T-Mobile USA joins both Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel in MediaFLO trials. Verizon Wireless will be the first carrier to launch with the mobile TV service and is the only company committed to FLO. Just last month Sprint announced it was carrying out its own trials.
T-Mobile is the first GSM carrier to trial the Qualcomm technology. While there is nothing limiting MediaFLO to CDMA, the pre-existing relationship CDMA carriers have with Qualcomm makes it a more natural fit. T-Mobile is also reportedly working with both Hiwire and Modeo which are both using DVB-H technology.
MediaFLO recently received FCC approval, a major milestone before the official launch. Photos of a couple of MediaFLO equipped handsets with Verizon Wireless branding have recently leaked out, leading to speculation that the launch is near. The service should provide a collection of live and time shifted content in up to QVGA resolution.