Crave

In attempt to fill its upcoming V Cast Apps endeavor, Verizon Wireless is inviting developers to submit application ideas. A panel of judges will review all submitted apps and award a $50,000 prize for their top pick.

Apps should fall under one of five categories: Connect, Entertain, Guide, Save Time, and Enhance Living. Apps must be new to that RIM BlackBerry platform and they must work on the BlackBerry Storm to win. Though the Storm wouldn't be our first choice for a model smartphone, we suppose that you have to start somewhere.

Besides the $50,000 prize, the winner will get 200 percent of the application's revenue for one year (Verizon will cut you off at $100,000) plus a "featured spot" (whatever that means) when the V Cast Apps launches later this year.

Developers can submit applications starting Friday through September 20. Members of the Verizon Developers Conference will pick by the category semifinalists by October 6 at which point online voting for the category winner will begin. The judges will then announce the grand-prize winner on October 30.

After a long, long wait (two and a half years, to be exact), Verizon Wireless finally switched on V Cast Mobile TV in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno.

Unlike the carrier's V Cast streaming-video service, V Cast Mobile TV uses a portion of the UHF spectrum. The result is a stunning viewing experience that mimics that of your home TV, albeit on a much smaller screen. Powered by Media Flo technology, V Cast Mobile TV transmits at 30 frames per second (V Cast streaming video caps out at 15fps). Also, because the TV signal is independent of the regular CDMA or EV-DO signals, you don't need any bars to watch the programming.

V Cast Mobile TV is limited to a selection of Verizon phones--right now it's just the LG Voyager and the Motorola Krave ZN4--and the service will cost you $25 per month. For programming details, check out Verizon's V Cast Mobile TV site.

(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.

As the CTIA Fall 2008 show opened, Verizon Wireless announced new channels for its V Cast streaming-video service, some of which will feature full-length programming.

The new channels include Scooby Doo & Friends, DC Comics, Relix, G4 Mobile, HGTV, The Food Network, The WB, ES Musica and Rock On: Altitude from GoTV, Comedy Time Latino, TLC, Animal Planet, Planet Green, and Discovery Kids.

While the above channels will feature mostly short clips, full-length programming will be available from shows like Comic View: One Mic Stand and Hell Date from BET and Score Center and MMA Live from ESPN. You'll also get complete shows from MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, CMT, Logo, MTV Tr3s, NBC, Telemundo, USA Network, and the Sci-Fi Channel.

Rounding out the new offerings are SayHeyHey.com, a free dating Web site, and a new music show from 60Frames called Tuned in.

The new content is available on all V Cast-equipped phones and is included as part of Verizon's standard data charges.

Verizon Wireless is getting a head start on CTIA by announcing a new mobile Web site for V Cast video content. The site, m.vcast.com, will allow users to browse content by category, channel, or show and then watch that content on their phone. You'll also be able to access and share content using social networking sites like Twitter. Accessing m.vcast.com will incur normal data charges, but you will need a device with a full HTML browser. At present, that's limited to the LG Dare or the LG Voyager but Verizon says more such devices are expected this year.

Rhapsody's MP3 store isn't the largest or the cheapest, but full-length track previews make it an appealing destination for music discovery.

(Credit: Rhapsody)

A correction was made to this story. See details below.

RealNetworks on Sunday announced several improvements to its Rhapsody music service, including a new online music store and integration with Verizon's V Cast mobile phone music service.

Taking a cue from competitors such as Amazon and Napster, Rhapsody's new Web-based music store sells a catalog of universally compatible (DRM-free) MP3 files from all four major music labels (Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner, and EMI), as well as a selection of independents.

The new Rhapsody store represents a departure from the strictly software-based music subscription model on which the company was founded.

Rhapsody's Web-based MP3 music store offers the majority of its catalog at $.99 cents per song and $9.99 per album. While Rhapsody's MP3 pricing is competitive with the industry-leading iTunes music store, it's slightly more expensive than Amazon and considerably more expensive than eMusic.

As a competitive advantage, the new Rhapsody's store allows users to preview entire songs prior to purchase--a stark contrast to the 30-second song previews shoppers have come to expect.

