The Nokia Mobile TV headset is one of those inspired inventions that shows, for all of our problems with Symbian S60, that Espoo’s got some seriously smart folk on the payroll. It’s a connector with your typical track controls built into the cord – and a mobile TV tuner too.
The Nokia Mobile TV headset is a TV tuner in a cord that plugs into your phone’s micro USB port and then to your headphones, with buttons for controlling media, and switching channels it receives. It works with Symbian 3 phones that accept USB peripherals (Like the upcoming Nokia N8), and all that’s required otherwise is a Mobile TV app, which will either be pre-installed, or available through the Ovi Store.
Of course, various phones can already tune into TV on the go by way of SlingPlayer or services like TVCatchup, but the difference is the Nokia Mobile TV headset doesn’t use up precious 3G data to do so – and it shouldn’t drain the battery quite so quickly either.
Read our Nokia E5 review now
There is unfortunately a rather large catch: the Nokia Mobile TV headset only works with DVB-H, which isn’t used in the UK. But think of what this heralds for when DVB-T tuners get small enough, and smartphones powerful enough: true telly on the go, without worrisome data cap issues, or the need for handset manufacturers to build support right in to the phones themselves. Bring it on.
Out Q4 2010 | €40 (£32) | Nokia Conversations
