Sprint bailing on VUE, MediaFLO?
Just days after AT&T announced it had selected Qualcomm's MediaFLO to power its upcoming mobile TV network, it sounds like Sprint's moving in quite the opposite direction. Despite a promising (or promising sounding, anyway) trial last fall -- heck, they even had the "VUE" name picked out -- the company is shelving any immediate plans to move forward with a MediaFLO-based service of its own. Though we're always sad to see a promising new tech get pushed back, a part of us is reveling in the fact that Qualcomm might yet fail to secure a lock on the American mobile TV market in the face of its biggest competitor -- DVB-H -- and its stateside backers, Modeo and Hiwire. So for the meanwhile, it sounds like Sprint joins the ranks of T-Mobile in the "watch Lost while you're driving" department: all trial, no action. Does Verizon stand to gain from the chaos?[Via MocoNews]
Filed under: Multimedia, Sprint
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jenna Breen @ Mar 9th 2007 12:25AM
doesn't anyone remember that Sprint has offered live tv since 2003?! you are making it seem like MediaFLO, with it's broad 8 channels of content, is the biggest and best game in town. when sprint has offer mobitv, not to mention movies and radio for years now.
so what if sprint doesn't go with MediaFLO now!! 8 channels compared to 20 for mobitv. not to mention a better price tag and larger coverage area with sprint tv. not to mention you can use sprint tv while roaming! look when MediaFLO includes 20+ channels with a national wide footprint, then we can all throw up are arms in pride. but just because verzion has chosen to lower their guarded walls to let some customers access a few channels. that is not enough for me to even see MediaFLO has being anything special. i hate Brew! i hate the fact that verizon wants to force their customers to buy it. so i don't care about verizon and MediaFLO.
and at&t, if they gave me a plan of a billion minutes for 1 dollar a month, i still wouldn't buy it! so if qualcomm can't get sprint to sell MediaFLO, then it is dead on the water. because no where near as many customers buy advanced content from cingular and verizon, as they do from sprint.
MediaFLO might as well stand for RIP if they can't get sprint on board.
Coolone3000 @ Jan 25th 2008 1:41AM
Sprint is practically dead!
elgee02 @ Mar 9th 2007 1:59AM
Gosh Jenna I feel like I gotta follow you around with a mop!
EV-DO based TV sucks, changing the channels and the overall clarity is very lacking. MedioFLO is damn near EXACTLY like watching your home TV but on a smaller screen. Changing the channels is instantaneous and there is never any buffer or lag like Sprint's live tv.