New
Zealand
: Telecom’s launch of T3G Video Messaging provides a new way
for budding filmmakers, aspiring journalists, doting parents, budding
entrepreneurs, or just good mates, to capture and share life’s
unexpected moments.
Video messaging
lets users record 15-30 seconds of “mobile movie” footage,
including sound, with their mobile phone. This can be sent to others
with a Telecom video phone, where it can be viewed instantly on their
screen, or sent to the email addresses of friends and family anywhere
in the world. If recipients have a text-capable phone, they will receive
a link to a website where they can watch the video.
Telecom is currently
offering the Sanyo 7400, with a second video phone – the Samsung
A680 – due to be launched in early January. All video capable
phones are also capable of sending Photo Messages.
Videos can be stored
on the phone themselves and saved online alongside a customer’s
photos in their Personal Online Gallery.
Video Messaging
is free until the end of March 2005. From 1 April 2005, customers
will be charged $1.00 per recipient for each video message they send.
It will be free to receive a video message.
Video Messaging
is supported by the recently launched Mobile Broadband data network
and is part of a new range of third generation mobile services from
Telecom called T3G.
Next year, customers
with video capable phones will also be able to stream video clips
directly to their mobile. A demo of the service including news and
weather, music, entertainment, and sports footage is available now
for customers who purchase a Sanyo 7400 mobile phone.