I wanted to start a discussion about the ways in which the browser and the player could be more closely integrated, so as to improve the overall streaming video experience for end-users. Here are some of the ideas that myself, YoSpace and Thomson Reuters came up with – please feel free to add to the list!
- Enabling the player to jump to another URL on finishing playback: the use case is where a user receives a message or alert which links to a video. Once the video has finished, the browser goes to a page to enable the user to learn more about what they have watched
- Bandwidth detection in the device: enables the player to tell the server which stream quality to use based on the player’s knowledge of available bandwidth (e.g. 2G vs. 3G vs. WiFi bearer)
- Phone can seamlessly integrate playback of a number of streams: for example, this could enable a news summary built from individual stories based on user preferences. Or a service could feed in adverts at appropriate points in the stream.
- Player awareness of when in an advert sequence: so transport controls can be disabled (enables easier monetisation of content, and hence better content for users)
- Video hot-spots: the server can indicate hoyspot time offsets to the device, which can be used to trigger UI events. For example, an initial summary of a news story could be expanded on based on some UI feedback, or a user could request more info following an advert (which would queue up a web page for viewing later)
These ideas are quite focused on hooks to improve services. While I agree there are many improvements needed to the direct end-user experience, I strongly believe it is important for us in the device community to work closely with service providers, since providing a better platform for the guys who build video services ultimately leads to better products for end-users.
So – do you fancy a go at building these improvements? Get in touch!
Player awareness of when in an advert sequence: so transport controls can be disabled (enables easier monetisation of content, and hence better content for users)
- Please don’t ever do this.
How about throwing them to the lions at ideas.symbian.org?
Good idea to submit to ideas.symbian.org
Regarding the bias of these ideas towards service providers: yes, as a user, I would agree that such “features” would be very annoying and would make me want to tear my hair out.
However, we need to bear in mind that the symbian community consists of more than just users, and it isn’t the goal of Symbian to take a stance on what is good and bad for users.
For example, one application of this is to give users a choice – may $X a month to get the ad-free service, or get the same content for free, but with adverts. If ad-based content is particularly annoying, users won’t use a service and the service provider will need to adapt their biz model.
So I would argue that Symbian is all the stronger for being open to such ideas, and to let market forces filter out what is good and bad.
But I’m more than up for a debate – please pile in
I do of course appreciate the need for service providers to make money. However there is a line to be drawn and I’m almost positive if that functionality was implemented then someone would be on the end of PR disaster – and since most users are incapable of delving into the supply chain to find out who is really responsible for the things that are annoying them, that would probably end up being the OEM, or us.
An idea like the first one on the other hand gets that balance right. It’s not something users would ever ask for specifically – but they probably wouldn’t mind once it is there.
The second one is something most users probably would really want, and I actually fail to see the upside for the ISV – maybe there is one?
So yes, by all means let’s listen to the needs of ISV’s (as you pointed out, they’re part of the community too) but be careful where the line is drawn.
The needs of the content suppliers versus those of the consumers is definitely a delicate balance. However, I too would be cautious for the reasons Brendan mentioned, history has shown that commercial content suppliers and advertisers have a tendency to go too far with this sort of thing.
Occasional un-skippable ads during some good content that I can access for free seems fine to me (especially if I have the option to purchase an ad-free version). However, I recently *bought* a DVD which has several minutes of un-skippable trailers that need to be sat through before I can access the main menu! I really wouldn’t want a repeat of that scenario on my phone.
Having said that, it’s up to the community to implement this kind of thing. If the community doesn’t want to support annoying features they just won’t implement it. If a content producer (or someone else) really wants this stuff then they can implement it themselves.
We should create a different layer to coe into the ideas site from so that major partners like these can use it for specific purposes.
Why should there be a different layer? If the partners involved are indeed interested in what the community thinks about their proposals then they’ll submit them unvetted to the standard ideas site. An idea being ’scrapped’ as it were does not preclude it from being progressed, but it seems the best forum in which to recieve feedback about specific proposals. If you could elaborate on why this wouldn’t suit then maybe a can understand a bit better.
I think we need a more flexible ideas platform – what we get are top of mind propositions – we need a layer where people can add depth if need be, or where partners can ask for more depth, and where that extra effort can be rewarded. There are at least three different approach to ideagoras and ours is a good one – but I think we can build a hybrid that would serve different needs.
James – it must be a matter of taste. I always skip ads. i have no interest in them and I am dog tired of advertisers tracking me down wherever I go. What’s your view of the role of search and search ads in the mobile web? Is that going to be as inevitable as on the wired web? I must say I am often alarmed in my google mail to see contextual ads pop up aongside personal correspondence.
Brendan – would yo not form your ideas into a blog post?
“Enabling the player to jump to another URL on finishing playback”
I think Windows Media Player used to support that years ago, until Microsoft removed it as it was mostly being used for fraudulent purposes (linking to malware for instance).