A Fifa World Cup iPhone and Android app could be on the cards for the festival of football this Summer, promising streaming video specially edited for mobile, and we’ve got the first shots of what it could look like right here.
There’s already an ESPN World Cup 2010 iPhone app available, but we can reveal that an official Fifa World Cup is likely to join it, with Ericsson developing it and working behind the scenes to deliver all the goals over the air to your handset.
Ericsson has inked a deal with Fifa to provide mobile content for networks around the world, and as this PowerPoint slide it showed to us today reveals, an iPhone app will be its first priority. The slide also shows a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, suggesting Android is also high on the hitlist for the service, which will deliver video, recorded, compressed and edited specifically for mobile straight from Johannesburg to wherever you are in the world.
We spoke to Ericsson’s Noel Matthews, vice president of business development for Ericsson’s Solution Area TV, who told us that final mobile platforms have yet to be set in stone (Symbian and Windows Mobile footie fans, you’ve not been dropped just yet) and depend on the preferences of mobile networks who sign deals with Fifa. He couldn’t confirm if UK partners have yet been signed, but did say that “a number of operators” have signed up already, and that a proof of concept will be on show at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.
Ericsson has also been signed up to provide official Fifa web content, a render of which is also visible in the slide. Matthews told us that the content will vary depending on what ISPs request, but that he expected video “catch up packages and team packages as well”, so you’ll be able to follow your country from your desk.
There’s no word on timings just yet, but expect to see different networks offering the World Cup tailor made for your phone before too long. We’ll be on hand to see what Ericsson has to show for itself at Barcelona, so stay tuned.
