Qualcomm Inc.?s Flo TV and mophie are partnering to bring live streaming content to Apple?s iPhone and iPod touch in an effort to validate the mobile television market.

The partnership is another step in Flo TV?s goal of advancing TV across a variety of devices and platforms. Mophie and Flo TV?s new product will start shipping in the first half of this year.

?Our partnership with mophie allows us to leverage the success of mophie's Juice Pack iPhone accessory to bring live mobile television to iPhone customers,? said Jeff Gattis, director of product management at Flo TV, San Diego.

?By integrating our Flo TV broadcast chipset into the Juice Pack accessory, iPhone customers will gain the benefits of an extended battery as well as live mobile television all packaged in a sleek and aesthetically pleasing case,? he said.

Mophie is an accessory company that created the certified battery by Apple.  Its products can be found in Apple Stores and major retailers worldwide.

Flo TV offers full-length simulcast and time-shifted mobile TV programming from a range of entertainment brands. The company distributes its content via carrier partnerships and a direct-to-consumer mobile TV device.

Juicing-up
The company recently expanded its content distribution agreement with The Walt Disney Co. to add content from the ABC Television Network and the Disney Channel to its lineup (see story).

ABC and the Disney Channel joined content already available on ESPN MobileTV. As part of the deal, Flo TV users will have access to shows in primetime from ABC Mobile?including ?Grey?s Anatomy? and ?Desperate Housewives??and a simulcast of the Disney Channel?featuring ?Hannah Montana? and ?Wizards of Waverly Place.?

Other brands on the Flo TV platform include Adult Swim, CBS, Fox and NBC.

The new products integrate mophie?s case design with a built-in Flo TV receiver that lets iPhone and iPod touch users watch live TV at the flip of a switch.

Consumers can also use the device as back-up battery power in between charges. 

Flo TV is hoping to address a number of target markets on the iPhone, ranging from sports enthusiasts needing to catch the latest games to the fast-forward mom seeking to entertain her children.

Satiating the mobile appetite
Mr. Gattis said bringing Flo TV to the iPhone lets the company reach the innovator audience that maps so closely with the iPhone and Apple?s core demographic.
 
?This audience has consistently demonstrated the appetite to try and adopt new technologies and services and is critical in terms of driving adoption of live mobile TV,? Mr. Gattis said.

Flo TV also announced an expanded slate of sports programming.

The mobile streaming service will feature more than 90 National Basketball Association games, 76 Major League Baseball games, four tennis majors, 11  National Hockey League games plus the Stanley Cup Finals, close to 200 National Collegiate Athletic Association football games and about 350 NCAA basketball games.

Mr. Gattis said the partnership with mophie and brining Flo TV to the iPhone addresses several challenges that plagued mobile TV such as poor video quality, buffering and lack of content.

?Bringing Flo to the iPhone not only allows us to reach an influential audience and install base, but also gives us an outstanding device and platform on which to showcase the quality and depth of the Flo TV service,? Mr. Gattis said.

?We believe that the iPhone audience will be delighted with the Flo TV service and this will further validate the mobile TV market,? he said.