vision and trends
At home, work, school and on the go – multimedia services are taking on a greater role in the new communications ecosystem. Users want enriched communications and personalized content delivered seamlessly to any screen, any time, anywhere. New players are entering the multimedia market every day and users are more demanding than ever.
- With close to 4 billion mobile phones and 600 different HSPA enabled-devices supporting applications such as internet surfing, video and TV, multimedia services will soon run seamlessly on all screens – mobile, PC and TV.
- Global combined consumer and enterprise spending on multimedia is projected to grow from USD 29.8 billion in 2006 to USD 177.7 billion in 2011.
- Sixty percent of Canadian professionals aged between 30 and 54 are used to being ”always on” and consider communication technology the key to managing their multiple roles at work and home.
- Seniors spend more time online than any age group. Swedish researchers found that 80 percent of senior consumers send videos or images via e-mail and half want to buy more online.
- Embedded modules for mobile broadband access are no longer just for laptops – other consumer devices such as cameras, TVs and set-top boxes are being connected.
- New players, such as media and internet companies, are bringing their own perspectives to the market. The successful business models will be those that are responsive to users’ needs.
- Multimedia is putting the “eco” in ecosystem. By reducing travel, multimedia services provide greener ways of working – less travel, more telecommuting.
Users are depending more on multimedia services to balance their personal and professional lives, shifting from role to role using the same devices and services. A recent Canadian study shows that 60 percent of professionals aged between 30 and 54 rely on an “all-in-one” device to balance their personal and professional lives.
Multimedia services and improved device capabilities make this convergence of lives possible. Messaging and video-conferencing are growing in importance in the business world. Web 2.0 applications are entering the work place and the mobile environment. Social networking, content sharing, blogging, podcasting, person-to-person file sharing, and reviewing and recommendation tools are changing how the world communicates.
