USTelematics has enhanced its Voyager product line with the addition of Apple iTunes functionality and services, further strengthening Voyager’s feature package with the addition of the leading online music, movie, TV show and audio book download service. USTelematics’ new Voyager product line, the first to offer live IPTV for passenger automobiles, integrates an unparalleled suite of functions and features for the projected $58 billion mobile entertainment and data communications marketplace.

Screen Digest examines the market for mobile TV in 25 countries worldwide including Europe, the US and Asia. Entitled ‘Mobile TV: Business Models and Opportunities’ the analysis provides two perspectives on the market: one from the TV industry and the other from the mobile content industry. According to the report there are a myriad of issues for mobile operators, broadcasters and content owners to address if they are to make a profit from increasing customer demand for mobile TV services.

There are two delivery methods for mobile TV - Broadcast and Unicast. Throughout the report figures are provided for both in each of the three main regions, Asia, Europe and North America. The Broadcast market is expected to experience rapid growth, with the number of markets offering the service tripling in the next two years to stand at 18 by the end of 2008. In the last two years new services have been launched in Italy, the UK, Germany, the US and Japan. Screen Digest believe that Broadcast will become the most prevalent method to deliver TV to mobiles, with the more niche approach offered by Unicast complementing it with premium and added value services.

Envivio is providing the video encoding for MTV’s mobile TV services in Brazil. MTV’s mobile programming is being delivered using a Brazilian variant of the successful Japanese ISDB-T digital terrestrial television standard which includes the 1seg specification for mobile TV. As Brazil is among the world's largest mobile phone markets, with more than 110 million users, the government mandated that content delivery to mobile devices be included within the new national digital TV system. The Envivio 4Caster B3 encoder, selected by MTV as well as several other broadcasters, is the first encoding product to support the specification defined within the Brazilian 1seg mobile TV standard.

Ever wish you could let friends and family back home see the sights of your vacation while you're enjoying them? Or show a potential purchase to your spouse — while she's at home and you're at the store? Or how about sharing baby's first steps with grandma — even though she lives across the country?

With AT&T Video Share, all of this is possible. AT&T has announced the nationwide launch of AT&T Video Share in nearly 160 markets. Video Share is the first-ever service in the U.S. that enables users to share live video over their wireless phones while on a voice call.

Apple announced yesterday that iPhone users will be able to watch YouTube's content on their iPhones when they begin shipping on June 29. A new Apple-designed application on the iPhone will wirelessly stream YouTube's content to iPhone over Wi-Fi or EDGE networks and play it on iPhone's 3.5 inch display.

How appealing is this? Would you watch YouTube videos on your phone? Are users willing to pay the extra fee to have the EDGE service to watch YouTube videos? Does this new feature make the iPhone more attractive, even at a price tag of $499?

Tom Taulli has an interesting write-up at blogging stocks and questions whether this is simply hype. According to Dipanshu Sharma of V-Enable, Apple may be going too far and even "misguiding the consumer" in believing that the YouTube content will stream effortlesly on the EDGE network. It's an interesting viewpoint and worth the read.

AT&T announced the launch of AT&T Video Share, the first-ever service in the U.S. that allows users to share live video over their wireless devices while participating in a voice call. AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson highlighted the service during the opening keynote of the NXTcomm industry event.

Video Share allows users to communicate special or everyday experiences in ways never before possible. Consumers can now share moments with family and friends while the moments are happening — everything from weddings and a baby's first steps to a Little League at-bat or a clearance-sale find. The service also enables a range of innovative, time-saving business applications, from viewing real estate or retail displays to facilitating insurance claims or troubleshooting efforts.

The Disney-ABC Television Group and Sprint announce that Sprint customers can now access a comprehensive portfolio of news and entertainment video programming from ABC Entertainment, ABC News and Disney Channel. The content is available in two forms: on demand and via three “linear” mobile channels, which stream continuous scheduled programming throughout the day.

The following content is now available for the first time ever on mobile:

• On-demand, full-length episodes of ABC programs, including the hit shows “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey's Anatomy,” “Lost” and “Ugly Betty”
• A linear channel with content from Disney Channel, the top-rated kids network

Sprint is also the first carrier to provide ABC Mobile, a newly-created linear mobile channel. ABC Mobile features a variety of popular full-length and short-form news and entertainment content, including full-length episodes of “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey's Anatomy,” “Lost” and “Ugly Betty” as well as ABC News' “Good Morning America,” “World News with Charles Gibson,” “Nightline,” “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and other ABC News Specials. Short-form promotional content from ABC Primetime, ABC Daytime and ABC News is also featured.

