MetroPCS to sell phones with TV tuners

MetroPCS Communications became the first U.S. cellphone company to announce plans for a phone that can tune in to live, local TV broadcasts. The capability will be part of a Samsung smartphone coming this year.

Dallas-based MetroPCS is the fifth-largest cellphone company in the U.S. with 9.1 million subscribers. It concentrates on big cities and low-income households.

[via USA Today]

Chinese are watching tv/movies on cellphones. Legally.

According to a fascinating article in Variety, Chinese commuters are watching TV series and movies on their cellphones. Legally.

China had 457 million Internet users last year, and 303 million of these -- two-thirds -- use their phones to access the Internet.

China's tougher stance on piracy means Hollywood may soon be able to make money in China through video sites showing content on cell phones.

The key to keeping the downloads legal: low prices, like Youkou.com's 75¢ per view.

... LeTV.com, the first video company listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, has 50,000 copyrighted TV series and 4,000 films.

Read full article in Variety (registration required)

Nokia launches mobile TV

Nokia has just launched a TV receiver for your mobile device.

The Nokia Mobile TV Headset, DVB-H, is all you need to turn your mobile device into a portable television. Anywhere there’s mobile DVB-H (Digital Video Broadband – Handset) coverage, you can tune into sports events or TV shows and watch them without worrying about an Internet connection. DVB-H is also kinder to your battery life than Web TV solutions.

The headset handles call reception and volume in a similar way to other mobile headsets, so you won’t miss calls while you’re watching the game. It also features keys for changing channels and music controls for the player on your handset. There’s an app called Mobile TV available for compatible handsets. It’s either pre-installed on compatible devices or it can be downloaded from the Ovi Store or www.nokia.com/support.

[via Nokia Conversations]

Dish Network extending live TV to iPhone, Android

Satellite television services provider Dish Network will extended streaming media services to mobile platforms including the iPad, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, enabling subscribers to view live TV on their smartphones and connected devices at no additional cost.

[via Fierce MobileContent]

BitBop is like mobile Hulu you pay for

Hulu, the popular Web site for streaming TV shows with limited commercials, has famously blocked mobile phones from accessing its free content. Now BitBop is the latest mobile app taking a stab at filling Hulu's void - and like Hulu, it's only available to US viewers. CNet Download Blog reports.

In BitBop, you'll choose from the content you can search or browse--mostly TV shows at this point--and add it to your queue, Netflix-style. There they'll sit until you're ready to either stream or download them. You can do both over either Wi-Fi or 3G data speeds.

TV shows downloaded quickly and take up about 50MB per 30 minute episode.

V shows come to BitBop's catalog from over 30 broadcast partners and include shows like "American Dad," "Glee," "CSI," "30 Rock," and "Chopped." A $9.99 monthly subscription gets you unlimited video streams and downloads, and in addition the shows play back to you commercial-free. Movies are planned for down the line.

Read more.

Mobile TV's Last Frontier: U.S. and Europe

Free-to-air mobile TV is common just about everywhere except the United States and Europe, where operator resistance, technical standards and licensing hurdles have interfered with the spread of the technology. But that may be about to change, according to one handset maker.

[via The New York Times]

Audiences, and Hollywood, Flock to Smartphones

It might be hard to imagine watching “The Office” on a screen no bigger than a business card. But tens of thousands of people — by the most conservative estimate — are already doing just that. The New York Times reports.

... Owners of iPhones and other smartphones are actually watching long episodes and sometimes complete films, so a growing number of media companies are vying for people’s mobile attention spans.

Read full article.

Consortium backs mobile interface for high def video

Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Silicon Image, Inc., Sony and Toshiba Corp. have formed the MHL Consortium, reports the EE Times.

The group has created a draft specification for the Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) for sharing high-definition video between mobile devices and televisions.

Details of the spec are available only as a $100 download from the group's Web site to anyone willing to sign a confidentiality agreement. The group plans to release before July a final spec along with costs of adopting it and procedures for testing compliance.

