14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung Access, also known as Samsung A827, will be released by AT&T in the near future, being the second device from the US carrier to support the MediaFLO-based mobile TV service. The other phone that comes with MediaFLO support is LG Vu (or LG CU92), unreleased because the MediaFLO service is not available yet. This although AT&T announced it for the end of 2007, but some unrevealed difficulties made the mobile carrier postpone the service's release.
Back to the announced handset, Samsung Access is a quad-band 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz GSM device with few known specifications. However, it is a mid to low-end phone, since it packs a not so fancy 1.3 Megapixel camera (with digital zoom and video recorder) that can only take photos at an inferior quality. While it doesn't look bad, Samsung Access doesn't look out of the ordinary either, and its small display (seems to be a 176 x 220 pixels one but I might be wrong) doesn't really make it a true Mobile TV handset. Other specifications include MP3 Player (with AT&T Music), E-mail and chat capabilities (AOL, Yahoo!, Windows Live) and J2ME games. There are no details about the phone's dimensions or its Operating System but, regardless of those aspects, Samsung Access will most probably have and affordable price to compensate for its drawbacks.
Verizon Wireless, the second largest US mobile operator after AT&T, already offers MediaFLO services from March 2007, branded under the VCAST TV name, and AT&T now tries to catch-up. There are high chances for the MediaFLO from AT&T to be available until the end of 2008's first quarter, so Samsung Access and LG Vu should hit the market by then, when we'll get to find out more specs about both handsets.