Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Orange to turn mobile into remote control

Mobile operator Orange is said to be developing technology that will allow its customers to user their mobile handsets to control televisions. The Sunday Telegraph reported that Orange is developing a system whereby its customers can use their handsets to program their personal video recorders.

At the moment in the UK, this type of service is available to users of SkyPlus PVRs. Users download Sky's application onto their 3G handsets, allowing users to decide remotely what programs or channels they wish to record.

According to the newspaper, Orange will try and launch its IPTV service in the third quarter of 2007. It intends to allow access to content, whether on the TV, PC, or mobile phone. Orange is said to be developing the technology to do this in-house, rather than relying on third parties, and there is talk that it will provide a search facility to allow users to search for content across all three mediums.

The paper quoted Orange's homes services manager, Eric Abensur, as saying, "When you buy content you should be able to watch that content wherever you want to, whether that is on your TV, on your PC, or on your mobile."

Orange already offers a "free" broadband connection to its contract customers, and its IPTV service would compete with similar offerings from BT Group Plc, Virgin Media, and BSkyB.

Mobile Technology by cbronline

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