Verizon's V CAST Video for Android now available, runs $10 a month
By Chris Ziegler 
posted June 7th 2010 8:00AM
posted June 7th 2010 8:00AM
Android owners on Verizon now have a new (albeit pricey) way to bide their time as they wait in grocery store checkout lines, doctors' offices, traffic jams, DMVs, and Engadget Show entrance gates, because Big Red is flipping the switch today on its V CAST Video offering for every Google-powered handset to hit its network so far. The Droid, Droid Eris, Devour, Droid Incredible, and Ally are all equipped to take advantage of the app, which claims to offer over 230 full-length shows spanning over 40 programming providers -- but the downside is that it'll cost you $10 a month on top of your data plan, the same that V CAST Video On Demand runs on Verizon's other phones. If you're willing to take the plunge, look for it in the Market right away. DROID DOES VIDEO: V CAST VIDEO ADDED TO ANDROID SMARTPHONES FROM VERIZON WIRELESS
Live Sports Events, Including FIFA World Cup, and Hundreds of Popular Entertainment, News and Kids Programs Now Available
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – DROID doesn't compromise on entertainment, and watching popular television shows and sporting events just got easier for Verizon Wireless smartphone customers. Verizon Wireless said today that V CAST Video is now available on the company's impressive family of Android smartphones.
Univision Interactive Media will provide live streams of all 64 of its Spanish-language broadcasts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer matches from South Africa exclusively to V CAST Video customers' mobile devices. The soccer tournament is just one of hundreds of live sporting events – including college football, college basketball and NHL Hockey – available on V CAST Video throughout the year.
With V CAST Video, Android customers can now enjoy a wide variety of top-rated entertainment, news and sports programs on demand, whenever they want on the large screens on their smartphones. V CAST Video recently added programming from AETN, including A&E, Lifetime and the History Channel, and Spanish-language content from V-me. V CAST Video currently features more than 230 full-length programs from more than 40 leading providers.
Beginning today, V CAST Video can be found in the Verizon Channel in Android Market™ on all Android smartphones from Verizon Wireless: DROID by Motorola, DROID ERIS™ by HTC, Motorola DEVOUR™, DROID Incredible by HTC and LG Ally™. V CAST Video on Android devices is available for a $10 monthly subscription in addition to a smartphone data plan.
For more information about V CAST Video, including how to subscribe, visit www.verizonwireless.com/vcast.
For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
Nice (not the 10 dollars)
Yet another small example that Verizon embraces the new smartphones and how people want to use their smartphones all the while ATT is dropping its unlimited data (2 gb c'mon!) and continue its absolute catering to the iPhone (and now iPad). I am on my way out ATT, good riddence!
@angermeans For real tho....AT&T has phones that support TV apps but they have yet to release said apps for the phones....not to mention they REALLY need to get on the ball with some better Android phones.....I mean I like my iPhone and all an will most likely be getting the new one, but I would love to have the option of popping my SIM card out my iPhone into an android phone some days....
@angermeans
Uh, Verizon is charging you $10 a month for this service. That's called "nickel and diming you". I mean that's on top of your data plan. And your cellular plan.
I like how Verizon can absolutely screw people and some of you just take it with a smile.
@Jack Yea I bet there's commercials too. I'm tired of companies trying to charge me again and again for programming I already pay for through my TV service provider (Dish Network).
@Jack Are they forcing you to get it? No, didn't think so. I love V Cast. I can catch up on TV shows I missed if I were busy. I don't have a DVR.
@VZW611 Oh, Verizon can't force you to click on the icon that is force fed you by installing it on your phone with the ROM update, but it will always be there lurking, waiting for you to click on it by mistake, tempting you with Verizon's warm red colors and promises of freedom.
@Jack No, nickel-and-diming would be tiering the service so that users pay extra if they watch more than a certain number of shows in a billing cycle, or something like that. VZW's pricing isn't cheap, but it's still better than the overages that AT&T seems addicted to.
@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi. try looking around the iPhone app store. MobiTV, TVU, TV.COM, iTV. Those aren't AT&T apps, if you want an AT&T TV app for the iPhone there is always "U-Verse". There are TV apps for the iPhone.
Nope. 10$ a month. Seriously Verizon?
