LIME And LIME TV - From Russia With Love

Drink to me only with thine eyes,

And I will pledge with mine;

Or leave a kiss but in the cup

And I’ll not look for wine.

Ben Johnson, To Celia

It seems that LIME is on a hunt for more eyeballs to increase its revenue base. LIME TV is a reality folks, as per the article “LIME TV on the Horizon”, published Sunday, September 19, 2010 by ALICIA ROACHE Sunday Finance reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

This announcement could not have come at a more opportune time, as it at least makes Telecom Provider LIME appear less “lame” as some people are wont to call then due to their failed promise of 3G, which to date since launched nearly two (2) years ago, is only in Kingston and Portmore and will reach Montego Bay by Christmas 2010 as stated in the article “LIME to build US$40m 3G Network for Montego Bay”, published Sunday June 27, 2010, by Janeta Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer, The Sunday Gleaner.

This as per the prognostications of LIME Country Manager, Geoff Houston who said: “We are making huge investments in upgrading all our networks in the west, rolling out 3G, more broadband and more fixed lines by Christmas”.

Even better, it is now following on a pattern of positive news now trickling out of Telecom Provider LIME, now bristling with new enthusiasm in the form of Director Christopher Dehring aka DJ Chris, who recently debut the launch of Mobile TV as stated in the article “LIME goes Mobile TV”, published Saturday August 28^th by Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner with LIME Chairman, Christopher Dehring scratching the turntables by saying: “We are the revolution. Some people say they have 4G, we say we have more G”.

Yes, that is a direct quote lifted from the Jamaica Observer newspaper. It is not a typo and I did not make it up. But it gets worse. The mobile phones upon which Mobile TV as described in the article “TV on your mobile phone this Christmas”, published Friday, August 27, 2010, The Jamaica Observer are lackluster at best.

They are mostly Nokia phones, not Google Android 2.2 aka Froyo powered. This is the same Nokia that is still king of the “features” phone market but having  only 40% of the global smart phone market, a market share that is set to crumble to 32.9% as Google android marches on to 25% of market share by 2014, according to analyst IDC as stated in the article “Android market share to surge over next four years”, published September 8, 2010 9:16 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News - Wireless.

Worse, Nokia and RIM, makers of the BlackBerry, will eventually cave under pressure and be assimilated by the unstoppable juggernaut that is Android, according to analyst Piper Jaffray  “Report: Android to win half of smart phone market”, published September 7, 2010 9:55 AM PDT by Larry Dignan, CNET News - Wireless.

Resistance is futile.

Nokia, despite their planned resistance as stated in the following articles will be assimilated:

1.      “Nokia begins smart phone fight back with new handsets”, published 14 September 2010 Last updated at 11:21 GMT By Jonathan Fildes Technology reporter, Nokia World 2010, London, BBC News

2.      “Nokia hits back with new phones amid turmoil at top”, published Tuesday September 14, 9:22 am ET By Tarmo Virki and Georgina Prodhan, Yahoo! News

3.      “Nokia vows to take on iOS, Android”, published September 14, 2010 6:17 AM PDT by Stephen Shankland, CNET News - Deep Tech

Google Android 2.2 aka Froyo powered phones such as the HTC 4G EVO or the HTC Droid Incredible or the Samsung Epic 4G or the popular Motorola Droid series of mobile phones, inclusive of the soon-to-debut Motorola R2-D2 as stated in the article “R2-D2 Droid 2 edition to arrive in September”, published August 16, 2010 5:07 PM PDT by Scott Webster, CNET News - Android Atlas.

These are the big ticket sellers that are deliberately carved out for the streaming and television on the go by the geek technocrats, and as such everyone else is following the geeks in a beeline to Telecom Provider Verizon, who supports the Star Wars themed Motorola Droid smart phones.

All the above mentioned smart phones are not only hot sellers in the United States of America but as atypical of Jamaicans, will also be popular here as well by Christmas 2010, the intended launch date of LIME TV and Mobile TV. Thus any phone made for viewing streaming video content sporting anything less than the following will just not make it attractive enough for even the casual TV watcher wishing to catch news in the traffic:

1.      4” AMOLED (Amorphous Organic Light Emitting Diode)

2.      At least 720p HD (High Definition) or Retina Display

3.      Support for either “tethering” via Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) or Wi-Fi Direct to allow for streaming to a HDTV television set

4.      Optional HDMI (High Definition Media Interface) port or even fiber optic port

Specs which I specified for the HTC and Motorola phones and was filmed by a hidden audio-visual device while travelling in a vehicle with some Shurpower Contractors in April 2009Ad to set some Generators on Autostart. So bragging rights all around for me, the RF (Radio Frequency) Technician formerly of CLARO Jamaica (2008 to 2009)!

