
RCR had the opportunity to fiddle around with the live, fully functional
DVB-H trial Hiwire is running in cooperation with T-Mobile in Las Vegas, and if the phrase "ready for prime time" is any indication, it sounds like they liked what they saw. Using an
LG U900 for service, RCR ran around Sin City comparing Hiwire's efforts to Verizon's MediaFLO-based VCAST TV -- a service that's been live for much of this year -- and found that the two were pretty much a wash for user experience. Hiwire's 24 channels of mind-numbing entertainment bests VCAST TV's lineup by a wide margin, but VCAST TV took significantly less time to switch between those channels (2 seconds compared to about 5); interestingly, though, VCAST TV seemed to be about 5 seconds delayed behind Hiwire, so it's a tradeoff. Of course, as RCR points out, Hiwire suffers from the same fundamental problem as VCAST TV -- subscribers would be paying for pretty much exactly the same content they're already paying for on their home televisions, albeit on a heck of a lot smaller screen -- so even if the service looks ready for commercial launch, is anyone ready to buy?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dand @ Sep 25th 2007 12:59PM
I thought the point here is mobility...I'm never at home, and besides placeshifting (which can get expensive when you factor in Cable, SlingBox and Pipe with huge upstream) there aren't many affordable options. So would I pay some cash to catch CNN/CNBC on the go, and carry one device? Absolutely.
cgallaty @ Sep 25th 2007 3:19PM
This is where the Sprint WiMax / N800 could really clean up. Finally you have the connection speed and the screen to handle things. Prior to the N800 I found no issue with using a Palm Life Drive to view video on the go. The main thing is if you are trying to drop below a 320x240 rez, give it up.