TECHNOLOGY. New Bell Mobility service shrinks the big screen for wireless generation
Peter Wilson
Sun
Bell Mobility’s new service offers up movies on a small, small screen: the cellphone. Photograph by : Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun
As Johnny Depp, channelling Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, might say: “I am BIG. It’s the pictures that got small.”
How small? Well, to use a technical term from the digital revolution, let’s just say the pictures have become teeny tiny.
Especially when it comes to watching a major motion picture on a cellphone, a not-to-be-missed experience that has just arrived in Canada.
By my measurement, the entire available viewing area of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, as seen sprawled across the screen of a Bell Canada wireless phone, is a stunning 1.25 inches wide by an entire one inch tall.
Well, avast, me hearties and pass the tankard of Visine, as we buccaneers often say.
But, hey, when it comes to digital content served up in a whole new medium, does size really matter?
That was the question I asked myself recently as I tackled back-to-back viewings of the swashbuckling epic starring Depp — first on a Bell-supplied Samsung a920 wireless phone. Following that, I took another look at it on a 50-inch high-definition television supplied by, well, me, who recently bought the set for a needy loved one (again, that would be me).
The reason I was able to carry out this compare-and-contrast exercise at all was that Bell Mobility has just launched a service — the first in this country — that allows users to watch entire full-length movies on some of its wireless phones.
Why? Because, according to Bell Mobility’s president Wayne Oosterman, as quoted in a press release, this new venture shows that “the wireless phone has become the device of choice to deliver a full range of music, video and other entertainment to people on the go.”
Well, okay — I have to admit he has a point about people on the go. I wouldn’t want to take my 50-inch LCD set on the bus with me. Or to the beach. Or even down the hallway to the bathroom.
So score one on that for Bell, although the “device of choice” bit does seem to ignore the influence of the iPod just a touch.
Anyway, let’s begin by saying that setting up the whole movie-on-a-cellphone thing was dead easy.
First I downloaded the movie player. Then I thumbed my way through the listings of films priced at either $5.99 or $7.99, with titles ranging from the aforementioned Pirates of the Caribbean 2, to Spider-Man 2 to Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle to some rather vintage offerings like Dick Tracy and Ghostbusters.
I took a quick look at Spider-Man 2, but since I’d seen it already on a home screen, decided to go for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which would be an all-new experience.
In no time, for $7.99 (had I been paying), it was ready for viewing largely because the movie doesn’t get streamed to your phone. Instead you download it as it goes along. And you don’t have to pay for airtime if you pay for the Bell Mobility’s Unlimited Mobile Browser at $7 a month.
My first observation was that the auditory experience, especially if you opt for the earbuds, is excellent. Every creak of the oars, clash of steel on steel, shriek of pain, under-the-breath mutter was rendered superbly. Even with just the phone’s built-in speakers, the sound was up to snuff (as we pirates like to say.)
For the visual side of it, however, I did require seeing aids. This is the first time in my life I have watched a full-length movie wearing my reading glasses.
The first thing I noticed was that the opening scenes of Dead Man’s Chest were just a touch murky. I had a little trouble figuring out what I was seeing. And there was the odd dropout and freezing of the picture.
But in no time, once things brightened up on the screen, I was involved in the story — such as it is, which isn’t Bell’s fault — and followed along, while simultaneously keeping an eye on how fast the phone battery was draining, which was pretty quick.
As you might have guessed, you are not going to get the wide-screen wrap-around experience on a wireless phone. Instead, what you have is the old pan and scan that we all know so well from the days when the biggest TV sets outside of bars were a sensible 27 inches and nobody ever heard of anything called letterboxing.
That being the case, we can’t exactly call wireless movie-watching a visual experience or anywhere near what the moviemakers originally intended, but it does give you the essence of what’s happening. And you can sort of fall under its spell.
On the other hand, the 50-inch screen — with bands of blank screen at top and bottom because of the letterboxing — does give you pretty much the full eyeball wallop from edge to edge.
I could also shake one entire floor of my house with the surround sound, had I wanted, rather than just turning up the volume on the earbuds and risking instant hearing impairment.
So — no gasps of surprise here, me hearties — given the choice ($5.25 for a seven-day rental at the local video store), I’ll take the DVD experience every time.
But then I’m old enough to have watched Depp in 21 Jump Street when it first aired and probably am not the target audience, which is likely people who want to watch a movie during high school mathematics class.
So to them I say, go get that phone, download the movies, watch them closely and enjoy.
And if you want to watch a 50-inch screen, don’t worry. Your parents will pay for that.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007