Nokia signs video deals with CNN, Sony and others

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The world's top cellphone maker Nokia ( has signed partnership deals with seven companies including CNN and Sony Pictures to bring video content to its top-of-the-range multimedia phones.

"Consumer desire to watch Internet videos on mobile devices is growing all the time and we want to help users discover and access the best content in the simplest way possible," Harri Mannisto, director at Nokia's multimedia unit, said on Tuesday.

Nokia said it would also bring video content from India's IBN news channel and videos from Jamba, RooftopComedy, ROK and Versaly Entertainment to its N95 models.

It has previously signed similar deals with Google's YouTube and Reuters.

Mobile Broadcast TV to Reach Almost 120MM Users by 2012

Nearly 120 million mobile users in more than 40 countries are expected to receive broadcast TV services by 2012, compared with less than 12 million in 2007, with DVB-H the dominant transmission standard, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

However, the report cautions that services face significant technological and regulatory hurdles, both prior to launch and as they bid to build a critical mass of subscribers.

Worldwide annual consumer spending on mobile broadcast TV services is expected to exceed $6.6 billion by 2012; combined end-user revenues from streamed and broadcast mobile TV services will rise from just under $1.4 billion in 2007 to nearly $12 billion in 2012, according to Juniper's forecast.