The mobile phone is a personal device that is constantly carried with the owner and being used for following local and topical happenings. Based on the Finnish Mobile TV -project, coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki, mobile TV can provide exactly this type of services to people. According to the user research carried out by VTT, mobile TV is an extension and addition to traditional TV, and above all a media that entertains the user. In the future, mobile TV and the Internet services are likely to merge even further.
The Finnish Mobile TV project, coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki, organised a mobile TV end-of-project ceremony today in Helsinki. The event finalised a development project, which was started in 2005. During the ceremony the results of "FinPilot2 Final Report – User Acceptance of Mobile TV Services" research by VTT were also announced. For this research, 27 greater Helsinki residents of all ages used commercial and new trial-level mobile TV services for six months.
- The mobile phone benefits from locality, as people carry the device along at all times and keep it switched on. Therefore, it is of little surprise that users are particularly interested in local, topical and personal content also on mobile TV. Indeed, mobile TV allows an extremely fast delivery of important news and happenings, according to Research Coordinator Eija Kaasinen at VTT.
The mobile TV test group, which consisted of a user panel of various ages, considered the mobile-TV above all an entertaining device. However, it was the news they found the most interesting of all mobile TV content. Majority of the test group was surprised by the excellent picture and sound quality of mobile TV. They found it easy to follow mobile TV feed from a small device, despite the picture display being considerably smaller than they were used to.
Mobile TV is useful and entertaining
The test group agreed that watching mobile TV was entertaining but also useful. Majority of the group watched it during breakfast, while commuting and late at night, to prevent from disturbing the rest of the family. Overall the induction of mobile TV was considered effortless, and the adaption of additional applications made considerably easier due to the similarity to services such as the Teletext. The mobile Teletext usability was rated even higher compared to traditional Teletext.
- There have been significant changes in the user habits of video content during the Finnish Mobile TV project. The changes on the Internet offer plenty of influence also to mobile services, and the Internet will fuse more with traditional TV services in the future. This is why the creators of mobile services need to keep an open mind towards different hybrid solutions, highlights the Finnish Mobile TV project leader Jonas Kronlund at Elisa. Familiar channels and brands will increase users’ confidence towards new mobile media. In addition to this, mobile-TV needs more unique services to bring additional value, for example in the form of interactive content and fresh programme formats.
Commissioned by Forum Virium Helsinki and the Finnish Mobile TV project, VTT carried out the "FinPilot2 Final Report – User Acceptance of Mobile TV Services" user research, which begun in the summer 2007 and ended in the spring 2008. The results of this research were announced at today’s ceremony in "FinPilot2 Final Report – User Acceptance of Mobile TV Services". You can download the report on www.finnishmobiletv.com/finpilot2/. Companies that funded the field research for the Finnish Mobile TV project FinPilot2 are Digita, Elisa, MTV Media, Nokia, SWelcom, TeliaSonera, TietoEnator, the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, Forum Virium Helsinki and Tekes.
Finnish Mobile TV homepage: www.finnishmobiletv.com
Further information:
Jonas Kronlund, Elisa, Head of Technology
+358 50 598 2789, jonas.kronlund (at) elisa.fi
Eija Kaasinen, VTT, Research Coordinator
+358 20 722 3323, eija.kaasinen (at) vtt.fi
