TV viewing wars go mobile: Dish on iPad, FiOS on Moto

TV on the little screen is coming back. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) are apparently working on a network tablet device and now there's word that Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) is preparing a new mobile application for the iPad and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android devices which could, ironically, include the new Motorola device.

The Dish app would let access television streams and content recorded on their DVRs and if that sounds a lot like Slingbox, it could be because it is a lot like Slingbox. To access to the apps Dish subscribers will need to purchase a Slingbox device for $180 to $300 or upgrade to Dish's HD DVR (with Slingbox capabilities) for $200 to $400 and an extra 10 bucks a month subscription fee.

There is also some question about who these services will target. Recent Nielsen data suggests that cell phone video viewing--and tablets are only really big cell phones--is much more common in Asian and Pacific countries than the United States and Europe primarily because people in those eastern markets have less access to cable TV channels.

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