Watch Movies on Your Sprint Phone

Damn, just when I switched my service over from Sprint, they go and announce this whammy: The wireless provider is offering full-length movies on their phones. Sprint is the first company to offer such a service, which many saw as an obvious direction for cell phone companies after the addition of live television and mp3 player capabilities. They probably won't be the last, of course -- because, really, who wants a phone that's just a phone ... and a camera, and an mp3 player, etc.?

For you lucky Sprint subscribers (with phones that allow for it), the service has already begun as of Tuesday. There are a whole bunch of titles available (check the link above for a list) from Sony, Lionsgate, Universal and Buena Vista/Disney. According to the press release, Sprint actually began offering full-length movies with its mSpot Movies subscription service back in December 2005 (unlimited movies for $6.95 per month), but is now additionally selling titles for pay-per-view streaming at varying prices (between $3.99 and $5.99), depending on the title.



The question is, will people want to watch movies on their phone? And if so, why? When? Where? Okay, that is a lot of questions. In a recent poll conducted by the L.A. Times and Bloomberg, young people claimed very little interest in watching movies on their mobile phone. But then, ten years ago I would have told you I had little interest in getting a mobile phone. And five years ago I definitely would have told you I didn't need a phone with a camera. For now, I've drawn the line at the camera (usually the free phones have them, so ... ), but see what I'm carrying in another half-decade.