MWC 2009: Live MediaFLO TV on an iPhone!

Tuesday February 17, 2009

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MWC

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You're looking at live, broadcast TV playing on an Apple iPhone. I've actually seen two iPhone TV apps here at Mobile World Congress. This one uses the box in the foreground to connect to Qualcomm's MediaFLO service, which then beams the signal via Wi-Fi to an app on the iPhone. TV looked sharp, clear and smooth - broadcast quality. A Qualcomm rep I spoke to said that Qualcomm doesn't intend to sell this device themselves; instead, they're going to try to find a retail partner to bring it to market. Considering that AT&T, the iPhone's carrier, also works with MediaFLO, it looks like this may actually come to pass.

I also saw an iPhone app from PacketVideo running streaming TV that could be provided by MobiTV, another AT&T partner. The PacketVideo app was running over 3G, so the video was choppier than the smooth MediaFLO broadcast. But TV over 3G will work where you can't get Qualcomm's signal, which is broadcast on TV channel 55 in many US cities. PacketVideo said they were trying to sell their app to partners, who would then take it to retail.

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Posted By: Sascha Segan

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