3GSM - 03 - PhoneTV and TVPhones

One of the things that I got very excited about and that only two manufacturers were demonstrating (Samsung and Sharp) is the ability to connect your mobile phone to a TV either for streaming, playback and/or recording.

The Samsung Anycall model below docks into a speaker base for better sound and to save battery while you're watching live TV.  This particular model works on an Asian standard called Satellite DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting).

However, the real experience comes when you connect the AV cable to the phone and display it on a 40" plasma screen...  The phone itself won't be winning any design awards but the screen is very good.

Along similar lines, Sharp has released two phones with AV output.  The first is an iMode phone available only in Japan but to my surprise they have released another one - the Sharp 902 - which is a 3G phone that was launched late January and currently available from Vodafone in the UK.  Below, the phone connected to a Sharp Aquos TV.

Among others, the phone has an excellent build quality (feels like Apple's iPod design), sports a 2MP digital camera, videophone, scanner, 180 degrees swivel screen which itself is a proprietary Sharp Advanced Super-V LCD with a 160 degrees viewing angle, Bluetooth and USB connector.  If only Sharp were to develop a PalmOS device I would almost guarantee that it would come out a huge winner.  I have to add that I was thoroughly impressed by Sharp and would place them at the top of my league for the 'normal' phones category at 3GSM.

Finally, one of the good things to keep in mind is that the new connector on the Treo 650 is designed to future-enable AV out connectivity so there may yet be some hope that the Treo 700 (or whatever it will be called) will allow us to extend playback to a TV.

Treonauts would love to have TV in their pockets...

Our 3GSM coverage is made possible thanks to the kind support of MMPlayer, SplashData and Pocket Tunes.