CES 2011: Mobile DTV Coming to an iPhone, iPad Near You

When Sarah Perez summed up the top three mobile trends to expect at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, a trend that both of us occassionally-mobile television connoisseurs were excited about was mobile TV.

The Open Mobile Video Coalition is presenting this year and they had a handful of mobile TV devices to show off that will be exciting for the TV-viewer on the go – especially one that retrofits all your mobile Apple devices for Mobile DTV.

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First off, there was indeed an LG 3D mobile TV unit that operates without glasses, though we’re still a bit passed-by by the 3D hooplah. For our money, we’ll stick with the standard fare, as the 3D looked a bit like regular TV that wasn’t coming in quite right. We’re sure plenty of other people will go gaga for it, however, so for you 3D lovers, it’s going mobile.

While a slew of new Mobile DTV devices are likely to be released, one little gadget we saw today was even more exciting. It allows users to retrofit their existing Apple devices with a digital TV antenna.

While the big focus has been on providing TV, video-on-demand and other content via your WiFi or 3G connections, this device, called the Tivizen, which brings local broadcast television to your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The device plugs directly into the 30-pin socket (where you normally put the power cord connector) and offers up to 2.5 hours of Mobile DTV video. For those of you who aren’t grandfathered in on the unlimited data plant, a DTV antenna could bring mobile video without costing you an arm and a leg in bandwidth charges. The Tivizen will be available in June for $99 and works with a free app. A WiFi version of the same device is also expected later this year.

Of course, the Tivizen is just the first of a number of mobile devices expected this year. According to the Open Mobile Video Coalition, “more than two dozen new Mobile DTV devices are expected to be introduced at CES, including a wide assortment of tablets, iPad and iPhone accessories, portable televisions, DVD players, and USB receivers.” The coalition represents more than 900 broadcast TV stations throughout the U.S. and says that nearly 70 stations across the country are currently broadcasting a Mobile DTV signal.

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