Delivering music over the wireless internet: From song distribution to interactive karaoke on UMTS devices

The pace of developments in wireless technology is enabling a wide range of exciting applications, including location-aware systems, wearable computers, wireless sensor networks, and novel use of cellular telephony systems. Many of those applications may play the role of key drivers of future wireless technology provided that they may guarantee affordable access, ubiquitous reach, and an effective service-delivery model. In this challenging scenario, a growing demand is emerging for delivering modern multimedia entertainment services to wireless handheld devices on a large scale. In this chapter, we report on our experience in developing a wireless Internet application designed to deliver advanced musical services to mobile consumers over Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) links. In essence, our application allows mobile users to listen to songs and karaoke clips on UMTS-enabled devices by exploiting the Internet as a large musical storehouse. Field trials have been conducted that confirm that an adequate structuring of the wireless Internet application, along with the use of 3G (third generation) mobile network technologies, may be effective for the delivery of modern musical-entertainment services to mobile consumers.