Qualcomm to let phones record mobile TV show

Phones and other mobile devices that receive Qualcomm's FLO TV broadcasts will get new features later this year, including the ability to record shows off the air.

[via USA Today]

A Dozen National Broadcasters Align To Create One Mobile TV Network

After working together for years through a trade association, a dozen broadcasters are now forming a financially-backed joint venture to develop a national mobile service, including live and on-demand video, local and national news and entertainment from both TV and print companies.

Read full report in mocoNews.net.

Fox Mobile rolls out subscription TV for smartphones

Fox Mobile Group on Wednesday unveiled a new wireless video subscription service called Bitbop, which it plans to launch in the spring. The LA Times Blog reports.

Bitbop will offer on-demand access to cable and broadcast TV shows from Fox's cable networks and NBC Universal for a $9.99 monthly fee.

By offering the mobile application as a free Internet download, Bitbop will be able to deliver mobile entertainment to any of the most popular mobile devices, including RIM's BlackBerry Curve, Apple's iPhone 3G and Motorola's Droid, regardless of which mobile phone carrier the subscriber uses.

Read full article.

MobiTV Now Letting People Store TV Offline On Their Phone To Watch Whenever They Want

From mocoNews:

No word on when customers will have these options, but it comes just as viewers have tons of options for watching video on mobile phones, from free YouTube clips to even more professional content.

To name one, CBS Mobile gives away a smartphone app called TV.com that lets users watch full episodes from many of its properties, including CW, Showtime and CNet. Likewise, Qualcomm’s FLO TV subsidiary offers broadcast TV on limited phones on both AT&T and Verizon’s networks.

MobiTV currently provides subscriptions for $9.99 a month for several mobile applications that include more than 35 channels like NBC, FOX News, ESPN, Mobile TV and Comedy Central Channel.

Read full article

Samsung Moment Becomes First Free US Mobile TV Phone

On Tuesday Samsung announced that the Moment would be the first phone to feature Mobile DTV, the new free-to-air mobile TV standard that's launching early this year. The Mobile DTV-equipped Moment will be part of a customer trial in Washington and Baltimore during the first quarter of 2010, Samsung said.

[via PCMag]

Mobile TV 'very slow' to take off

Mobile TV has so far failed to deliver on its promise of ubiquity, but analysts expect worldwide user numbers to increase to 54 million in 2009. The BBC reports.

Analysts also predict that by 2013 there will be about 300 million people watching analogue TV on the so-called third screen, their smart phone.

Industry watchers said the biggest potential will be in emerging markets.

... The study was conducted by In-Stat, which is part of Reed Business, and Californian chip maker Telegent Systems. It revealed that mobile TV users watch at least three times a week, with 20% watching daily.

Two-thirds of respondents in the white paper said they watched mobile TV for 30 minutes or more on the days they tuned in.

By comparison, in the leading markets of Japan and Korea, viewers are glued to their third screen for over an hour.

Read full article.

Live TV on the iPhone

Livestation has launched a streaming video solution that allows any broadcaster to deliver live TV to the iPhone.

ReadRightWeb reports:

Livestation quietly launched their first mobile application streaming live content over a month ago with the release of BBC World News, which debuted in June 2009. This iPhone application delivers live TV news to viewers in 16 European countries but is sadly not available in the US as of yet….

In the U.S., Livestation also began offering Al Jazeera English Live last month, a live TV application built using the same technology. As with BBC News, the live TV channel is available over both Wi-Fi and 3G. Around the corner, NASA may also be launching a live TV streaming application using Livestation’s technology.

[via Cyberjournalist]

Washington, D.C. will be 1st to get free mobile TV

Washington will be the first U.S. city to get free digital TV broadcasts for mobile devices like cell phones, laptop computers and in-car entertainment systems, broadcasters were set to announce Monday, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Broadcasts using new "mobile DTV" technology are expected to begin in late summer from five stations: local affiliates of CBS, NBC, PBS and Ion and one independent station owned by Fox.

