Looks like Qualcomm has given up on the idea of transitioning FLO TV to any potential suitors, as they’ve just unveiled a generous hardware rebate program:
In consideration of the FLO TV service ending on March 27, 2011 we are offering a rebate on FLO TV devices. The rebate amount is determined by the retail price of the device on your date of activation, and will be displayed when your online claim is submitted and validated. You do not need to return your device to FLO TV
The rebate program may return up to the entire cost of a device back to you. (Extremely rare, extremely generous, good thing Qualcomm has many other more profitable irons in the fire.) While you’re not required to return your FLO hardware, your service will be terminated within 72 hours of your claim – reinforcing this network service is going away.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude FLO would fail… and I predicted this last year. While consumers have shown interest in mobile video, Qualcomm’s initiative was too costly – in terms of spectrum and content licensing. Plus, most recent implementations required dedicated hardware (at an additional fee) – thus increasing the barrier to entry. Wouldn’t you rather have a multifunction smartphone or iPad (headrest mounted) streaming Hulu, Netflix, and Slingbox?
I’m in a somewhat unusual or awkward place… as my FLO Personal TV hardware was provided by TSS Radio (thanks, guys!) for review and obviously a shout out, but once the free service period lapsed I picked up the monthly $16.95 payments. I just verified the rebate works and Qualcomm will be sending me a check for $200 (as the guy/account on file). But once I receive it, I’ll reach out to TSS Radio and see about transferring the funds to them in some way or exchanging the money for running a sidebar banner or something so we’re square. Blogging can be more complex than it looks!
The timing is a bummer as FLO was starting to get more interesting recently with better coverage and more simulcast content. Of course, I expect this trend to continue… but on other platforms. As soon as some box offers MSNBC, CNN, etc simulcast live I’m dumping cable. (The wife is a news junkie.)
No great surprise on FLO shutting down (hard to believe they actually had SuperBowl ad and pretty good TV campaign for a product that was clearly going to fail).
However, I got to give them massive props for doing hardware rebates. Has any other company done that in the past?
I looked into it I think a year ago and, while the idea was nice, it seemed limited in content and location.
It made it sound like, “watch TV anywhere,” when it was really, “Watch TV most anywhere in these major cities…”
It really left me thinking, “Why wouldn’t I just get a SmartPhone and sling my cable to it if I was going to do this?”
Yeah this was always a stupid idea. Cord cutting may be in its early stages as web video doesn’t yet totally compete with cable packages wrt sports etc. But if you’re comparing web video with a dedicated video player just for mobile that has no installed base, requires dedicated hardware you have to buy, and monthly fees? Sorry, but its no contest. Web video wins. Lots of it is free (other than the bandwidth), there’s much more choice, no dedicated hardware is required, etc etc. Not much of a competition.
Just thought of this along the same lines and I believe it’s still out there and you can still get it though it’s not advertised:
What if you could watch up to 3 separate channels of TV in your vehicle anywhere in the US? You’d be able to pick from a selection of top networks like the Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, or Nickelodeon? Now you can… Sirius TV.
http://www.sirius.com/backseattv
This seemed like a dumb idea to me when they first announced it. I can’t believe it’s still going on and they haven’t shut it down, yet. I can’t imagine there being too many people out there with it in their car.
While I’ve always been more of a, “Stop complaining, kids. You want something to look at? Look out the window!”-kind of guy. If I were inclined to setup some kind of video entertainment in the car for kids I’d probably just be one of those over the back of the seat DVD players and a few of their favorite movies.
Ivan, I don’t know. Obviously the vast majority of companies shuttering devices/services don’t do anything like this. It’s amazingly generous.
Just got the initial email outreach this AM. Guess I beat them to it. Here’s an excerpt:
Your FLO TV service will end within 72 hours of validation of your claim. If you want to continue enjoying FLO TV through March, you are welcome to submit your claim later. All claims must be submitted by April 30, 2011.
We have sincerely appreciated your patronage.
BradB, I also liked DirecTV’s mobile suitcase. If they had opened it up to new or non-subscribers, at reasonable rates, I think they’d have gained more traction.
https://zatznotfunny.com/2007-05/if-money-grew-on-trees-directv-sat-go/
Dave – There are mobile sat dishes available. One I remember from years back was a flat dish that tracked the satellites as you moved.
A quick Google search landed me on:
http://www.mobilsat.com/Mobile-satellite-TV/
Anyway, with it you could drive around the country and your kids could watch all of the TV they liked (with consideration for nearby trees/buildings of course). The flat-ish one towards the bottom of the page looked like it’d go great mounted to a cargo rack of a minivan. I forget what extra receivers cost per month for DirecTV but I think it used to be in the $5-6 area and with one of these dishes you’d be paying less per month for more TV than FloTV.
Of course there’s a greater startup costs..
is there a reason “they” (the digital product manufacturer) can’t just put out a portable tv with a 4-5″ screen and an antenna to grab local hd signal?
There are some portable televisions, but the ATSC tuners were large and power hungry. However, that’s been changing. I think one variant of a Samsung phone on Sprint has a microsized ATSC tuner. Was trying to get my hands on it but forgot. Will ping my Sprint guy and see if I can trade him the loaner EPIC I have (which I really, really like. a lot.). In Europe, they have specific mobile frequencies and technologies – but the area to cover is smaller, and as we can see from FLO, launching a new network is challenging for us here.
