3GPP-what?

Within 3rd generation (3G) phones (the ones best enabled for media content currently) there are two competing standards of media format; 3GPP and the confusingly named 3GPP2. It gets even more confusing when you realise the two have also been developed by mostly the same companies.

3GPP is the catchy name for Third Generation Partnership Project (full acronym is 3GPP). Based on the MPEG-4 format, it is a multi-media file container for media files on a mobile phone on a ASSI-41 network. 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2) – another attempt at an agreed standard and a slightly different system (GSM or Global System for Mobile Communications). The difference between the two is more down to the network environment they operate in. GSM was developed to allow more roaming of phones between networks (e.g. In Europe) whereas ANSI-41 was less about roaming around as it was developed in the US/Canadian market where this was less an issue.

Which one to Use?

There is little difference between the two other than picking the location that is more suited to your network, so for US/Canada try 3GPP and for everywhere else try 3GPP2. Most compatible media players will convert and play both. For example Quicktime 7 plays both formats. You will find the term 3GP used to refer to the generic media file format for mobile phones.

The file format name associated with 3GPP is .3gp and with 3GPP2, .3g2

Converting to 3GP with QuickTime Pro

There are a number of tools that will convert your films into a 3GP format. We have experimented with QuickTime Pro; It's an easy process. First run QuickTime Pro and open the file you wish to convert. Then select 'Export' from the 'File' menu. This will give you the following window:

In the 'Export' option select 'Movie to 3G' - this creates a 3GPP (.3gp) file If you wish to change to 3GPP2 or experiment with other settings such as the image size, click the 'Options' button. This will take you to the following screen:

If you click on the 'File Format' box, the option to change to 3GPP2 (.3g2) is given - and there you go! A mobile phone film.

Further Information

About 3GPP2
http://www.3gpp2.org/Public_html/Misc/AboutHome.cfm