The initial broadcasts will be identical to those beamed to TV sets, including the advertising.

BBC launches 24-hour live TV streaming mobile service

The BBC has debuted its 24-hour live television streaming website for mobile devices. The service currently has eight channels, including five general news streams, one BBC Parliament stream, and CBBC and CBeebies children's programming.

The service will not work over-the-air, and it is only available for U.K. residents. Users can see the streaming video service by visiting BBC Mobile.

[via MobileBurn]

South Koreans want their sub-TV

In South Korea, subway riders are becoming addicted to free TV on their cellphones. But declining ad revenue and mounting debt may force cellular operators to pull the plug. The LA Times reports.

Reeling from declining ad revenue and mounting debt from providing the expensive service at no additional cost to subscribers, South Korean cellular operators may soon cancel subway TV coverage that has yet to turn a profit.

Losing underground TV reception may not seem like much to consumers in the U.S., where many are still struggling with cellular dead zones and where a switch to full above-ground digital TV service may leave millions staring at useless analog sets.

But for many South Koreans, subway TV has become a familiar part of their daily routines. Phone companies in this digitally crazed nation in 2005 were the first to launch mobile TV that could be tuned in on phones just about anywhere -- even in the subway tunnels deep beneath Seoul and other cities.

Today, nearly 10 million cellular users are watching soap operas, sports and sitcoms on a special frequency dedicated to portable viewing -- enjoying it all on larger digital-quality screens and high-tech handsets to improve reception.

In Seoul, for example, companies offer eight video and 10 audio channels on new cellphones. There's also a subscription-based satellite service, but few consumers have shelled out for it.

But the proposed changes by cellphone service providers would leave users with only static in the subway, and no TV signal until they hit street level again.

PacketVideo - TV on your iPhone

At Barcelona's Mobile World Congress, PacketVideo demonstrated its mobile broadcast receiver that turns Wi-Fi-enabled phones and personal media players into mobile TVs. iPhone World reports.

The way it works is PacketVideo receiver decodes digital TV signal, and then sends it wirelessly which then is caught and play backed by the device, like iPhone. The mobile broadcast receiver is compatible with many industry-leading phones, iPhone including.

The receiver also allows viewing premium channels, as well as ensures optimum rendering of the TV signal on the playback device.

[via NewTeeVee]

Trial has TV shows broadcast to mobile phones

A mobile TV trial in Sydney is broadcasting nine channels to participants' mobile phones, including Channel 7, ABC, Fox Sports and MTV, in a service that could be widely available by the end of the year.

Mobile TV broadcasts similar to traditional radio and television signals and can be picked up by a receiver inside a mobile, avoiding the expensive practice of downloading video clips to a handset.

[via Courier Mail]

Watch The Obama Inauguration From Your iPhone With Ustream

UStream Ustream has developed an application for the 3G iphone that allows you to watch Ustream anywhere with everyone.

Regardless of where you are at and what you are doing, you can choose to be in the moment with others in a shared live experience around a live event. If you are out-on-the-town and know that a guest speaker at a major conference is “going live” and want to watch live and be-in-the-crowd, then you can with this application.

You will be able to watch the Inauguration LIVE on Ustream with chat.

[UStream Blog via TechCrunch]

New Interactive CBS Murder Mystery Debuts this Spring

Ashton Kutcher's Game Show, Harper's Island, a murder mystery set to air this spring, isn’t just coming to TV. The 13-episode series is being presented as a multi-platform interactive program with portions of the show being aired online and on mobile devices. Broadcasting & Cable reports.

CBS partnered with social entertainment company EQAL, creators of YouTube hits lonelygirl15 and KateModern, to produce a collaborative show in which overlapping characters and plots will evolve online and on mobile devices throughout the season. The show debuts April 9 at 10 p.m. but the online interactive social show starts weeks earlier on March 18.

