Phones

More on Verizon's V Cast Mobile TV

Just as everyone suspected, Verizon Wireless is bringing programming from the small screen to an even smaller screen with today's announcement of V Cast Mobile TV. At a multimedia-filled event at the hip Palms Hotel, Verizon execs unveiled the service and the two phones that will support it.

As we told you earlier today, V Cast Mobile TV will bring live full-length television programming to selected handsets via Qualcomm's MediaFlo technology. The service is set to launch by the end of March and will offer eight channels of programming available including CBS, NBC, MTV, Fox, and ESPN. Verizon … Read more

Samsung Mobi is the other V Cast Mobile TV phone

The LG VX9400 is not the only phone to support V Cast Mobile TV. The other phone is called the Samsung Mobi, which also goes by the name Samsung SCH-u620. We managed to get a look at it after the Verizon press conference, and it looks and feels a lot like the Samsung Drift phone from Helio. It is nice and compact with a soft-touch finish on its matte black surface, and it's a slider phone.

The specifications are very similar to that of the LG VX9400; features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a camcorder, text and multimedia messaging, … Read more

Palm and Cingular officially launch Palm Treo 750

Well, well, well, looky here: CES 2007 hasn't even officially started, and we already have a hot little product announcement: the Palm Treo 750 for Cingular. Actually, as per usual, this news wasn't much of a secret; details of the release leaked onto the Web prior to the show. Plus, we were expecting to see this Windows-based Treo drop before the holidays, but after delays with carrier certification, the launch was pushed back till after the new year, and CES is certainly the place to debut it (after all, it served as the backdrop for the Treo 700w … Read more

A closer look at the LG VX9400 with V Cast Mobile TV

As we mentioned earlier here and here, Verizon has indeed partnered with Qualcomm's MediaFlo to bring us live television on Verizon phones. The service is dubbed V Cast Mobile TV, and one of the first phones out of the gate with it is the aforementioned LG VX9400.

At first, we thought the phone looked rather large and unwieldy, but when we took a closer look, we were surprised at how good it looks, especially the screen. The 2.5-inch display really makes a difference when viewing TV shows. There's a dedicated TV button that switches on the Mobile … Read more

Cingular to bring video calling, with the LG CU500v

You'll probably see more about this as CES 2007 progresses, but Cingular (or is it AT&T?) announced a new video calling service, which makes it the first carrier in the U.S. to offer live mobile video calls. The video calls are one-way for now, however, meaning only one party can stream the video while the other party watches. The first phone to feature it is the LG CU500v, which is a slightly upgraded version of the HSDPA-capable LG CU500. I received confirmation from an LG representative that existing LG CU500 users can simply upgrade the … Read more

Verizon Wireless to bring TV to phones

CES 2007 has barely begun but Verizon Wireless should strike an early blow today by announcing it will soon bring full-length TV shows to its phones. Though the company is waiting for a 12:30 p.m. press conference to break the official news, the New York Times reported the plan yesterday. And indeed, Verizon employees wearing "Verizon TV" badges have been scurrying around the Palms Hotel, where the announcement will take place.

According to the Times, the service will be available by the end of March and will feature shows from NBC, CBS, Fox, MTV, and possibly … Read more

LG VX9400 with Verizon's MediaFlo expected

With the Verizon press conference a few hours away, we have a little sneak peek into the big announcement that's about to unfold. We're expecting to see the LG VX9400 to debut as the first MediaFlo phone in the U.S., meaning it will be the first phone to receive full-length programming of television shows via a dedicated broadcast network.

Unlike that of Verizon's own V Cast, which mostly shows short clips via its EV-DO network, MediaFlo aims to offer high-quality, end-to-end television programming from media channels like NBC, ESPN, and CNN. It won't have as … Read more

More Fastap phones coming this year

At least that's what one Digit Wireless representative would have us believe. Fastap is a relatively new technology that incorporates raised and lowered keys into a single keypad to facilitate quicker text messaging without the need for a full QWERTY arrangement. The first commercial phone to offer this keypad was the LG AX490 from Alltel, which we reviewed late last year. We felt it required a bit of learning curve to pick up, and it is not as quick as one would expect.

That said, it's good to know that Fastap may be incorporated into new cell phones … Read more

Turn your phone into a projector

So you like the idea of watching TV or movies on your MP4 player or cell phone, but the screens are just too small for you to make an accurate call on instant replay, especially if your next paycheck is on the line with the game's outcome. All that could change with new technology from Microvision, which claims to have built the world's smallest projector.

The company's Pico Projector, which is planned for release at this week's Consumer Electronics Show, is designed to be embedded in handheld products to project "photos, videos, movies and TV … Read more