Can’t Talk Now, SpongeBob Is on the Phone

How old are you? This seems to be the key question concerning your desire, or lack thereof, for Verizon Wireless’s new V Cast Mobile TV service. We’re not talking about low-resolution clips that take 30 seconds to load and are interrupted by constant buffering. No, V Cast Mobile TV is actual live TV, broadcast to compatible cellphones. Most boomers who have seen the phones and the service wonder who would want to watch TV on a 2-inch screen. They should ask their kids, who will go gaga over it—if they can afford the monthly subscriptions fees.

Features

V CAST Mobile TV doesn’t use the cellphone network but is broadcast over a dedicated multicast network via a technology called FLO TV developed by Qualcomm subsidiary MediaFLO. The service is currently available in about two dozen cities (see below) and growing rapidly. Verizon expects to have most of the major markets covered by year end, just around the time Cingular/AT&T is due to launch the service. Although FLO TV can broadcast up to 20 channels, Verizon is currently offering only eight mobile channels—CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC2Go, NBC News2Go (mostly CNBC programming), and Nickelodeon—plus V CAST Video on Demand (clips run from free to $2.49). Most of the cable networks are offering special mobile lineups, while the three broadcast networks simulcast their regular day and prime time lineups and fill non-network time with reruns. So if you missed CSI, 24, or Heroes at their regularly scheduled times, you can catch them at your convenience. Verizon offers three programming packages, which seem a little high-priced considering the limited channel selection and missing TV network—ABC: Simple ($13/month) includes Fox, NBC, NBC News, and CBS; Basic ($15/month) serves up all eight channels; and, Select ($25/month) bundles the TV channels with basic TV clip downloads, mobile Web access, unlimited airtime, and unlimited email.

Performance

Cellphone-aholics used to blotchy and constantly stalling video clips will be pleasantly surprised if not shocked by both the crystalline picture quality and near-perfect reception. I spent hours watching mobile TV on the first two V Cast-compatible phones and the service burped for a second or two perhaps twice an hour (even while driving in a car). Mobile TV will look and feel familiar to TV watchers of all ages, including seniors thanks to the telescoping antenna you have to pull up. Once activated, the service displays an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) on the screen. Select the channel you want to watch and from there you can surf, moving from one channel to the next. And like your TV at home, reception is near instantaneous. I used the LG VX9400 ($200 with the usual rebates and contract obligations) and Samsung’s SCH-u620 ($150) to test out the V Cast service. Without hesitation I can tell you that the LG is demonstrably superior. It has a larger screen and its picture has truer colors and more solid blacks. The LG also runs nearly twice as long (in TV mode) on a single battery charge, delivers faster Web service, and has a 1.3-megapixel camera that takes near digital-camera quality snapshots, compared with the bleached out pix you get with the Samsung.

But most of all, the LG VX9400 is just plain cooler. It is the first so-called T-bar phone in the U.S. It’s all the rage in Asia, where they’ve had terrestrial and satellite TV on cellphones for years. It’s also simple: you flip a T-bar screen from its portrait orientation up and around 45 degrees to a perpendicular, landscape orientation, which is perfect for TV. Return the screen to its vertical position and whatever is on the screen automatically re-orients itself. Very cool. Even without TV service, this design will attract attention.

BOTTOM LINE

With its surprisingly sharp and colorful picture and nearly bullet-proof reception, V Cast Mobile TV is the best portable TV option available. But it will take the younger, sharper eyes of the iPod video/PSP-generation to truly appreciate it, especially on the cooler LG VX9400.

Conclusion

With its surprisingly sharp and colorful picture and nearly bullet-proof reception, V Cast Mobile TV is the best portable TV option available. But it will take the younger, sharper eyes of the iPod video/PSP-generation to truly appreciate it, especially on the cooler LG VX9400.