Crave

(Credit: Flo TV)

FLO TV, provider of the FLO TV live mobile TV service, announced last Friday that it plans to go national, with at least 39 additional markets by the end of the year. This was sparked by the DTV transition last Friday, which freed up the broadband spectrum needed for FLO TV's dedicated network. Fifteen new markets went live as soon as the DTV trigger was pulled, and those include Boston, Houston, Miami, and San Francisco (at last!). The 24 other markets aren't slated until later this year. Qualcomm also said that existing markets like Chicago and New York will enjoy extended coverage.

This is a fairly ambitious project, considering the only two wireless carriers with FLO TV services now are AT&T with AT&T Mobile TV and Verizon with V Cast TV, and there aren't a lot of handsets that support the MediaFLO technology. As a reminder, FLO TV does not use existing cellular networks to transmit signal--it uses Qualcomm's own dedicated network to broadcast live mobile television, offering simulcast and time-shifted programming from a number of networks like CBS, NBC, MTV and ESPN. (Note: CNET News is published by CBS Interactive, a unit of CBS.) While we remain doubtful about the long-term success of FLO TV, we have to say the technology is intriguing, especially since it doesn't rely on easily bogged-down cellular networks.

Read Maggie Reardon's usage of FLO TV during the presidential inauguration to see how it worked for her.

Much to my surprise, I spotted the LG Invision Wednesday night at the Mobile Focus show here at CTIA. Even though the LG Invision has launched with AT&T on August 20, it was just a soft launch on the online store and not an official launch across all its retail channels, and we have yet to receive a review unit. So, I was eager to get my hands on it to see how it really looks and feels in person.

As a reminder, the LG Invision is the latest handset to support AT&T Mobile TV, AT&T's live streaming TV service. It is only the third handset that supports this service--the other two are the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. The AT&T Mobile TV service currently works in around 58 markets in the country, but sadly San Francisco is not on that list.

But even though I couldn't test out the AT&T Mobile TV service, I did play around with the Invision for a little bit. Measuring 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide and less than 0.5 inch thick, the Invision is certainly the smallest and lightest of all the AT&T Mobile TV phones. As a device meant for watching video, I was also pleased to see such a vibrant and colorful display, though it is rather small at around 2.2 inches. I would probably prefer the Vu for watching video because of the wider screen.

LG Invision in hand

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

You might notice that the keypad looks a bit unusual, and that's because LG has rearranged the keys so that the bottom three keys on the keypad are now flanked on the right side. This makes the handset feel slightly wider and shorter, and we think that people might have to get used to this new keypad arrangement. There's also a dedicated TV button around the navigation keys, plus the four-way toggle is arranged in a cross in the middle of the phone. I thought this felt cramped, but I'll have to use it for a longer period of time to really get a feel for it. The back of the phone is clad in a rubberized texture that feels a little like faux leather, which makes the phone easier to grip.

Other features of the Invision include a 1.3-megapixel camera, HSDPA speeds, AT&T Mobile Music support, a music player, and stereo Bluetooth. It is available online only for $99.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement, and LG says it'll be available in retail stores later this year.

LG Invision

(Credit: AT&T)

AT&T and LG just launched the LG Invision, a brand new cell phone which they claim is made for video on the go. We mentioned this awhile ago as a rumor, but now it's finally official. The Invision joins the LG Vu and the Samsung Access as the only devices capable of supporting AT&T's live mobile TV service, which currently broadcasts programs from providers such as CBS Mobile, ESPN Mobile TV, NBC2GO, and more.

Here are the specifications: The Invision measures 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by less than one-half inch thick, which makes it the smallest Mobile TV device of the lot. It features Video Share calling, a 1.3-megapixel camera, HSDPA speeds, AT&T Mobile Music support, a music player, stereo Bluetooth, and more. The Invision will be available for $99.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement.

LG CB630 Invision

(Credit: LG)

AT&T Mobile TV may get another handset to offer its live TV service in the form of the LG CB630 Invision.

According to Engadget Mobile, this Samsung Access-lookalike may debut for AT&T this August 13 for $99.99, with a $50 rebate and a two-year service agreement. So far, the only phones to support AT&T Mobile TV are the LG Vu and the Samsung Access, though there are rumblings that the Access may go the way of the Dodo when the Invision comes onboard. We don't know too much about the Invision just yet, but we'll keep you posted once we have more details.

LG Vu

(Credit: CNET Networks)

AT&T Mobile TV will debut on Sunday, along with the LG Vu and the Samsung Access phones.

As reported a month or so ago, AT&T Mobile TV is the carrier's new live mobile TV service that will broadcast television shows to compatible phones via Qualcomm's MediaFlo network. At launch, the service will offer eight channels of programming--CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2G0, NBC News 2GO, and Nickelodeon--as well as two AT&T-exclusive channels called PIX and CNN Mobile Live. PIX will have shows from Sony Pictures Television while CNN Mobile Live will feature 24-hour-a-day live streaming of CNN. As a special offer, AT&T is also offering CNCRT, a concert channel delivered by Control Room, for the next 60 days. It will air one of about 30 concerts from artists such as Sheryl Crow and Jay Z.

