We’ve been watching the evolution of the Flo TV story with some interest; it may prove to be an interesting little gadget for compulsive TV-watchers. We heard the rumor, we broke the interface, we saw the box, and now we have it straight from the horse’s mouth: Flo TV is, as expected, a mobile TV device with a 3.5″ 4:3 capacitive touchscreen and built-in stereo speakers, and it accesses “live and time-shifted” programming via a “dedicated multicast network.” Sounds pretty sweet to me.
I used the LG Vu for a bit, and I have to say that instant-on portable TV was kind of fun to have, even though I’m not much of a TV watcher. Its selection was much more limited than the Flo TV’s, though. Qualcomm lists CNBC, Comedy Central, MSNBC, MTV, NBC, NBC 2Go, NBC News, NBC Sports and Nickelodeon as channels. You can check out the lineup here, and the program guide here.
Battery is rated at 5 hours of TV and 300 hours of standby. It remains to be seen how the picture is, of course, and how well the signal holds, but you leave that to us.
The device itself costs $250, and the minimum subscription is $9. That’s not bad (less than a Peek), but of course, like regular TV you’ll have to pay for the good stuff. More info, as always, at their website.