Michael Arrieta of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment feels that the mobile marketplace personalizes and deepens consumers’ affinity for an entertainment property. His company has developed wirelesss content for Spider-Man. ™ & © 2004 Marvel and © 2004 CPII. All rights reserved.

As the mobile market becomes established, customers are becoming pickier about what content they will pay for. In the earliest days of mobile data, the novelty of it all convinced consumers to try anything, but now, with more to choose from, they make their decisions based on quality or other values, just as they would with any entertainment vehicle. “They still want content, but they’re more discriminating about what they want,” Kubiak says. “You have to be more creative.”

John Burris, director of wireless data services for Sprint, points out that “quality” is an important characteristic of any content at this early stage. “Customers are just trying data for the first time, and they may not come back if they have a bad experience,” he explains. He agrees with content publishers that it’s important to have a fit between content and property; a particular animated film might make a good game, for example, but not a good screensaver or ringtone. “We don’t want to do it if we’re forcing it,” Burris says.

In many cases, the respective content categories serve different purposes. “We find that games allow consumers to immerse themselves in the property, while ringtones and wallpaper are great ways for people to personalize their phone and deepen their affiliation with the property,” says Michael Arrieta, svp for Sony Pictures Digital Ent., which has produced such content for Spider-Man. (Sony Digital had rights to create wireless applications for the films, released by its sister studio Columbia Pictures.)

SprintTV runs on next-generation handsets and is Sprint’s high-end multimedia product, Content includes several animation channels, including Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Photo credit: Troy Thomas.

More Multimedia
Technology is quickly improving, allowing high-quality graphics at fast speeds. Full multimedia animation clips are possible, at least on some handsets and through certain services. Sprint’s content offerings can be divided into three levels, depending on the handsets/services for which they are intended, according to Burris. Animation of one to three frames per second runs on mass-market, Java-based phones, which are the most widespread graphics-capable handsets today. Much-improved animation at 10 to 15 frames per second is possible on new, multimedia handsets, of which there is a growing but still limited number. Finally, animation of about 20 to 24 frames per second will run on next-generation handsets, which will start being introduced later this year and will be compatible with the carriers’ improved, 3G (third-generation) networks.

SprintTV is Sprint’s high-end multimedia product, which falls into the second category and works on two handsets as of early 2004. SprintTV includes several animation channels, including Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and CellToons, a channel from Thumbworks featuring independent animation. (MobiTV, a service available on all Java handsets, includes some animation as well, although not full multimedia.)

Another recent streaming content deal involving animation is between Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and multimedia content publisher Vidiator Technology. The partners will create wireless, streaming broadband content for carriers worldwide. Like the examples mentioned above, there will be dedicated channels devoted to Stan Lee’s creations, under the Stan Lee’s POW! brand, with applications including 3D avatar greetings, messages and announcers. Content will be developed first for The Drifter and The Accuser, followed by Stripperella and other original characters.

“There’s lots of cool animation stuff going on,” Burris says. “Cartoons look very, very good on a handset. That’s not to say CNN or Fox Sports don’t look good — they do — but cartoons look awesome.”