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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.

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."

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.