Washington DC First City to Get Free Digital TV for Mobile Devices
April 21, 2009 9:16 AM | Cell Phone TV | Comments (0)
| Later this summer, Washington D.C., will be the first city to get free, over-the-air digital television signals for mobile devices such as cell phones, smartphones, and laptops. The TV signal will be broadcasted in a standard known as Mobile DTV with the exact programming that is sent to televisions. The programming as with regular TV will include advertising. Washington D.C. was chosen because the city is full of tech-savvy viewers who watch the local news. The Open Mobile Video Coalition has pushed to have free mobile TV across the U.S. and by the end of the year; they expect to have free, over-the-air programming to cover about 39% of U.S. households. Currently, there are no devices that can play this standard, however the coalition wants to spur device makers by offering the service. Dell has already showcased a prototype Inspiron Mini 10 netbook with a TV tuner that can utilize this standard, and LG Electronics and Samsung are working on cell phones that can watch this television standard. |  |
The Open Mobile Video Coalition hopes that eventually consumer electronics manufacturers will create multiple products that can utilize Mobile DTV, which includes in-car entertainment systems, smartphones, personal media players, and portable gaming devices.
It's unknown if the Open Mobile Video Coalition will be able to compete directly with paid offerings from the cell phone carriers. Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint Nextel have spent billions of dollars building their own mobile television offerings. The carriers may not allow Mobile DTV-enabled cell phones on their networks.
|
Join |
|
& get our news delivered to your in-box! |
