Qualcomm MediaFLO is teaming with Audiovox to offer mobile television service in vehicles, according to Engadget. Audiovox is developing a TV receiver that will plug into many vehicle video systems.
Some ten to 15 channels will be available when the service launches this year, Engadget says. However, channels that are exclusive to Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility won’t be part of the in-vehicle service. That’s sort of what “exclusive” means!
Engadget says the demonstration produced blurry video. Of course, a demonstration is different than a commercial launch, and I doubt MediaFLO would launch with poor quality video.
I’ve watched MediaFLO over Verizon Wireless, and the quality is rather good. Sometimes there’s buffering and pixelation, but it’s typically much better than mobile TV over 3G channels. The in-vehicle unit is likely to have to better antenna than those in cellular phones.
Challenges and advantages
MediaFLO transmits over Qualcomm’s network of antennas, and is available in several dozen markets across the country. The company hopes to offer service in 100 markets by the end of the year.
For local and metropolitan area driving within the available markets, the in-vehicle service should work fine. But for long distance drives, there won’t be continuous coverage.
With the profusion of portable DVD players and as more vehicles are equipped with DVD players for back seat viewing, consumers might not be willing to pay a monthly subscription fee for MediaFLO. However, there’s a limit to how many DVDs a family might take or want to purchase, and MediaFLO offers live service.
So for live video news, MediaFLO might be preferred. For example, Fox News and MSNBC are on MediaFLO.
Comments