Will consumers tune in to a tiny TV in their hand?

Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, reported about customers' perspectives on the phenom of TV viewed over mobile devices. It showcases MobiTV by Sprint. Although Sprint launched MobiTV in 2003, the advent of 3G speeds made it work at acceptable speeds.

IDC predicts use will grow from 7 million in 2006 to 24 million users in 2010, or 9.2% of U.S. cellular subscribers. This will drive a demand from content, especially that which can fit into small timeslices on equally small screens. As we've seen with YouTube and its look-alikes, no doubt a lot of this content will be home-brewed. Vodcast overtakes podcast.

I particularly enjoyed Stephen Froehlich's, IMS Research, breakdown of viewers into three categories:

"Snackers" spend three to five minutes watching stand-up comedy clips, sports highlights and so on. "Commuters" (or lunchtime viewers) will devote 20 to 30 minutes to watch sitcoms, dramas or news. And then there are "background noise viewers," who actually use mobile TVs at home.

Q. Are you a snacker, commuter, or background-noise viewer?

Photo: by Leslie Smith, Jr., USA TODAY