After spending a decade in digital services and mobile technology, CEO and Producer Anil de Mello began MobuzzTV in March 2005 to spearhead commercial vlogging with a broadband-on-broadband talk show featuring peppy presenters Karina Stenquist, who is also the show’s screenwriter, and Iria Gallardo. Anyone could make a news service for new mobile technology, but De Mello and his team cater their high-grade feed to that very specific demographic of users who are passionate about such products – young and tech-friendly with a variety of interests.
MobuzzTV is a little more fun and irreverent than most news shows, but it offers a niche service to a niche community with superior content and a simple user interface. Polished three-minute videos are uploaded daily and filmed on a set designed to be minimal and attractive for optimized viewing on small mobile screens. While episodic themes range from music to global politics, each segment revolves around how tech culture has impacted the day’s headlines. That can mean anything from advances in memory research through analyzing rat brains to how P2P programs are faring in recent lawsuits. Their customized bilingual news for the computing community is noteworthy; Spanish-speaking presenter Iria Gallardo provides similar information of the same caliber with the same demographic in mind as Karina’s English version, but in Spanish. The script can be spotty, but sometimes their screenwriting is legitimately entertaining. For example: “Microsoft to Extort Clueless Children” and “France unveils Geoportail”: “It’s like Google Earth, but in French and difficult to use.”
The quirky news service is best embodied by stories like one in the January 24, 2007 episode, which explains Microsoft’s research venture: immortal computing, where users can arrange specific messages in advance of their death to be sent to loved ones or other interested parties, long after their demise. It’s just the kind of stuff that MobuzzTV covers with the kind of writing and humor that is its trademark.
