AT&T CruiseCast Soft Launch In Progress

AT&T has started the rollout of their in-car satellite radio and satellite TV services in a test release to a small set of customers before their official launch in early June. The AT&T CruiseCast offering will provide 22 channels of live TV and 20 channels of radio. So far, there have been roughly 373 outlets that have agreed to carry the product including Crutchfield. Unfortunately, there are no free trials of the in-vehicle TV service. The steep price of $1,299 for the device itself along with the subscription rate of $28 per month makes taking the leap especially difficult in this economy. But when it comes to television, no price is too steep for some of us.

The AT&T CruiseCast device is priced much cheaper than the KVH DirecTV system which runs roughly $3,000. Both devices require professional installation. AT&T is smart to get its foot in the car video door now. This is going to be a hot market in the next few years with Audiovox coming out with their FLO TV service in the fall ($599-$699 installed), ICO mim offering a service starting next year backed by heavyweights like Kenwood and industry giant Sirius already providing their Backseat TV in-vehicle service for just $6.99/mo (but only 3 channel so far.)

Source: OrbitCast