Triptych Concepts Limited

Revenue from video telephony, video messaging, and similar services is projected to grow from $121 million in 2010 to $2 billion in 2013, says ABI Research.

By Esther Shein
InformationWeek
July 19, 2010 12:16 PM

Mobile video services revenue from video telephony, video messaging, video sharing, video on demand, VoD downloads, and other video services is expected to exceed $2 billion in 2013, according to the ABI Research Mobile Video Services annual global study.

By contrast, video services revenue will only be about $121 million in 2010, according to Mark Beccue, senior analyst. But the growth curve is “very steep indeed,” he said, and will continue to accelerate through the end of 2015, which is the end of ABI Research’s forecast period.

ABI Research predicts video telephony, video messaging, and VoD will make up the majority of this revenue, while video sharing will comprise a small percentage. Video telephony — similar to voice telephone — is real-time video streaming between two 3G or 4G network connected devices, said Beccue. The study found both video telephony and video messaging have the most subscribers in Western Europe, followed by Asia Pacific, and then the United States.

One of the prime factors driving the market is the availability of 3G networks, increasing consumers’ demand for mobile infotainment, ABI Research said. As more mobile network operators (MNOs) segue to 4G, growth will continue, coupled with the continuing development of connected mobile devices, the firm said. Further propelling demand is the availability of real-time collaboration, communication, and networking from Web 2.0 services, ABI Research said.

But this growth could be limited by certain factors, including the continuing poor economic climate, which could affect usage, notably in industrialized nations, the study found. Mobile video services provided by MNOs also face stiff competition from so-called over-the-top (OTT) video services, which have strong popularity and adoption rates, the firm said. There also aren’t many video-capable mobile devices on the market and the ones that are remain “immature and imperfectly matched to consumers’ preference,” given that the industry is in the early stages, according to the firm.
“MNOs mustn’t settle for the role of undifferentiated mobile ISPs that manage ‘dumb pipes’,” Beccue said. “They should provide a variety of mobile video services and leverage strategic ecosystems until they upgrade their networks to provide quality video services.” He suggested that to optimize mobile devices, the MNOs should consider partnering with device makers and software solution providers. “This will contribute to an already significant investment, but the rewards will be great.”

If the carriers aren’t aggressive about bundling premium services and incorporating the charges into their existing mobile bill, someone else will, Beccue warned. He said he believes that when it comes to mobile devices, not many people will watch long videos since the form factor is bad, so streaming video and VoD will be more of the “snack” types of video. “So offering it as a one-time or subscription service on a mobile bill is a convenience consumers will prefer,” since they are already approved and don’t need to enter additional information. “Those APIs are very valuable,” he said.
The Mobile Video Services study focused on branded or co-branded regional MNO video services including video telephony and video messaging, peer-to-peer, and Web 2.0 video sharing and mobile video entertainment provided to mobile consumers for either a subscription-based or per-unit transaction fee. Video voice mail, chatting, ringtones, and dating are other mobile video services ABI Research expects to see emerge in the next few years or are available now on a limited basis.

This article appeared on page 14 of The Australian on the 28th of July, 2010.

AT first glance, The Verge, the story of a group of 20-somethings in a share house, looks like just another reality television show, giving the audience voting rights on plot outcomes. But Adam Lomsargis, managing director of Triptych Concepts, which produced the series with Ian McFadyen (The Comedy Company), says that’s not so. “Big Brother is not really reality TV, it’s an unreal situation that never occurred,” he says. “The Verge is all about connecting everyone in everyday life through a shared experience.”Actors, including John Jarratt, pictured, follow a script but the story can be guided by the audience using social media. Lomsargis hopes The Verge is one of many local productions to be offered by Video Zoo, the nation’s first online video portal focused on home-grown content, to be launched on Friday night and run by Triptych Concepts. “In the early days we’re looking to build a strong foundation of Australian shows,” he says.

