At school I would smuggle a transistor radio into the playground so we could keep up with the cricket scores. Years later, I bought a pocket-sized portable television for the same purpose, which ran on batteries and had a huge and unwieldy extendable antenna – but still could not deliver a half-decent picture.
Today, you can watch television while out and about thanks to an expanding variety of services on a mobile phone, using digital or analogue capabilities built in to the phone or added via a small device. Recently, however, I have been exploring another option, in the form of a neat little device called the Qualcomm Flo TVPersonal Television – or PTV.
Using it has meant that on my train journey home from work I have been able to watch MTV, live college basketball and the national evening news with a noticeably better picture than I get on my phone.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T’s mobile unit both offer services based on Qualcomm’s Flo TV technology, which uses a network built by Qualcomm in the US and special handsets. Qualcomm would like to deploy a similar network in Europe even though the EU has endorsed the rival DVB-H technology standard.
I have tried the AT&T and Verizon Wireless Flo TV services in the past and have been impressed with the quality of the 30 frames-per-second broadcast video, but remain unconvinced about the value for money of the service, which costs about $15 a month for eight channels.
Now Qualcomm’s dedicated stand alone device, which is made by HTC, the Taiwanese mobile phone maker, has been brought out as an alternative to watching TV on a mobile phone.
A neat, boxy package, it is small and light enough to fit easily in a jacket pocket. It has a 3.5in touch colour screen – like the iPhone – that enables users to change channels with a swipe of a finger. It also has built-in stereo speakers, and its rechargeable batteries powered the device for five hours or more in my tests.
Nice design touches include a built-in stand and being able to set reminders for programmes. The device costs $250 in the US, including six months’ subscription to about 10 channels, including news, sports, comedy and children’s entertainment. After that, it costs $9 a month. While I found the channel selection limited, the device itself worked well, even in a fast commuter train, and the picture was generally very good.
One advantage of a separate device for watching mobile television is that you do not need to sign up for a costly mobile phone plan as well. Even so, carrying another device about will not appeal to everyone – unless they are going to use it a lot, in which case they might be willing to pay for PTV’s superior picture.
In fact, another Qualcomm Flo TV iteration, which was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, may have more appeal. Qualcomm and Audiovox, a consumer electronics equipment maker, announced plans for rear-seat entertainment systems for vehicles, which could answer every parent’s road-trip prayer. The Audiovox Flo TV Auto Entertainment system is designed to be installed by car dealers and is expected to cost less than $500.
Audiovox also plans to launch a portable DVD player with built-in access to Flo TV programmes – representing a variation on the portable device option that might appeal to consumers.
However, other mobile television offerings that were announced at CES could be bigger hits for smartphone and portable PC owners.
Qualcomm and Mophie, which makes accessories for the iPhone, plan to launch a series of products that add a Flo TV receiver and antenna to Mophie’s iPhone and iPod touch sleeves.
Meanwhile, Valups, a South Korean consumer electronics company, has announced plans for a small portable device, called the Tivit, that receives over-the-air broadcast television signals based on the recently approved US Mobile DTV standard and relays them to a nearby smartphone or laptop using WiFi. Hundreds of Mobile DTV stations are scheduled to launch this year in the US – and similar services are expected later in Europe.
The Tivit is expected to cost bet ween $90 and $120, and will work with a wide range of smartphones including the iPhone 3GS, BlackBerrys, Android-powered devices and the iPod Touch, as well as Windows-based laptops and netbooks. Programming will be provided by local television stations, which are eager to broadcast their content to people on the move via phones and laptops. Most Mobile DTV broadcasts are expected to be free, which poses a challenge to subscription-based services like Flo TV.
A number of smartphone manufacturers are also preparing to launch devices that can receive Mobile DTV services. A new version of Samsung’s Android-basedMoment smartphone will be one of a handful of devices able to receive free Mobile DTV services during a trial of the technology in Washington, DC this spring.
Whether the quality of Mobile DTV services matches that of Flo TV remains to be seen, but if it does and the technology is eventually built into a wide range of handsets and other devices, it could be the catalyst that finally jump starts the mass mobile TV market in the US and elsewhere.
How to watch the show on the go
● Qualcomm Flo PTV
A separate device just launched as an alternative to watching television programmes on your mobile handset. Qualcomm’s pocket-sized television with touchscreen navigation delivers high-quality pictures and enjoys good battery life. However, it is relatively expensive and runs on Qualcomm’s proprietary Flo TV, and means carrying another gadget, however small and neat.
● Mobile phone-based television
A growing number of handsets let you watch an expanding variety of services on a handset, thanks to built-in digital or analogue capabilities. No extra hardware is required butcurrently most services are subscription-based – although free mobile services (Mobile DTV in the US and DVB-H in Europe) are coming.
More small devices are emerging that enable smartphone, netbook and laptop owners to receive mobile television services while out and about. However, it is another gadget to carry around.
