Qualcomm tries hand at handheld TV

Qualcomm will offer its FLO TV on a handheld television, putting this existing service on a dedicated device for the first time.

Qualcomm's FLO TV Personal Television

(Credit: Qualcomm)

FLO TV, the Qualcomm-owned provider of a live mobile TV service, unveiled the FLO TV Personal Television on Tuesday, with availability slated for holiday season at retailers.

FLO, or "forward link only" technology, is designed for multicasting a large volume of rich multimedia content cost effectively to wireless subscribers. AT&T and Verizon already offer FLO TV on mobile phones in the U.S.

Qualcomm says the FLO TV Personal Television is "created with the single focus of delivering high-quality TV." The device receives live and time-shifted content with no buffering, downloading or waiting to view content, according to Qualcomm.

Content includes CNBC, Comedy Central, ESPN, ESPNews, Fox, Fox News, Fox Sports, MSNBC, MTV, NBC2Go, NBC, NBC News, NBC Sports, Nickelodeon, CBS, CBS College Sports, and CBS News. (Editors' note: CBS College Sports and CBS News are offerings of CBS, which is also the parent company of CNET News.)

Though handheld TV is still somewhat of an unknown quantity, viewership--like that of more traditional big-screen TV-- tends to spike during major national events, according to Qualcomm. Its service saw a surge in viewers, for example, during March Madness--the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

Qualcomm cited market research from TeleAnalytics that projects a broadcast mobile TV market of $2.8 billion and 50 million users in North American by 2013.

FLO TV Personal Television subscription service starts at $8.99 per month and the device will sell for $249.99. Specifications include a 3.5-inch diagonal screen and weight of of just over 5 ounces. Its battery supports more than 5 hours of active FLO TV viewing or 300 hours standby.

The television uses a capacitive touch-screen allowing channel surfing with a finger swipe. It also includes a built-in stand and stereo speakers.

[macksumum]

any type of mobile TV technology will fail if you have to pay to watch on it.this is because you have to be standing still in order to watch the TV, otherwise you will run into something while watching so if you are on the go and want to watch TV then you have to stop to do it.what is the point in paying to watch something on TV when your on the go but you have to stand still while watching it?

[bschmock]

I don't really think the point of this device is to watch the TV while your on the go(walking, running, driving a car, etc). Its more for say when you go on a road trip and your passengers would like to watch TV, or say you go on vacation and your staying in a place that doesn't have cable or possibly even a TV, you will be able to catch your favorite show or a game you really don't want to miss.

[externallain]

2013? I'd care if this was available now but I'm not waiting three years. Especially since I can buy a handle right right now that syncs with my dish network dvr.

[Macajuel]

The device is going to be available this coming holiday season. 2013 just refers to the expected viewership of mobile tv technology by that year.

[Macajuel]

There are two reasons that this device could fail. For one, the days of carrying multiple devices to do different things are long gone. "Convergence device" is the buzz phrase of the day......consumers now desire one single device that can do everything and more often than not, that device has been the smartphone. Heck, the article even mentions the fact that we already get the same mobile tv service on our cell phones currently.

Need a handy camera, GPS device, mp3 player, web browser, PDA, Mobile tv viewer etc? Get a smartphone, nobody wants or needs a stand alone device that you can't do anything else with (and you have to pay monthly for it).

I could be wrong though, existing qualcomm mobile tv does not work with the iPhone. With several million iPhone users worldwide, Qualcomm just might have a ready-made market for this device.

[Macajuel]

Oh and reason #2 for failure...............do we really need yet another monthly fee?

[jbodank35]

Does this have any type of Video Out function to a larger monitor?

[jbodank35]

Does this have any type of Video Out function to a larger monitor? I guess that wouldn't make sense, since it would cannibalize cable/satellite packages. I for one, would have not problem using this as my "mobile" cable box if I could get the above mentioned channels (particularly the sports offerings) at a more reasonable price than my $50+ satellite package. The internet allows you to see everything except for most live sports.

[jbodank35]

"would not have a problem" LOL, sorry.