Wireless video: Q1Q2Q3Activate

The wireless world's demand for immediacy is getting a run for its money from the demand for entertainment. But it's not all fun and games in the world of wireless apps: Video streaming can be a tool for business, a news feed or what amounts to the next generation of talk radio: the podcast.

That's why the under-appreciated process of activating and delivering these applications has begun to get serious attention. One company trying to make this process more than tolerable is Synchronoss Technologies. The company, a now-public provider of order management solutions for telecom services, recently extended the capabilities of its ActivationNow platform to include the activation and delivery of video services for mobile networks.

The platform, currently used by companies such as AT&T, Cablevision, Cingular and Vonage for automation of e-commerce transactions and business processes, now enables the delivery of high-value content and applications. It synchronizes the electronic service creation and management process for complex services.

“We are getting a lot of calls to help operators whose customers want to use, say, Real Networks to activate a ‘Sopranos’ episode,” said Stephen Waldis, founder, president and CEO of Synchronoss. “And for our business model, the more complex the bundles and services, the faster we'll grow.”

Waldis said activating the physical content for video on cell phones will also play well with the cable guys as they continue to get aggressive on their quadruple play.