MEX

User interaction with media and brands is rarely confined to a single platform, yet many handset manufacturers and media companies continue to develop products as if mobiles, TVs and PCs existed in separate universes. This was the theme of our most recent MEX Conference in London in December 2009 and it was apparent how nascent the industry’s thinking still is in this area.

Toshiba, which manufactures everything from TVs to netbooks, is making progress in this area. It’s showing a demonstration of its Media Controller software, which dynamically resizes and optimises content on a home network so it can be accessed by PCs, TVs and mobile phones.

Expect to see a growing number of manufacturers making moves in this areaas they fight for an early lead. They’ll be bundling devices with software for multi-platform access, producing accessories for media sharing in the home and announcing partnerships with content providers to bring popular media to more channels.

The winners will be those who can get the broadest range of platform support while maintaining simplicity of set-up and usage. Key to this will be a realisation that platforms are more about zones of usage than particular technologies: users want links between PC and TV, mobile and car, TV and audio equipment.

Toshiba, Sharp and Sony all have a major vested interest in getting this right, given the broad spread of their product portfolios. Apple, of course, is already some way ahead with its proprietary approach.

As we concluded at MEX in December, you can’t under-estimate the complexity of getting this right and creating a good customer experience when so many different touchpoints are involved.