We all call ourselves a fast generation and we are moving towards an area where we can do everything at the fingertips. Here are the pros and cons of TATA Photon Plus which gives the consumers an option to do live TV any time, any place with your mobile handset. The Tata Photon Plus mobile TV service has been launched on five handsets. This includes the Samsung Corby TV, Samsung Metro, BlackBerry Tour 9630, BlackBerry Curve 8530 and LG 510 Cookie Zip. This is currently available on CDMA handsets only.
Consumers can easily access Mobile TV, just press on the Mobile TV icon in the menu screen and the thumbnails of all available channels will be displayed on the screen. There is access to more than 66 channels and more channels are being added recently. They are all free-to-air and are provided by the service ‘MimobiTV’, they integrate content from different service providers and make it suitable for small screen viewing. This vendor provides content for both Tata Photon Plus and Reliance NetConnect.
Consumers were attracted with the variety of channels offered. They provide kids channel like Cartoon Network and Pogo, news channels like NDTV 24×7, CNN IBN and BBC World and other general channels like Star One and Zoom. There was a lack in the choice of English channels. Some of the content was available as live streaming, like news on NDTV and CNN, some other channels give you only pre-recorded programs.
The sports fans should not have to worry, you can watch ESPN mobile, which lets us catch some of the matches at Wimbledon live, TNA and the FIFA World Cup. There is an IPL channel but they broadcast only when there is live IPL in action. A key point to be noted is that there is approximately a 5-10 second lag between the broadcasting time on the television and what you see on the handset. The pre-recorded programmes episodes changes every day but Hollywood movies have displayed the same two movies since I got the handset. I think the movie channels are only updated once in a month.
Moving to the video quality, the video takes a couple of minutes to be active and this solely depends on the signal strength. The services are found to be very fast by consumers outdoor and it worked well even in moving vehicles. Sometimes the lag was found in pre-recorded programs. The quality of the picture is excellent, it is easy to scroll between the icons and select the channels. The volume was on an average and it is audible only in a quiet room. I would recommend consumers to use headphones. The preferred method is to go for a volume toggle switch because adjusting the volume with the help of the touch screen controls uses up a lot of the display space.
Consumers have to subscribe a data plan to watch TV on your phone. This is similar to the way you use mobile internet. If you watch up to an hour it takes up to 60MB of data. The customers have to apply for a base tariff plan, another Rs.100 per month for subscription. Moreover you have to subscribe to Tata Photon Plus’ data plans, which start at Rs 500 for postpaid users and Rs 110 for prepaid users. Based on the plan you choose you get a certain amount of free data which can be used for internet browsing or watching TV. The plan of Rs. 600 gives 1 GB and Rs. 750 gives 2 GB. The method of watching television on mobile seems to be a unique experience but when technology improves; consumers can find more channels and programs with good video quality. Consumers were impressed with the speed and video quality. So to catch up all live action in your mobile phone while travelling, go for TATA Photon Plus.
