Local Firm Goes for Mobile TV
A major push at this year's CES is mobile entertainment. As it turns out, one of the companies putting serious resources in that direction is in our own backyard. ICO Communications of Reston took me out for a spin to show off it's product, which will be available once its satellite launched in March.
Basically, the company combines satellite technology with traditional cellular networks to deliver TV signals to your car. The theory is that using both networks will prevent coverage gaps while you're out on the open road. So if you're driving through the desert between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, you will get a satellite signal even when you're out of range of the cell networks of the more populated areas. After all, points out ICO tech guru Dave Zufall, about 30 percent of the U.S. doesn't have cell coverage.
But some kinks still have to be worked out. When we were in the parking garage of the Venetian hotel, there were a few minutes of patchy connections. The screen froze until we turned the corner and were able to get satellite signal again.
Watch a video about this on our CES video channel.
By
Kim Hart
|
January 7, 2008; 10:34 AM ET
| Category:
CES 2008
,
Kim Hart
Previous: Gates's Retirement Parody Gets Laughs at Keynote |
Next: At CES, Promotion Transcends Everything
Get This Widget >>
Blogs That Reference This Entry
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/18747
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Local Firm Goes for Mobile TV:
» Washington Post Blog about ICO Global Communications" from "ExtraEight
Washington Post featured my CEO in our demo vehicle at CES in Las Vegas. Very cool how we are on the cutting edge of bringing DVB-SH to the US market. Here is the Washington Post blog article.
... read more »
Tracked on January 8, 2008 5:11 PM
We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.
User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.