Tata Docomo and Network18 Offer Breaking News in Video

This is possibly what you might see if you subscribe to the service.

With all the recent new mobile and tablet technology, consuming news can be really fun – think Flipboard, Twitter, YouTube, and many more. And in India, receiving breaking news is getting fun too, especially when video news can be sent straight to your mobile. That’s very possible, and it’s here in India today.

Tata Docomo has just announced its brand new Video News Alert feature for all its 2G and 3G subscribers. The feature will provide breaking news alerts in a video clip format, where users can either stream to view or download to their phones.

This service is made possible together with Network18, India’s largest network of news channels, which manages CNBC TV18, and CNN-IBN. Gurinder Singh Sandhu, head of marketing at Tata Teleservices, explained the service further in a statement:

The Video News Alert service is a push service via SMS where our subscribers will be informed of all current events. What’s enticing is the ability to get news in video format as it allows customers to watch news clips and world happenings while on the move!

Well, the partnership sounds like no biggie. But think about it. It might just be a glimpse of how TV news will be consumed in the future. Surely it’s an experiment for both Tata Docomo and Network18. But it’s a necessary one given that our attention is starting to move away from TV and toward laptops and mobile devices. Since you’re reading tech news on PO, you probably already understand this.

If you’re a Tata Docomo subscriber and curious early adopter, you may want to give it a try — To subscribe, send an SMS saying VIDEO NEWS to 53333; or to unsubscribe send STOP videonews to 155223. There are no charges for the video news service specifically, but normal data charges apply.

And talking about data, I’m still a little skeptical that the 2G and 3G network in India can stream these videos seamlessly. But there’s no harm trying since it’s free.

Let us know what you think. Can Tata Docomo and Network18’s video news service help mobile users in India consume news better?

Disclosure: Tata Docomo advertises on PO

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