I never liked FLO TV (formerly MEDIA FLO) and no one I knew did either. Not that it’s bad. We just wouldn’t really know since none of our handsets can use it. Available primarily on feature phones with onboard TV tuners (like the LG Invision), the FLO TV has received underwhelming adoption (and I’m being generous with that).
According to Qualcomm, all that should change by next year when the company rolls out a new set of external tuners for use with smartphones like the iPhone and Windows Mobile devices. Currently in the process of developing the add-on FLO TV peripherals, the company is considering both plug-in and wireless solutions.
To no one’s surprise, Qualcomm is starting with a TV tuner for the iPhone, via the third-party hardware interface available in OS 3.0, with plans to follow-up with a product for WinMo handsets after that. Delivery of the TV feeds will continue to be via airwaves, instead of something like 3G, in order to spare the phones from the serious battery consumption 3G streaming will use up.
Qualcomm also claims that it’s beefing up its network, rolling it out to areas covering over 200 million users by the end of the year. Price for the FLO TV service (currently ranging from $15 to $25, depending on the carrier) will also be pulled back to try and gain wider adoption among mobile users.
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