Ian Morris
Ian Morris loves televisions so much he's been banned from wedding chapels in Las Vegas for trying to marry them. When he's not romancing technology, he can be found watching American TV. Ian likes roast potatoes, but he doesn't like digital rights management.
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Wednesday 29 August 2007, 1:22pm
TV on a phone is rubbish, and a waste of money
I'll admit it, when I first got a 3G phone, I signed up to Vodafone's trial of the Sky via mobile service. I was intrigued by it and wanted to see if it was possible to derive any enjoyment from watching TV on such a small screen, at a bit rate so low it would almost shame some of the cheaper Sky channels.
Mobile TV was everything I expected. Namely, it was a bag of cack, sitting in a barrel of excrement floating in a sea of detritus. Where I was living at the time, 3G coverage was patchy, so it wasn't really possible to watch there -- not that I needed to -- and at work I was, well, working. That left the train. And anyone who has used a phone on a train will probably tell you it isn't the most reliable experience in the world.
Now I've discovered that T-Mobile has launched a new mobile TV service. However, instead of the £5 the Sky on Vodafone service cost, it's possible to spend a great deal more on T-Mobile. For a start, there's a sports package that costs £5 a month. But there is also an entertainment package at £5 a month, and a music package for another £5 a month.
By my calculation, and I'm no maths genius, that's £15 a month on top of your phone bill -- which to get a good phone is bound to be £35 a month. If you are a football fan, might I suggest you get a Slingbox and an unlimited data plan and stream TV from your Sky box at home? It's a far better all-round experience, plus you get more channels that way. If you must.
Next: There seems to be an awful lot of cack on Freeview
Previous: I love BioShock
Comments on this post
Didn`t know anything about this, and I`m actually with T Mob. Wonder why they haven`t sent anything to me about it? Not very fab of them. Still, doesn`t sound as if I`ve missed out in any way whatsover-thanks for this.
Posted by fleur on Wed 29 August, 2007 8:07 PM
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