Rhapsody's innovative song preview pane allows users to play, pause, and scan through an entire song prior to purchase. Users are limited to 25 full-length plays per month, however, after which a standard 30-second preview restriction is put in place. Song plays are not counted against your monthly allotment if they are stopped before 30 seconds of playback have elapsed.

(Credit: Rhapsody)

To promote the launch of its new MP3 store, Rhapsody is giving away a free album to the first 100,000 people who create an account on their Web site. But Rhapsody isn't depending solely on direct MP3 sales in its quest to compete against iTunes and Amazon.

Taking advantage of last year's announced partnership with Viacom and newly announced partnerships with online destinations such as Yahoo and iLike, Rhapsody's full-length track preview technology and MP3 store will be integrated into several music sites across the Web.

Initially, users can expect to see Rhapsody-powered music playback and MP3 purchasing options from Viacom-owned Web properties such as MTV, CMT, and VH1. In addition, Rhapsody's MP3 store will be added as a purchase option for users of iLike, a popular music-focused social network and Facebook application.

As reported earlier on News.com, mobile carrier Verizon is also working with Rhapsody to provide their V Cast Music customers over-the-air music downloads. Using the new system, V Cast Music customers will be able to download low bit-rate versions of purchased songs directly to their handset, and access higher resolution 256kbps MP3 versions which are downloaded to their computer. Users can later replace their phone's low-quality file with the higher quality version, once the phone is connected to their computer.

[Note: the New models of Verizon phones will also be capable of working with Rhapsody's preexisting DRM-restricted music subscription service, which allows unlimited music downloads at a flat, monthly fee. Verizon customers who choose to pay for a Rhapsody music subscription have the option of adding Rhapsody's monthly fee to their existing mobile phone bill.

The new V Cast Rhapsody mobile music download service will be available tomorrow for all V Cast-enabled phones, however, carrier fees associated with the service have yet to be announced.

Correction: The story originally stated that Verizon's over-the-air music service downloaded DRM-free MP3 files directly to the user's handset. It was later learned that Verizon's direct-to-phone music download is not in the MP3 format. The copy delivered to the user's computer, however, is in the MP3 format.

NEW YORK--Verizon Wireless wants to make music.

Or at least it wants to help record labels and artists make music. More importantly, it wants to provide new, innovative ways for them to make money from the music they create.

Ed Ruth, director of digital music for Verizon, gives a tour of Verizon's mobile music studio.

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET Networks)

"Artists are frustrated with the traditional music-producing model, which is broken," said Ed Ruth, director of digital music for Verizon. "They are frustrated that labels aren't innovating. And we think we can help. We think we can bring some innovative approaches to the whole process."

In addition to its music store, V Cast Music, which is designed to sell digital music, including full tracks, ringtones, and ringback tones, that can be played on Verizon mobile phones, Verizon is also sponsoring a new program it calls Mobile Producer in Residence. Essentially, the company has rented a bus outfitted with equipment to make a traveling recording studio. In February it announced it was working with the rapper-turned-music producer Timbaland as the first producer in residence.

The deal is that Timbaland will use the traveling recording studio, which has been paid for by Verizon, to work with artists anywhere in the country. Every month, Timbaland will work with a guest artist to record a new track. As the bus tours through various cities, Verizon will release singles and behind-the-scenes video clips of the recording sessions exclusively through the V Cast music store.

So far Timbaland has already begun working with R&B singer Keri Hilson on the bus. Also on the bus, he produced some of the songs used on Madonna's recently released Hard Candy album.

Verizon showed off the bus in New York at the launch concert for Madonna Wednesday night. Ruth was on hand to give reporters a tour of the bus before the concert at the Roseland Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan.

Ruth said Verizon isn't looking to replace the record labels. But he said he feels the company is in a unique position to bring innovation to the industry.

"We don't want to disintermediate between the artist and the record label," he said. "What we're trying to do is help the label save some money by introducing a more streamlined process. And we can also help the artist market their songs by offering them in a variety of different formats."

