MetroPCS Offers First Mobile DTV Phone

New Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G Smartphone will be able to access Dyle Mobile DTV services

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/3/2012 11:12:39 AM

The move towards the launch of mobile digital TV took a notable step forward on Friday, with the cellular carrier MetroPCS Communications Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America announcing that consumers could now acquire the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G. The phone, which was announced earlier this year and is priced at $459, is the first phone for the U.S. market that has built in features for the reception of Dyle mobile digital TV broadcasts.

The Dyle TV service is backed by local stations and networks belonging to the Mobile Content venture. Dyle is expected to formally launch this year and the movement of devices into stores that can receive the signals is an important step forward in those plans.

Access to the Dyle mobile TV service, which will offer linear streams of the local broadcast stations' news, weather and other programming, will be offered in select markets and at no additional charge to customers on a MetroPCS 4G LTE service plan.

The Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G uses the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system has a 4.3-inch touchscreen and a 1GHz processor. Other features include a 8.0 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera.

In addition to the Dyle TV features, it will also be MetroPCS' first smartphone to feature 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot, which allows customers to share their MetroPCS 4G LTE connection and data with multiple Wi-Fi-enabled devices.

Dyle has also cut alliances with other consumer electronics manufacturers to begin offering dongles and other devices that will allow existing cellphones and tablets to receive the signals.