And despite the thoughts of the non-Tech female Research people in Telecom Provider LIME’s Marketing Department, people are not as simple minded and less geek centric as once upon a time as before, nor are their pockets as shallow, as Christmas, after all, is a time of giving and unnecessary spending. Our Tech geek-ness is infectious and is spreading!!

Despite the excuses trotted out by so-called Group CEO of WiMax Alex Boothroyd as per the article “Digicel all set to unveil 4G Broadband offering”, published Friday, August 13, 2010 by AL EDWARDS, The Jamaica Observer, people do have the wherewithal to pay for expensive phones.

Especially if it places them in an exclusive bracket of early adopters who have and own a gadget that no one else has and can watch streaming content from YouTube and Hulu provide streaming services, specifically Hulu, which are now viewable in Jamaica. Hulu, in particular had announced plans to begin making subscribers pay for its streaming content as stated in the article “Hulu to soon charge for content, sources say”, published June 9, 2010 9:53 AM PDT, by Lance Whitney, CNET News - Digital Media.

Now it is official: Hulu is now a pay service as stated in the article “Hulu launches US$10 video subscription service”, published Tuesday June 29 2010 by RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer, Yahoo! News providing streamable advertisement laden content via the cloud for a measly US$10 on a thirty (30) day subscription.

Hulu is now offering both a paid and a free streaming, the free streaming being at 480p resolution and being only recent episodes and the paid version being 720p and all back episodes inclusive of the current ones. Both offerings being ad supported, making the once free Hulu a revenue spinner in the new media and also a potential target for hackers.

On the Television side of things, there is the US$99 Apple TV fresh from the Refresh hosted by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday September 1^st 2010 as stated in the article “For 99 cents, Amazon sells shows, Apple rents them”, published September 1, 2010 2:31 PM PDT by Ina Fried, CNET News - Beyond Binary.

The Google TV, the challenger to the Apple TV to launch this fourth Quarter of 2010 as stated in the article “Google to start TV service in US this autumn”, published Tuesday September 7, 10:37 am ET By Nicola Leske, Yahoo! News and as stated in the article “Intel's Otellini: Google TV shipping this month”, published September 9, 2010 2:13 PM PDT by Tom Krazit, CNET News - Relevant Results.

Google TV may in fact be the very equipment that LIME TV will be utilizing. This thus raises hopes that Telecom Provider LIME will have expanded their 3G Network to the entire island and thus Google TV by then  may be running Android 3.0, otherwise known as Gingerbread and may come with Internet on Television as stated in the article “For Google TV, a Sharp Turn Away from Apple TV”, published Tuesday September 7, 3:12 pm ET by Jared Newman, Yahoo! News.

This inclusive of Video Calling with Offline file Storage among other things as suggested in the Christmas Geek’s Wish List as stated by Barbara E Hernandez in the article “Five Ways Google TV Can Kill Apple TV”, published Friday September 10, 4:36 pm ET by Barbara E. Hernandez, Yahoo! News evidently a Geek’s fantasy, strongly suggestive of their target audience.

Telecom Provider LIME, take heed!! Telecom Provider LIME and their foray into Mobile TV and now LIME TV, as I, John Public, had said in a previous blog article entitled “LIME and 3G - The YouTube and Hulu Paradox”, will be successful IF the price is right and the gear is right and the coverage is right.,

Thus Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider CLARO would get a run for their money, as on-demand television that is viewable on multiple platforms at different times of the day is what will be driving how content is delivered in the future

More people are beginning to time-shift their television watching using DVR’s (Digital Video Recorders), watching DVD’s and WebTV as stated in the article “Survey of viewers shows extent of TV time shifting”, published Tuesday August 17, 6:53 am ET By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer, Yahoo! News. This article premise was predicated on the ComCast study.

Television Jamaica, sensing a decline in watching of live television, is beginning to stream some of its content. Just remember that Content is king as stated in the article “Content kings control the future of IPTV”, published August 23, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength, and all will be well.

LIME Director Christopher Dehring aka DJ Chris is not so bad either!! But please, ask some techies to research next time!!