Showtime gives 'Tara' big online launch

U.S. pay cable network Showtime says it will make the first episode of its new show "The United States of Tara" freely available on hundreds of Internet sites, reports UPI.

In what it calls "one of the largest content distribution campaigns ever done to launch a new original series," CBS-owned Showtime Networks Inc. said Monday it will make "Tara" available for free streaming on more than 100 Web sites, including TV.com, Yahoo, YouTube, MSN, Fancast, Veoh, EW.com, Blockbuster.com, CinemaNow, TVGuide.com and Netflix.

Mobile phone users will also be able to watch "Tara" on Verizon's V-Cast Mobile TV and on AT&T Mobile TV via MediaFLO.

Babelgum’s Web TV Goes Mobile on 3G (in the UK)

Web TV service Babelgum launched a six-month trial of its mobile services today in conjunction with Vodafone UK. NewTeeVee reports.

Babelgum Mobile is available immediately and will work on Nokia N96, N95 and 6210 handsets. Babelgum Mobile also works on the iPhone, but that service is through O2, not Vodaphone.

Unlike Joost’s recent mobile video app, which only works through Wi-Fi, Babelgum’s service will work over 3G networks.

For now, it looks like Joost offers a broader range of content; Babelgum is pushing mostly music videos and BBC comedies. According to the Babelgum press announcement, the company will be rolling out its mobile service in new countries (including the U.S.) in the coming months, and it plans to tailor the content for each market.

Broadcasts to mobile devices to start in 22 cities

TV stations in 22 U.S. cities announced Thursday that they will start broadcasting their signals this year in a format designed to be received by mobile devices like cell phones, MP3 players, GPS units and in-car entertainment systems. [via Cellular News]

Unlike current mobile TV services, the broadcasts would most likely be free, and would provide access to local news, weather and traffic updates. The broadcasts could also fill an important role in emergencies like hurricanes, since they can be received by portable devices and don't jam up under load like cell-phone networks.

But will there be any gadgets on the market that can receive those signals? That's less clear, since there are no firm launch dates for compatible products.

Read full article.

Coming soon to cellphones: Free, over-the-air TV

Millions of consumers by year's end should be able to watch free, over-the-air television on cellphones, PDAs and other portable digital devices as the result of initiatives that will be unveiled Thursday by some of the nation's largest TV station owners and electronics manufacturers. USA Today reports.

... At least 63 stations in 22 cities — including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Washington — will transmit news, entertainment and sports to portable devices this year, according to the broadcast industry's Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC).

The initial group will include affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, ION and PBS. Each city will have a different mix. Most will simulcast regularly scheduled shows.

In conjunction with the announcement, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, manufacturers including LG, Samsung, Zenith and Kenwood will display mobile receivers due in stores later this year.

EC unveils mobile TV guidelines

The European Commission has published a set of mobile TV guidelines that hopefully will accelerate the roll out of mobile TV service across Europe.

The EC said it had identified the main principles which EU regulators and governments should follow when authorising operators to provide mobile TV services, including that frequencies made available for mobile TV should be withdrawn if the service has not started within a reasonable period of time. Regulators should keep the authorisation process open to all industry players and create conditions which encourage cooperation between telecoms operators and broadcasters. Also, DVB-H based mobile TV services in every EU country should work together.

[Mobile News via FierceMobile]

Babelgum launches free video to mobile

Free video to mobile phones became reality on Wednesday in cell phone-crazy Italy, where Vodafone users with certain late-generation smart phones can now watch video content from Internet TV operator Babelgum, free of data charges. Cellular >News reports.

The Italian launch will be followed by the rollout in Britain on Thursday, with other countries, including the United States, to follow, Babelgum said.

The Babelgum-Vodafone alliance will offer Babelgum's content free with no additional data charges to Vodafone clients with an iPhone 3G, Nokia N95 or 6210, and will eventually be supported by advertising.

