Mobile TV

[Cepe Indicum]

Sorry, I still don't get your argument cube.

"Comm tech"... the iPhone is, amazingly , a cell / mobile phone (I'm with you on wanting it to be 3G here in Europe), it's does email, you can access the Internet more fully than ever before on a phone... is this not "comm tech"?

You seem to have a fixation with digital video (DVB-H etc. etc.).

 

[yg17]

Sorry, I still don't get your argument cube.

"Comm tech"... the iPhone is, amazingly , a cell / mobile phone (I'm with you on wanting it to be 3G here in Europe), it's does email, you can access the Internet more fully than ever before on a phone... is this not "comm tech"?

And I can do all that on my BlackBerry which is a third of the price, and available on nearly every cell carrier, I don't have to lock myself into sh*tty Cingular for it.

 

[iShak]

i thought iphone was lame the next day that it was announce ...

for a better option (albeit a concept) i would like to nominate

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/12/survey-gives-more-google-phone-clues/

^ this has proper buttons, proper screen and much prettier

 

[BilltheCat]

i thought iphone was lame the next day that it was announce ...

for a better option (albeit a concept) i would like to nominate

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/12/survey-gives-more-google-phone-clues/

^ this has proper buttons, proper screen and much prettier

I hope the phone is better than the url. It doesnt come up at all for me.

 

[The Stig]

Nokia's phone is UGLY. No style to it at all. I didn't read anything about the phon because there is no point. What the hell is with that big ass stylus??? Steve Jobs says nobody wants to use a stylus. I bet he almost killed himself laughing when he saw that thing.

The Stig

 

[cwedl]

I would be buying the phone for the software i.e. Mac OSX mobile. not Windows Mobile! thats awful!

 

[Cepe Indicum]

iPhone now seems lame

Only bad thing about this is the software. Let's hope Nokia catches up soon:

iPhone killer

I quote your first post, cube.

This is what I have been replying to since the beginning of your thread. My Blackberry will also do everything the iPhone does (I bet, no where near as well, but...) your argument has been that the Gigabyte is an "iPhone killer", which makes the iPhone "look lame"... ???

 

[iShak]

I hope the phone is better than the url. It doesnt come up at all for me.

its a permalink from engadget ... and it still works

 

[cube]

You seem to have a fixation with digital video (DVB-H etc. etc.).

I rarely talk/SMS on my cell, so I'm more interested in it as a media pod, then I would be actually carrying for something. I'd like to be able to do some very occasional browsing when required, keeping in mind the traffic costs. The mapping abilities (GPS) of the N95 are cool.

But I have my serious doubts about spending that kind of money on a phone which will feel obsolete soon when DVB-H transmissions and microSDHC arrive.

 

[cube]

Well, I asked two operators and both said that the TV quality is better over UMTS than over EDGE, so 3G is a must.

None of the operators have full UMTS coverage where I need, so I would need to go a bit over EDGE.

- The operator with the best channel offer does not offer TV over EDGE, and TV is not offered to prepay customers.
- The operator with a passable channel offer but the best coverage requires a Vodafone-branded phone.
- The operator with the irritating channel offer has little UMTS coverage, but the access is open.

So I guess I won't be spending any money.

 

[Skrilla™]

this is just what I need at football games, catch the local HD broadcast for other games

I hope iPhone2 can catch digital OTA

 

[Abstract]

Does it have Wi-Fi, does it have iTunes support, does it even look good? No

Haha, "does it have iTunes support". You, me, and everyone here knows the answer is "no". I don't like this white phone at all, but everyone who asks "Does it have iTunes support?" is asking a bit of a cop-out question, as if that's even an argument or a question worth asking.

"Wow, it plays music via some modified version of iTunes rather than another mp3 phone software that's just as good." Meh, oh well. Even software from 3-4 years ago can play AAC and mp3 files with no problems, so unless you buy music from iTMS (hello 2% of the country), who cares.

 

[Abstract]

But why do you think "iPhone now seems lame"? I just can't understand where you're coming from with this...

OK the iPhone doesn't have the capability of on-the-move TV, but you can access YouTube, you can carry your movies and TV shows, etc., you have access to a lot of media... you're argument is really wearing thin.

Again, I'm not defending the iPhone. It's a nice phone, and that's all it is to me. I'm not going to buy one.

However, to counter with "but you can access YouTube" is a bit lame. You can access YouTube via a lot of phones, and quite frankly, I don't think anyone is going to access YouTube via their phone, especially on an internet connection as slow as the one on the iPhone.

I think the iPhone is fab, but I really don't understand some of these counter-arguments at all. It just sounds like Apple fans defending an Apple product that they haven't even used yet.

 

[aristobrat]

so unless you buy music from iTMS (hello 2% of the country), who cares.

People who have a great music system setup in iTunes might care, especially those that have some nice smart playlists that get a fresh subset of their mongo-library to smaller devices (like a nano, mini, or iPhone) automatically.

