LG cut US handset deals this week with both AT&T and Verizon, but with one of the phones being a new FLO device for AT&T, suggesting that it’s about to make a push on the stalled Qualcomm owned mobile TV service.
The latest AT&T device is the LG Vu Plus, a TV-optimized product for AT&T. LG also cut a deal with Verizon for the Windows based Fathom.
On the Vu Plus consumers can watch live and time shifted, full length programs or movies, but the $9.99 a month FLO subscription is still a separate and extra payment, in addition to normal phone charges. The new phone is an upgrade to the two-year old Vu, will cost $149.99 with new 24-month contract and $50 mail-in rebate, available from June 7.
The fact that the Vu Plus supports 7.2Mbps HSPA and comes with a widescreen three-inch touch display and a new slide-out four-line Qwerty keyboard means that AT&T thinks highly enough of FLO to give it a ‘current’ handset, one built around modern iPhone inspired, design rules.
And just like the iPhone the camera is very basic at 3-megapixels and memory is meager at 50Mb but it is expandable via microSD.
The user interface claims to be enhanced, but looks pretty similar to that of the original Vu, except for the larger screen. However, it does have more preloaded homescreen features, notably AT&T’s Social Net social networking aggregator. If there’s any money left after the FLO and data fees, users can also pay an extra $9.99 a month for the AT&T Navigator turn-by-turn service ‘ though we have to question how long such add-on charges will be viable, given that Ovi Maps and others are now free.