MOBILE EUROPE:
Could you first explain a little about Spb, what it is you do and your role in the market currently?
Sebastian-Justus Schmidt:
Spb Software was established in 1999, and since 2001 we have been focused solely on the field of mobile software. Mainly specialising in Windows Mobile, we have gained a huge market share and without doubt are the biggest company that does software for Windows Mobile. As much as 15% of worldwide market share is attributed to Spb Software. Our software titles are translated into more than 20 languages and are worldwide bestsellers in different fields like User Interfaces (Spb Mobile Shell), Feature Enhancements (Spb Pocket Plus) and many more areas – including business-user oriented bestsellers, such as Spb Traveler and Spb Wallet.
We’re expanding rapidly too. Currently we are 72 employees and by the end of 2008, plan to be 100. This growth is achieved without any outside investment. Our flagship usability product – Spb Mobile Shell – has had superb success with operators and handset vendors. Ten OEM and mobile operators ship their devices with our entire usability platform on-board.
ME:
At the ITU Asia congress, I hear Spb is taking things further with the launch of Spb Online.
S-JS:
Correct. Now we have delivered on usability in products, and the next step for us is to address the services segment. The devices are superb, bandwidths are getting luxurious, special mobile services are out there, and honestly, we have been thinking about how we can help increase ARPUs and stimulate service usage – and that’s where Spb Online fits in.
Spb Online is different. It is not a single application like all our other products. Instead, Spb Online is a single entry point for online services from mobiles. It provides users with easy-to-use access to news, programs, games, ringtones, themes and other content like weather information. Last but not least, it includes stunning features such as online games, where subscribers can play against each other in an operator’s network; a superb TV solution and a smoothly integrated radio solution are also a part of the product. We think that Spb Online will increase service awareness and streamline content purchasing of all kinds.
ME:
In some ways, it sounds like an On-Device-Portal.
S-JS:
We are trying to avoid that connotation, because Spb Online is in a class of its own, and is different from what has been called ODPs up until now. The reason is clear: we have put all our experience from thousands of conversations with more than a million users, worldwide – over the last six years – into this new product. We have seen users’ ideas shifting and we have seen new opportunities in cooperation with many mobile operators. We have seen that our core experience, which comes from feature-rich devices – is a big success factor. The more advanced a device is – the more advanced is the user. And the ‘more advanced users’ are looking to claim more benefits from services offered by mobile operators.
ME:
What is the most interesting feature offered with Spb Online?
S-JS:
That will depend on the preferences of an individual user. Some will like the newsreader with great pictures in it, some will use the weather info or other services like online radio and games, ringtones etc. – but we think that the most colourful, thrilling and captivating feature is the streaming TV solution.
ME:
A streaming TV solution? What is new about Spb’s streaming TV?
S-JS:
The way we do it. I never liked a streaming TV solution for mobile devices before. No-one has really been satisfied, and many streaming clients have been so awful we wondered how their makers made money! So, two years ago we started working on a player that would clearly change the viewing experience on mobile devices for the better.
The resulting player is very smooth, bright, and with great audio quality. Users can navigate by touching the screen, and without having to change back to portrait mode. It is possible to change the settings in-video, switch channels, and do all the things that people do with their home TVs.
So we have created a solution with a completely different approach. We have real-time thumbnails of running programs and users can zap around just like at. It is an amazing piece of software and architecture, and in my opinion – the first real TV streaming solution that is fun and easy to use – as a TV service should be. Moreover, our streaming TV solution is highly optimised for a wide range of mobile devices.
ME:
As you are clearly targeting mobile TV, let’s talk about some of the drivers in that market at the moment. Take a business user – does mobile TV offer enough advantages over the pleasure of watching TV on a big screen?
S-JS:
Sure, users will watch the big screen if available – and in hotel rooms this will be the case. However, today’s life is all about mobility. Mobility enables us to continue what we normally do at our desktops, (now, even watching TV) – on the go. You will be able to watch TV in a taxi, while waiting in the lobby, or even when camping and outdoors. There are plenty of this kind of short breaks in the course of a day, when you will gladly use your mobile as a TV player.
ME:
And where do you think usage is heading? What sort of services will dominate? For instance, what would you make of offering YouTube, Video Recorder, or services like a “selection of the best goals from yesterday”?
S-JS:
All these services would make perfect sense. If you want to address the big mass market you might have to add such services some day. However, I have learned from top managers that they see TV as a chance to browse through channels to get a picture of what happens in the world. Will they really stay with one special programme? Yes, some will. But the basics of TV are the channel browsing possibilities. Channel hopping is random and if one gets caught up in an interesting report or TV show offered at one particular channel – then this usually happens by accident and is a matter of choice. By the way, it’s the same with how many people read the newspapers. So this is what Spb TV offers first: answers to basic needs.
ME:
And will other things come later? Will your solutions always be targeted at Windows Mobile devices?
S-JS:
Well, I don’t like to speak too much about our plans for the future, but speaking for Spb Software I can say that interactivity will be a big thing in the future. Our player is not only a superb product – it is designed and ready for full interactivity. I am sure you will see a lot of great innovative features in our TV solution in near future. As for other OS? We have had great success with Windows Mobile, but I think in time, of course, we will look to broaden our support for other open OS.
ME:
So far much of what we have talked about has been streaming video. But look at the focus now on DVB-T, DVB-H or DMB – when people speak about TV on mobile phones most of them don’t speak about just streaming any more.
S-JS:
Good point. With the exception of national sports events I wouldn’t speak of such mass demand for streaming TV, yet. Right now we are in the hybrid technology phase and the outcome is clear – it is only a question of time until the break-even for IP technology is reached. Our research has encouraged us to invest in this future – there are so many additional benefits to streaming TV.
ME:
But are you aware of the initiatives concerning DVB-H in Europe – and are positioned to meet operator and manufacturer demands around those?
S-JS:
Yes, of course. People who have massively invested in this technology need to get their money back. Sticking to old technology isn’t the path of the future. Check the roadmaps of planned and partly-started investments in the backbone technology and you will see – we will have dramatic changes here and closing our eyes to that fact will not help: old technologies will not survive in a fast and modern world. Anyway – our player will work for DVB-H as well, with small modifications.
ME:
Where do you see the first break-through for your company?
S-JS:
I think we’ll see the first networks running WiMax start within the next month – and several others will follow. There is already communication with 3G suppliers as well. There’s no doubt that 3G, WiMax and especially the successor technology LTE are perfect platforms to carry streaming TV.
ME:
What kind of business model is driving the entire Spb Online architecture, including the streaming TV service?
S-JS:
When we first came up with this idea – no one was willing to spend a penny on it. That situation has changed drastically over the last 12 month and will undergo permanent change over the next months as well. We will benefit from the dramatic changes in costs in the nearest future, and also in the liberalisation of IP services on some markets. Reduced bandwidth costs, new generation of devices, and the acceptance of their common use in numerous everyday situations – all these factors will have positive effects.
Most importantly, Spb Online is well placed to help our partners and customers exploit these factors. We are a proven partner of operators through our customisation and usability products, and we now see a great future for Spb Online, which is set to be a strategically important product for the industry.