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March 27 - 4:25pm EDT
The LG GM630 flip-phone seen here was recently spotted undergoing testing at the FCC, indicating the mobile TV-ready handset is soon coming to a North American carrier. Specifications were not made official, but judging by its appearance, it's an updated version of the LG HB620T phone readily available in Europe. As such, the GM630 should sport the same 240x320 resolution main display along with a smaller external screen, as well as a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and FM radio tuner. [full story]
November 27 - 8:00am EST
The ATSC TV standards company today said it has approved a candidate version of the Mobile DTV standard. The technology will give American cellphones, notebooks, portable media players and other devices a more universal way of watching over-the-air mobile digital TV provided by regular broadcasters rather than through proprietary, subscription-only services such as the MediaFLO network used by AT&T and Verizon. [full story]
November 14 - 10:45am EST
AT&T today grew both its full-touchscreen phone lineup and its small roster of mobile TV phones by adding the Samsung Eternity. A close cousin of the Instinct, the phone carries a 3.2-inch touchscreen with haptic (vibration) feedback and an accelerometer that both auto-rotates the display and lets it play iPhone-like motion-sensitive games. A MediaFLO tuner is built-in to play live digital TV through AT&T's subscription broadcast service. [full story]
October 14 - 8:40am EDT
Verizon today launched the Krave ZN4, Motorola's first touchscreen phone made solely for CDMA networks. The handset closely follows the design of the normally China- and GSM-oriented MING but is spun as a media-friendly device with a MediaFLO tuner for live digital TV, media player software, up to 8GB microSDHC storage, and a regular 3.5mm headphone jack. A two-megapixel camera and Bluetooth with stereo sound are also part of the core design. [full story]
October 9 - 3:10pm EDT
AT&T plans to add a second TV-ready touchscreen phone within the space of a month, a leak from Engadget would reveal. Tentatively nicknamed the Eternity, the Samsung a867 will have a touchscreen and a MediaFLO digital TV tuner like the LG Vu but should improve its predecessor on several fronts. A sharper three-megapixel camera, a microSDHC slot and a native 3.5mm headphone jack should suit it more as a media player than the Vu; assisted GPS is also slated for the Eternity. [full story]
June 23 - 2:10pm EDT
Samsung's i900 Omnia is already in queue to appear at AT&T, according to a claimed leak surfacing from BGR. The touchscreen phone would be close to the reference design but add a MediaFLO tuner that allows it to receive AT&T's Mobile TV live digital broadcasts; it should also have access to the carrier's Internet streaming music and video services and would use AT&T's Navigator service with its built-in GPS reception. [full story]
May 14 - 9:40am EDT
LG and Samsung this morning jointly said they would team up to promote a new standard for digital mobile TV in the US. Already submitted to the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) that governs HDTV, the unnamed format would use the existing wireless spectrum already in place for digital over-the-air broadcasts to conventional tuners. The choice would not only make adding portable TV simple for existing providers but would do so without impacting the bandwidth available for full-size digital broadcasts, the companies say. [full story]
May 7 - 8:10am EDT
If you’ve always wanted an iPhone but couldn’t afford the minimum $399 price, consider the LG Vu for AT&T for $299. This iPhone lookalike offers the same mix of a largely touchscreen-driven interface, media playback, and a camera along with the unique ability to watch TV shows thanks to a built-in MediaFLO TV tuner. Included with the phone is a recharging cable as well as earbuds for listening to music on your LG Vu in private. [full story]
May 5 - 10:40am EDT
Following the debut of the necessary mobile TV service on the weekend, AT&T's LG Vu today became available online and in shops. The handset is AT&T's first primarily touchscreen-driven phone since the iPhone and makes video its focus, with a built-in MediaFLO tuner providing live, over-the-air broadcasts of digital TV similar to Verizon's V CAST TV service. AT&T also stresses media playback support with support for Internet radio streams from XM as well as direct downloads from the company's own music store as well as eMusic and Napster. [full story]
May 1 - 1:30am EDT
AT&T and Qualcomm's MediaFLO on Thursday announced that its new AT&T Mobile TV with FLO service is expected to available on the May 4 along with two exclusive handsets: the Vu from LG and the Access from Samsung. First announced in late March, AT&T will offer TV-quality programming with exclusive channels (PIX and CNN Mobile Live) as well as content from from leading news and entertainment brands: CBS Mobile, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go, MTV Networks’ COMEDY CENTRAL, MTV and Nickelodeon. [full story]
April 17 - 10:50am EDT
The final launch info for AT&T's touted Mobile TV service has been slipped today courtesy of a source in touch with BGR. The carrier has left most details vague but is now believed to be offering three different tiers based on channel numbers, similar to conventional TV. A Limited tier will offer just four channels for $13 per month, including mobile versions of CBS, Fox, NBC, and NBC's News station; a slight increase in fees to $15 per month more than doubles the selections to nine with CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, MTV, and Nickelodeon joining the selection. [full story]
April 14 - 4:30pm EDT
LG's Voyager touchscreen phone has been successful enough at Verizon that the Korean company is looking to introduce it at other major US carriers, says a new report from the Electronic Times. An unnamed LG official states that the handset's success has been 'surprisingly' strong with its exclusive offering at Verizon and that versions for both AT&T and Sprint will be available sometime this year. Over 1.1 million Voyagers have sold to date despite being limited to the second-largest carrier. [full story]
March 31 - 3:25pm EDT
Sony AV label Sony Pictures Television on Monday revealed that it would be the first to offer full-length movies on mobile TV in the US. PIX will appear on AT&T's just-announced Mobile TV service and will supply the live-broadcast service with full versions of movies from the collections of Sony and sub-studios such as Columbia. Most movies will be available for one month with a rotation of unseen titles added in every week. [full story]
March 25 - 4:35pm EDT
Best known for its GPS chipsets, SiRF today said that mounting losses were forcing the company to both cut jobs and shed one of its newer businesses. The supplier to Garmin, TomTom, and several other major navigation device maker dropped its financial expectations for the first quarter of 2008 by about $10 million and explained that it would have to cut 7 percent of its total workforce and would shutter an office in the south end of San Francisco as well as a Stockholm, Sweden location. [full story]
March 17 - 4:05pm EDT
The LG Vu, scheduled to go on sale with AT&T sometime this year, appears to be coming to the wireless carrier in two different versions. An official list of the company's TTY-compatible phones points not just to a CU920, the Vu's standard name, but a "CU915," an apparent alternate version. Though both phones are identified as supporting AT&T's 3G network technology, nothing else is known about the 915. [full story]