Full Length Movies? From your mobile handset?
While I am frequently one to do things from my mobile phone “because I can, damnit,” even I have to shake my head at this news story that Sprint Nextel is going to offer full-length movies via their network.
I’m just trying to wrap my head around the logistics of this. You have an itty bity screen–smaller than the video iPods in some cases. You have devices with anemic storage capability–let’s face it, for the phones that support removable media, you’re still talking about 1gb max of storage. Unless you happen to live in one of the few places where Sprint actually has their high-speed Internet service, downloads are going to take way too long and even at high-speed, it’s going to take a while. Maybe Sprint will let you sync the video to your handset a-la an iPod, but I doubt it. Remember this service is about flaunting Sprint’s high-speed network, not really about letting you watch videos, given the selection of movie they went live with. At least Apple went live with “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives,” two of the most popular television shows in the US.
Then, of course, there is the whole battery life issue. Is the phone going to be able to download the movie on a full battery charge, let alone be able to watch it? What about DRM? What about the ability to watch it on your TV?
