Verizon's V CAST Mobile TV going live March 1st

Nah, Verizon Wireless isn't snapping up Alltel just yet or anything, but the carrier is formally announcing its plans to launch its much-anticipated V CAST Mobile TV service right on schedule. The March 1st date that's been floating around is purportedly true, meaning there won't be any unforeseen delays in enjoying the mobile TV abilities of your forthcoming SCH-U620 or VX9400 -- if you're in a launch market, that is. Currently, the exact whereabouts of launch capabilities is a bit ambiguous, and curiously omitted are major markets such as "New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego and Las Vegas," but the provider reportedly plans to have a good deal of these "major markets" covered by the "end of Q1," or March 31st. The service will utilize Qualcomm's MediaFLO mobile TV network, which AT&T also plans on eventually using, and will offer up programming from CBS, Comedy Central, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, and Nickelodeon. Unfortunately, we're still in the dark in regard to an official pricing structure, but with only T-minus two days 'til kickoff, the remaining minutiae should surface soon enough.

[Mrmean @ Feb 27th 2007 2:53PM]

yay, tv on my phone..

[7of7 @ Feb 27th 2007 2:55PM]

So now we're only 4 years behind the rest of the world? Not that TV on the phone is all that useful.

[Michael Chastain @ Feb 27th 2007 3:32PM]

I've had live TV (not to mention access to my DVR) on my Verizon phone ever since I bought a Slingbox.

[Andrew Rahimi @ Feb 27th 2007 3:38PM]

What phone? None of Verizon's consumer (non-smartphone) offerings allow you to use slingbox/orb/etc

[Sprint USer @ Feb 27th 2007 3:54PM]

Wait a sec. why does anyone care about this didn't Verizon's CEO say that peoples cell phones shouldn't work in their homes anyways. How about better reception.

Why do I even want to pay for another monthly service fee?

Buy a SlingBox get a Motorola Q and you can have ALL of your TV sent to you for Free of course you need Data plan Sprint's Data plan is best.

You have to examine WHO actually Wants this TV Service?

Business men No they want Email
Soccer Moms No too busy talking on the phone driving Hummers
Tech Geeks No (we have SlingBox already)
Teens No they are too busy having sex and TExt messaging
Tweens too busy looking for work
Baby Boomers too busy on wine drinking trips

This leaves Low income people ridding the bus who want too watch TV and are addicted to escapism (yeah great market)

How about legislation banning cell phone TV watching while driving


Can you say annoying commericals on cell phones.

[PeterB @ Feb 27th 2007 4:24PM]

Just noticed in the smaller print,

$13/mo if you only want NBC, CBS, Fox and NBC News.

[fractionsound @ Feb 27th 2007 4:54PM]

yes, you can get "tv" on your smartphone with your slingbox...this is slightly different i think. higher resolution, better framerate, and its broadcast -- not unicast (read: no buffering). but yes, it's a trade off methinks. better quality on this service or more channels using a slingbox...

re Sprint USer: i totally agree with you that business men won't be interested in this and wouldn't give up a Treo for TV. but i think the teen/tween/18-35 group is a good target for this.

by FAR my favorite line, though: "Baby Boomers too busy on wine drinking trips" LOL. awesome.

[Scott @ Feb 27th 2007 5:23PM]

Is there really that much decent programming on TV to generate a market for this? Really?

Even if there is how is this better than using a Slingbox? WTF are these people thinking?

Open note to cell phone companies : Quit dorking around with crappy video and game services. Concentrate on improving your customer service, better coverage, and working with manufacturers to achieve better battery life on the phones themselves. Once you've got these down, then you can muck around with useless products.

[Ryan @ Feb 27th 2007 5:24PM]

And it's written in Myriad - which means it must be as easy to use as an Apple product! : )

[Mile @ Feb 27th 2007 5:44PM]

If the cell phone manufacturers weren't in bed with the carriers, they would just put a TV tuner in the phones and free broadcast TV would be available.

But then the carriers wouldn't get their $13+ per month per customer.

[PeterB @ Feb 27th 2007 5:49PM]

The pricing structure is on all the new brochures dealers are getting.

$15/mo for basic, includes NBC News, NBC, CBS Mobile, MTV Mobile, Nick, Comedy Central, Fox Mobile.

$25/mo for "Vpak" which adds access to the existing vcast system, mobile web and unlmited airtime for data calls.

[Michael @ Mar 1st 2007 10:05AM]

You know...why don't they worry about getting V-Cast to all the states first????

[JimmyJackFunk21 @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:41PM]

Another function with a Windows 5.0-enabled Motorola Q is that if you have the services of Mercora.com, you have yourself a wireless music player. And with their extensive music catalog and search engine, they are definitely worth looking into. Just another option.

[InteriorArt @ Mar 19th 2007 10:08PM]

My review of the new VZW Samsung SCH-U620

Samsung engineers, GO BACK TO SCHOOL!

