Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Just recently, a new rumor has surfaced in regards to a mobile television device, or more specifically in regards to a device that Qualcomm is rumored to be making for FLO TV that will be called the FLO TV Personal Television.

For those unfamiliar with the FLO TV service, they offer television on the go and are currently available with both AT&T as well as Verizon Wireless.  As of now, the service is priced at $15 a month, is available on a total of nine devices and offers users around 20 channels of on-the-go entertainment.  It should also be noted that this service provides real television, not silly clips and bits and pieces that just leave you wanting more.

Getting back to the rumor, these details are coming courtesy of gdgt who report that the device will have a capacitive touchscreen display, a user interface that supports swipes and gestures, 4GB of internal storage as well as built-in stereo speakers.  Additionally in terms of battery life, the FLO TV Personal Television device will be able to offer up to 5 hours of video playback, 15 hours of music playback and up to 300 hours on standby.  Finally, the device is expected to be “iPhone-sized.”

Now, keep in mind that was all what the rumor suggests, which was based off the story of a “reliable source.”  Now here is what I can personally offer in terms of potential details.

Just as a coincidence, I was recently approached about setting up a phone meeting with a rep from FLO TV, and yes I took the call.  Overall it was a nice call, it gave me some nice insight on the FLO TV service and I even learned some interesting little facts such as how;

“On average, FLO TV subscribers watch more than 30 minutes per day which is comparable to the average time U.S. cell phone users spend per day talking on their cell phones, according to CTIA’s Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey 2008”

But more importantly, I also learned that Audiovox was currently in the process of building a mobile television device for FLO TV, which I suppose could be known as a Personal Television.  The details that I have are pretty light, but I was told that it was going to be designed as a rear seat entertainment device for the car and that it was initially going to be sold as an aftermarket device with hopes that it would later become an optional accessory from the dealer.

Finally, the Audiovox device is set to be launched in the Fall of 2009.  Now for the disclaimer, I am not sure that this rumor that has surfaced from gdgt and the story I heard first hand from a FLO TV rep are indeed the same device, but it does sound pretty close. 

Bottom line, if nothing else we can at least expect to see a rear sear entertainment device from Audiovox and FLO TV become available in the Fall, of course whether or not people are going to buy this will come down to the price, which unfortunately I have no details on.

Read [gdgt]