US finally gets a mobile digital TV standard

The United States finally took a leap forward today in the world of mobile TV as the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) finally announced a new mobile DTV standard. The new standard, comparable in some ways to DVB in Europe et al. enables typical TV like that you usually watch in the living room, to find a new home on mobile devices. Good for live television, video-on-demand, targeted advertising and all the other fun stuff that comes with typical cable, the ATSC standard is already supported on select Samsung and LG devices, and will hopefully roll out sometime in the near future. Over 800 American stations are already signed up to broadcast the new signal over existing 6 MHz airwaves. You can read more about the new standard here.

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Qualcomm gets personal with FLO TV Personal Television

Qualcomm's FLO TV service has always been about bringing television to the mobile masses, but thus far the master plan has been to bring the service to cellphones and other mobile devices. This morning FLO TV entered a new market, leveraging Qualcomm's hardware know-how to bring a dedicated FLO TV mobile device to consumers.

The FLO TV Personal Television is roughly the size of a typical GPS navigator, with a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display, a 4.4 x 3 x 0.5 inch dimensional form factor, and a battery life providing 5 hours of continuous playback or 300 hours standby. It also sits on a built-in swivel stand so it can be place on any flat service. Owners will receive live or time-shifted TV over the FLO TV network and once swipe of the touchscreen will enable channels to be changed.

Will this catch on? Who knows. FLO TV is offered via mobile phones, in-car entertainment systems, and other mobile devices already. In an era of extensive multitasking, dedicated devices like this are in tough. Just looks at Verizon's Hub--it's already been canceled.

The FLO TV Personal Television is priced at $249.99 (MSRP) while the FLO TV service starts at the $8.99 per month when prepaid on 1 or 3 year subscription plans.

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Rumor: Qualcomm working on a FLO TV Personal Television

The gdgt blog is reporting that Qualcomm has a portable TV in the works that it hopes will push its FLO TV mobile TV service. According to the website, the Qualcomm device will be called the FLO TV Personal Television, or PTV for short, and roughly the size of an iPhone.

The rendering above was apparently created by Frog Design for Qualcomm, and should it be real, gives us an idea of what the device will look like if ever released. Other rumored features include a capacitative touchscreen with a swipe and gesture-recognizing user interface, 4 GB of memory for music storage, built-in stereo speakers, 300 hours of standby battery life, 5 hours of TV playback, and 15 hours of music playback.

I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open for this.

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Blockbuster OnDemand coming to Motorola cellphones

Here's an interesting partnership between two companies, both struggling in their respective industries: Blockbuster and Motorola have teamed up to bring OnDemand video content to future Motorola mobile phones. This is the first time Blockbuster have streamed its content to mobile phones, somewhat of a last ditch effort to save its flailing business. The company has been pushing hard this year to establish relationships with hardware manufacturers in order to broaden the reach of its digital content. Recently, Blockbuster has signed deals with Samsung to stream OnDemand to its home theater products and Archos, a netbook maker. Blockbuster hasn't released a timeline for availability or movie prices, but claims thousands of titles will be available.

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Universal brings Blu-ray to the iPhone with Fast & Furious Special Edition

It had to happen sooner or later--Universal Studios is bringing iPhone and iPod Touch controls to its two-disc Special Edition of the Fast & Furious July 28. According to Crunchgear, iPhone and iPod Touch owners will be able to control and navigate the Virtual Car Garage embedded on the Blu-ray set over a Wi-Fi connection. Users will be able to view each car in full 360-degree exposure and find technical specs for each car with a single click. Whether or not there will be additional features, Universal Studios hasn't said. But upcoming Universal Blu-ray releases will enable iPhone/iPod Touch owners to download bonus content to the portable devices, include access to other film info, and even feature Facebook Connect and Twitter integration so you can share your Blu-ray viewing with friends.

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How much would you pay for Qualcomm's Flo TV?

There's an interesting article in The New York Times this morning discussing the past, present and future of Qualcomm's Flo TV, the company's cellphone television service. Currently run by Bill Stone, who admits Flo has been a bit too expensive thus far, Flo TV currently offers about 20 stations for $15 per month. But because Qualcomm doesn't control the pricing--AT&T and Verizon do that as it's only offered through their networks--Flo is often offered as part of a more comprehensive wireless video package running up to $30. Way, way too much if you ask me. Especially given the amount of free video out there.

But Stone told the Times that Flo will soon be offered straight to consumers on an annual or monthly plan that wouldn't run more than $10 per month. That sounds a little better. Qualcomm is working on enabling other gadgets to broadcast Flo as well--think GPS navigators, netbooks, portable gaming systems and in-car entertainment systems. In my opinion, that would be a big step in adding more value to the service.

The big question remains though: would you pay for Flo TV? Or any mobile TV service for that matter? If so, how much would you be willing to pay per month? If not, why?

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Washington, DC first US market to get free mobile DTV this summer

Washington, DC will be the first American city to get free mobile TV from local broadcasters, according to the Associated Press. The city has been chosen as a test market by the Open Mobile Video Coalition mainly due to its tech-savvy population, not to mention the local political support. The affiliates involved are expected to begin broadcasting in late summer and include PBS, CBS, NBC, Ion and Fox. While it's not entirely clear which devices will support the initiative--devices will need a mobile DTV receiver--LG, Samsung, Kenwood, and Dell are all supporters of the initiative and will create mobile phones, laptops, and in-car technologies with the needed receivers. Broadcasters hope to launch in more than two dozen other US markets this year, ultimately covering 39% of the American population.

