The idea of slapping an antennae on a phone to receive TV signals has been tried in the past with little success, but now Dallas based mobile phone company MetroPCS Communications are trying again.
Watch TV retro style with an aerial
The company who are the fifth biggest cellphone company in the US are offering a Samsung Galaxy S Lightray, complete with 4G that can supply free TV content, for a rather hefty price of $459.
The phone which is $200 more than the regular phone price, has a retro-style extendable antenna that can receive a modified Mobile signal designed for mobile TV screens, which are broadcast from regular TV towers.
So the signals sent are re-transmissions of the original over the air TV broadcasts, made smaller and set at a lower resolution more suitable for mobile devices.
The phone used is the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray, which has an average spec that includes 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, running from Android Gingerbread on a single-core 1GHz processor.
The app that runs that TV reception is designed by Dyle and is available in 37 US cities, giving access to local content from CBS, ABC, Fox, and NBC amongst others.
The problem is that not all networks are available in every city, so you may find the channel you want cannot be viewed. The other problem is that the Mobile DTV standard has failed before due to low interest from consumers.
But the transmission method has had a new lease of life since internet TV startup, Aereo started re-transmitting TV signals to iPhones and iPads via the web. This service does not require you to have an anytennae attached to your mobile device though.
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