RIM to fire up mobile TV service for BlackBerry devices?

RIM's pleading the fifth at the moment, but the timing here sure makes this rumor one we'd love to believe. With BlackBerry App World launching on April 1st and CTIA opening up in a matter of days, it seems the perfect time for RIM to introduce its very own television service for BlackBerry devices. NewTeeVee has it from "multiple [undisclosed] sources" that RIM will announce a "full-episode television service" for BB users; the interesting part, however, is that it will supposedly download content via WiFi, leaving open the possibility for this to be carrier-agnostic. Granted, mobile TV initiatives have been far from successful thus far, but who knows if the CrackBerry crowd is the one sect willing to watch full episodes of The Cosby Show on a diminutive, low-res screen?

[Via mocoNews]

[Jake Paul @ Mar 26th 2009 5:05PM]

Downloading opposed to streaming doesn't sound that appealing, especially if it isn't free.

[Gnormie @ Mar 26th 2009 5:16PM]

How is streaming preferable to downloading? I see it from the point of view that you can access content quickly but apart from that downloading (especially if done in the background) is far superior. The ability to watch the program whenever you want regardless of whether you have a signal/WiFi router around, not liable to skipping/stopping unless there's a problem with the hardware. The only limitation really is space on the device but a 45 min show takes up about 350mb at 700x400 and that number could be reduced drastically for much smaller screens and resolutions.

[Kwikit @ Mar 26th 2009 9:05PM]

Downloading is far superior in places like NYC where you're underground for big stretches on subways, where it's boring except for the really hot girls :) ... you could then watch the downloaded content without needing to be connected to the network... since underground, you don't yet have network access.

[MONKEY @ Mar 26th 2009 5:07PM]

"a diminutive, low-res screen?"

Since when are the new blackberry's low-res? The Storm, Curve, and the new 9630 all have higher res screens than your precious iPhone (Bold has the same).

[Aru @ Mar 26th 2009 5:08PM]

Behold, Engadget's Apple bias at work.

Ain't it grand?

[CleverEndeavor @ Mar 26th 2009 5:14PM]

engadget, we love you, but that was ridiculous.

[Evan @ Mar 26th 2009 9:35PM]

As much as i wish so, the curve has about 1/2 the resolution of the iphone. But apples and orange.

[MONKEY @ Mar 26th 2009 11:00PM]

8900 Curve, not 8300

[J @ Mar 26th 2009 5:07PM]

WiFi Carrier agnostic - right.... unless you're on Sprint, Verizon or any other CDMA carrier that can't get a WiFi Blackberry. (No claim here that it's VZW or RIMM holding it up, just saying there's no such thing as a CDMA WiFi Berry)

[Luke @ Mar 26th 2009 5:15PM]

Verizon likes to charge for things stupid people didn't know they can get for free with other carriers or on the internet.

[Prokanda @ Mar 26th 2009 5:36PM]

exactly. stupid people. smart ones stick with verizon and work their way around the roadblocks with reg edits for winmo and bitpim for dumbphones while enjoying signal/speed almost good enough to make you forget you're not on wifi.


unfortunately, I went with a T-mo berry and the signal/speed sucks. not to mention UMA doesn't always work. so I make free calls when it recognizes my router... and have no signal when it doesn't. whereas when I had verizon, I always had signal in this state, everywhere, no exceptions.

so before you take a crap on verizon and its users, remember that some people actually *like* to have signal where GSM is an epic failure.

[coffeeophile @ Mar 26th 2009 5:15PM]

Does that mean there will be one more service book for mobile TV then? Oh, man! I have already been annoyed by the endless problems caused by missing/incompatible service books.

[2fast4u @ Mar 26th 2009 5:15PM]

Go RIM! =]

[Bailers @ Mar 26th 2009 5:18PM]

Not too sure about this one, how many BB are handed out by companies that may or may not want their employees downloading stuff off the internet to a work phone? I doubt my IT department would be too happy with me downloading TV shows onto the one they gave me.

[Aru @ Mar 26th 2009 5:22PM]

The nice thing about BES is that your employer can lock down parts of the phone/disable features.

[Dorf @ Mar 26th 2009 5:46PM]

Just force all browsing to come back through the BES and out the corporate proxy servers... no TV for you!

[spam_free @ Mar 26th 2009 5:20PM]

You really shouldn't knock The Cosby Show. It's leagues better than most trash on TV these days.

[ericrobins @ Mar 26th 2009 5:23PM]

And this is better than my slingbox why?

[Nelagster @ Mar 26th 2009 5:39PM]

exactly what i was thinking. if slingbox was marketed more so that more people realized how it worked, "mobile TV" subscriptions would never fly. slingbox enables you to take your own TV with you, instead of paying for TV at home and then a separate TV service for your phone

[Dorf @ Mar 26th 2009 5:48PM]

Or it allows people who travel all the time to NOT pay for home TV and still have the ability to watch a show or two if they want.

[PhantomBurn @ Mar 26th 2009 5:22PM]

more distractions for BB users....YES!

[chriseid @ Mar 26th 2009 5:53PM]

WiFi? That would rule out the pictured Storm.

[Patrick #2 @ Mar 26th 2009 7:46PM]

I was wondering why this wasn't mentioned in the article. Since it requires wifi, this won't be working on the Storm. Pity...

[theph0xx @ Mar 26th 2009 5:35PM]

for the love of God get me sling player mobile for the Storm ASAP

[Zorro @ Mar 26th 2009 5:45PM]

nice phone

[crsh @ Mar 26th 2009 6:15PM]

I don't think the format of downloadable/streamable content is the issue, it's how much they charge per byte to see something you get for free on any computer with net access.

[Evan @ Mar 26th 2009 9:38PM]

God forbid you hit up STC and do some of your own encoding. Probably faster than a cell phone could download high res videos anyways. If the TV isn't streaming, I'd pass.

[Shank @ Mar 26th 2009 11:27PM]

$40 for app.,what a fail.,lol!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BrokenMonkey @ Mar 28th 2009 11:11PM]

Another dickheaded blogger posting shit about non-Apple devices. The Storm's screen is higher resolution than the iPhone and it's a little smaller which means it has a higher pixel density, making it sharper. Nobody complains about watching videos on an iPhone or iPod touch so why knock the BlackBerry like that? Douchebag.