Quality delivery of mobile video: In-depth understanding of user requirements

The increase of powerful mobile devices has accelerated the demand for mobile videos. Previous studies in mobile video have focused on understanding of mobile video usage, improvement of video quality, and user interface design in video browsing. However, research focusing on a deep understanding of users’ needs for a pleasing quality delivery of mobile video is lacking. In particular, what quality-delivery mode users prefer and what information relevant to video quality they need requires attention. This paper presents a qualitative interview study with 38 participants to gain an insight into three aspects: influencing factors of user-desired video quality, user-preferred quality-delivery modes, and user-required interaction information of mobile video. The results show that user requirements for video quality are related to personal preference, technology background and video viewing experience, and the preferred quality-delivery mode and interactive mode are diverse. These complex user requirements call for flexible and personalised quality delivery and interaction of mobile video

Understanding user experience of mobile video: Framework, measurement, and optimization

Since users have become the focus of product/service design in last decade, the term User eXperience (UX) has been frequently used in the field of Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI). Research on UX facilitates a better understanding of the various aspects of the user’s interaction with the product or service. Mobile video, as a new and promising service and research field, has attracted great attention. Due to the significance of UX in the success of mobile video (Jordan, 2002), many researchers have centered on this area, examining users’ expectations, motivations, requirements, and usage context. As a result, many influencing factors have been explored (Buchinger, Kriglstein, Brandt & Hlavacs, 2011; Buchinger, Kriglstein & Hlavacs, 2009). However, a general framework for specific mobile video service is lacking for structuring such a great number of factors. To measure user experience of multimedia services such as mobile video, quality of experience (QoE) has recently become a prominent concept. In contrast to the traditionally used concept quality of service (QoS), QoE not only involves objectively measuring the delivered service but also takes into account user’s needs and desires when using the service, emphasizing the user’s overall acceptability on the service. Many QoE metrics are able to estimate the user perceived quality or acceptability of mobile video, but may be not enough accurate for the overall UX prediction due to the complexity of UX. Only a few frameworks of QoE have addressed more aspects of UX for mobile multimedia applications but need be transformed into practical measures. The challenge of optimizing UX remains adaptations to the resource constrains (e.g., network conditions, mobile device capabilities, and heterogeneous usage contexts) as well as meeting complicated user requirements (e.g., usage purposes and personal preferences). In this chapter, we investigate the existing important UX frameworks, compare their similarities and discuss some important features that fit in the mobile video service. Based on the previous research, we propose a simple UX framework for mobile video application by mapping a variety of influencing factors of UX upon a typical mobile video delivery system. Each component and its factors are explored with comprehensive literature reviews. The proposed framework may benefit in user-centred design of mobile video through taking a complete consideration of UX influences and in improvement of mobile videoservice quality by adjusting the values of certain factors to produce a positive user experience. It may also facilitate relative research in the way of locating important issues to study, clarifying research scopes, and setting up proper study procedures. We then review a great deal of research on UX measurement, including QoE metrics and QoE frameworks of mobile multimedia. Finally, we discuss how to achieve an optimal quality of user experience by focusing on the issues of various aspects of UX of mobile video. In the conclusion, we suggest some open issues for future study

Communications report 2013-14 series: report 2

Are you one of the more than five million adult Australians now using a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service? The evolution of VoIP in Australia, the second complementary report in the ACMA Communications report 2013–14 series, shows that VoIP services have been a big part of the rapid change in the voice communications market since 2010. The evolution of VoIP can be attributed to a variety of factors, including the increased availability of broadband across Australia, developments in the OTT communications and media market, and the widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets. VoIP is the name for a range of technologies that allow voice communication to be made using internet protocol (IP) technology. Australian consumers have access to two main types of VoIP services: managed VoIP services bought through a service provider over-the-top (OTT) VoIP delivered by an application that is run over the top of another carriage service. Australians are continuing to take advantage of cheaper or free OTT services such as Skype and Viber. The proportion of adults using OTT VoIP services (on mobile phones, tablet devices, or laptop or desktop computers) increased from 15 to 24 per cent in the four years to 2014. However, Australians are less satisfied with their VoIP service than their fixed-line and mobile phone services—77 per cent of consumers are satisfied or very satisfied with their VoIP service compared to 89 per cent for fixed-line phones and 86 per cent for mobile phones. Satisfaction levels increase up to 84 per cent for those with a paid subscription to a VoIP service

