FLO TV Digital Handheld/Mobile TV [FLO TV Personal Television Offers TV ‘on-the-go’ via Subscription Service]

Personally, with (currently free) online services such as iPlayer here in the UK (you’ll doubtless have your own particular catch up services) that are already readily assessable whilst out and about via phones and connected PMPs we do wonder quite whether this newly unveiled FLO TV Personal Television, being that it requires you to sign up to a paid subscription service in order to view programming, will find a particularly large market – but if you are happy to stump up monthly payments to access TV on the go, it may well be of interest.

The FLO TV Personal Television, which measures in at a highly portable 4.4”x3”x0.5”, comes with a 3.5” color touchscreen display allowing for touch navigation and, whilst we’re yet to see its full specifications, FLO TV have confirmed that the device comes with onboard stereo speaker (output wattage unknown) and will offer up to five hours of TV viewing endurance based on a full charge or up to 300 hours in standby.

The catch? In order to watch live and time-shifted content over the FLO TV dedicated multicast network you’ll need to subscribe to the service which will set you back what FLO TV’s press blurb states as ‘the equivalent of $8.99 per month*’. You’ll note the asterisk which, on a little further reading, boils down to the following:

*Taxes not included.  Additional fees and charges may apply.  Pricing and service subject to change at any time.  Prepaid subscription required for 1 year / 3 year plans.  3-year prepaid subscription required for $8.99 / mo. package.  After the expiration of the original prepaid subscription, your subscription will automatically renew and your credit card will be charged at the then-current rate.  Special introductory offers and waived activation fee expire 12/31/09.  All prepaid annual and monthly subscription payments are non-refundable.

So, if you want TV on the move, you’ll not only have to pay per month but you’ll need to sign up to a plan ranging from one to three years in duration (just to be clear here). Personally, I’d rather stick with the content I can already access, for free, and without having to take out any plans (except for my phone plan, but the vast majority of us have those anyway, right, and, more crucially, would keep those plans regardless of whether our not you opt for this device and taking up the plan required to access content). It’s not appealing to us, but, yes, we accept, you may see it otherwise.

The FLO TV Personal Television is set to release ‘this holiday season’ and will set you back just short of $250.