Qualcomm's MediaFLO in action
We totally missed this at CTIA earlier this week, but Rafat over at MocoNews got to play with a prototype of a handset compatible with Qualcomm's new MediaFLO wireless media network. MediaFLO has sort of been on the DL since it was first announced late last year, but basically it's Qualcomm's response to DMB and DVB-H, both of which are used (mainly overseas) to wirelessly deliver audio and video to handheld devices (the idea being that standard 3G networks are too slow or overtaxed to deliver high-quality audio and video). Qualcomm plans to actually operate the network themselves — they're currently trying to sign up different TV networks and other content providers — but the tricky part is getting handset makers to incorporate the chipsets into their phones and wireless carriers to commit to offering the service to their subscribers. Oh, and then there's that whole tricky thing about whether many people here in the States even want to watch TV on their cellphone. Either way, Rafat says that the quality of the demo he saw was excellent.
