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AT&T said Thursday that it will start offering live mobile TV service from MediaFlo in May, but will anyone be watching?

AT&T first announced its partnership with MediaFlo in February 2007. Back then it said it expected the service to begin by the end of 2007. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told Reuters the company waited until May to offer the service because it was "a brand new service on a brand new network, and two brand new devices."

The new service will operate on two new handsets, the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. Subscribers will get access to eight channels of live TV plus two exclusive channels. AT&T said it would make pricing information available in May when the service officially launches.

MediaFlo USA is a subsidiary of wireless chipmaker Qualcomm. Using analog broadcast TV wireless spectrum it bought several years ago, MediaFlo has built a wireless network to deliver broadcast TV service to mobile devices.

Verizon Wireless, which was the first wireless provider to work with MediaFlo, has been offering the service for more than a year. Verizon hasn't published specific subscriber numbers, but Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs said during a speech at the Tech Policy Summit in Hollywood on Wednesday that the uptake has been going slower than the company would like, according to RCR Wireless News.

Jacobs blames the carriers for not advertising the service enough. He said that carriers might be waiting for MediaFlo to increase its coverage, which he said will happen in February 2009 when TV broadcasters will transition to digital TV, the article said.

Qualcomm, which owns spectrum for the analog TV Channel 55, has had to negotiate with broadcasters in each market to be able to use the spectrum that some of them have used to broadcast TV. The network is currently operating in about 55 markets and is available to about 130 million people, said Gina Lombardi, president of MediaFlo USA. Markets where MediaFlo has launched include Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, and Philadelphia.

But some mobile experts question whether people really want to watch TV on their phones. Verizon is charging $15 a month extra for eight channels of live TV. Perhaps the price point is still too expensive for consumers who on average spend about $40 to $50 a month on cell phone service. And as the economy dips further into a recession, I question how willing people will be to spend extra money on what I'd consider an unnecessary service like mobile TV.

It will be interesting to see AT&T's customers' response to the live TV service. AT&T already offers an on-demand video service to customers who buy certain 3G data packages.

If consumers don't fall in love with live mobile TV it could spell trouble for Qualcomm's MediaFlo USA, which has spent millions of dollars acquiring spectrum and building the network. Right now the company wholesales the service to mobile operators. But Verizon and AT&T are currently its only customers.

Lombardi said the company is in talks with other wireless operators in the U.S. But the company is also considering offering its service on any device with a small screen.

"We've had a lot of interest from car manufacturers," she said. "We've even had refrigerator manufacturers ask if we could provide TV service to the tiny screens they put on refrigerators."

Lombardi said the service could be sold much like satellite radio, which allows people to subscribe to a monthly service for about $10 per month. If subscribers want satellite radio service on additional devices, they get a slight discount on the monthly subscription for the second and third device.

"We are looking into all of these options," she said. "If there's interest, we don't want to turn away from any opportunity knocking at our door."

We once thought the LG Vu would be the first device to carry AT&T's MediaFLO-powered mobile TV service, but as it turns out, it's not the only one to share the limelight. Following the news of AT&T's May launch of AT&T Mobile TV, Samsung put out a press release about the Samsung Access, which will be one of two devices to launch with the service. Check out our Samsung Access slide show to see it in all its glory.

The candy-bar-style phone is a lot slimmer than the Vu, plus it has a 2.3-inch landscape display compared with the Vu's expansive wide screen. It has a one-touch button directly to AT&T Mobile TV, which will feature content from partners like CBS, Comedy Central, ESPN, as well as two exclusive channels to be announced soon.

Of course, the Access is also a 3G capable device, meaning it's compatible with the rest of AT&T's broadband services like AT&T's Video Share and AT&T Mobile Music. Other features include stereo Bluetooth, a microSD card slot, a 1.3-megapixel camera, multimedia messaging, e-mail, and more. It also has quad-band GSM support. Pricing is not yet known, but it'll be available in May.

LG Vu might carry AT&T's new mobile TV service.

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

If leaked sources are to be believed, AT&T may break out a new mobile TV service courtesy of Qualcomm's MediaFLO in the form of the very sleek and sexy LG Vu. RCR Wireless News reports that AT&T is going to launch the live broadcast service with two exclusive channels as early as February 5. Verizon Wireless currently offers eights live TV channels as part of its own deal with MediaFLO in the form of V Cast TV, but does not currently have any "exclusive" channels, though some will be added in the future.

Rumors indicate that the initial handset offering with AT&T's mobile TV service will be the LG Vu, or CU920. If you'll recall, the Vu is a touch-screen phone similar to the LG Prada, and is expected to have 3G capabilities and be in the $200 price range.

(Credit: AT&T)

When Verizon announced at CES 2007 its partnership with Qualcomm's MediaFlo to bring V Cast Mobile TV to customers, we were so impressed that we awarded it the Best of CES award in the Cell phones category. Well it seems that Cingular/AT&T has jumped on the MediaFlo bandwagon as well: The nationwide GSM carrier has announced that it will use the MediaFlo technology to deliver live TV and video to its customers.

Just to jog your memory, the MediaFlo technology will allow cell phone carriers to broadcast television signals directly and independently to supported handsets via a dedicated network, without going through an EV-DO or EDGE network. This allows for live, real-time programming as well as high-quality streaming video, all on your cell phone.

AT&T is expected to pair its MediaFlo partnership with its existing Cingular Video offerings later this year. It's interesting to note that while U.S. carriers appear to be embracing MediaFlo, European and Asian carriers seem to be gravitating toward DVB-H, a competing mobile TV standard.

V Cast Mobile TV

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

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 did not announce pricing at the event but it's known that V Cast Mobile TV will be an additional monthly fee beyond the base $15 per month for V Cast streaming video.

LG VX9400

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

V Cast Mobile TV will not transmit via Verizon's standard EV-DO network, but will broadcast directly and independently to the supported handsets instead. Verizon promises that the video quality will match that of a standard television with 30 frames per second (V Cast streaming video is 15fps) and without any connection hiccups or rebuffering. Also, Verizon promises near perfect audio/video syncing.

Samsung SCH-u620

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

Depending on the channel, V Cast Mobile TV shows will broadcast at the same time that they run on standard TV channels. Local programming won't be offered at launch, but could be offered later. And for the time being at least, you'll have to watch shows when they broadcast instead of being able to save them for later.

As of launch time, supported handsets will include the LG VX9400 and the Samsung SCH-u620. Both phones offer landscape displays for better TV viewing, dedicated TV buttons, and high-end features. Verizon said it will introduce additional models in the near feature.

After the announcement, I viewed a demonstration of V Cast Mobile TV and noticed a huge difference over streaming video from V Cast. There was no pixilation, and videos didn't look choppy in the least. And as promised, audio and video were remarkably in sync. In all, it looks very promising provided that Verizon can launch the service at a fair price and in enough markets. On the other hand, I'm not thrilled about watching an hour-long program on a cell phone's tiny display.