Hasta La Gadget!

Look, we fully understand that someone, somewhere put a lot of time and effort into designing a $250 handheld that does nothing but watch pixelated mobile TV for a lofty per-month price, but seriously, there has to be better uses of one’s time. The 3.5-inch FLO TV Personal Television is on sale today at Amazon, Best Buy and RadioShack, though we suspect that the $249.99 up front price will probably keep most potential buyers at bay. Six months of service are included, but afterwards you’ll be paying at least $8.99 per month (and a rate that low requires a three-year contract) to keep the signals flowing. If we’re being honest, this thing is still more useful than Celio’s REDFLY, but that sure ain’t sayin’ much.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

FLO TV Personal Television now on sale for $250, should be in cereal boxes soon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It wasn’t long ago that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was packing theaters, but given how quickly things hit DVD and Blu-ray these days we’re surprised to learn this one won’t be flinging vermicelli to disc until just after the holidays. Fear not carb-lovers: similar to the Hancock deal last year, new purchasers of internet-capable Sony TVs and Blu-ray players will be receiving one free stream of the film starting on December 8; that’s nearly a full month ahead of the retail release. The stream will be in 720p and will allow full control during 24 hours. What if you’ve already purchased your Sony setup? The company is happy to extend the streaming offer to you as well — so long as you don’t mind paying a mere $24.95. Yes, a one-time 720p rental that costs as much as a Blu-ray. That’s value.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Sony streaming Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs free to new customers, expensively to existing ones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple on Thursday issued a software update for its Apple TV set-top box. The update includes a redesigned user interface and enables support for a new interactive artwork iTunes format, among other features.

With Apple TV 3.0, customers can watch iTunes LP, a format that bundles some iTunes albums with interactive elements such as videos, photos, sleeve notes and lyrics. Apple TV owners can also access iTunes Extras, a format that bundles extra content with some TV shows or movies purchased or rented through iTunes.

Apple TV 3.0 also added support for Genius Mixes, which automatically creates playlists generated from a user’s iTunes library. The update also introduces access to thousands of internet radio stations.

iTunes LP, iTunes Extra and Genius Mixes were all features that launched with iTunes 9 during Apple’s September iPod event.

Apple TV 3.0 is a free, automatic download for Apple TV customers.

Press Release [Apple]

See Also:

• Why Apple TV Must Evolve to Avoid Extinction
• What We Want in an Apple TV
• Apple TV Update Adds Remote Gesture Control
• 5 Reasons Why Apple TV Rules, 5 Reasons Why it Sucks
• Hack Apple TV With a Thumb Drive, Set It Free

Image courtesy of Apple

We’ll come right out and say it, we like Julius Genachowski. Whether you agree with the dude’s policies or not, you can’t deny he’s pursuing them with gusto. Having already noted the insufficient carrying capacity of current mobile broadband airways to deal with incoming 4G connections, the FCC chairman is now reported to be moving ahead with plans to provide greater spectrum allocation for those purposes. Currently in the draft stage, the latest Commission proposals include a plan to reclaim airwaves from digital broadcasters (and pay them appropriately for it), which are to then be sold off to the highest bidder from among the wireless service providers. Executing the most extreme version of this plan could generate around $62 billion in auction revenues, though it would require transitioning digital TV viewers over to cable or subscription services and is therefore unlikely. Jules and his crew are still “looking at everything” and ruling out nothing, but we can probably expect to see a moderate shift of TV spectrum rights over to wireless carriers in the final plans when they’re revealed in February.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Wearables

FCC keen on commandeering TV spectrum for wireless broadband originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, considering just how unappreciated FLO TV’s mobile television services are here in the US of A, you’d think the company would do its best to keep the losses at bay. For whatever reason, suits at the outfit have it in mind that the answer to their woes isn’t to throw in mobile TV gratis and find revenue streams from other sources, but to produce a dedicated TV that will only appeal to those looking to actually carry more portable devices with them. Brilliant, no? The oft-rumored FLO TV Personal Television finally got official tonight, with an aim to bring live and time-shifted content directly to the 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen for up to five straight hours on a single charge. To its credit, it weighs just 5 ounces and features an integrated kickstand and stereo speakers, but with a $249.99 price tag and a required $8.99 monthly plan (or more, if you’re not a fan of locking yourself into an absurd 3-year contract), we can’t exactly see this thing selling well. Or at all, really.

Filed under: Displays, Portable Video

FLO TV Personal Television gets official: $250 plus a monthly fee you’ll never pay originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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