Streaming Mobile TV to Laptop

[jpd]

Somebody from Vodacom (I think it was either Pieter Uys or Knox) mentioned that it would (or could) be possible to stream mobile TV from your 3G cellphone to your notebook (or other device) over bluetooth - so you would be able to watch TV on a larger screen.

Theoretically this seems plausible but in reality would it work - does anybody know how to do this?

 

[werner]

I dont know, but can offer some advice.

1) if the tv will be of watchable quality on a notebook, then bluetooth wont have the bandwidth to handle the amount of data needed
2) if they decrease the bandwidth so that bluetooth can handle it, then the picture wouldnt be worth watching at all, ever, not even if you paid me money.

end result: yes, it is possible...if postage stamp sized moving pictures constitute "tv" then it is possible.

 

[jpd]

SO how about Notebook fitted with 3G data card?

 

[vodacom3g]

It's feasible but with some limitations. Here's how the system works:

A backend server (running the streaming software from RealNetworks) streams the video using RTSP over IP.

A device on the network with a 3GPP player attach to this stream and displays the content. This can be a 3G phone with a player or a laptop with a 3G card or phone as a modem (need to confirm)

The size of the image plus the data rate can be varied but will probably be set to sizes optimised for handsets, mobile screen size and ~225Kb/s.

If you have a 3GPP player on your laptop and you have a connection to the 3G network, you should be able to display it on your laptop.

As the speed limitation is the 384KB/s download speed, bluetooth *should* handle it.

I need to check if you can access the URL directly from a laptop and what screen sizes are available.