WebProNews

Right now, the technology will be limited to users in South Korea, using a special broadcast format.

The deal signifies more business for Texas Instruments (TI), which has been trying to find more interest in its chips, particularly from Korean electronics powerhouse Samsung.

According to a Dallas Morning News report, Samsung announced the TV phones at a Taiwan technology conference. The phones will use a TI applications processor chip in the handset.

But the most interesting feature will be the Digital Media Broadcast (DMB) technology; this allows the phones to receive TV signals from a satellite. Samsung wants to introduce the format in other countries as well. The company ranks third worldwide in handsets and will need DMB adoption to push TV phones into other markets.

One disadvantage to DMB would be its line-of-sight requirement. Taking the phone into a building or a tunnel may cause a loss of signal in some cases. But Samsung has accounted for this, and DMB can be broadcast from land-based towers for a stronger signal.

Handset leader Nokia has been testing TV in Pittsburgh, on cellphones also using TI chips but supporting the Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld (DVB-H) standard.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.