First things first, yes, I realize there’s nothing particularly new about watching TV on your cell phone. Since 2004, different companies have been offering different services to help you stream video directly to your cell. Since that time, Slingbox has made it possible to stream stuff from your home TV directly to your cell phone or computer. And, hell, even if you couldn’t manage to stream anything from anywhere, you always had your trusty iPod or iPhone ready to keep you entertained with movies or TV programs picked up off of iTunes.
That said, I’ve never really felt the need to have access to a TV everywhere, though. If I really want to watch something bad enough—say, Game 5 of the NBA Finals—I just make sure I’m home. However, I was stuck at the airport a couple weeks back and happened to be carrying a loaner LG Invision that I was testing out for a few days (available for under $30 here). As far as cell phones go, the thing is practically ancient (just check the price tag). But it’s equipped with FLO TV, which was first launched on a pair of AT&T cell phones last year. FLO TV is the first service designed to stream live TV through your cell without any preprogramming on your part. And that day, I had pretty much destroyed the battery in my Sidekick two or three times already using Twitter, shuffled through my iPod about 25,476 times and scanned six magazines. So, it’s safe to say I was bored outta my mind. That’s about the time I realized that I shoulda cracked open the LG box about 12 hours earlier.
The first thing I like about FLO TV, which is now available on a host of Verizon and AT&T phones, is that it’s easy to use. Seriously. Turn the phone on, press the TV button and you’re watching. No waiting for clips to buffer. No sitting around while channels update. Once you turn the thing on, you’ve got options: NBC, MTV, CBS, Comedy Central, Fox Business, CNN and, of course, ESPN (FTW!). Now, not everything is live (for instance, The Late Night Show on NBC is pretty much a fixture at noon, when the network is otherwise running news) but, for the most part, you’re getting a bunch of live TV options. It’s about as close as you’re gonna get to watching TV in your living room—without actually being there. Additionally, if you’re a sports fan (which I am), FLO TV is clutch. I’m a little upset that Sprint still has the NFL locked down, but FLO TV carries a ton of college football games in the fall as well as all of March Madness during the spring. And the ESPN mobile channel, which is actually the ESPN News TV channels, is always current. So no more updating the Yahoo! Sports page every five minutes or texting your boy to see what the score of the game. You can see it all yourself.
Obviously, a service like this isn’t free (FLO TV will set you back about $15/month, provided you’ve got a phone equipped for it) but if you’re Twittered out and constantly find yourself looking to burn time on the road, stop sleeping. It’s definitely the look—especially when you’re stranded at the airport.
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