MobiTV to Showcase Multiscreen Service

7 Sep, 2010 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Mobile video technology company MobiTV Sept. 7 said it will bow technology that allows users to watch, pause and play video content between multiple devices.

Emeryville, Calif.-based MobiTV said its platform allows users to watch live and video-on-demand (VOD) content — rental or sellthrough — then stop or pause the content and continue watching it on a separate device independent of the one on which it was initiated.

MobiTV is able to do this by streamlining authentication and authorization of content between devices, according to chief technology officer (CTO) Kay Johansson.

“To be able to offer a multiscreen solution, you must move from a device centric authorization model to a user-centric model,” Johansson said.

The genesis of the platform is utilization of a so-called “fragmented Mpeg4 standard” that affords both operational and economic scalability, according to CEO Charlie Nooney.

“Our engineers have designed and built an advanced platform that enables true convergence services; a platform that provides easy integration and can adapt to evolving content licensing rights and distribution models,” Nooney said.

In June, MobiTV said more than 1 million of its iPhone apps have been downloaded, driven by a 47% increase since the beginning of the World Cup soccer competition in South Africa. The quadrennial event also contributed to a 250% increase in paid subscribers to the service.

The company said the average viewing time is 30 minutes — double the time Netflix said its average subscriber streams movies and episodic TV programming on a monthly basis. The MobiTV app also has delivered a 12% purchase-to-download conversion rate, from the free app to the premium upgrade.

MobiTV will showcase the multiplatform technology Oct. 6-8 at the CTIA Enterprises & Applications show in San Francisco, Oct. 6-8.

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