CES: Riding in cars with TV

2:22 PM, January 7, 2009

LAS VEGAS -- Satellite TV in cars has been pretty much a disaster so far, with the picture and sound freezing every time so much as a light pole blocks the signal. To duplicate the effect at home, hit the pause button randomly on your TiVo about 20 times a minute.

But a new system by AT&T CruiseCast, though not perfect, is a huge improvement. On view in a test vehicle at CES, it managed to play live cable channels almost seamlessly while riding through Las Vegas neighborhoods.

The system uses a buffer regimen, similar to packet switching on the Internet, to keep the channel playing even when momentarily blocked. "As long as we can get a signal 1 1/2 minutes out of every three, it will keep going," said Winston Guillory, president of RaySat Broadcasting, which has partnered with AT&T on the system.

But then the van headed down the Strip, with its tall buildings. Several times along the way, the image from MSNBC froze, especially when the van was stuck in traffic. At one point -- from the Italian motif of the Venetian to the hotel that optimistically calls itself Paris -- the TV image was stuck on a picture of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, in the news because she's the new head of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"This is as bad as the reception gets," said Jim Croley, director of business development at AT&T, and also the driver of the test van.

Company spokesman Jim Llewellyn looked out the passenger side of the van as it was halted at a red light.

"If only Steve Wynn hadn't built his hotel right there," he said.

The system, due to hit the market in March, will cost about $1,300 for the equipment (not including the TV monitors) and then $28 a month for the TV service.

-- David Colker

Photo: AT&T CruiseCast