TU Media Launches Dual DMB Phone

TU Media said Wednesday that it has launched a ``dual'' mobile TV phone that allows users to view both S-DMB (satellite TV) and T-DMB (terrestrial TV).

The SCH-B710 phone, made by Samsung Electronics, will sell for about 600,000 won, the company said. Users can watch 35 channels through fee-based satellite S-DMB and 18 channels for free through T-DMB. TU Media is the sole operator of the satellite DMB service in Korea.

The launching of dual TV phones is expected to reshape the ailing mobile broadcasting industry. TU Media suffered 71.2 billion won in operating losses last year following 90.4 billion won losses in 2005. The company has shunned hybrid phones out of fear that it might hurt the T-DMB subscription.

The new phone has a swiveling screen that has a Picture-in-Picture function allowing consumers to view two channels at the same time.

Digital Cube, a portable multimedia player (PMP) maker, released a car navigation set last month that supports both T-DMB and S-DMB formats.