CCi digital futures 2014: the Internet in Australia

This report presents findings from the third survey of the Australian component of the World Internet Project. The survey was conducted in late 2013. This research is a project of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation at the Swinburne Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology. This report provides an overview of the study, presenting a broad picture of the Internet in Australia, with comparisons to our earlier 2007, 2009 and 2013 studies, and to the international findings of our partners in the World Internet Project. At the end of each section we have added some further analysis, examining aspects of the Australian data in more detail, and providing some international context using results from the findings of our international research partners. &nbsp

An Investigation of the Utility of Microblogging in a Virtual Organisation

Virtualisation is one possible business strategy of an organisation. The nature of virtual organisations is that individuals or teams are distributed over different work sites. This leads to barriers in communication,coordination and collaboration between these entities due to dispersed expertise, time zones, languages, cultures, etc. To address these issues, virtual organisations have invested in ICT for supporting collaboration between cross-site colleagues. One very new collaborative technology is microblogging. Microblogging supports asynchronous communication between multiple persons. Microblogging is based upon transmission of short messages that can be sent from Web-based microblogging systems, instant messaging tools, email or mobile phones. Microblogging has some relevant features like simplicity, immediacy, accessibility and presence. This paper describes our investigation of the utility of microblogging, particularly the Twitter tool, for collaboration support in a virtual organisation. Since microblogging is very new and was introduced only recently, no work has been done on this exact topic. The investigation involved conducting an online survey to collect participants’ opinions about the utility of Twitter in the workplace after using Twitter over a three-week period. The study yielded quantitative and qualitative results regarding participants’ experience of Twitter. It was found that microblogging could be adapted to virtual organisations quickly due to ease of use in terms of taking less time and effort for creating microblogs. Twitter could be used in virtual organisations for collaboration support because it is believed that the use of Twitter could somewhat improve communication between cross-site co-workers. However, to be well accepted by virtual organisations, Twitter needs improvement and addition to its existing functionality

Caps, apps and other mobile traps

This report outlines the major policy and legal issues on mobile phone ownership for children and young people

Six emerging trends in media and communications - occasional paper

This paper examines six emerging trends in media and communications, which highlight that consumers are increasingly using personalised access pathways to communications and content services that cut across different networks, devices and services. Introduction The ACMA monitors industry and consumer data to identify changes in the media and communications environment and their impact on regulatory settings. Previous ACMA research, such as Broken concepts1 and the Emerging issues2 series of papers, has identified areas of regulatory strain resulting from changes in this environment. The ACMA’s 2014 data collection program highlighted six further trends that are of particular interest as they indicate challenges to the regulatory frameworks within which the ACMA works. These trends illustrate how developments in communications device technologies and over-the-top (OTT) services and content offer both: new opportunities for businesses and individuals as consumers and citizens potential challenges to confident and optimal use of these new services. The evolving media and communications environment offers new ways to understand and achieve policy objectives, and may expose alternatives to ’black-letter’ regulation. However, changes in media and communications can also strain the effectiveness and efficiency of existing regulatory settings designed in an environment where content and communication services have been delivered by network owners over dedicated networks and devices. The selected trends highlight that consumers are increasingly using personalised access pathways to communications and content services that cut across different networks, devices and services. This paper looks at the implications of these six trends for existing regulatory settings

Digital news report: Australia 2015

This report gives a clear picture of how the Australian news consumer compares to eleven other countries surveyed in 2015: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, UK, USA and urban Brazil. The Digital News Report: Australia is part of a global survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. Further in-depth analysis of Australian digital news consumption has been conducted and published by the News & Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra

Australian multi-screen report: quarter 1 2013

The latest Australian Multi-Screen Report reveals an increasingly connected Australian home, with 27% now having access to four screens: television, computer, smartphone and tablet (16% a year ago). As people embrace new screen technologies, they use them to complement their TV viewing.While the TV set is used mostly to watch Live TV, new devices are used for many purposes. The amount of time spent watching TV content and other video on connected devices depends on both device penetration levels and characteristics, with people of all age groups generally preferring to watch video on the largest available screen.- See more at: http://www.nielsen.com/au/en/news-insights/press-room/2013/australian-multi-screen-report-q1-2013.html#sthash.FUC6ukjp.dpu