Live TV on your phone: It's a start

(Above: A short video demo by yours truly.)

Two months ago I was standing in a midtown Verizon Wireless store when my friend Greg Maupins said to me, “A TV critic's got to have a cell phone with TV on it.”

To be sure, he was trying to sell me one -- that's his job. Still, I was moved by his irresistible logic, as well as by the intriguing swivel phone Maupins had in his hand. It was an LG VX9400, one of a new wave of wireless devices that carry streaming TV channels.

At $99, the price was right, and my VX9400 has proved to be quite the upgrade. It also has Internet browsing and a memory card slot that lets me carry around hundreds of MP3 files. I tell friends that I now own the “poor man's iPhone.” But truth be told, my phone has something Apple's doesn't. It's that long-promised Holy Grail of mobile media: the ability to have an actual TV-watching experience in the palm of your hand.

Verizon launched the service, called V CAST Mobile TV, in April, just in time to be run over by iPhone hype. Sprint offers a competing service from MobiTV, with some of the same video providers and some Verizon doesn't have.

When I my press the TV button on my phone, there's a pause, then I see a familiar-looking schedule grid. (If you want to see more pictures of my videophone, go to KansasCity.com and click on TV Barn.) The grid tells me what's on right now. Right now the lineup consists of CBS, two NBC channels, Fox, ESPN, MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. For the most part, CBS, NBC and Fox simulcast their prime-time lineups at night, then fill the daytime hours with repeats of their late-night talk shows, sports programming and even syndicated reruns like “Star Trek.” ABC is missing because it didn't do a deal with Verizon. Sprint's MobiTV offers these channels plus Discovery, TLC, ABC News Now and C-SPAN, among others.

With TV at my side all the time, I've found myself browsing the grid whenever I have a moment. I've seen as many episodes of “The Bionic Woman” on my phone (two) as I have on the real NBC. I'll watch my ESPN habit, “Around the Horn,” when it's on, or the daily 11 a.m. repeat of last night's Letterman on CBS.

If you decide to buy one of these, however, I predict it will have less to do with what's on than how it looks. People never fail to comment on how sharp and clear the picture is on my LG screen, which measures just over 2 inches diagonal. The screen is letterbox when it's swiveled 90 degrees (the swivel design hides the keypad, a weird but stylish design trick). Just about everything looks crisp on it -- I can even read the tiny ESPN ticker -- but programs shot in HD look the best. The quarter-inch speaker on the back of the phone is amazingly robust. The phone's rubber underside allows a firm grip while you watch, though the optional holster doubles as a stand, so you can actually prop the phone on a table and watch or listen hands-free.

NBC seems to have thought out its mobile TV platform better than any network. Its news channel is live 24/7 and switches between MSNBC, CNBC and NBC (which simulcasts “Today” and “NBC Nightly News”). The entertainment channel has, in addition to NBC fare, select syndicated shows like “Blind Date” and cable shows like “Work Out” that NBC also owns. Best of all, when NBC's channels go to a break, we see short news stories instead of commercials.

NBC's news channel comes in handy even when I can't watch it. I often plug my phone into my car stereo, using the same adapter that came with my old phone. Finally, all-news radio in Kansas City!

Currently, Mobile TV is only enabled on two Verizon phone models, including mine. That's because Verizon set up a network for Mobile TV separate from the one I use to make calls. Heavy traffic on the phone network won't interrupt whatever I'm watching on my phone. That is, unless it's for me, in which case my phone flashes a message on the screen and gives me the option to take the call.

Driving south on I-35, the TV signal conked out just past Ottawa, though the phone and web coverage remained strong all the way to Wichita. More troubling is the spotty reception inside the Star. It's great up here on the third floor in FYI, but over by the second-floor business desk, even when I stand next to the window and extend the cute five-inch antenna, I'm out of luck.

The service tacks an additional $25 onto my monthly phone bill, though most of that was for unlimited Internet surfing. At that price, and with the limited range of channels, Mobile TV is not exactly poised for explosive growth. Tech columnists point out that if I lived in Europe, I would have more choice and probably pay less, because content providers there deal directly with consumers, whereas here they are at the mercy of four gatekeepers: Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. That's why some people were disappointed that Apple's new iPhone didn't come with streaming video capabilities, which would effectively break the cell cartel's grip on mobile TV.

Still, as a glimpse into the future, I like what I see on my phone.