The service will launch in 58 markets, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but not San Francisco. (We're a little miffed here at CNET HQ). Though data charges are nonexistent, you do have to pay monthly access fees. For only four channels--CBS Mobile, Fox Mobile, NBC 2Go, and NBC News 2Go--it's $13 a month, while the Basic package for $15 a month will allow you unlimited access to Mobile TV plus the CNCRT channel. For $30 a month, you get the Mobile TV access as well as unlimited mobile Web browsing and unlimited access to Cellular Video, AT&T's broadband video streaming service.

Of course, the other big news is that the LG Vu and the Samsung Access will launch on the same day. As you'll recall from CNET's CTIA coverage, the Samsung Access is a candy bar handset with a 2.3-inch landscape display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, quad-band GSM support, and of course 3G/HSDPA. As much as we think the Access is a cool phone though, the LG Vu is clearly the phone made for mobile TV thanks to its large 3-inch wide touch screen. The Vu is packed with a 2-megapixel camera, quad-band GSM support, a full HTML browser, stereo Bluetooth, and all of AT&T's 3G services, including AT&T Mobile Music and AT&T Video Share.

We had the opportunity to give the LG Vu a full review, so check out what we think of it and take a gander at our LG Vu slide show.

LG Vu showing 'The Tonight Show'

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

An anonymous source just provided the Boy Genius Report some details on the upcoming AT&T Mobile TV that's set to debut in May. As you'll recall, AT&T Mobile TV will offer live over-the-air television via Qualcomm's MediaFLO, and will be offered first on the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. Well, the new details suggest that the service will launch on May 4, and will come in three flavors: Limited, Basic, and Plus. The Limited edition includes four channels (Fox Mobile, CBS Mobile, NBC, and NBC News) for $13 a month, the Basic edition includes nine channels (Fox Mobile, CBS Mobile, NBC, NBC News, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, CNN Mobile, ESPN) for $15 a month, and the Plus edition includes the aforementioned nine channels, as well as a Sony Pictures channel for $30 a month. We gave AT&T Mobile TV a brief hands-on at CTIA, and we were suitably impressed with the fast loading times with no buffering. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a real thorough review of the service once it eventually debuts. Stay tuned!

Soon after we heard the announcement of the LG Vu, we rushed over to the LG booth to take a look at it live and in person. The screen is indeed impressive--it measures 3.0-inch diagonally and displays 262,000 colors, and has a touch vibrating feedback (or haptic feedback) similar to that on the LG Glimmer and the LG Voyager. Its menu interface is almost identical to that of those phones as well. The four shortcut icons on the bottom of the standby page correspond to the main menu, AT&T Mobile TV, the contacts list, plus the on-screen dialpad.

LG Vu's on-screen QWERTY keyboard

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

The device itself measures 4.25 inches by 2.16 inches by 0.51 inch and weighs around 3.16 ounces, which is a bit more lightweight than we thought it would be. It even feels that way, due to its plastic yet glossy black casing. Using the phone was quite intuitive, and we especially liked the phone's texting interface. You can either text via the aforementioned onscreen dialpad, or a cool onscreen QWERTY keyboard laid out in landscape mode. The individual keys on the keyboard even magnify when pressed, ala the one on the iPhone. It's a bit of a copycat move, but we like it all the same, even more so with the vibrating feedback.

LG Vu showing the Tonight Show

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

Features, as you know, include access to AT&T Video Share and AT&T Mobile Music, a 2.0-megapixel camera, a MP3 player, plus mobile email support. We have to say, we were very pleased with the performance of AT&T Mobile TV. It's really fast--as soon as we hit the TV button, we were watching a show. The channel guide is easy on the eyes, and is simple to navigate. The video quality was rather mediocre though; a little like watching terrestrial TV. But it's good enough for on-the-go watching I think.

LG Vu's AT&T Mobile TV channel guide

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

We only had a few short minutes with it, so we won't have the full on scoop for you for a month or so yet. Watch out for it around May when the Vu will debut at the same time as the Mobile TV service.

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."

Still loading

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Here in the Bay Area, we've been waiting a long time for Verizon Wireless to turn on its V Cast Mobile TV network. And why wouldn't we be excited to get it? The TV quality far surpasses the streaming video on Verizon's 3G network. But, more importantly, we wouldn't have to send the V Cast Mobile TV phones to Chicago or New York to get them reviewed. We realize that Verizon doesn't have enough spectrum here but if Wichita, Kan., gets service, shouldn't we?

Well, the good news is that the Bay Area will get V Cast Mobile TV. The bad news is that it won't happen for some time. From what we heard at CTIA, the service is slated to come to our tech-obsessed burg in early 2009. We don't have an exact date, and even that time frame isn't set in stone, but it will arrive here eventually. That's good to know, but 2009 is still a long time to wait to get the most out of slick new cell phones like the Motorola Rizr Z6tv.