BRIDGET CORMACK

Written by MX News – Photograph by Steve Pohlner

The Verge producer Adam Ben Lomsargis with Matt James Deane and Laura Meldon

A Twilight vampire and a classical singer are two of the actors featuring in Brisbane online TV show The Verge.

Matt James Deane and Laura Meldon play share-house 20-somethings in the series that is being launched at The Edge tomorrow night.

Three episodes have been filmed around Brisbane, but Meldon, who has sung to 23,000 people in Asia, says the acting doesn’t stop when the cameras are switched off.

“Just like any other share-house of young people, we’re all on Twitter and Facebook and sometimes we get into fights, or chat.” she says. ‘We were given the freedom to extend our characters online and explore the dynamic between their relationships and people can become friends with us, ask us advice, anything.”

Deane, who played a newborn vampire in Twilight Saga: Eclipse, says the interactive medium creates quick turnaround times behind the scenes. ‘We want people to watch an episode, vote what they want to happen, and then we film it.” TripTych Concepts managing director Adam Ben Lomsargis says the show will also let viewers vote for alternate season endings. ‘That’s the beauty of online television,” he says. “I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of it too. I think the Internet is going to revolutionise ‘TV.”

The show will be available at www.videozoo.tv.

“In Australia, there are quite a few webisode shows but there aren’t really any that do it professionally to a standard that you could see on one of the major stations,” he says.

“I think (reality show) Oz Girl does a great job, but I wan t hundreds of thousands of people around the world to see our show.” The Verge is being launched at The Edge tomorrow from 6pm.

To see the first episode, RSVP to contact@triptychconcepts.com.au

Steve Jobs and the Macintosh in 1984

It’s a valid invention, the Apple movement is. And what a bummer it can be when you don’t have one. Among friends, workmates and peers, it’s easy to feel left out of the party when not being able to access what seems like a limitless world of potential creative permeation.

But it can be a caustic way of life. The product and innovation cycles by which we can measure our progress in work, social settings and play have easily affected our psyches and the industries renowned for original, thoughtful ideas.

The Denver Egotist’s Felix Unger speaks to this point in his recent piece, where he dissects many of the often-pondered habits of today’s advertising folks:

“Why?

Because in advertising, you go big on ideas and small on technology. At first, anyway. You throw down as many ideas as you can, as quickly as you can, and to my knowledge no one has invented something that helps you do this that’s better than paper and a pen/pencil.

Your big ideas stay big by being loose. They have endless possibilities. The sketch does not paint you into a corner. There is no elaborate work that people are afraid to comment on, because it’s finished already. The client feels like part of the process too, because they are along for the ride to help shape that big idea into the finished ad. And as several great designers and advertisers have said, it’s hard to kill a baby if you birthed it.”

The trending methodology behind new work has morphed, Unger points out, to teams channeling creativity through the computer rather than the conception, which greatly discounts the natural progression of ideas and the relationship with clients, where big-picture execution has suffered greatly:

“If you’re a “modern” CD, you have no doubt become accustomed to seeing work that’s of a more finished level in the initial stages.

You know as well as I do what happens when you present something that looks like a finished ad to the client; they comment on the intricacies of the ad. They don’t like the color, they don’t like the texture on the background, they think the smile on the guy’s face is off brand, and they have an issue with the size of the logo. They can’t see the big idea because you’ve hidden it under technique (and if the technique IS your idea, I hate you and everything you stand for).”

And on Unger’s advice to today’s creative professionals:

“Here, the emphasis is on thinking. And if you want to be thought of as someone who has great ideas, you need to cut the cord between you and your Mac when you’re concepting.

Blow the dust off those Prismacolor grays. Break out the bleedproof marker pads. Buy a big box of Sharpies (my preference, as a writer, is for Ultra Fine or Extra Fine) and write down ideas until your pens run dry.

So, sorry Steve Jobs. As much as I love your products, they should be banned from the thinking process; even in 2010, the pen is mightier than the Mac.”