Honestech releases MY-IPTV Anywhere Mobile. MY-IPTV Anywhere enables users to access and view their favorite television programming from anywhere in the world on their mobile phone, any Windows-based Wi-Fi PDA device, and any computer with an internet connection.

MY-IPTV Anywhere Mobile includes Honestech's original MY-IPTV Anywhere PC server and player software and new mobile player software for mobile and handheld devices. It also includes MY-IPBOX, an external USB 2.0 TV tuner device. MY-IPTV Anywhere server software has to be set up on their home computer to host content via Internet Protocol to their mobile phone or Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices and any computer via a peer-to-peer connection. The product allows users to watch and control their TV from anywhere, and includes features such as channel surfing & changing, a personal video recorder, and scheduled recording from any computer. MY-IPTV Anywhere supports the latest H.264/MPEG-4 video compression technology standard for mobile phone, handheld devices, and any computer, from anywhere in the world.

NBC Universal will begin making full-length primetime on demand programming available over US wireless networks for the first time. In addition to their primetime video-on-demand line-up, the two companies will offer select short form programming from Bravo, SCI FI Channel, USA Network, Telemundo and mun2 on five new ad-supported channels to subscribers, which will debut on the MobiTV service in second quarter. CNBC and MSNBC were among the first networks launched on the MobiTV service in 2003.

Consumers will be able to access full episodes of select NBCU primetime shows starting at $1.99 for a 24-hour viewing period, although these rates are subject to change by participating wireless carriers. Current seasons of shows produced by NBCU Television Studios will be offered including "The Office" and "Heroes" from NBC, USA's "Monk," and SCI FI's "Battlestar Galactica."

Would you pay $1.99 to access NBC's shows via your mobile phone?

There are contrasting expectations between industry views on mobile TV and market forces, according to recent work undertaken by the reasearch firm Analysys. Analysys's research suggests that whilst there is growing evidence pointing to a latent consumer demand for mobile TV services, it is not clear that this will translate to the expected level of demand for broadcast mobile TV.

At the 3GSM World Congress, Adobe announced that support for video will be integrated in the next generation of Adobe Flash Lite software, Adobe's Flash Player designed specifically for mobile phones. Flash Lite 3 is expected to be available in the first half of 2007 and will bring the Adobe Flash Player video format from the desktop to mobile phones and devices.

Flash Lite will support the same video formats supported by Adobe Flash Player and will directly support video streams delivered by the Adobe Flash Media Server, allowing users to view a broad spectrum of Flash Player compatible content.

Flash Lite runs on multiple platforms, including Symbian S60 v2/v3, Qualcomm BREW 2.x/3.x and Microsoft Windows Mobile 5, in addition to embedded operating systems on a variety of OEM platforms.

Silicon & Software Systems (S3) and Irdeto revealed a new solution that allows operators to deliver Mobile TV, via a DVB-H network, to both desktop and laptop PCs using commonly available components.

The new solution uses a standard DVB-T receiver and USB card-reader to receive DVB-H broadcast services. Both components are commercially available and the total solution costs less then €100.

Sling Media and Palm announced at CES SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS, making it possible to watch television on the 3G-enabled Palm Treo 700p smartphone. However, not all Palm users will be thrilled. While Treo 650 and 680 users could try the software, it may prove limiting without the 3G network to power it.

SlingPlayer Mobile is a software client that gives Slingbox customers the ability to watch and control their home TV from a wirelessly enabled smartphone.

Verizon Wireless announced V CAST Mobile TV, a new service that will allow TV viewers to watch many of their favorite TV programs while on-the-go. V CAST Mobile TV from Verizon Wireless is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2007.

The new service will be accessible on new V CAST Mobile TV handsets via a dedicated V CAST Mobile TV key. The programming will be presented in "time block"/scheduled availability, consistent with familiar cable and satellite TV models, in both Eastern and Pacific Time zones. The initial lineup will include programming from CBS, Comedy Central, FOX, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, MTV and Nickelodeon; additional channels are expected to be added to the lineup after launch.

YouTube announced that, in early December, its leading video entertainment service will be available to people on mobile devices. In its first strategic mobile distribution agreement, YouTube will enable Verizon Wireless V CAST consumers to access a selection of YouTube videos from their mobile phones exclusively for a limited time.