Television On Your Cell Phone

XopherMV writes "MobiTV is billed as the first streaming service to broadcast real-time video to cell phones. Offered by Sprint, it costs an additional $9.99 monthly, is adding new channels, and supports various handsets. My phone features 21 channels, some of them typical broadcast channels like Fox Sports and MSNBC, while others are designed for the mobile environment, such as NBC Mobile. What's it like to watch TV on a cell phone? The TV junkie in me says it's great. I really like the idea that I can pull my cell phone out of my pocket and catch up with the latest news and sports scores in an instant. Read on at MSN."

Comments

Boston suffers season long recession

[fishdan]

Good Lord. If they can get the Red Sox broadcasts fromNESN on this, I predict a HUGE work impact. I know other cities love their sports, but the Red Sox are bigger than Jesus in Boston. If people could watch games on their cellphone, there would be no work done during day games.

I do wonder what the impact on people's driving will be.

I just don't see it

[Nos.]

Sure this is going to be aimed more at people wanting to catch up on the latest news and sports, but personally, this is not a service I would pay for. If I'm looking for up to date news/sports/stocks etc. I'd be more likely to want a phone with wireless Internet. I would want the information now, and want to be able to drill down to my own intrests as opposed to waiting until the TV finally gets to the little bit of information I actually want to hear. Lets face it, you're not going to "see" very detailed pictures on your cell phone.

Cue the phone Ludittes

[Anonymous Coward]

I give it 10 minutes before the first phone Luditte who comes complaining that nobody makes good plain phones anymore gets modded up.

Re:Cue the phone Ludittes

[Hockney Twang]

I was just about to do exactly what you describe, then your post stopped me. Thank you.

Uh oh....

[DatAsian]

I'm running low on power... lemme get back with you when I find a charger :)

I'd rather have annotated radio

[davidwr]

The screens are too small for good TV watching.

TV programs that take this into account would work, but even so, I think radio is a Bigger Win.

You can augment radio with things like instant polling, charts, hyperlinks, and other goodies.

Here's an idea:
24 hour traffic and weather reports tailored to the cell towers you are closest to.

Gee, I hope nobody tries to patent "sending video signals over a wireless device." There's a wee bit of prior art on that, and I'm afraid our poor beleagured patent office might miss it.

Not first and apparently lousy quality...

[Cpt_Corelli]

Well, I hardly believe they are the first company to offer streaming video to cell phones. Europe is already switching to the third generation of mobile communications (3G) and most networks offer streaming video at a much higher quality than what is displayed in their demo.

3G networks have a much higher bandwidth (384 kbps) compared to previous technology such as GSM.

Most of the 3G phones have two-way simultaneous video chat as well.

Been there, Done that, NTT DoCoMo FOMA

[kryonD]

Just curious, but did Sprint have the integrity to put a star next to the word 'first', and then have the words 'in America' printed in text so small most folks couldn't read it, or did they just flat out lie again?

TV and movies have been available in Japan on cell phones for nearly two years. When I left in February, no one really cared all that much unless something important was going on. I would bet that tons of commuters are watching the olympics while riding the JR to work and back. The picture quality is actually pretty darned good. I personally never bought a FOMA phone because the 3G coverage in my area was still in the works. And the way they switched email from being directly on the phone to being through a web portal was kind of annoying when you were already used to just pressing a button and being inside of your INBOX on their 50x series of phones.

With all the political BS going on in the media, I swear I'd donate money to the first 527 group who titled themselves "Disillusioned Cell Phone Users for a President Who Will Make The Cellular Companies Leave The Dark Ages and Stop F&^%ing Over The Public With Overpriced Used Technology".