ATT LG Vu

As I have always said in my podcast that I am always open to change. On Sunday I took the plunge and figured I would try the highly anticipated AT&T LG Vu featuring AT&T Mobile TV. If you aren't familiar with the AT&T Mobile TV you can with just one touch see what’s on LIVE TV, scroll to find the next episode of your favorite show or select a time slot to reveal an episode summary of your next new favorite. The guide is simple and easy to use and is great for searching on the fly for Mobile TV to go. I was very skeptical since this is a brand new service for AT&T but quite honestly I was blown away with the quality of the video. Hands down beats Verizon and Sprint in terms of quality and coverage.

The user interface definitely mirrors the iPhone and also offers tactile feedback whenever the screen is touched (something the iPhone needs drastically). I was also informed in order to have the MobileTV service you have two options Mobile TV Plus ($30) Channels include: CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, MTV, NBC2Go, NBC News2Go, Nickelodeon, CNN Mobile and Pix and Mobile TV Basic Channels include: CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, MTV, NBC2Go, NBC News2Go, Nickelodeon, CNN Mobile and Pix. I chose the MobileTV Plus with the $20 unlimited TXT messaging. I have been able to get a signal almost everywhere I was in NJ but users should definitely check your coverage map to make sure you have service. If you don't then I wouldn't even bother considering this phone whatsoever.

The phone also supports A2DP which also enables users to listen to all their music via bluetooth stereo headphones. The bluetooth connectivity is fantastic and supports basically all the profiles any mobile warrior could ask for.

Unfortunately my next task was a huge obstacle that I wasn't able to get over and quite honestly makes this phone a huge failure. During my investigation about email and contact synchronization I uncovered that the LG VU offers absolutely NO synchronization options at ALL!! So think about how you currently have 100+ contacts on your phone well the ONLY way to get them onto your new LG VU is to copy them to SIM. Unfortunately for me Windows Mobile basically doesn't support this so I then thought I could sync my outlook using the LG SHINE's data cable. Unfortunately once again no CD for synchronizing contacts.. WHAT... Are they joking??? According to LG they have no plans to support this and recommend users either manually type contacts in or copy via SIM. For me, this is absolution unacceptable!! What in the world were they thinking?

The next issue is that the phone only supports 5-6 email services and has no support for IMAP. So if you have AIM, YAHOO, BELLSOUTH, WINDOWS LIVE and COMCAST you are fine. If not.... You are up a creek without a paddle. Once again a big miss!!! What good is a phone with such limited email capabilities?

In conclusion AT&T has done a nice job with the concept of MobileTV but unfortunately fail with the first phone released on this network. I think the TV service has significant opportunity but going forward AT&T really needs to do some R&D as to what devices are going to support it and how much end users can deal with. So in a nutshell the LG VU is going back to AT&T and I continue my journey finding that utopia I really don't think I will ever see.