BBC NEWS | Technology | Format wars over mobile TV

BBC NEWS | Technology | Format wars over mobile TV: "The mobile phone is turning into the new battlefield for rival companies promoting TV on the go.
South Korean giants such as Samsung and LG are touting new generation mobile phones that allow users to watch live multi-channel TV on the move during International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam.
In their push into the European mobile TV market, they see next year's football World Cup in Germany as a crucial launch pad.
But the Koreans face strong competition from European manufacturers such as Nokia. More than 30 companies keen to promote broadcasting to mobile handsets are exhibiting at this year's IBC.
Despite the high hopes of manufacturers, live TV services on mobile phones are still in their infancy in most parts of the world.
At last month's World Athletic World Championships in Helsinki , the world's biggest handset maker Nokia combined with Finnish telecoms groups and broadcasters to test mobile real-time broadcasts on a smartphone equipped with an experimental TV receiver.
The 300-strong trial panel brought in mixed reviews, with complaints that the device was inelegant and colour rendition was poor, although images were sharp.
South Korea's top mobile operator SK Telecom and its affiliate TU Media launched a satellite pay-TV service to mobile phones in May this year.
But TU Media admits that customer take-up has been sluggish, and blames this on high prices for combined phone/satellite TV handsets, costing up to $900 (�492). "