All I want is a portable Digital TV that runs on AA/AAA batteries, like my 2 old (now useless) portable analog TVs!
@Tivo Steve, I think you want this:
http://www.amazon.com/Axion-AXN-8705-7-Inch-Widescreen-Portable/dp/B002TLT7H0/
Joel, I can’t speak to that model but the small one I tried about 6 months ago would get no or very limited reception. Assume it was related to power. Who knows.
My Sprint contact isn’t sure he can get me the Samsung phone, suggested I reach out to them – and so I shall.
Yeah, I assume you have to wear some sort of homemade antenna contraption on your head to get good reception unless you’re standing right next to the transmitter antenna. It’s a nice idea though!
Joel, that TV at Amazon has a rechargeable battery pack.
What do you do when the power is out for days and you want to keep up with weather/news?
All of the 7″ Digital TVs currently on the market use Li-Ion or NiMh rechargeable battery packs.
I want one that uses flashlight batteries!
@Tivo Steve: Ah ha! Well, either you need extra battery packs or a homemade adapter so it can use regular batteries. Or a generator. :-)
I don’t know about any of you but I am extremely pissed off (I guess I’m the minority) in the fact that FLOTV is going away. My family and I enjoy all the content that it has to offer and the most disturbing fact is that it looks like there isn’t a replacement for the product. I’m not going to get into the logistics of who is viewing what but having FOX NETWORK live in my car whenever I want is priceless. Don’t get me wrong, Sirius/XM is nice, but I have enjoyed FLOTV immensely and am extremely upset that it is going away. There has to be a consumer base like me that enjoys this. Do any of you know of a replacement?
I thought it was a great idea, I will miss my flo t.v.
maybe in the near future, some similar device will be available to the public.
yeah. this sucks sooo bad.
i watch my flo t.v. all the time in between trailer moves at work. college football, adult swim, comedy central, discovery channel. aaaaarrrrggg.
this is going to suck.
and also i feel really funny throwing away such a cool device, even though i’ll get my money back.
I think they should have had more ads other than on the device itself. I already own it; I am already sold, now go target people who don’t know of it so we can keep our Flotv’s.
I too am dying to find a replacement device. Current cell not a viable option.Thinking of maybe an I Pad or I will research sling box.
Incidentally, has anyone else purchased their Flo tv from Best Buy and with it their 2 year replacement warranty? I did and now it is useless. They say they replace the $149.00 I paid for warranty item if broken, but I wanted to get $ from Flo to at least cover the subscription cost I laid out. I know–dumb move as they said it was non-refundable if they tanked, but I wanted to get the discount price and pay while I had the available cash. I wonder if I could get the Flo rebate and the $50.00 from BB for the useless warranty…
Well… they had some Superbowl advertising. There’s no bigger stage than that. Folks aren’t interested in a dedicated mobile television at FLO’s prices.
will miss watching live sports..
tivo steve they sell a AA powered digital tv at tigerdirect.com
I am so upset about losing my FloTV. I LOVED this! It is the best present I ever received. I even renewed for two years ($199). I take my FloTV everywhere and I too loved having Fox News. I also loved having the Mobile TV schedule (i.e., CBS would re-play NCIS, The Good Wife, etc. the next day) and NBC would replay The Tonight show from the night before. The video and audio quality were amazing!
I got an Axion digital TV (replacement?) and it SUCKS!!! Guess I will have to go with Slingbox and get a better Droid phone, although I heard the upgrade on the app is so bad that people don’t even use it and there is no refund. It just isn’t the same. I would be willing to pay 3x the $$ for my FloTV. What a great invention. Who is going to come up with an alternative/replacement?
I guess I’m another member of the sad to see it go crowd. I was the perfect demographic for this. I don’t want to play TV on my iPhone because I’m using that for business. I like having a small device showing CNN or other news while I’m working. I’d take to the gym while on the treadmill or bike so I could watch what I wanted to watch. I could watch simulcast or recorded shows provided and that did most of what I wanted. If there had been a multimedia capability and perhaps some sort of DVR option that would be cool. I thought I could upgrade my UVerse service to take advantage of watching downloaded shows to my iPhone but had to upgrade to their most expensive package and the shows they offer are not interesting for me.
Cash Cab in the middle of the day, CNN coverage of the earthquake/Tsunami in Japan, and never once having to give up computer screen or iPhone availability.
Good bye, FLO.
I will miss flo too
i went with Mobiletv and must say they suck –yes over 40 channels but nothing really live –not like flo
I could have watched the final 4 on flo but MOtv will prob be delayed
damn smartphones
Have (seemingly) searched everywhere online for repurposing ideas for the FloTV device, the PTV 350, with NO results. The device has has some 4 GB of memory – any thoughts as to how to re-tool it into a mobile movie player…digital picture frame…digital receiver…other possibilities? Concur with some other folks that it just seems to be a shame to trash/recycle a sleek piece of technology, even if the service tanked.
We loved having it in the car. It wasn’t so great for road trips because once you got outside of teh metro area there was no signal until you reached another metro area. letting the kids watch discovery instead of listening to the radio was a great way to start the day and i’d have happily continued the service. wishing there was a way to leave the equipment in and subcribe to something else. a waste indeed.
Yeah.. miss my Flo tv.. is it possible to hack or mod anything to the actual device to make it work? It make it useful in any other way than just recycling it… please let me know if you hear anything.
Now what do we do with the device?
Can someone tell me where I go to get a refund on my Flo Tv device?