Europe : Ericsson has used the Milia TV and broadcasting event to demonstrate an application that truly brings interactive television to multimedia mobile devices.

In the first showcase of this kind, Ericsson is demonstrating how an existing interactive TV format can be fully aligned with mobile devices with multimedia capabilities. Viewers are able to interact with mobile TV shows, via voting or greeting (SMS-to-TV or MMS-to-TV), just by pushing a response key. Mobile TV viewers can also access such additional services as shopping via the mobile TV.

"Our solution makes it possible for viewers to interact with a show they are watching on their mobile device in a whole new way, creating a much richer TV experience with the help of the mobile channel," said Kurt Sillén, Vice President and Head of Ericsson Mobility World. "Apart from simultaneously watching and interacting with TV on a mobile device, the new solution also allows the device to be used as an interactive remote control when sitting in front of TV at home."

Ericsson's end-to-end solution is based on existing technology and can be up and running within a short time. For operators, it means increased traffic and data revenues. They will also be able to position themselves as an interactive service provider towards the TV industry.

TV networks can profit from content fees, additional advertising revenues and paid interactions such as voting, greeting and shopping. And because it opens the way to new TV formats, it also widens target groups and builds customer loyalty while giving end-users an advanced TV experience.

The interactive mobile TV application was developed in cooperation with two Ericsson partners, conVISUAL and CTcommunology.