AT&T selects MediaFLO; US moves closer to mobile TV monopoly
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Feb 12th 2007 11:55AM
posted Feb 12th 2007 11:55AM
It was no surprise to see Verizon and Sprint both select Qualcomm's MediaFLO to power their mobile TV networks; after all, Qualcomm and CDMA go together like peas in a pod. Imagine our surprise, though, to hear that AT&T has also selected the technology over the more globally-accepted DVB-H. The two companies made the announcement today, promising that a MediaFLO-based network will come through to supplement AT&T's existing video content in the second half of the year, picking up MediaFLO's newest features along the way: multicast video clips, datacasting (for, to use their words, "realtime information and entertainment, and dedicated audio. As for American DVB-H? Hiwire and Modeo have to be down in the dumps this morning, though T-Mobile has yet to make any announcements one way or the other. Admittedly, we're pulling for the little guys -- choice is always good, right?Update: Although it is believed that Sprint's VUE trial is powered by MediaFLO, it should be noted that Sprint is still considering all their options and no announcements have thus far been made regarding its mobile TV offerings. Hope springs eternal, Modeo!
Crazy! Was not expecting that, but I'm sure they put this under careful consideration.
Somebody over at the DVB-H camp was probably too confident and priced too high
Ya' gotta figure that the more people that use MediaFLO, the lower the price per user... but I'll bet it has something to do with quality of service, too. MediaFLO's image quality and low channel switching time appear to make it technically superior to DVB-H. Still, I would have said that Verizon was just biased... but with Cingular/AT&T now on board, you have to believe it's fact.
What awful news. My last vestige of hope is that T-Mobile will do the right thing and choose DVB-H.
If what you want to do is watch TV on a mobile handset, or other mobile device, FLO is the way to go. Its not CDMA vs. GSM. Its also not only about the technology per se - its the content.
i hate at&t so much! they were this huge company that ripped customers off, then the governement forced them to split up into baby bells to make them offer better prices. then the governement let them all merge back together to yet again, ripped customers off! i feel bad for cingular customers now. if you think you were locked down and over charged before, wait another 4 years!! at&t may i make a phone call now?