Cellphone TV Gets A Set-Back

There have been several studies that indicate that the market for consumers who want to want long-form video programming on wireless handsets is relatively small. To some extent it makes sense. A one inch by one inch display is not ideal for viewing Spiderman 3.

Amp'd Mobile, a company that provides multimedia and games for its cellular subscribers, filed for Chapter 11.

The company had high hopes. It had raised $360 million from blue chip operations including Viacom (VIA), Univeral Music, Qualcomm (QCOM), and Intel (INTC).

Amp'd Mobile said it had to seek bankruptcy protection because it was growing too fast. That may be the oddest excuse for a Chapter 11 filing ever spoken.

The collapse of the company brings into some question whether Qualcomm's MediaFlo project for moving video to phones will ultimately work, and whether the Verizon (VZ) investment in bring programming to its handsets has a future.

Who wants to watch video so small that it can't be seen?

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about