Verizon puts your TV in your pocket

Verizon puts your TV in your pocket

Verizon Wireless brings real-time TV to the cell phone with its new V Cast Mobile TV service. Available on the new LG VX9400 phone ($199.99 with $50 online rebate and two-year contract) and the new Samsung SCH-u620 ($149.99 with $50 online rebate and two-year contract), the television service looks to steal the thunder from Apple's release of a cell phone this summer on the AT&T/Cingular network.

Mobile TV offers eight channels with a mix of live and delayed programming from CBS, FOX, NBC Entertainment, NBC News, Comedy Central, ESPN, MTV, Nickelodeon. I watched on the LG phone and was struck by the video's sharpness and detail -- it felt as if I were watching a miniature HDTV. Under an overcast sky, the screen wasn't that viewable, and on sunny days, forget it. But in a car or on a bus or indoors, reception and clarity were great.

Will consumers pay an extra $15 a month to watch TV that they can't record? Time will tell. We will have a full review in Thursday's At Play section.

Europe loves PS3

Europe has embraced Sony's PlayStation 3, snapping up about 600,000 of the units in the first two days of its March 23 launch, according to reports from London. Despite a steep price of 625 euros (about $835), the PS3 has been flying off shelves in Europe. By contrast, Nintendo needed a month to sell 700,000 Wii consoles in Europe after that platform went on sale in December.

On these shores, the Wii beat the PS3 out of the gate, with Nintendo notching 600,000 console sales within eight days of the platform's Nov. 19 launch.

One reason the PS3 is so hot in Europe is that region of the world has more PS2 consoles -- more than 40 million -- than any other, and demand for the PS3 has been building.



Digital frames are now in the picture

Digital picture frames look like regular picture frames, but they light your photo from behind, adding drama and interest to your pictures. They were hot in 2006 -- about 1.7 million digital photo frames were sold last year, according to market researcher Parks Associates, which sees the unexpectedly strong trend continuing into 2010.

To my eyes, digital picture frames give photos a cold, unnatural fluorescent glow, but consumers apparently disagree and made them a popular gift choice over the holidays. With Mother's Day and Father's Day coming, we'll be reviewing digital photo frames and telling you about the ones we think best combine style, durability, value and performance.


Free theft-protection

If you're looking for a portable computer, Dell is offering a free one-year subscription to Computrace Lojack for Laptops theft-protection service. That's a value of about $50.

The offer is good on new XPS M1210, XPS M1710 and XPS M2010 models.

Lojack for Laptops works like this: Software sits on your computer and, when connected to the Internet, tells Computrace its location. If the computer is stolen and is connected to the Internet, Computrace tracks its whereabouts and tells police, who may seek and execute a search warrant for the stolen device.