Easy Use Drives Mobile Multimedia

The services studies were push to talk, instant messaging, content sharing, video sharing and presence. It said push to talk had the potential for more mainstream appeal. The studies indicated that between 33 percent and percent, or a total of 90 million main mobile phone users in Great Britain, Germany, Singapore and USA consider they would be likely to use interactive mobile multimedia services - push to talk, instant messaging, video sharing, content sharing and presence - in the next two years. MORI conducted two studies, with the first focusing on push to talk, instant messaging, video sharing, content sharing and presence, all enabled by a technology called IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The study looked into the consumer perception of these services in Germany, Great Britain, Singapore and the US, and indicated a clear demand especially among the socially active 16-34 year olds. A separate study examined the consumer views on push to talk in Brazil, Germany, Great Britain and Thailand. The studies show that drivers for adoption of mobile multimedia services vary on a service-by-service basis. For instant messaging, the benefits of the service have to do with the group communication capability and the ability of the user to relate instant messaging to short messaging (SMS) and/or the PC-based equivalent. For push to talk, group communication possibilities and ease and speed of use were key drivers. Video sharing - the real time sending of video during a phone call - had a strong fun factor among respondents. Content sharing - the transferring and sharing of files between mobile handsets - was seen as a more niche service, with likely adoption being between 10-17 percent in different markets. Drivers for presence - a service which allows mobile phone users to display their status to others - include practicality and potential cost savings, for instance, over SMS. Possible barriers for service adoption also varied between the services, ranging from concerns over technical capabilities and privacy issues, and disillusionment with the quality and ease of use of services that have been rolled out over recent years. The findings indicate that key factors in the successful launch of services have to do with consumer understanding of the service and its applications; convenience and ease of use; benefits over alternatives such as voice and SMS; and the extent to which the service can provide entertainment and enhance communications with others. The study focusing on push to talk examined the drivers and barriers for service adoption among consumers in Brazil, Germany, Great Britain and Thailand. Around one in four respondents in Germany, Thailand and Great Britain, and one in two in Brazil, stated that they are extremely or very likely to use push to talk. The main drivers were ease of use and convenience, including the ability for group communication. For group communications, respondents envisaged groups containing approximately five people on average. The sample size of respondents for the two studies were around 3,500 and 2,400, each.