Switched

Welcome to the first in a series of posts in which we give much-anticipated new gadgets or services a test drive and tell you whether or not they live up to the hype. Today, we set our crticial eyes on Verizon Wireless's VCAST Mobile TV.

What it is: VCAST Mobile TV provides live and continuous TV broadcasts right to your cell phone.

What's on TV: Right now, participating networks include NBC, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Bravo, Fox, and ESPN. Broadcasts themselves are made-for-mobile feeds that include shows such as CSI, Jericho, 24, The Colbert Report, Law and Order, The Office, and The Simpsons, as well as NCAA baseball, Arena Football, the Summer X Games, and several soaps (Guiding Light, anyone?).

Why it's different: Yes, live TV has been available on cell phones for the past three years from services such as MobiTV, but anyone who's tried out that service knows that its video can be grainy and jumpy (due to slow and over-taxed cell-phone networks). VCAST Mobile TV is uses a new cell-phone chip that picks up TV signals over the airwaves, specifically UHF (for those of you old enough to remember). The result is higher-quality video and the ability to change channels relatively quickly.

Where you can get it: Right now, the service is available in about 22 cities around the country, including Orlando, Dallas, Boston, Seattle, and Las Vegas, but Verizon plans to launch in several other cities in the coming weeks. (We were able to get reception in New York City, where service has not been officially launched).

The phones: Right now, only two phones accept the live TV service. The LG VX9400 is distinctive for its screen that swivels 45-degrees into a widescreen/landscape mode, making the phone look like a "T" (the manufacturer is calling it a "swing bar design"). The more conventional-looking Samsung SCH-u620 is a slider phone with a smaller screen. Both phones have retractable antennas that improve reception.

Price: The service costs $15 a month on top of whatever plan you already have, but if you want the rest of VCAST's offerings (downloadable videos, music, games, and more), you'll pay $25 a month. The LG VX9400 is $199 (after a rebate) with a two-year contract, while the Samsung SCH-u620 is $149 (after a rebate) with a two-year contract.

What we like: We were impressed with the clear and smooth, full-motion-video--absolutely no freeze-ups or lost-picture typical of MobiTV-style cell phone video. The grid-like program guide looks just like the one from the cable company, making changing channels and picking shows a breeze. Also, you can take calls and text messages while watching TV.

What we don't like: Changing channels takes about three seconds--not quite regular TV speed, but almost fast enough to bring back the pre-Tivo glory days of channel surfing. Sometimes, though, with only a half-dozen or so channels, there just wasn't anything on TV we wanted to watch. And though some shows--Today, Late Night with Conan O'Brien--are broadcast at the same time as on regular TV, others, 24 and The Simpsons, were a week old. Unfortunately, taking a call while watching TV means missing out on your TV show (just like back in the day!)

Is it all that? For the most part, Verizon VCAST Mobile TV delivers on its promise: Video quality is high, controls are responsive, and the launch line-up is respectable. And it's perfectly handy for watching programming you might want to watch live--Today, sports--on, say, the morning or evening bus commute. But considering we live in an age of Tivo, DVRs, and downloadable TV from iTunes and others, the appeal of live TV--on your cell phone, home TV, or otherwise--just isn't what it used to be.

When cell phones can save the live TV they're picking up--Tivo-style--then we might be over the moon about VCAST Mobile TV, but right now we can only recommend this service to sports fans and news hounds.