Mobile TV Demonstration to Launch in DC Next Month

by Elias Shams
The Awesome Washington, D.C. area, including Baltimore, will be the first U.S. metro region to get free mobile TV  next month. We will be able to watch local digital  TV broadcasts from our mobile devices like smartphones, laptops, netbooks , iPads, and portable media players in DC area soon. The  demonstration of the technology is coordinated by the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC)  next month.

The organization said that it will launch its Mobile DTV Consumer Showcase on May 3, continuing throughout the summer. For the first time, viewers will be able to interactive voting and polling, interactive advertising, electronic program guides and the transmission of emergency alerts and closed captioning.

Mobile DTV is a way to send digital signals from local TV broadcasters to small, handheld devices like laptops, portable DVD players, in-car TVs and cell phones. It runs on a digital subchannel of the broadcaster’s existing free-to-air TV frequency.

In all, nine local stations will transmit more than 20 programs, with mobile signals controlled from a new network operations center located at WUSA-TV. Event organizers will distribute a limited number of specially equipped cell phones and netbooks beginning next month, with consumer focus groups planning to distribute other equipment this summer.

Well, I guess the FCC, Google, and Clearwire better hurry up on their broadband initiatives.