As the telecommunication and media services converge, the moving photographs of a newspaper from the ‘Harry Potter’ series are no longer a make-believe story created from your imagination. This is a rising trend driven by the advancement of network infra and its widened coverage. Furthermore, in the advent of smart devices with high performance such as a tablet PC and a smartphone, era of ‘Media Streaming’ has arrived.
Normally media has two forms, static and dynamic. Whatever the exact division is, the important thing is that they actively combine together for a user’s context and preference. Under the trend, media companies including broadcasting companies have prepared its enrichment of their contents and tried to set up the mobile channel via mobile applications.
<Joongang Daily for iPad>
Behind iTunes and other application marketplaces, media companies have tested their services and developed those features and functions. The main factors which they are trying to get are as follows;
1. Customization
Static contents such as articles and photos are evolving into dynamic items which are embedded with VODs and music. These factors are thoroughly pursuing customers’ needs by providing abundant options and enhanced user experience.
And even the contents are optimized for user’s context. Many smart magazines support these powerful customization functions. One of the famous examples is Zite.com.
<Zite>
2. Communication
The main power of media is the reader, which in the past was referred to as subscribers. In order to gather a customer database it is essential for the media to fight against internet gateway companies (i.e. portal service providers). And the effective way to get a customer’s feedback is to set up a system which enables the company to communicate with users.
Nowadays users are fond of sharing and expressing their opinions and information through SNS.
3. Connectivity
Traditional news only gives one-way information. But media streaming includes connections to approach (access) related sites and even proceed its functions in an article. For example, if there is an article about a new car, it tags a lot of information such as photos. And a user can go to a dealer’s site or register information and demands to get a customized counseling after clicking these photos.
There is no longer a division between information and behavior. This intelligent media can connect these two other.
After the distribution of smart TVs, the competition to sit on the throne of next media business has become more fierce and aggressive. Unlike the past, media giants are continuously threatening internet service providers based on their contents production R&C. The point is, how to combine the three factors efficiently.