CELL PHONE TV
You knew it would come. Actual TV on your cell phone. You can easily get video via the Internet connection on a 3G phone over the network or via a Wi-Fi hot spot. Typical video is like that from YouTube or just video clips that users attach.
Some cellular carriers also offer several video channels over the network for an extra fee each month. Such video is available from AT&T and Verizon, and consists mainly of news, weather, sports, and a few comedy channels.
Since video is so data intensive and requires lots of extra bandwidth and high speeds, too much video service can overload most cellular networks. It has been decided that the best way to deliver TV service to a cell phone is to broad- cast it. Several methods are being implemented. For example, in Europe the DVB-H system is being used to broadcast programming to handsets. Similar systems in Japan and Korea are also used. Both are digital. In the United States, MediaFLO broadcasts video to handsets on the old TV channel 55 (716 to 722 MHz). It uses OFDM and about 15 to 20 channels are available. The ser- vice is provided for a monthly fee.
In the near future, standard ASTC digital TV will be available in the United States. A special version for mobile handsets has been developed and will likely be adopted by existing TV stations for broadcast to cell phones. This is expected to be free TV, but no doubt ads will be used to pay the bills. If making a phone call or texting by cell phone is distracting to drivers now, wait until TV is available. (Now that is something to look forward to.)