MIKE LANGBERG MobiTV television service has drawbacks but holds potential

By MIKE LANGBERG
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Watching live television on a mobile phone might seem like a silly idea, and MobiTV -- the first service to offer this wireless equivalent of a stupid pet trick -- might seem doomed to cancellation faster than a bad sitcom.
Yet it just might work.
Wireless carriers are working hard on next-generation networks that will send data to phones much faster, making it possible to deliver something resembling true full-motion TV, while new smart devices that tap those networks could have screens larger than the teabag-size LCDs on today's handsets.
Of course, we don't live in the future. Today's wireless networks and phones are much better than a few years ago, but don't quite have the horsepower required for TV.
MobiTV (www.mobitv.com), launched in November by a Berkeley, Calif., company named Idetic, is available for an additional $9.99 a month to Sprint PCS customers who already have the PCS Vision data plan.
What you get is unlimited viewing of 14 live cable television channels, including ABC News Live, CNBC, the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel and MSNBC. Unlimited, that is, until your battery runs out -- after about three hours for most phones compatible with MobiTV.
Slow pictures
What you don't get is smooth motion. Regular television runs at 30 frames a second, fast enough for the human eye and the human brain to see fluid action.
MobiTV claims to broadcast at one to two frames a second; in my tests with a Sanyo SCP 8100 flip phone borrowed from Idetic, the picture instead seemed to change every one to two seconds. The result was more like a fast-paced slide show than video, but the pictures did give me at least a sense of what was happening. The audio, meanwhile, almost always came through in a steady if somewhat tinny stream. You listen either on a speakerphone function or through a headset.
About two weeks ago, I went on a business trip. On the way home, I had two hours to kill in the Phoenix airport. I flipped open the Sanyo phone, navigated through the on-screen menus and launched MobiTV. Right there on the phone's color screen, in a tiny window 1 1/8 inches wide by seven-eighths of an inch high, were reporters and pundits on MSNBC analyzing the Wisconsin primary in excruciating detail. This kind of talking-head show is the easiest to view on MobiTV; after all, you really don't need to see a politician's lips move.
Other kinds of TV didn't work so well. Any kind of sports became little more than a blur, and even documentaries on The Discovery Channel lost much of their appeal. I did, however, find myself being entertained by several other shows. I caught Dennis Miller dissing Howard Dean on CNBC, and had the odd experience of watching a commercial for Verizon Wireless while looking in my hand at a phone from rival Sprint PCS.
Compatibility
Here's how it all works:
MobiTV is compatible with nine handset models from LG, Samsung and Sanyo, offered by Sprint PCS. These aren't all high-end models; the Sanyo SCP 8100 that I borrowed sells for under $100 with a two-year contract.
To get MobiTV, you must first sign up for Sprint's PCS Vision data plan, which provides unlimited access to the Web and other online services for $15 a month. MobiTV then costs $9.99 on top of the $15.
Idetic is talking with other wireless carriers, but so far Sprint PCS is the only one offering MobiTV. At the same time, the company is looking for more programming providers, including local TV stations. I'd like to see more cable channels, such as CNN and USA and HBO, as well prime-time shows from ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
I found a number of technical shortcomings with MobiTV that can probably be overcome in time. Changing channels on MobiTV takes a lengthy 10 seconds, as the phone collects enough of the new data stream to start playback. The audio occasionally stutters for a second or two. And you can't receive calls while using any PCS Vision data service; incoming callers are instead sent to voice mail. This isn't much of a sacrifice when you're quickly checking e-mail or looking up sports scores on a Web site, but it becomes more of an issue if you're watching TV for 15 or 30 or 45 minutes at a stretch.
Similar services
Although MobiTV is the only service now offering live TV on wireless phones, two other services provide short prepackaged video clips on topics including news, sports, music and movies. They are:
U1KTV (www.1ktv.com). For $2.95 a month on certain phones from AT & amp;T Wireless, Nextel and Sprint PCS, you get to pick from a menu of stories that run no longer than two minutes. The picture changes every four to six seconds.
URealPlayer for Mobile (http://mobile.guide.real.com). A slimmed-down version of the RealPlayer for computers, the mobile version connects to a regularly updated library holding about two hours of short video clips. At $4.95 a month, Sprint PCS subscribers get a slide show of still images, but AT & amp;T Wireless subscribers are on a faster network and get seven frames a second.
Today's wireless phone networks, for the most part, send and receive data at about the speed of a home dial-up modem. Improved networks, which should become widely available starting later this year, will be five to 10 times faster. Phones are also getting more powerful processors, making it easier for them to work with highly compressed video signals.
Assessment
Combining the faster networks and the bigger screens could make wireless television enjoyable, both live TV and video-on-demand libraries. We may never want to watch Hollywood epics on a tiny hand-held screen, but I'd be glad to pass a half-hour in a doctor's waiting room watching a rerun of "The Simpsons."
For now, I can't strongly endorse MobiTV. If you're a Sprint PCS customer who isn't already paying for the PCS Vision plan, MobiTV will add a whopping $25 a month to your bill. But if you're the road-warrior type, already using PCS Vision, MobiTV might provide a welcome diversion.