Ready to pounce on broadcast bandwidth ‘left over’ when Japan swiches off its analogue broadcasts earlier this year, new broadcaster nottv will launch a service exclusively for Smartphones and tablets with special tuners.
Set for a 2012 introduction, the new service will include games and newspapers. ‘Television is currently designed for viewing at home, with everyone sitting around a TV., says Hiroaki Ban, Manager of Corporate Strategy of mmbi, the company that will operate nottv. Ban anticipated the programming will run to around 10 minutes per show to fit mobile users looking to fill idle time.
The company has already given industry demonstratons of its intended service, which allows Twitter and Facebook to support viewer comments. It also has features for on-demand viewing.
Japan already has a digital broadcasting system for mobile devices called oneseg. But it mainly serves as a simultaneous repeat of existing channels. Nottv says it will be able to offer far better video and sound quality.
The broadcaster is currently waiting for government confirmation, but expects to launch in April 2012.
