12/10, 1:15pm
FCC gives ATT 180 days approval window for 700MHz
The FCC on Friday posted that it had restarted the informal shot clock for approval of AT&T's buying Qualcomm's 700MHz spectrum. Retroactively applying the start to November 29, the federal agency expects to decide within 180 days whether or not it approves the handover. Most expect the AT&T to clear the deal given that Qualcomm wouldn't be using the spectrum following the end to its MediaFLO TV service.
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03/27, 4:25pm
LG mobile TV phone at FCC
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.
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11/27, 8:00am
ATSC Approves Mobile DTV
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.
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11/14, 10:45am
Samsung Eternity at ATT
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.
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10/14, 8:40am
Moto Krave at Verizon
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.
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10/09, 3:10pm
Samsung Eternity ATT Leak
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.
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06/23, 2:10pm
Samsung Omnia ATT Rumor
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.
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05/14, 9:40am
LG Samsung Mobile TV in US
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.
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05/07, 8:10am
LG Vu Mobile TV/Phone
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.
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05/05, 10:40am
LG Vu on Sale at ATT
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.
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05/01, 1:30am
AT&T Mobile TV with FLO
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.
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04/17, 10:50am
ATT Mobile TV Launch Leak
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.
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04/14, 4:30pm
LG Voyager for ATT Sprint
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.
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03/31, 3:25pm
Sony PIX on AT&T Mobile TV
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.
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03/25, 4:35pm
SiRF Cuts Jobs Drops TV
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.
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03/17, 4:05pm
Two LG Vus coming to AT&T?
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.
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03/17, 2:20pm
Europe DVB-H Standard
The European Commission today said it would make DVB-H an official standard for mobile TV on the continent. Previously ratified late last year, the decision asks any European Union country to push the Nokia-made standard above others as the primary choice for digital, over-the-air TV for cellphones and other devices that can pick up the handheld standard. Officials say the decision was made in part because DVB-H has the strongest presence in Europe and is already in service in Italy, where rival standards are currently limited to tests. Allowing multiple standards to float around the market would only hurt business, the Commission explains.
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02/15, 3:20pm
ATT Mobile TV Delay Reason
The delay in AT&T's mobile digital TV service has been confirmed, says a claimed source. While a company roadmap the tip suggests that both "legal issues" as well as technical troubles with the MediaFLO digital TV tuning processor have pushed the release back by as little as two or as many as eight weeks beyond existing delays, possibly resulting in a mid-April release. An initial release had been set for just after the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
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02/07, 2:15pm
ATT Mobile TV Delay
AT&T's widely reported mobile TV service has suffered a major delay, claim sources with access to the company's latest pricing roadmap. While the schedule reveals unannounced phones such as a GSM-based American version of the Palm Centro, no mention is made of the LG Vu touchscreen phone considered the linchpin of the mobile TV launch. A second phone intended for the launch, the Samsung Access, is also absent from the list and would leave AT&T without any TV-capable phones for the service, which was originally due to launch on February 5th.
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01/11, 3:35pm
AT&T Mobile TV Details
AT&T plans to conduct one of its most aggressive launches yet when it releases its first digital TV broadcast service this year, a leaked slide handed to Engadget reveals. In an expansion of earlier leaks, the carrier will launch a live digital TV service for phones known simply as AT&T Mobile TV. The service will share the same MediaFLO broadcast network as Verizon's V CAST TV as well as roughly eight of the channels but will add two of AT&T's own. The release will be broader than Verizon's and should cover 53 US cities on launch versus only a few cities for V CAST TV last year.
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