Turning mobile phones into media players
WIRELESS: Applications
April 18, 2003
By John Edwards
As 2.5G and 3G services gradually enter the wireless mainstream, the mobile phone's evolution from communications appliance into a multimedia communications, entertainment, information and e-commerce platform is picking up steam.
AMN, an Ashburn, Va.-based streaming media software developer, is looking to push mobile phones--and other portable devices--to a new level with its new MediaBroker software. The product is designed to provide media playback, capturing and sharing on Java-enabled mobile systems. Users of mobile phones, PDAs, AutoPC units and Java 2 Mobile Edition (J2ME)-based systems will be able to install and run the small application from designated over-the-air (OTA) deployment channels, such as wireless carriers and wireless software distributors.
MediaBroker's preview version allows users to play, share, capture and manage audio, image and video streams, including MPEG, WAV, JPEG, AU, MP3 and MIDI formatted data. Multimedia content can be transferred between mobile phones, PDAs, desktop and laptop PCs, workstations, servers and other TCP/IP Internet-compatible systems. The application requires at least 4MB of memory. The final version is expected to support additional device memory, such as a memory card.
MediaBroker uses telecom industry and Java community standards to securely distribute media and software both privately and publicly--using Digital Rights Management (DRM), for example. It has the potential to be used with entertainment, communications, news, voice recognition, accessibility and business productivity applications.
A resource adapter module built into the product architecture allows for provider plug-ins from commerce-based media content providers, enabling MediaBroker users to remotely browse and play accessible media content. The product is also designed to host a variety of intelligent two-way features.
When operating, MediaBroker loads media data from a location, such as a Web server, and then buffers the information for decoding, decompression and playback. Application sizing is based on the small footprint approach common to J2ME applications. The software doesn't host images, audio or content that may detract from available memory.
Memory consumption lies largely in the hands of the software's user, who has the ability to choose the number of media sources accessed and the length and size of accessed media. Users also have the ability to set volume and screen size, skip and scan files, and restart video and audio with keypad input. Full-screen viewing support is available.
MediaBroker will be targeted at devices using GSM cellular and emerging TCP/IP satellite band networks inside and outside of the U.S. It's also designed for OEM device and carrier packages supporting low-end DSP processing capabilities through embedded virtual machines (EVMs).
AMN has already received some industry recognition for its current MovieBroker 1.4 software, which allows PocketPC and Windows users to manage and play media between the Web, desktop and laptop PCs and PDAs. The software was nominated as "Video Product of the Year 2002" by PocketPC Magazine.
This article first appeared in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Telecom Direct. (http://www.telecomdirect.pwcglobal.com)
As 2.5G and 3G services gradually enter the wireless mainstream, the mobile phone's evolution from communications appliance into a multimedia communications, entertainment, information and e-commerce platform is picking up steam.
AMN, an Ashburn, Va.-based streaming media software developer, is looking to push mobile phones--and other portable devices--to a new level with its new MediaBroker software. The product is designed to provide media playback, capturing and sharing on Java-enabled mobile systems. Users of mobile phones, PDAs, AutoPC units and Java 2 Mobile Edition (J2ME)-based systems will be able to install and run the small application from designated over-the-air (OTA) deployment channels, such as wireless carriers and wireless software distributors.
MediaBroker's preview version allows users to play, share, capture and manage audio, image and video streams, including MPEG, WAV, JPEG, AU, MP3 and MIDI formatted data. Multimedia content can be transferred between mobile phones, PDAs, desktop and laptop PCs, workstations, servers and other TCP/IP Internet-compatible systems. The application requires at least 4MB of memory. The final version is expected to support additional device memory, such as a memory card.
MediaBroker uses telecom industry and Java community standards to securely distribute media and software both privately and publicly--using Digital Rights Management (DRM), for example. It has the potential to be used with entertainment, communications, news, voice recognition, accessibility and business productivity applications.
A resource adapter module built into the product architecture allows for provider plug-ins from commerce-based media content providers, enabling MediaBroker users to remotely browse and play accessible media content. The product is also designed to host a variety of intelligent two-way features.
When operating, MediaBroker loads media data from a location, such as a Web server, and then buffers the information for decoding, decompression and playback. Application sizing is based on the small footprint approach common to J2ME applications. The software doesn't host images, audio or content that may detract from available memory.
Memory consumption lies largely in the hands of the software's user, who has the ability to choose the number of media sources accessed and the length and size of accessed media. Users also have the ability to set volume and screen size, skip and scan files, and restart video and audio with keypad input. Full-screen viewing support is available.
MediaBroker will be targeted at devices using GSM cellular and emerging TCP/IP satellite band networks inside and outside of the U.S. It's also designed for OEM device and carrier packages supporting low-end DSP processing capabilities through embedded virtual machines (EVMs).
AMN has already received some industry recognition for its current MovieBroker 1.4 software, which allows PocketPC and Windows users to manage and play media between the Web, desktop and laptop PCs and PDAs. The software was nominated as "Video Product of the Year 2002" by PocketPC Magazine.
This article first appeared in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Telecom Direct. (http://www.telecomdirect.pwcglobal.com)
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