@huber Hey at least you are getting a definable set of features for $10, unlike the Premium Data experience that's required for the EVO on Sprint. Probably won't keep me from eventually getting the phone, but $10 for ambiguously premium service is still BS in my book.
SprintTV > Vcast
Free > 10$ a month
@DefPoet Free < $10 a month where I live
@juanvaldez DOH!!!!
Free coverage of the fifa world cup on sprint in English vs. Paying 10$ a month for fifa world cup coverage from Verizon in Spanish. That is not a hard choice
@DefPoet Voy a pagar los 10 dólares para verla en español.
@PhaseDMA
Verizon for you !!!!
@PhaseDMA Yo no voy ha pagar los 10 dolares y lo voy ha ver en ingles.
They should cut the price in half at least.
Is that 230 tv "shows" or 230 episodes total
more Verizon nickel and diming, shocking....
Between Cable TV, my home internet and my cellphone I am paying $400.00 a month for access to information. I simply am not going to pay anymore. Verizon could give me 200 HD channels on my phone for $10.00 a month and I wouldn't take it.
Verizon is really missing the boat on Android. The few apps it has put out are all buggy or just generally suck. The Visual Voicemail app they built for the Droid cannot even check phone numbers against my address book. This was about the only thing that my LG Voyager (the worst phone I have ever owned) actually did right.
@TZ Bill "Verizon could give me 200 HD channels on my phone for $10.00 a month and I wouldn't take it."
Hell I would, I barely get that on my TV. Combine that with a phone that sports HDMI out and you have portable satellite, in HD!
@daniel142005
You must have never used Vcast.
won't this totally not matter once Flash is running on Froyo? Can't you just start streaming content from all the networks at that point or Hulu?
@Bhima exactly, if I want to look at live sports I'll just load up espn3 on my froyo powered android device.
@mythlord Really? I thought they said it wasn't working?
I couldn't find it anyways if I did want to pay. I like Verizon but their Android apps blow in comparison to even T-mobiles. They need better coders and less expensive additional services. Oh and their visual voicemail that you have to pay for is terrible too...why I use the shaky transcriptions in Google voice.
Yet another reason to leave VZ. I wont feel bad at all for leaving to Sprint.
Can't believe Verizon is still pimping this VCast crap. TV Card + Orb = any channel you want at anytime at your preferred bit rate at no additional cost.
Shame that my HP Pre a year after release still has crap codec support and still can't use Orb.
$10/month? Uhm, hello Verizon, we have this thing called the internet... dunno if you've heard.
Who needs it? I have Hulu on my Droid now. :) Gotta love flash.
I can hardly think of a use scenario for this.
Airports and long car rides(with someone you don't want to talk to), and I don't do either more than once a month if that.
I pity the fool that pays for this.
I will use it for the free trial month so I can watch the world cup but after that free month forget it.....
Verizon loves locking you into these proprietary apps. Apps you can't necessarily take with you to your next latest greatest phone. Sure you don't have to use the app, then what is the point? An option? Isn't the whole Internet an option on Android compared to V-Cast Video?
good thing is you will be able to watch every single FIFA World Cup game live
you guys realize this is a optional service right? wow.
Am I the only one who finds the pricing strategy of cell phone companies all-in-all similar to that of Montreal strip clubs?
I can't see it in the market yet on my htc incredible. I'm considering a sling player anyway. I would be able to watch everything and pay for the hardware only once. Hopefully we see a sling player for android app very shortly. Plus, if the video quality in vcast video is anything like the nfl mobile app, they should be paying me to watch that crap.
Me to don't see it on the market yet but still its t.v on your phone and if it wad o. The iPhone for 20 dollars you all would be like org but Verizon tries to give customers choices. Geez
The only reason i would get this would be for World Cup and drop it soon after. No other reason, with Flash on the way for Android devices, this will become obsolete in no time!
Installed it earlier today: can't connect to anything over Wi-Fi, which makes no sense as you'd think VZW'd prefer to lessen the load on their data network as much as possible. Tried it on 3G and the app said it couldn't play any of the available videos. Uninstalled.
Really don't know who writes - or tests - apps for VZW, but they need to be shot. It's one thing to have bugs. It's quite another for a PAID app to fail completely at what it's supposed to do.