Analog TV shutdown will end free cell-phone TV in U.S.
Analog TV shutdown will end free cell-phone TV in U.S.
From:<a xhref="http://www.electronics-in-china.com/buy-phone/">http://www.electronics-in-china.com/buy-phone/</a>
Key words: cell phone,tv,phone
Picture whipping out your cell phone and catching up with Lost or Jeopardy, or watching the local 10 o'clock news, all for free.
You can do this with an imported Chinese phone, but you can't with any phone sold in the U.S. — at least not without monthly charges.
This is one of the reasons the United States is behind several other countries when it comes to making television an attractive option for cell phones. Carrier business models are partly at fault, but choices about TV technology made long ago are largely to blame.
U.S. TV broadcasters are eager to provide free broadcasts to cell phones, just as they do to TVs with "rabbit-ear" antennas. They've formed the Open Mobile Video Coalition, which estimates that advertising-financed TV for cell phones could be a $2 billion market.
They want to reach cell phones through another wireless standard the ATSC is creating. It will use regular TV frequencies to reach mobile gadgets, meaning TV stations will be able to broadcast from existing towers.
The big question then, Abraham said, is whether broadcasters will be able to persuade carriers to sell TV-capable phones.
AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said it was too early speculate.
"If the answer ends up being 'yes,'" Abraham said, "then that opens up a very large market."
- tootoo2
- 05:07
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