AT&T CruiseCast: In-car satellite TV with fewer dropouts

Satellite TV for cars seems like a natural, right? Too bad about all those trees, tall buildings, overpasses, and other troublesome signal blockers. AT&T and RaySat are hoping to change all that with their new CruiseCast service, and from what I saw during a test drive here at CES, they're off to a promising start.

For my demo, a CruiseCast rep drove me around in a bright-red SUV during rush hour in Vegas; I sat in back, watching a satellite feed of "The Daily Show" on one of the two back-seat LCDs.

No, the picture wasn't razor-sharp, but it was certainly watchable (think JetBlue-plus), and impressively enough, the feed didn't freeze once during our 15-minute drive. (My fellow CES-goers from the L.A. Times tech blog weren't so lucky—apparently, their feed stalled a few times while their test car was cruising the Strip.)

So, what's the deal? It's all about buffering—about 2-5 minutes worth, to be exact. According to my CruiseCast tour guide, RaySat's new satellite buffering technology makes for 96-percent glitch-free viewing, although you could still run into problems if you're driving "urban valleys" such as Manhattan (or the Strip in Vegas, apparently).

AT&T's CruiseCast system will offer a lineup of 22 channels—including the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, USA, Comedy Central, MSNBC, and CNN Mobile Live—once it launches in March.

Pretty nice, but the CruiseCast equipment (including the rooftop antenna, a dome that's about the size of a large, upside-down salad bowl) doesn't come cheap—about $1,300, and that doesn't include the rear-passenger displays. After that, you'll pay $28 a month for service.