Today at CES: Verizon Makes V Cast TV Official

After weeks of talk, even on this site earlier this week, Verizon Wireless has finally made it official: V Cast TV, the carrier's live, high-quality TV service, will go live some time in the first quarter. What makes this live TV cell phone service different from MobiTV and other streaming services that already exist on Sprint and Cingular phones? For one, picture quality, which is full-motion video and much crisper and smoother than existing freeze-prone services. Secondly, the service is faster and more responsive: Changing channels is instantaneous, just like on normal TVs.

Another difference: The feeds won't necessarily be the same exact program lineup you'd see on TV, but rather "best of" feeds that will nonetheless be broadcast live. Per Verizon spokespeople, in some cases you'll see a prime-time show in its actual time slot, and certainly sports games will be live, but other shows may be broadcast at different times.

So, does this mean that we'll be stuck watching endless repeats of Everybody Loves Raymond à la "CBS Eye on American" on our phones or will we get to keep up with the latest episodes of 24? That remains to be seen. Specific shows and pricing won't be announced until the service actually comes out, which should be some time before the end of March, according to Verizon. So far, the carrier has some decent content partners on board, including MTV, Nickelodeon, CBS, NBC, and Fox. And regardless of how or when the shows are shown, they will be easy to find via the included program guide.

Now, I and many other journalists and analysts dashed all the way to the other side of the Las Vegas Strip (to the Palms) to see what Verizon had to say, since the carrier usually makes a big announcement on the day a product is actually launched, as was the case with V Cast Music and V Cast in previous years.

Alas, to just get a few details on the upcoming service, with no actual service available yet, was kind of a disappointment. The other half of the press conference focused, for the most part, on FiOS TV, a cool fiber-optic-to-the-home cable and Internet service that truly rocks, but it's not exactly new (more on that later). My experiences with MediaFLO, the technology that powers the new Verizon service, have been positive: It offers a clear picture with fast channel changing that may bring back channel surfing (which seems to have disappeared with the widespread adoption of DVRs).

In addition, as cool as it is to get high-quality, live TV on your phone à la Korea, it begs the question: In the days of TiVo and cheap DVRs from your cable service (not to mention FiOS TV), who really watches live TV anymore? Why would I watch any TV on the go if I can't pause or save it? I'd want to be in some stationary place to watch TV, in which case I'd rather watch it on a big screen. I think for content like sports games, V Cast TV will have huge appeal, but for the latest episode of 24, I'll probably stick to watching my big HDTV.

Still, I have to hand it to Verizon. As is often the case with 3G/next-gen cell phone technologies, it's first to market with the live TV business in the United States. Despite my timeshifting preferences, I'll be eager to see the service in action on the Samsung Mobi (SCH-U620, pictured) and the LG 9400 that will debut the service when it launches some time in the first quarter.

Would you watch live TV on your cell phone?