Mobile television on the up: Babelgum integrates it’s on-line and mobile services

Internet TV company Babelgum today launched the update of its mobile video app in the US and Europe. At the same time, tt launched a redesigned of it’s website that makes it’s on-line TV interface practically identical to it’s mobile interface. The free app is currently only available on iPhone devices, but it’ll be able to run on Blackberry Storm, G-Phones and a range of Nokia devices in the near future.

The redesign of the on-line Babelgum site features a flash-based video player and, as you can see below, is purposely intended to be incredibly similar to the mobile app. This is the actual size of the on-line video clips:

The on-line player can be resized to be fullscreen, but the default size is mobile screen sized.

The launch line-up of the new app is impressive, with exclusive film, music and comedy clips. They also have “Good Night Burbank: Hollywood Report”, an original comedy show commissioned by Babelgum.

From the release:

Babelgum CEO Valerio Zingarelli said, “With this move Babelgum reaffirms its position as a leading TV service available on the web and on 3G mobile with a cross-platform strategy. We are in fact the first independent online television company to carry a truly original application over onto full mobile Internet. Our content offering is in line with today’s style of web communication being fast and fun, yet made to a professional, high-quality standard. Not only that, but we’ve carefully tailored our mobile programming to local markets, based on research into national tastes and viewing habits. This customized approach has been a success in the UK and Italy, and we’re now ready to take the product to the US market.”

What we think?

I’ve been following Babelgum since it first announced it’s Vodafone deal last December. The deal meant that Vodafone contract customers with a data bundle could access all Babelgum clips for free. I was sceptical about the deal back then, seeing it as a cynical ploy on behalf Vodafone to retain customers. Turns out Babelgum really knew what it was doing. The iPhone app made it into the Top 10 downloaded on the Apple Store within two weeks of launch, and attracted a large enough audience to make today’s launch possible.

The redesign of its on-line player speaks volumes about the market it’s trying to create - an audience that fluidly switches between on-line and mobile offerings.