For those charting the evolution of the mobile phone into a mobile entertainment device that happens to make phone calls — along with sending e-mail and buying movie tickets — LG's new KB770 mobile TV phone is one more brick in the wall. The sleek 3.5G device is almost as notable for what it doesn't have — WiFi and GPS support — as what it does — free-to-air digital TV reception.
The latest in a series of LG mobile TV handsets utilizing DiBcom technology, the KB770 features a 3in 400 x 240 pixel touch-screen display and integrates a DiBcom receiver to pick up DVB-T signals — the free-to-air terrestrial digital TV signal that covers most European countries. For calling your mother and googling the guy you just met, the KB770 supports WCDMA 2100 and GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSPDA data.
Of course, none of this answers the question of how free mobile TV is going to make anybody money in the long run. DiBcom CEO Yannick Levy gives it a shot, though, pointing to free offerings’ usefulness in getting people to try mobile TV.
“We encourage the industry to consider a mixed business model involving a combination of free content, with an optional pay-TV subscription system for premium channels and services,” Levy says. “This model can be applied to countries with one single TV standard or those where complimentary standards such as DVB-T and DVB-H co-exist.”
For more information about DiBcom's mobile TV receivers, visit http://www.dibcom.com/Website/site/eng_accueil_applicationsproducts_products_chipset.htm.
For more information about the LG770, visit http://www.dibcom.com/Images/Upload/pdf/CP/PR_112508_LG_KB770_UK.pdf.
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