Watching Videos on Mobile Phones on the Rise

Technology rules our lives and we sure have become couch potatoes - proves the latest report from Nielsen Company. The 'A2/M2 Three Screen Report' states that the usage of TV, Internet and Mobile - the Three Screens - continues to increase in the US.

According to the report, an average person in the US watched approximately 142 hours of TV in one month and mobile phone users spent 3 hours a month watching mobile video. People who used the internet were online 27 hours a month. A record high was set by the couch potatoes, average time a US home used their TV set during 2007-08 was up to 8 hours and 18 minutes per day.

... Men are more likely than women to watch video on mobile phones, while women are more likely then men to watch video on the Internet.

“Our numbers show that TV remains the dominant choice for most Americans, yet timeshifting as well as videos on the Internet and on mobile phones, continue to be the trends to watch.”

[via TechTree]

Orange Unveils HD Mobile TV

Orange has announced plans to launch high definition mobile TV through a new and exclusive handset from LG, the LG Secret KF757, giving customers in France access to more than sixty high definition mobile TV channels (including twenty with unlimited access).

[via Unstrung]

Research finds mobile TV as unseductive as ever, though VOD seems interesting

Recent reserach has found that mobile TV adoption sits at just 1% now, and interest in all types of mobile TV is just over 50% of what it was in 2006. engadget:mobile reports.

The report places the blame on "patchy network coverage, limited channel lineup, poor video quality, excessive prices and a penchant among high-end phone users for business handsets rather than video phones."

15% of those surveyed on the topic would actually enjoy watching recorded TV shows later on their phone.

Presidential debates on mobile

CBS News will be airing the presidential debates on its MediaFlo channel and carrier decks tonight. Networks are increasingly looking to MediaFLO and carriers' streaming TV services to get first-time viewers.

[via mocoNews.net]

MobiTV to Carry ABC Content

Mobile-video service MobiTV reached a deal with Disney-ABC Television Group to deliver on-demand episodes of popular ABC primetime shows such as Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty to mobile-phone users.

MobiTV -- which has more than 4 million users globally and markets its subscription services in the United States through Sprint Nextel and AT&T Wireless -- will now carry the ABC Mobile on-demand channel and offer full-length episodes of popular ABC shows the day after their broadcast air.

[via Broadcasting Cable]

BBC iPlayer comes to Nokia

Nokia and BBC have announced a partnership deal that will allow users to watch the iPlayer on the Finns' mobile phones. Techradar reports.

"From 1 October this year Nokia N96 owners will be able to watch all the programming over 3G or Wi-Fi.

... The iPlayer will be available via an application downloaded to the phone, though will come pre-loaded on most N96s."

CW's Shows Go Mobile

The CW offering includes full episodes and short clips of all its series. AdWeek reports.

"CW TV offering includes full episodes and short clips of all its shows, including America's Next Top Model and Gossip Girl. Episodes run between two to five minutes

The only exception is Smallville, due to a contractual syndication agreement that precludes the network from incorporating it into the lineup."

Fox offers TV downloads through iTunes

Twentieth Century Fox has started adding a selection of television shows to iTunes, which are available to download as of today.

Jamie McCabe, Twentieth Century Fox EVP, Worldwide PPV, VOD and EST, said about the new deal: "Fox TV shows have been incredibly popular on the iTunes Store in the US.
We're excited today to bring these hit shows to fans in the UK via iTunes and look forward to adding more great programming soon."

Currently customers have the chance to download seasons one and six of 24, and the first three series of My Name Is Earl and Bones."

Users of the UK store will now be able to purchase or rent their favourite Fox shows; with the list so far including the likes of 24, My Name Is Earl and Bones.

[via techradar]

$62,000 Cell Phone Bill: Data charges for downloading Prison Break abroad

A Manchester- based IT consultant returned from a holiday in Portugal to a hefty £31,500 ($62,000) telephone bill. Digital Lifestyles reports.

