TV stations will broadcast to mobile devices

An LG cellphone showed a live TV broadcast during a demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show yesterday. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

LAS VEGAS - TV stations in Boston and 21 other cities will this year start broadcasting signals that can be received by mobile devices like cellphones, MP3 players, GPS units, and in-car entertainment systems, they said yesterday.

Unlike current mobile TV services, the broadcasts would most likely be free, providing access to local news, weather, and traffic updates. They could also fill an important role in emergencies like hurricanes, since they don't jam up under heavy loads, as cellphone networks can.

But will there be any gadgets on the market that can receive those signals? That's less clear, since there are no firm launch dates for compatible products.

There's a "chicken-and-egg" conundrum, said Mark Aitken, of Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc. Without broadcasts, there is no market for devices. Without devices, there is no one to broadcast to. "Broadcasters have come together and said, 'We'll be the chicken,' " he said. "We'll put services out there without devices."

Manufacturers showed off prototype devices at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday that were able to receive trial broadcasts from two stations. LG Electronics Inc. of Korea, a major partner in developing the technology, demonstrated two prototype cellphones and a portable DVD player. Kenwood, Delphi, and Visteon are developing car-based receivers.

In getting cellphones with TV receivers into the hands of consumers, broadcasters face a substantial obstacle: cellular carriers. The largest, AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, sell phones that are compatible with a rival mobile broadcasting system run by Qualcomm Inc. It provides 10 channels for $15 per month.

The Open Mobile Video Coalition, the mobile TV broadcaster group, said it has had discussions with the carriers and expects there to be deals with some of them.

The 22 markets where Mobile Digital TV will be rolled out this year cover 35 percent of US households, the coalition said. In total, 54 commercial network affiliates have committed to launching broadcasts. Nine PBS affiliates are considering joining them.

Also at the Consumer Electronics Show, Palm Inc. unveiled a new touch-screen smart phone and operating system, marking its latest attempt to catch up with competition from Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

Palm executives touted their Pre, which looks similar to the iPhone, with a face dominated mostly by a 3.1-inch touch screen and single button. The body of the Pre is black and slightly curved, with a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the bottom.

The Pre will come loaded with features including Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, and GPS, as well as 8 gigabytes of storage space, a 3-megapixel camera, and music and video playback. The Pre also has a variety of sensors, such as an accelerometer so images on the screen will rotate when a user turns the device on its side.

Many of these features are already available on rival phones, including the iPhone, the latest BlackBerry models, and HTC Corp.'s G1 that was released in the fall by T-Mobile and Google Inc. Palm has been overshadowed in the last several years by the success of these products.