Sending MMS by remote control
MMS to TV
Dortmund, 17 February 2004
At GSM World Congress in Cannes, MATERNA Information & Communications are demonstrating how messaging services will continue moving into the living room. Visitors have the possibility to have a picture taken of themselves by a mobile camera and their photo sent per MMS. After that, they can have a look at their picture message on a TV screen at the MATERNA stand, forward the MMS from the television set or answer it. Basis for MMS to TV is the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP), turning TV into an additional device for the sending and receiving of SMS and MMS.
The standardized platform MHP offers an integrated open interface for the development of interactive, multimedia value added services for digital TV programs and services. MHP combines the advantages of digital television, such as improved picture and tone quality, with the possibilities of interactivity and Internet. According to experts, digital TV, basing itself on MHP, is certain to prevail on the market. Around 50 million households in seven European countries are already using digital TV.
The MHP platform allows for numerous applications, such as interactive game shows, information services, e-mail, home banking and Internet access, to name only a few. Especially the successful home order shopping services are becoming quite comfortable. Future shopping can easily be done by means of remote control. Premium SMS and MPay makes it possible to pay cost liable services by means of micro-payment, without problems. For this, the user sends an SMS to a certain network independent short code and receives, for example, the password for a protected download area. So, the new interactive possibilities of TV generate additional revenue sources for broadcasters, network operators, content providers, hardware and software developers and service providers. Passive viewers are becoming active consumers.
The familiar use of SMS and, increasingly, also MMS is the ideal basis for different interactive TV offerings: Possible are, for example, voting and quiz events for TV viewers. In future, the right quiz answer will be sent through the set top box or directly by the remote control of the MHP enabled TV set. This enables broadcasters to meet viewers´ growing need for more interactivity. Also the receipt of short messages during the running of the program will be possible. SMS or MMS can be read and answered directly.
In this area, MATERNA will work together with strong partners, in order to guarantee attractive multimedia applications for different interactive user needs, immediately. The company aims at the market position of an interactive applications provider and service provider for messaging services.
MATERNA Information & Communications
MATERNA is a leading software company in the field of information and communication technology. The company employs worldwide 1.115 staff members and its turnover was estimated to more than 145 million Euros for the year 2002. Beside the head office in Dortmund, the company has offices and subsidiaries located all over Germany as well as in Austria, Belgium, Czech republic, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and USA. In the Business Unit Information, MATERNA develops integrated IT solutions for process optimization involving companies and public administration. This includes the topic fields Portals, Information Management, Service and IT Infrastructure Management. The Business Unit Communications offers products and solutions from the business area Mobile Solutions and Unified Messaging. This includes in particular value-added services for mobile and fixed net on base of SMS, MMS, WAP and Mobile Java which are distributed under the brand name Anny Way. The Anny Way Academy is active on the market in terms of trainings and consulting services as found in practice.
For further details, please contact:
MATERNA Information & Communications
Antje Krämer
antje.kraemer@materna.de
Phone +49 173 70 11 085
www.materna.comwww.annyway.com
