[getti]

Today Orange launched a world’s first for live sports broadcasting - a live cricket channel covering the ICC Super Series for Orange mobile TV users. The Cricket channel is one of eight new channels being added to the UK’s first TV-on-the-mobile service, Orange TV (originally launched in May 2005) bringing the total number of channels available up to 16. The new channels are being launched for the Nokia ‘great for TV’ handsets, the N70, 6630 and 6680, available to buy in Orange stores and online at www.orange.co.uk, priced from free on contract.


The ICC Super Series will be the first cricket series ever to be broadcast live to mobiles and will feature Australia Vs. the best in World Cricket including Ashes hero’s ‘Freddie’ Flintoff, Steve Harmison, and Kevin Pietersen. The Super Series starts with three one-day events on 5th, 7th and 9th October with the test on 14-19th October Live coverage of the matches will be broadcast on Orange TV and replays available through the following day.


Running over the Orange high-speed 3G network, Orange TV, powered by MobiTV, builds on its existing line-up of channels allowing users to access a combination of live and made-for-mobile programmes, including 24hour TV stations Kerrang and Kiss, as well as ITN Weather and Reality TV, produced by Big Brother creator Endemol.


The full line up of channels now appearing on Orange TV:

Live ICC Super Series Cricket
ITN Weather
Bloomberg
Kiss
Kerrang
Bravo
The Reality Channel
Shorts TV
Maxx Sports (extreme sports)


Available from May 2005

Comedy Time
Toon World
Big Brother (no longer running)
Glastonbury 2005 (no longer running)
Cartoon Network
CNN
ITN News
Extreme sports
Fashion TV

“Orange is delighted to be able to expand the range of channels for the Mobile TV experience. Offering channels covering music, news, sports, cartoons, comedy, fashion, reality TV and now even the exciting ICC Super Series in Australia demonstrates our commitment to deliver the best content we can for our customers,” said Max Taylor, head of 3G marketing, Orange UK.


“We’re teaming up with the broadcasting industry at large to continue to expand the breadth and depth of our mobile TV service. We have 16 channels today and we will continue to sign more and more exciting channels & programming for our diverse audience. We have seen mobile TV is a major attraction for both Orange users and new customers, and are therefore working hard to ensure the development of relationships with the best content providers.”


The Nokia N70 provides cutting edge 3G performance whilst being optimised for TV. The handset features a powerful 2 megapixel camera with 20x digital zoom and integrated flash. The phone offers the latest in multimedia technology with two-way video calling, real time video sharing and image editors, Orange Music Player download service, and expandable MultiMediaCard (MMC) memory capability. The N70 battery delivers up to 3.5 hours of talk/TV viewing time and up to 11 days on standby.


Customers with great for TV handsets** like the Nokia N70 can download the Orange TV application, from Orange World and access it for free for seven days as part of the Orange TRY before you buy TV offer. Orange TV is available to both contract and Pay-As-You-Go customers, with users paying a simple monthly fee of £10 to access the channels***. Customers wanting to see Orange TV in action should visit Orange retail stores.


**Great for TV handsets include: Nokia N70, Nokia 6680 and Nokia 6630.

***Terms apply.

[dgilbert2]

"The Nokia N70 provides cutting edge 3G performance whilst being optimised for TV. " -- Are Orange trying to say that the N70 will provide better Orange TV than the 6680? Pigs might fly :mad: They need to get data to move swiftly from one cell site to another before Orange TV can be a sucess, but is it too much to ask to watch it on the move?

Also interesting that the 6630 has now been added to the list, has anyone tried this phone yet on Orange TV?

[Ben]

Yeah, apparently the 6630 can now download the application and works fine, but I agree with you on the points regarding the N70 somehow being optimised for TV...

I was reading the FAQ the other day. They say that transmission gaps might occaisionally occur, just like they would when you're on a phonecall, but no data will be lost. They also say that we should adjust the phone backlight settings to stop the screen turning off.

1) The 'gaps' in transmission are regular as clockwork... it's some kind of coding problem or something.
2) The maximum backlight time is 1 minute.

More work needed!