"Iayn Dobsyn downloaded an episode of Prison Break and a load of MP3s by using his mobile phone as a modem.

Sadly, for Mr Dobsyn, he’d failed to check the limits set on his data plan, and he joined the long queue of punters who have been hit with Everest-sized bills when using data abroad.

Earlier this year, a Vodafone customer was slapped down to the tune of £27,000 ($3,000), after he’d downloaded a load of television shows via his mobile data package in the mistaken belief that he was on an unlimited data plan."

Sports Fans Twice As Likely to Watch Videos on Mobile Phones

According to the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) data, TV and internet now far outstrip other media at sports fans' peak viewing times and twice as many sports fans watch video via mobile compared with the average mobile user (12% vs. 6%).

[via Celluar News]

AT&T Mobile TV Launched in 58 U.S. Markets

AT&T, which is about a year behind Verizon Wireless in the Mobile TV market, has announced that subscribers in 58 areas around the U.S. can sign up for the company’s new mobile TV service.

[via MobileCrunch]

DoCoMo Phone lets you watch TV underwater

That title from I4U certainly caught my attention. And the photo above does indeed show the phone immersed in water.

"Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo unveiled 19 new mobile phones in the 706i and 906i series. One of which, in the 706i line includes the new F706i water-proof 1Seg digital TV mobile phone. "

Shared Solitary Serial Experiences

Two Tokyoites - on the right of the photo engaged in the same task watching the same television program on their mobile phone each using their own device, with comments passed back and forth. Shared experiences, yet personal device ownership gently separating the experience compared to current norms.

A fabulous picture from everyone's favourite Jan Chipchase.

TV at 140 Miles Per Hour

Digital sub-channels have not exactly been raving successes, writes Bits Blog.

"So the broadcasters would love to find something else to do with their additional spectrum. One solution may soon appear next year in the form of mobile television technology, a system that will allow you to watch digital TV while you’re on the move, using a PDA, cell phone, or your laptop. As you cruise down the freeway, the signal will never disappear.

The idea is that broadcasters can transmit local programming to mobile devices, so when you’re driving on the Long Island Expressway, for instance, you can pick up the latest sports scores, or learn all about the cat that got stuck in the tree in Bensonhurst. And broadcasters can make additional revenue by selling ads."

Samsung joins forces with LG, Harris on mobile TV

Samsung Electronics is combining efforts with fellow Korean electronics maker LG Electronics to develop a new standard for mobile TV broadcasts, the companies announced Wednesday.

Their technology will be competing with two others to become the standard for mobile TV, a decision that rests with the TV industry's technical standards-setting body for digital broadcasts.

[via Reuters]

NBC Streaming Full Episodes of 30 Rock and the Office to iPhones

NBC is streaming full episodes of 30 Rock and The Office to iPhones (and touches) in Quicktime, for free, with no ads.

[via Gizmodo]

Mobile TV Spreading in Europe and to the U.S.

Every day in Switzerland, 40,000 people watch a 100-second television news broadcast on their cellphones. In Italy, a million people pay as much as 19 euros each ($29) a month to watch up to a dozen mobile TV channels. The New York Times reports.

"... Japan is the leader in direct mobile television, with 20 million cellphones equipped with TV receivers, followed by South Korea with 8.2 million, according to In-Stat, a research and consulting firm in Scottsdale, Ariz.

In-Stat estimated that there were 29.7 million mobile TV viewers worldwide at the end of 2007. That is expected to almost double, to 56.9 million, at the end of 2008, driven by growth in Japan.

Italy has been an early leader in Europe, with service beginning in 2006. The largest mobile TV broadcaster on the Continent is 3 Italia, a cellular operator owned by Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong, with 800,000 customers, about 10 percent of its total phone clients. The million Italian viewers watch up to a dozen channels."