AT&T Adds Another FLO TV Phone

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 3/8/2010

DALLAS — The full touchscreen LG Arena multimedia phone launched by AT&T expands the carrier’s selection of phones with 7.2Mbps HSPA technology to six and phones equipped with Flo TV to two. The device will be available online at www.wireless. att.com beginning Feb. 26, and in AT&T stores nationwide March 7, at $199 with two-year contract after mail-in rebate consisting of a $50 AT&T promotion card.

LG unveiled the phone a year ago at the February 2009 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The AT&T version operates in 3G mode in AT&T’s 850/1,900MHz bands but not in the foreign 2.1GHz band.

The Arena is slightly more than a half-inch thick with 3-inch WVGA touchscreen, virtual QWERTY keyboard, and LG’s 3D user interface, which features a rotating 3D cube, each side with customizable home screen. The cube can be turned with a fi nger fl ick. Reel scrolling lays out menus as if they were on a fi lm reel, letting users scroll from icon to icon by dragging a fi nger. Other features include assisted GPS, 5-megapixel autofocus camera, ability to record DVD-quality video, DixV video playback, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, and the ability to send geo-tagged photos and videos.

The phone’s Dolby Mobile postprocessing delivers a surround sound experience through any headphones. It also up-mixes mono to stereo and stereo to 5.1-channel surround, and enhances bass response and clarity.

Flo TV service, branded as AT&T Mobile TV, is available at $9.99/ month.