We visited the AMAX booth during our PC Fair KL walkabout and saw that they were showcasing something very peculiar.
Some of the promoters were donned with devices that were showing TV content. At first, we thought that it was streaming content but after talking with the promoters, we found out that it was something very, very different.
Asiaspace the owners of AMAX WiMAX is apparently offering on trial basis mobile TV services via DMB or Digital Media Broadcasting – developed in Korea. This is the first time we’re seeing this technology being showcased directly to the Malaysian consumer.
We we’re told by the promoters that the DMB service has all the terrestrial channels like TV1, TV2, TV3, 8TV etc, covered along with some pay-channels included. They however couldn’t give further details on what these pay channels are.
More details and device pictures after the jump.
Asiaspace is offering the service through two devices – one, a mobile phone and the other, a stand-alone mobile TV unit. The viewing quality on the the mobile phone is pretty good but we think the stand-alone device desperately needs a bigger screen, a 3 incher at the very least.
We’re not really sure how Aisaspace is going to market the service via the mobile phone because technically, AMAX is not a mobile operator; but of course they have options, like bundling packages with existing telcos. Marketing the stand-alone device is very much a straight-forward affair.
We’ve tried mobile tv via DVB-H extensively in the form of U Mobile’s now discontinued Mobile LiveTV service. The service was really a boon for commuters and sports fans alike. Based on that, this new DMB mobile TV service looks to be something worth investigating further, especially with the world cup just around the corner.
By the way, have we mentioned that unlike other WiMAX operators, AMAX does not impose data caps on their plans?
Would like to find out what level of performance is the AMAX network offering.
