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Mobile TV popular in the 25-34 male crowd
That chased-after demographic of 25 to 34 year-old males just found a new fan: mobile TV. ComScore states that 46 percent of current mobile TV subscribers in the U.S. are below the age of 35 and 65 percent are male. To us, that's an obvious conclusion from the research company (who supplied the stats). The research firm concluded that younger males are earlier adopters of newer technologies. Umm, yep -- we had our suspicions. Apparently, that same group is responsible for the spread of newer mobile tech, as comScore added "once the early adopters have had a chance to fully engage with the technology and share their experiences with friends, relatives and colleagues, Mobile TV is substantially more likely to reach a critical mass in the marketplace." Cool. Additionally, the top-recognized "brands" in mobile TV were Verizon's VCAST, MobiTV and Modeo. The research also showed that U.S. consumers wanted a high level of quality on a chosen mobile TV service. We're not sure it's there -- yet.
Cingular readying video download service?
Hot on the heels of Verizon's YouTube deal, it looks like Cingular wants to kick up the volume on its video offerings, too. Granted, they've already got Cingular Video kicking around, but what's the one thing Cingular Video won't let you do? It won't download clips to your phone, that's what -- and that's where the new service steps in. We don't have details on what sorts of downloads will be offered (full-length movies, perhaps?), but our intrepid tipster tells us he's been offered in on a trial to gather feedback using his LG CU320, suggesting that the new service may very well be 3G-only. Given the kind of bloat that comes with video, we're guessing a microSD card might be in order, too.[Thanks, Evan]
Cingular halts sale of 3G phones in 2G regions
Built it, and they will come -- even if they're not invited. That's the message Cingular is hearing loud and clear in some of its EDGE-only areas, where UMTS hasn't yet launched but their mediocre first round of 3G handsets were being sold nonetheless. Curious consumers in the EDGE boondocks have picked up the handsets and discovered Cingular Video, a service that Cingular has specifically designed for UMTS speeds, leading to a barrage of support calls for absurdly poor frame rates. Cingular, apparently oblivious that this might happen, has reversed their decision to launch 3G handsets ahead of the network build-out and is offering an extended return policy through June 30 for customers who've already picked one up. To our untrained eyes, watching CNN Headline News at insane compression rates on a sub-QVGA display looks about as good at 5 fps as it does at 20 fps, but kudos to Cingular for trying to do the right thing.
LG's CU500 3G clam with quad-band GSM/EDGE and HSDPA
HowardForums has some pics of that new slim LG CU500 clamshell coming to Cingular. This dual-mode phone is said to go quad-band GSM/EDGE, support WCDMA 850/1900 (and possibly 2100 making this a global 3G phone), and will operate on Cingular's HSDPA (1.8Mbps) network. What's more, that swiveling 1.3 megapixel cam eliminates the need for that second, bulky cam found on many 3G phones. It supports MicroSD expansion, looks crazy-thin for all the features it packs, and according to HoFo peeps, throws down an internal 2-inch, QCIF TFT LCD to view content on Cingular's Video service. Apparently, the CU500 is already FCC approved meaning it could drop anytime. More pics after the break. [Via PhoneArena]
