Rumored Qualcomm FloTV Personal Television Also an eBook Reader?

So, gdgt has a reliable source that says…

Qualcomm readying handheld FLO TV Personal Television device

FloTV’s PR firm says: we can’t confirm/deny anything. Hmm…

FloTV is, as we learned in my podcast discussion with its head of programming Jonathan Barzilay (Aug. 19), FloTV is part of Qualcomm. So, this combination makes sense. On the other hand, why would Qualcomm think that people would rush to buy a device that just streams video programming? I’m not saying this rumored device doesn’t exist. However, it seems to me that it must be more than just a streaming video product. If you read gdgt’s final paragraph about the Flo TV Personal Television, it provides these additional details about it:

- Capacitive touchscreen
- Swipe & gesture drive user interface
- 4GB memory (that seems awfully small these days)
- Stereo speakers

It probably isn’t a multimedia device like an iPod touch with a mere 4GB of storage (though it would be reasonable to assume it has an SD card slot too). However, its description sounds a lot like an eBook reader. And, eBooks do not need much storage space. 4GB would be plenty. So, my theory, is that it is also yet another ebook reader to hit the market. gdgt believes it will be announced at the next CES. We’ll find out if my guess has merit early next year.

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