Modeo, the mobile video venture of tower operator Crown Castle, and MediaFLO, Qualcomm’s mobile video subsidiary, are both demonstrating their services on next-generation handsets at the CTIA Wireless 2006 show in Las Vegas this week (April 5-7).
Modeo is holding live demonstrations of a new, production-ready “smartphone” designed around the high-performance DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld) standard, the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 platform and Microsoft Windows Media platform. Manufactured to Modeo's mobile TV specifications by HTC, the handset can receive live TV broadcasts and also play back video and music stored in multiple formats.
Modeo users will also be able to take advantage of portable subscription music, as well as surf the Internet and send e-mail. Modeo pilot tested its DVB-H mobile broadcast network in Pittsburgh last year, and plans to officially launch during 2006 in select major U.S. markets, including New York. The company currently is working on deployment of the network to the top 30 U.S. markets, with launches targeted throughout 2007.
Qualcomm and Samsung Electronics are conducting a live, over-the-air demonstrations of MediaFLO’s proprietary “FLO” transmission technology during CTIA. It is the first public demonstration of FLO technology on a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) handset and will feature multiple channels of streaming video and audio content.
MediaFLO, which plans to launch later this year pending an FCC ruling on potential interference from the mobile video service, says it is providing citywide coverage of FLO technology during the CTIA show for various demonstrations on the convention floor.
It also announced a multi-year deal with Network LIVE, a joint venture between AOL, XM Satellite Radio and AEG, to provide content and programming for the mobile video service, including live and prerecorded concerts, interviews with musical performers, comedy performances and other special events.
