Qualcomm’s Flo TV Personal Television Hits Stores

The Flo TV Personal Television is now available nationwide, bringing live and time-shifted TV to the palms of users' hands.

There are some people whose lives won’t be complete without real-time and timeshifted television with them all the time—and those folks will be thrilled to know the Flo TV Personal Television is on sale now through retailers like Amazon.com and Best Buy. Announced last month, the Flo TV Personal Television enables users to tap into both live and time-shifted television content using a dedicated portable player with a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen. The unit features more than five hours of battery life, and an integrated program guide to help users navigate available content from a variety of partners. Although Flo TV doesn’t offer every show from every over-the-air or cable network, major partners do include NBC and Viacom franchises like MTV, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central.

“The Flo TV Personal Television is a dedicated device for consumers’ on-the-go lifestyle that is perfect for sharing with friends and family, as well as for personal viewing time,” said Flo TV president Bill Stone, in a statement. “The FLO TV Personal Television is setting the standard for high-quality mobile TV thanks to our award-winning network and technology. It also adds another way for consumers to use the FLO TV service, in addition to a variety of handsets and our recently introduced FLO TV Auto Entertainment system.”

Flo TV delivers television content to users via a dedicated national mobile television network: the device is not pulling in over-the-air digital television transmissions. The unit itself features a 3.5-inch touchscreen display, an interactive programming guide, integrated stereo speakers, headphone output, and a flip-out stand for setting the device on a nearby surface.

The Flo TV Personal Television is available now for a suggested price of $249.99; the initial purchase price includes six months of Flo TV mobile service; after six months, users will have to pay a monthly fee to keep the TV operational. Flo TV doesn’t seem to be publishing subscription rates, but has said in the past that service would run as low as $8.99 a month with a long-term subscription.