One important aspect of ubiquitous environments is to provide users with the possibility to freely move about and continue the interaction with the available applications through a variety of interactive devices (including cell phones, PDAs, desktop computers, digital television sets, and intelligent watches). Indeed, in such environments one big potential source of frustration is that people have to start their session over again from the beginning at each interaction device change. Migratory interactive services can overcome this limitation and support continuous task performances.
Why can it be postulated that these Migratory service Opportunities will provide next stream of revenue to service providers? Well to answer this question lets the following;
Broadband Access:
• Broadband is moving beyond the PC; it will be about connecting numbers of devices, providing consumers with a range of multimedia services in an always-on digital world.
• The ability of gadgets of all sizes to connect to the Internet and download or stream content will be more prevalent in coming years.
• Connected portable devices, from notebooks to game consoles, are complementing “traditional” items such as mobile phones and desktop computers.
• Mobile devices with increased power, faster communications capabilities and higher resolution displays are increasingly saturating everyday life.
• Mobile phones will have more options for connecting to the mobile internet and the access will be more ubiquitous.
• Wireless broadband networks mean that consumers can access broadband services within the home as well as on the move.
• Wireless technology developments are paving the way for a far more flexible broadband environment that will increasingly allow users portable and nomadic access to content, applications and services.
• The world of telecommunications is in constant flux, with fast, mobile networks enabling uninterrupted access to new internet-based products and service.
• Technical progress, increasing levels of network coverage, greater bandwidths allowing higher data speeds are factors which will expedite the progress of digitization and networking.
Multimedia Services:
• Broadband internet access is popping up in TVs—new TV sets have built-in networking connections requiring no additional set-top boxes for getting online.
• Usage of online video services is rising quickly and HDTV is gaining ground.
• Ownership of multiple computers is becoming more common.
• IPTV has the potential to transform the TV experience, not just by offering more choice and flexibility, but by integrating aspects of communications and social computing.
• The future home will be a place where consumers can watch what they want, when they want and by whichever device they want.
• The average family might have a TV in every room, and each family member might be using them for something completely different; watching one of hundreds of channels, playing video games or watching DVDs or YouTube clips.
• IPTV expands the range of what’s possible with TV. In addition to viewing video content, the TV can become a screen to view our personal digital photos or to make a video phone call. It also frees us from watching TV in the home; IPTV means we can take our content with us, wherever we go.
• The broad range of devices available within the home shows there are many means of creating and accessing digital content.
Social Computing:
• In many areas of life, digital networking is taken for granted and the importance of these technologies will continue to increase.
• Digitalization and networking ensure that anyone can stay in touch with people and things at any time.
• Social media encourages the formation of a community around the game (as has been successfully demonstrated with EA’s Pogo for example) and enhances the game itself.
• The growth of digitalization and networking with broader bandwidth, faster speeds and more widespread use of mobile broadband connections will further influence and shape the way we communicate.
Gaming:
• Cross-platform gaming is gaining momentum, e.g., solutions across interactive TV, online and mobile platform, such as role play games with several online players.
• Simplicity and feature accessibility creates significant changes in consumption.
• Leisure activities will be strongly influenced by digitalization and networking; it will become common to listen to music or radio over the internet, access videos at any time or fill in waiting times by playing games on mobile handsets.
• Mobile game revenues potentially have long term value as an advertising rather than direct revenue generation tool.
• In game advertising offers a useful option in developing a wider community strategy.
• The community is often seen as a very important part of the game, particularly in the case of multi-player games.
• In the Massively Multi-Player Online Game (MMOG) industry there is a saying “they come for the game but they stay for the community”. Connected (online) mobile games will gain momentum with increasing network capabilities in terms of latency and throughput.
• Some technologies that will become more common in mobile games such as the mobile phone camera, will encourage the development of games with new interaction styles.
• Technology enhancement will drive flexible game interaction functionality such as the use of voice chat simultaneously with game playing, presence1 and messaging.
• Technological advancements in the mobile phone such as hardware accelerated 3D graphics will drive the increasing quality of the mobile games.
In this complex environment, better knowledge of migration scenarios will be a key topic to offer better user experience. Next generation devices present the opportunity, for multi-screen players, to offer service integration across device types as shown below;
To play this game, Service Providers aim to expand their platform influence beyond mobile devices, extending the reach to the connected home and the extended home. Many players in the market are placing pieces of their planned policy day by day, realizing their strategy:
• Microsoft is adding more weapons to its multi-screen armoury with the launches of Windows 7 for embedded devices and Silverlight for systems on chips (SOCs).
• Google’s Android platform has begun cropping up in multiple additional device categories beyond smartphones, including TVs, tablets, PMPs, netbooks and even DAB radios.
• Apple’s successful iPad launch seems to have proved a demand for connected tablet devices, whether or not they have yet a clear use case.
• The Nokia/Intel-developed MeeGo device platform has the implicit backing of net-book, set-top box and PC vendors, as well as of Nokia itself, and looks likely to reach others.
So, software platform and the surrounding ecosystem of developers are vital assets in making this vision.
