The Technical University of Graz, Kapsch CarrierCom, Telekom Austria Group's mobile subsidiary mobilkom austria and the ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Company) Online Directorate will undertake a field trial with 150 mobilkom austria customers to start in December 2008.
A project team consisting of research, industry and media provides search for videos on mobile phones. By using voice recognition technology, it is possible to immediately find all available on-demand ORF programs in which a desired term is mentioned. As part of a K-net program, a solution called Mamtam was developed under the leadership of the Technical University of Graz. In December, this solution will be tested by 150 customers of mobilkom austria, Telekom Austria Group's mobile subsidiary. The general contractor Kapsch CarrierCom, together with the ORF Online Directorate and mobilkom austria will implement this trial.
The idea is simple: enter a keyword using the Mamtam page on your mobile phone and all ORF programs which contain these keywords will be displayed. The programs can immediately be viewed on the mobile phone using HD quality UMTS streaming. However, what seems so simple for 150 mobilkom austria customers taking part in the field trial in December 2008 is based on intensive research and development. An important component is the voice recognition technology from SAIL LABS Technology in Vienna. If, for example, you enter the keyword "Obama", you will receive the list of the latest ORF programs where the name was mentioned.
Boris Nemsic, CEO Telekom Austria Group and mobilkom austria said: "This Mamtam project contains much local technical expertise. The project team delivered a convincing simple-to-use solution for a complex requirement."
Thomas Prantner, Director of ORF Online and New Media said, "Innovative research projects and trials such as this one deliver important experience for our multimedia strategy. As a modern media company, we want to provide high quality ORF content on all relevant platforms and with the highest usability possible."
Wolfgang Slany, Professor at the Technical University of Graz said: "Mobile video-on-demand is at the beginning of its development internationally. Together with ORF and mobilkom austria, we want to influence this development with Mamtam by creating a new fascinating application for mobile phones."