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Panasonic Viera SV-ME850V: A Viera on the smaller side

Panasonic has announced the Viera SV-ME850V, a 1-seg portable model that's completely waterproof. Features include a 5-inch display, a pair of built-in 280 mW speakers, an SD/SDHC card slot with support for AAC, MP3 and WMA file playback and JPEG image viewing, 1-seg digital TV and recording, an AM/FM radio tuner, 3.5 mm audio jack, and a USB 2.0 port. Panasonic will also offer the SV-ME750V and SV-ME700. The former will lack the radio tuner while the latter will scrap the 1-seg TV recording. I wouldn't mind having one of these, but of course, they won't be available in North America.

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Carl Zeiss Cinemizer Plus video glasses gain "Works with iPhone" approval

Carl Zeiss, best known as being the brand behind all kinds of camera lenses, is set to launch the Cinemizer Plus video glasses, the first to bear the "Works with iPhone" insignia. The glasses, which will also work with video-capable iPods simply hook up to your iDevice, and playback video equivalent to watching a 45-inch display from 6 feet away.

The Cinemizer Plus uses a pair of LCD displays with individual diopter focus adjustment so they can be adapted for your eyesight. The video glasses also have a built-in battery that lasts for four hours so you don't have to worry about draining your iPhone's battery.

Set to ship in May, the Cinemizer Plus will cost the equivalent of US$449 and will be available in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

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A jacket with an embedded television?!

It's true! Over in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress, French news service France 24 was promoting its new iPhone application with TV jackets. Models made their ways around the conference floor with 4 x 4 x 2 inch rear-mounted TV's in their coats, powered by circuitry that could pick up local live streams and show it on the jacket display. Unfortunately this won't be hitting shelves anytime soon.

via register

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SlingPlayer Mobile For The iPhone Coming In Q1

SlingPlayer Mobile should be available for the iPhone by the end of the first quarter. Already available for Blackberry, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm, and UIQ platforms, SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone will likely cost $29.99 when it hits Apple's application store.

SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone lets you stream video from your at-home Slingbox so you can watch TV on-the-go. You can manage your DVR from your iPhone and both add and remove favorite channels right on your phone. None of the other mobile platforms allow this. Using the iPhone's touchscreen you can move through your favorite stations by swiping the screen horizontally and move through your home channels by swiping diagonally.

Via CNET

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SlingPlayer Mobile Update Released For Windows Mobile Phones

Just a quick heads-up for SlingPlayer Mobile users who own Windows Mobile phones--there is an updated version available for the following handsets:

• Sprint Treo 800w
• Sony Ericsson X1
• Palm Treo Pro
• Sprint HTC Touch Diamond
• Sprint HTC Touch Pro
• Verizon HTC Touch Pro
• Verizon Samsung Saga
• Verizon Samsung Omnia
• AT&T LG Incite
• AT&T HTC Fuze
• AT&T Samsung Epix
• HP iPAQ 910
• AT&T Pantech Duo
• Sprint Samsung ACE
• Verizon XV6900

Depending on your location, here's the download links:

United States
United Kingdom
Canada

Via Mobility Site

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SlingPlayer Mobile For Blackberry Coming December 30

I'm excited to see that SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry smartphones will be launching in public beta December 30. First announced way back in January, the software will be available as a free download for the following Blackberry models: Bold, Curve 8900, 8820, Curve 8320, Pearl Flip 8220 and the Pearl 8120 running on OS 4.5. There will be versions available for the United States, Canada, and the UK.

If you're not familiar with SlingPlayer Mobile, it's a software download for your mobile phone that lets you stream video content from your at-home SlingBox to your phone over a 3G connection or Wi-Fi. There are rumors that SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry will work on an EDGE connection as well, but I wouldn't expect a great viewing experience over a slower connection.

As a self-professed Crackberry addict, I'll definitely be trying this out come the end of December.

Via Slashgear

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What Impact Will The 3G iPhone Have On The Mobile TV Industry?

As you probably know by now, Steve Jobs unveiled the 3G iPhone at the Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco yesterday. The new phone has some pretty awesome specs, and with its built-in GPS should spawn some hot location-based applications. But what affect will the new phone have on the mobile TV industry?

According to Analysys Mason, the new iPhone "could become the mobile video delivery device of choice for many consumers, by providing a compelling mobile TV and video proposition before mobile broadcasting networks, such as DVB-H become widely available". And although 3G video streaming has some drawbacks, it has enough going for it to push the mobile TV market forward with the help of the video-friendly 2nd-generation iPhone.

Not only does the iPhone has a large, high-quality display, but it has a suitable amount of internal memory and a bunch of energy saving features that drastically reduce the battery drain typical of mobile TV playback. Apple is also plowing content optimized for the iPhone into its iTunes platform like crazy-as of May, iTunes had a catalog of over 600 TV programs and 1500 full-length movies. Plus the iPhone supports a bunch of different methods of video content delivery including sideloading, indoor WLAN and of course high-speed 3G data access over cellular networks worldwide. One of the drawbacks of 3G video streaming is that it can only support a minimal amount of mobile TV users, but with sideloading and WLAN support, the strain put on 3G networks is greatly reduced.

With the first generation iPhone, Apple put a strangehold on its worldwide availability, but the new 3G iPhone will be available in 22 countries July 11, another 24 countries by the end of the summer and eventually available in 70 countries. Says Dr. Alastair Brydon of Analysys Mason, "If the iPhone is able to achieve significant worldwide market share, it will be well-positioned to have a significant impact on the way mobile subscribers purchase and watch mobile TV and video content".

Via LBSZone

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