I am a business owner in Northern NJ and a VZW customer since 1997 with 24 Verizon Wireless phones (on 5 accounts). Many of them are or were the Kyocera SE47 Slider which I think is one of the best phones that Verizon had discontinued.
I was waiting for a long time for Verizon to come out with a new compact, durable slider.
I did not like the Chocolate and was happy to see the U620 with all of its features.
After reading the following review you can decide if having a TV on your phone worth having this phone and I'll be glad to answer question via email [e-mail]
I would like to thank Rudy the VZW manager of GSP store in Paramus NJ for his help.

Pros:
• Well built slider with spring action.
• Many tasks that do not require keyboard or digits can be done without opening the slider. This is an advantage over the limitation of the SE47. These tasks includes: Answering calls, dialing to recent callers, view Text message (see negative comment about “direct view”), watch TV, view missed calls and even taking pictures and more. You must “unlock” before performing these tasks to prevent accidental operation.
• Nice display and vibrant colors. (Battery drainer)
• Live streaming TV - (Battery drainer) this is a great feature and the picture quality is excellent. (I own 2 HDTV large screen TVs and I can clearly say that the picture quality on this phone is excellent).
• TV Reception in the NYC area - I know that the signal in NYC area is not yet at full strength but I get good reception in many places in Northern NJ except no signal inside the Verizon wireless store on Rt. 4 west in Paramus. Best reception outdoor but I also got a good signal inside some stores and buildings in NYC area.
• Loud speakerphone and sensitive microphone, HF conversations are loud and clear.
• Nice large keypad compared to the Kyocera SE47, easy TXT
• Large fonts to dial out
• Easy to navigate the menu and get used to the features.
• Fairly good reception but not as good as the SE47
• Side buttons are easy to operate and do not interrupt normal operation if accidentally pressed.

Cons:
• No "Backup Assistant" in Get-It-Now so you can't transfer you phonebook that you saved online (I had 250 contacts and more that 800 saved numbers. Thanks to Darryl at the Paramus store the took my advise to use the data cable from the A930 and my old SE47 they were able to transfer all my contacts and most of my numbers.) This is a major screw up of whoever put the software inside this phone, GO BACK TO SCHOOL!
• While charging the phone the display is always on, this slows down the charging time and possibly prevents the phone from ever reaching a full charge. The display is so bright while charging that I had to turn the phone over so I can darken my bedroom at night.
• Extra small font when browsing the net with MobilWeb compared to the large fonts on the same page if you are using the Samsung U740, (Thanks again Rudy) I am 44 years old and see 20/20 but the fonts are too small to get used too.
• Many “security error” on the browser while viewing my “Mobil Mail” on Go Daddy’s secure site. I view the exact same page with the 740 and did not get even one error. It kept on coming over and over and only after refreshing 3 times per email for the first 5 emails the problem was gone but kept coming back every time I check my mail.
• No external buttons for music players. Only the standard Vcast music player.
• While playing music the V-Cast red screen is on at all time and drains the battery.
• There is no way to turn it off so expect less that 2 hours of playing time before you need to recharge.
• The menu lacks basic features like “Direct View” for text msg; this is a slider with one front display so why not make a direct view like the one on the SE47.
• Weird icons that are not in the icon glossary – this morning I setup the phone for Data call, while setting it up a text appeared explaining that the phone will switch to data mode for the next 10 minutes only. When the call was done I had on the front display an icon that looks like AA for about 3 hours and then it was gone. ???
• Battery life is bad. Even though it says 1000ma on the battery, it holds less charge than the 800ma of the U740 and much less than the SE47. In today’s technology world, when a company comes out with product for people “on-the-go” they need to accommodate those users. By selling a phone with a battery life of less than two hours of use (calling, Mobil Web, Text message & music playing) and less than one hour of TV with no extended battery offered is irresponsibility to their customers. Extended battery is not officially sold by Verizon; eBay has them under other Samsung but not the cover.
• My biggest disappointment came Tuesday night at 8pm when I was away from home and wanted to watch American Idol on this gadget but all I found on FOX was LA law re-runs for the next 2 hours. I checked the guide and there was not even a scheduled America Idol show.
• On the “send Text Message” screen when selecting “Add” with the soft key one of the option is “Recent calls” but not “recent Messages” as I was used to from the SE47. So you can only see those who called you last or outgoing calls but not any of your recent text message transactions. I sometime send text to emails and those SMS did not show in “Recent Calls” so if you want to send an SMS to the last person that sent you SMS you have to find that person again in the contact list or go to the “inbox”, find the sms, open it and “Reply” (So much troubles for a simple task). It is so simple on the SE47.

My overall impression of this phone is that it was well built, well equipped, but poorly planned, poorly engineered, poor battery life and an overall disappointment.

Ori Katzin
Interior Art & Design, Inc.
Hackensack, New Jersey
Cell Phone [phone]
W- 201-488-4488
1-800-CALL-IAD
Email: [e-mail]