FLO TV for iPhone proof-of-concept caught in the wild
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted November 20th 2009 12:57PM
posted November 20th 2009 12:57PM
We don't know if watching TV on a 3.5-inch display is your bag, as it were, but it looks like Qualcomm is moving onward and upward with its plans for FLO TV on the iPhone. Not too many details at the moment, just some pics that Electricpig snapped of a handset running a proof-of-concept app that relies on an external device for reception, streaming re-runs of Mayberry R.F.D. to your handset via WiFi. No word yet on the when this device might actually go "prime time," but with any luck the five pocket TV enthusiasts out there may someday be freed from the tyranny of the FLO TV Personal Television. Get a closer look after the break.
Why don't they just ditch the hardware and stream the tv to phones using data? Last thing I want is to have another thing tethered to my phone, the whole point of having a do-everything smartphone is to reduce the amount of devices I have to carry around.
@CL Because of the fact, even on 3G's speeds, TV on a phone by using a data connection is still way behind to that of other uses for data(Also because of hardware, but that's a different story).
Mix in the fact that you limit the device to only when you have a connection. What about if I have a 8 hour trip to somewhere in Western Europe? What if the area I'm driving through has poor reception? As long as they keep the hardware less obvious to actually using the software, this shouldn't be a problem at all.
@iDamien: "What about if I have a 8 hour trip to somewhere in Western Europe?" -- you think you're going to have MediaFLO coverage in Europe?
@iDamien
Nice BS there. You obviously haven't been to TVCatchup.com
Does it retort back at you with witty banter and often tells you to "kiss my grits?".
If it doesn't, I'm not interested.
@xcrunk
Okay, that was a brilliantly obscure reference! Very nice.
Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week. Try the fish!
with tv's literally everywhere you look (restaurants, schools, offices, etc.) it seems ridiculous to pay yet another monthly fee for mobile tv. and talk about a great way to deplete battery life even faster on phones already struggling to last a day...
What is the difference between this and slingbox?
Why do you need some dictionary sized device hanging off your phone that receives signals via wifi...the phone has WIFI built in!
Might have been nice to have an explanation, engadget...
Google is your friend. Hint: FLO doesn't go over WiFi, and it doesn't show you video from your machine at home like Slingbox.
@John Stracke
Of course google is my friend, but then what's the point of Engadget?
My gripe is they should have explained this a little better and the quality of this article, especially in the technical aspect, is quite poor in my opinion.
"Not too many details at the moment, just some pics that Electricpig snapped of a handset running a proof-of-concept app that relys on an external device for reception, streaming re-runs of Mayberry R.F.D. to your handset via WiFi"
That makes it sound like it actually operate over WiFi, but after doing some more research, I see that the only reason it connects to the iPhone is to receive power. It receives signals OTA (similar to DMB in Korea), and then streams the signal to the iphone via wifi.
Who wants to take bets on how fast this will drain the phone's battery? So you're on cell providers 3g network, sending power to this hunk of crap device, and you have WiFi turned on, to receive signals from this hunk of crap device. Gentlemen, place your bets.
I give it about 30 minutes of viewing time :).
Slingbox with a hacked iphone \ 3gtricker sounds better to me, at least for now.
Aren't directv \ etc providers going to offer online viewing soon anyways? All we need are 4g \ LTE networks, and there ya go, no more need for portable OTA tv devices.
"Relies", not "relys". Come on, even a basic spell checker would have caught that one. Anyway I'm not really interested in this because it relies (see?) on external hardware.
Just get Sprint or Verizon, preferably Sprint.
The FLO upgrade kit says "Kiss my Grits" on power up comes with a Vick Tayback belt holder.
From what I understand this does, my iMac and EyeTV by Elgato does the same thing.
I'll just use my slingbox, thank you. Oh wait ATT banned it on my iphone. Please approve any app ON MY PHONE that suits your political or protects your revenue wishes.