring to the popular Netflix drama about the early years of Queen Elizabeth\u2019s reign.\u2014AFP<\/p>\n
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