NOTTV – that’s the name of a new mobile TV channel that could one day replace 1Seg, the current TV and broadcasting standard for Japanese cell phones.
Japan’s biggest mobile carrier NTT Docomo, the country’s biggest ad agency Dentsu, and a handful of private-sector broadcasters are planning to launch NOTTV on April 1 this year. What’s interesting is that picture quality will be significantly better than with 1Seg and that NOTTV will be available exclusively for Android smartphones and tablets.
The service consists of three different channels showing content such as news, sports events, TV series, etc. – 24 hours a day.
mmbi, a joint venture between Docomo and its partners, is planning to charge 420 Yen (US$5.30) per month for NOTTV, while 1Seg is free (owning a 1seg-compatible handset is enough). Users can only access NOTTV programs through devices supporting the new service (see the picture and video embedded below for the first two models).
mmbi explains why viewers need smartphones:
In this service, there are two types of broadcasting. One is real-time, which you can watch just like ordinary TV. The other is clipcasting, where files are sent to the smartphone. The files can be e-books, digital magazines, games, or applications as well as TV programs.
mmbi is aiming for a total of one million subscribers by April next year. NOTTV will initially be limited to the Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka areas.
More info in this video from Diginfo TV:
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