Qualcomm's FLO TV mobile-television
subsidiary plans to add interactive applications and provide some access to
video-on-demand content in the second half of 2010.
On the interactive front, FLO
users will be able to click for more information about a show or click to buy
an advertised product. The mobile TV service also plans to provide a "catch-up
TV" service that will allow popular shows to be stored on FLO-enabledmobile devices for on-demand viewing, as previously reported by Multichannel News.
FLO's dedicated 6 Megahertz
of wireless spectrum lets it broadcast 20 mobile channels, or a combination of
linear video channels and datacasting. In the space of one mobile TV channel, FLO
has the capacity to send out 32 hours of VOD
content per day, according to the company, but the service would be limited by
the amount of storage on a given device.
The FLO service is
offered through AT&T and Verizon Wireless, and FLO
TV sells its own direct-to-consumer version of the service. The mobile-TV
lineup includes more than a dozen linear channels with content from programmers
including ABC, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Adult Swim, CBS, CNBC,
Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, MTV, NBC and Nickelodeon.
Also later this year, FLO
TV will offer a "pay-per-day" pass, whereas the service is currently available
only with a monthly subscription.
"With consumers' mobile entertainment habits evolving
rapidly, FLO TV will be integrating its current live linear video
with relevant, on-demand content and interactive features that complement the
programming viewers are watching in real time," FLO TV
president Bill Stone said in a statement.
