3ple-Media, the mobile multimedia infrastructure company, has added Image, Audio and Video Transcoding functionality to its Mercury Mobile Multimedia Platform, enabling mobile operators to spark and vitalize MMS and video streaming service adoption for 2.5G and 3G subscribers.
The new Mercury Transcode module enables the conversion and optimisation of hundreds of audio, video and image file types to ensure the best user experience on the mobile device. It can also be deployed as a stand-alone transcoding solution through use of its 3GPP-compliant Standard Transcoding Interface (STI). The company says the solution has been fully tested and rolled out at mobile operator CURE in the Philippines.
The addition of Transcoding to its Mercury Mobile Multimedia suite reflects 3ple-Medias ethos of delivering holistic, end-to-end solutions. Modules include a 3G MMSC, WAP Gateway, Image, Audio and Video Transcoding, Mobile Video Portal and an MMS Gateway. The commercial model for the entire suite is pay-once, flat rate, site licensing. When combined, the company says, these advances finally enable 0perators to unlock the potential of mobile multimedia.
The company points out that a recent report from ABI Research estimates that by 2011, the value of the world market for mobile marketing and advertising will reach US$19 billion. Add to this mobile distribution of commercial, mainstream, multimedia content, plus user generated content, it says, and the numbers become immense.
With globally declining voice ARPU, finding replacement revenue from data has become a contentious issue for mobile operators says 3ple-Media Managing Director & CTO, Costi Manda. We believe that the revenue opportunity from mobile multimedia is both massive and immediate. Our Mercury Mobile Multimedia Platform has been designed to provide the necessary mobile multimedia plumbing. The addition of best-of-breed Mercury Transcode functionality allows us to further address the inherent issues caused by a fragmented population of mobile multimedia client-side devices and operating systems”. 
