Vodafone, Google, and Meta have collectively released a rallying cry for SoC makers to accelerate their commitment to bringing AV1 hardware support to mid and low-tier mobile devices. Frustrated by the restriction of AV1 hardware support to high-end handsets (iPhone 15 Pro, Samsung S23 Ultra), a co-authored whitepaper lays out the AV1 roadmap for optimizing network capacity in order to quell user demand. The irony is that Google and Meta are both the problem and the solution. The surge in mobile-first vertical video consumption from platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts is pushing mobile networks to new limits, and it just so happens that Google and Meta are two of the founding gatekeepers of the Alliance for Open Media…