9:15 AM Qualcomm hooks up with Hollywood in hopes of avoiding FLO TV's fate of being boring
9:15 AM -- SAN DIEGO --Uplinq -- Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) learned lessons the hard way with FLO TV, and it's hoping not to make the same mistake again by making its next entertainment venture more fun and exciting. (See FLO TV Alive, But Not Well.)Creative Artists Agency to build the Creative Mobile Labs (CML) and push the boundary of the entertainment experience on mobile.
That goal is the opposite of what it did with FLO TV. Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said that the live TV service just wasn't creative or new; it was basically cable TV on your phone. "That's part of the reason the technology failed," he said.
With CML, Qualcomm hopes to connect engineers with more creative developers and the rights to Hollywood stars to create fresh and exciting entertainment on mobile -- things like 3-D games with augmented reality and motion capture on sporting events.
Qualcomm is on the right track in working with the CAA, which represents big name celebrities like Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt, but I don't necessarily agree that consumers wanted something new and exciting for mobile TV. They just didn't want to pay extra for it. (See Can Apple Save Mobile TV?)
Mobile TV needs to be a service that replicates cable TV, doesn't cost much extra and, most importantly, works well. For other games and apps on mobile, the fancier and fresher, the better.
Qualcomm is putting all its best moves on developers, but this time as an enabler, not as the service provider. And CAA's star power will help. I'm excited to see what they come up with together.
— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile
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