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!
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.
- prev
- 1
- next