IMO, there's way more to "iTunes support" than a phone being able to play iTS-drm'ed media.

A phone that shows up as volume on my desktop that I have to manually drag 'n drop MP3s to is not an acceptable solution for me. Even if it came with some software that made the job easier, it'd have to be one hell of a phone for me to bother learning a system separate from the one I use to sync with my iPods.

 

[cube]

I hope iPhone2 can catch digital OTA

I doubt that anybody will add it to a phone in the US if you can't move. See previous comment about 8VSB.

 

[Skrilla™]

I doubt that anybody will add it to a phone in the US if you can't move. See previous comment about 8VSB.

say what?

I thought that Texas Instruments was working on digital tv tuners for phones.

 

[Buschmaster]

There are phones already out much much closer to the iPhone than this one... To me, it has to be the iPhone, though, because i know it'll sync super easily with my Mac, I know it'll be cheaper to just go wi-fi with it, rather than a data plan, and I trust Apple.

 

[cube]

say what?

I thought that Texas Instruments was working on digital tv tuners for phones.

DVB-H. That's not free and is not a regular broadcast.

8VSB has inherent trouble with mobile reception. That's why the current work on A-VSB for mobile. Because the installed tuner base is 8VSB, this means you'll quite certainly be locked out of free regular broadcasts except for those also transmitted with A-VSB (this probably not in HD).

 

[Skrilla™]

DVB-H. That's not free and is not a regular broadcast.

8VSB has inherent trouble with mobile reception. That's why the current work on A-VSB for mobile. Because the installed tuner base is 8VSB, this means you'll quite certainly be locked out of free regular broadcasts except for those also transmitted with A-VSB (this probably not in HD).

I am not familiar with these technologies you mention, but is that what TI was developing?

 

[nitynate]

Its almost as bad as the ipod killer.

 

[cube]

I am not familiar with these technologies you mention, but is that what TI was developing?

8VSB is the modulation method of ATSC. Looking a bit more at A-VSB, I see that it's a supplemental signal to aid mobile tracking that it's backwards-compatible with existing receivers, so I guess it will indeed be possible to receive free mobile HD transmissions for those broadcasters that upgrade them.

TI presented a DVB-H solution. A-VSB is still not finished; Samsung is carrying some tests.

 

[Cepe Indicum]

Again, I'm not defending the iPhone. It's a nice phone, and that's all it is to me. I'm not going to buy one.

Before I answer the below, if you had read my other posts you would have noted that I won't be buying the iPhone either. That said...

However, to counter with "but you can access YouTube" is a bit lame. You can access YouTube via a lot of phones, and quite frankly, I don't think anyone is going to access YouTube via their phone, especially on an internet connection as slow as the one on the iPhone.

I think you may have taken my comments out of context, but I do take your point about connection speeds. Perhaps I should have restricted my argument to the fact that iPhone will be able to play downloaded movies / TV shows. However, in context, I would personally prefer to watch stuff on YouTube than I would TV; hell, most of the stuff on TV is also on YouTube!

I think the iPhone is fab, but I really don't understand some of these counter-arguments at all. It just sounds like Apple fans defending an Apple product that they haven't even used yet.

As I said before, I won't be buying the iPhone; whilst I think it looks like a great product, it is just too pricey for me, and I look forward to the second gen.

And, whilst I'm an Apple fan (as I guess you are, Abstract, otherwise why are you posting here?), I wasn't defending the iPhone so much as I was trying to point out to the OP that the iPhone has many features that perhaps do away with the need for mobile TV.

 

[Cepe Indicum]

To whoever changed the title of this thread - I guess the OP - well done! Mobile TV seems much more appropriate

 

[bloodycape]

Sorry, I still don't get your argument cube.

"Comm tech"... the iPhone is, amazingly , a cell / mobile phone (I'm with you on wanting it to be 3G here in Europe), it's does email, you can access the Internet more fully than ever before on a phone... is this not "comm tech"?

You seem to have a fixation with digital video (DVB-H etc. etc.).

I would beg to differ opera mini and opera mobile has changed all of this. And with flash being offered on for opera you can use your WM or sybian device and browse the net fully. Hell IE for WM almost had that capability.

 

[Cepe Indicum]

I would beg to differ opera mini and opera mobile has changed all of this. And with flash being offered on for opera you can use your WM or sybian device and browse the net fully. Hell IE for WM almost had that capability.

Hmm... whilst I take your point on this, I have had a play with opera mini... I guess it's the screen size that's the main issue here (I've seen it in operation on a RAZR) but it just doesn't "feel" like the "real" Internet.

Granted, I'm not one of the lucky few to have actually had a go on the iPhone, so perhaps it won't be any better than opera, but looking at the demo from MWSF and the iPhone pages on apple.com, the iPhone's browser looks much better than opera, or any other mobile browser I've seen before.