Local business Medias has moved to capture the mobile movie market in SA, with the release of its Infinit.mobi platform.
The company has been a player in online video since 2006, when it released its local version of YouTube, called MyVideo. Medias founder and CEO Rowan Polovin says a mobile movie platform is a natural progression for the business.
While not the first company to dabble in mobile video content, Polovin says the content that is available from other sources is often hard to find and not particularly user-friendly. He says Medias has focused on making the mobile movie experience as simple as possible.
Video is notoriously difficult to compress, which has kept many businesses from pursuing a mobile platform. However, Polovin says SA's mobile penetration is impossible to ignore. “Mobile is the way the industry is moving, and it made sense for us to build a solution for the phone.”
The company says that despite only having officially launched the service recently, it has started to attract a customer base.
Homemade
Infinit.mobi is a Web-based technology that can be accessed through a smartphone browser, eliminating the need for an additional application. “Serving video to a mobile phone is complicated, with the large number of devices available all with different software.”
To determine what format of video and what size video to send, Polovin says the company has created an algorithm that picks up the type of phone accessing the mobile site. “It then decides what format to use and which codecs would be best.”
The platform has also been built to optimise the file size, and the company will serve mini clips of between 1MB and 3MB. “We find that the attention span of a mobile video watcher is short, so the clips are between three and five minutes each.”
He adds that all the clips have been specifically made for mobile. Polovin and co-founder Tristan Owen have production experience and own many of the clips available for download. Polovin says the company has also entered into agreements with film studios and game companies to provide trailers for upcoming features.
Clips will cost a user between R5 and R10, although some content is available for free download. Educational content, in association with Mindset Learn, will be available at only the cost of the download.
Medias is working through the Wireless Applications Service Providers Association to gain access to mobile operators, allowing it to deduct the cost of the clips from airtime, rather than through a banking transaction.
To access the service, users can enter infinit.mobi into their cellphone browser, or SMS “video” to 32876 (charged at R1) to receive a link to the site.
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