Specifically, Ruth said that record labels save money because they don't have to rent expensive studio space or fly artists to a specific city to cut an album. Artists can be touring the country and the mobile music studio can literally go to the artist as opposed to doing it the other way around.

Verizon also believes it can help artists market their albums before they are fully released by using the creative process itself as a promotion tool. It will do this by releasing behind-the-scenes video clips of the recording sessions on its V Cast music store. It can also turn singles into ringtones and ringback tones before the full tracks are released or even release single songs before the entire album is finished.

Verizon also believes it can help the music industry make money by providing multiple ways to sell the same piece of content.

"The big problem that the music industry is facing is that physical sales of music are failing," Ruth said. "And digital music is trying to catch up. But what we offer is a unique ability to offer consumers content in multiple formats."

For example, consumers who really love Madonna's "4 Minutes" single can spend $2.99 for a standard ringtone, $1.99 for a ringback tone, and another $1.99 if they buy the full track using their phone or 99 cents if they download it from their computer. (Verizon also offers a 20 percent discount for subscribers buying the song as both a ringtone and ringback tone.)

This ability to sell the same piece of content in multiple ways is likely the main reason artists and record labels are working with mobile operators like Verizon.

But just as much as the music industry may need Verizon, the carrier also needs the music industry. Music is an important piece of Verizon's overall mobile content strategy. And the company has been racking up deals for the past couple of years with individual artists, such as Prince, John Legend, and Shakira, in an attempt to promote its music store and service.

Verizon claims that V Cast is the second largest music store on the market behind Apple's iTunes, with more than 3 million songs in its library. And in the first quarter of 2008, it sold a total of 34 million "units," which included ringtones, ringback tones and full music tracks, Ruth said.

Mobile music, along with other data services such as mobile Web surfing and e-mail, are important for Verizon as it tries to get its customers to spend more each month on additional services. So far, its efforts seem to be working.

On Monday, the company reported that mobile data, which includes music downloads, accounted for over 20 percent of the company's total wireless revenue in the first quarter of 2008. And it said that customers on average spent nearly $12 a month on data services. These are fees that are above and beyond what customers pay for basic voice minutes.

"Music is a very important piece of our content business," Ruth said. "It not only can be a profitable business for us, but it also attracts a lot of interest, and over the long term, it creates a loyalty lock-in with customers."

While most of Verizon Wireless' music efforts have been focused in the U.S., the Madonna concert was the first time Verizon Wireless collaborated with its European parent company Vodafone. Part of the concert Wednesday evening was simulcast live to Verizon Wireless subscribers in the U.S. and in over a dozen other countries over Vodafone's wireless network. Ruth said that in the future, Verizon Wireless plans to work more closely with Vodafone on more music initiatives, but he wouldn't divulge any specifics. So stay tuned.

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(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.

Motorola Rizr Z6tv

(Credit: Motorola)

Though there was much ado about Verizon Wireless' V Cast Mobile TV service when the carrier launched the service earlier this year, it's been eerily quiet since then. In particular, we've been waiting for new handsets beyond the original LG VX9400 and the Samsung SCH-U620.

Motorola Rizr Z6tv

(Credit: Motorola)

Fortunately, our wait came to an end this morning when Verizon and Motorola announced the new Moto Rizr Z6tv. Sporting the familiar, and may we add quite attractive, Rizr slider design, the Z6tv offers a solid feature set beyond the Mobile TV support (which is quite enough by itself). You'll find Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera, an expandable memory slot and a digital audio player. The Z6tv's dimensions are marginally bigger than those of the original Z3, and like the other V Cast Mobile TV phones, the display can switch to a landscape orientation for more comfortable television viewing. Yet we noticed that the Z6tv has a 65,000-color display, compared with the 262,000-hue screens on the VX9400 and the SCH-U620. We'll have to see how that affects the video quality when we get a review model.

It's important to note that you should only consider the Rizr Z6tv if you live in a V Cast Mobile TV coverage area. Otherwise, and that currently includes us in San Francisco, you'll miss out on all the fun. The Rizr Z6tv will be available October 5 for $179 with service and rebates. Check back soon for a review model.