So this is pretty cool. MTV, NSeries (that'd be Nokia), and software maker My Frame are teaming up to sponsor live video coverage from each of the 24 states holding Presidential primaries this coming Super Tuesday. "Choose or Lose Citizen Journalists" will be armed with Nokia N95 handsets equipped with My Frame's Flixwagon software, enabling the reporters to stream video from their handsets to the Web via 3G cellular data connections (over AT&T's network, presumably).
As you might expect, coverage will focus on youth turnout, which is predicted to be dramatically higher this year than for any previous Super Tuesday on record. Video footage will be available for real-time viewing at MTVNews.com and ChooseorLose.com, and select footage will be shown on MTV's television networks during news updates throughout the day. The coverage is being funded by a Knight News Challenge grant awarded to Viacom (MTV's parent company), Nokia, and My Frame in order to fund the innovative use of digital media to "inform and inspire communities." I'll say!
On paper, this just sounds super cool. I love the mix of hi-tech, empowering young people, and timely journalism. If Flixwagon - which provides free mobile video streaming using 3G-equipped S60 devices (in the US, that means Nokia's N95 NAM) - can make the software reliable and easy to use, this is the kind of thing that could really make the technology of broadcasting "invisible" to the average user. Just click a few icons, point and shoot.
Of course the N95 NAM hasn't yet gone on sale in the States, and will cost a pretty penny when it does. And 3G connectivity doesn't blanket every square mile of the US - not by a long shot. But still, very innovative stuff - kudos to Nokia, Viacom, and My Frame for making it happen.
Maybe I can get hooked up with a demo unit for some live streaming coverage of CTIA in Vegas this April? Nokia, sound good?
Check out the full press release at Viacom from here.