Innocomm Launches TV Tuner-Equipped "Shark" Android Smartphone

Mobile TV and Android meet at last, but for most of America, it probably won't matter. At least not yet, and at least not without a legitimate mobile TV service that the masses can take advantage of over-the-air. But that little issue isn't stopping Innocomm from introducing one of the world's first Android 2.1 smartphones with a mobile TV tuner (and antenna) inside.

At the Computex Taipei trade show this week, Telegent Systems announced a new partnership with Innocomm in order to unveil the "first 3.5G touchscreen smartphone based on the Android operating system to incorporate Telegent mobile TV technology." The phone itself is called the Shark, and it features a 3.2" WVGA (800x480) display, capacitive touchscreen, 8 megapixel autofocus camera, 3.5G connectivity, Wi-Fi and analog TV tuner. It's definitely one of the nicest phones to date based on specifications alone, and it certainly offers one killer feature that most others leave out.


The analog TV tuner provides access to TV programs the same way that they're picked up via OTA antennas in the household. There's even the ability to record a show to MicroSD card, take a screen capture of a program and there's already plans in place to support digital TV broadcasts in the future. No pricing or release information was available, but it should ship soon on a worldwide basis.

 At Computex Taipei 2010 today, Telegent Systems, the company that makes television mobile, and Innocomm, a Taiwan-based provider of broadband wireless solutions, announced the introduction of the first 3.5G touchscreen smartphone based on the Android operating system to incorporate Telegent mobile TV technology.  

The Innocomm Shark, which features a 3.2 inch WVGA (800x480) display, capacitive touchscreen, 8 megapixel autofocus camera, 3.5G connectivity, Wi-Fi and analog TV, is designed to address the growing interest in feature-rich touchscreen smartphones while entering the category at a price significantly lower than current comparable models.  According to Gartner Dataquest, the smartphone market is expected to grow by nearly 50% in 2010 and 2011, outperforming basic handset growth over the next five years.  

Innocomm is among a growing number of mobile device developers to build in Telegent's free-to-air mobile TV technology as a competitive differentiator.  The Shark's analog TV feature provides consumers with mobile access to the same free-to-air television programming that they view on conventional TV sets, delivering ready access to news, sports and other preferred programming while on the go.  The handset's large, high quality display combined with touchscreen controls allows for a high quality viewing experience.  The model also incorporates the ability to record TV clips to a microSD card. Innocomm plans to add digital TV capability to future models.

"We expect the phone's price and feature profile to appeal to operators seeking to add  3.5G Android smartphones to their portfolio and to leverage 3G as a strategic growth platform," said Paul Wang, President at Innocomm.  "The combination of analog TV with Android's feature-rich platform allows us to deliver both operator and consumer extraordinary value in markets in Asia, Latin America and parts of Europe."