At the VAS India conference last week, Jai Maroo, Director, Shemaroo Entertainment, said that the company is demoing a YouTube upload service with two partners: a user can make a video call, press * to record a video, and press # to upload it to YouTube; the service would require users to connect their YouTube account with their number, and the video, once uploaded would automatically be tagged with their mobile number. Maroo made this point in the context of an underlying debate on packet switched (data access) versus circuit switched (point to point, call based) serving of videos on 3G, saying that one should not underestimate the importance of making access and delivery of services easy to use; his take was that the circuit switched delivery of content is significantly easier to use than packet switched. "Packet switching has advantages: there's no call drop, works with multiple bandwidth speeds, and is better in the long term. But in terms of the user experience, circuit switching or video calling is much easier to use versus WAP. I think video calling wil be a key factor in driving adoption of 3g, because its simple," he said. What will drive 3G VAS adoption? - Simplicity of access and navigation: Apart from video calling, apps will play a key role, since they allow you to customize the user interface in a manner that WAP cannot. - Content: not just any content, but time-relevant content. Also, 'content which you can't watch in your living…
