BlackBerryToday: News: TV Guide Mobilized

With all the recent talk about handset TV, it sometimes gets lost that 99 percent of the world still watches Desperate Housewives and Seinfeld reruns the old fashioned way; on a screen quite a bit larger than an inch or two in diameter.

Today, the mobile and traditional television worlds met when Gemstar-TV Guide International and Handmark announced the release of TV Guide mobile, a new television listings and content service for Palm and Windows Mobile smartphones and Wi-Fi-enabled PDAs. RIM BlackBerry wireless handhelds are slated to follow at some future date.

Through a yearly or monthly subscription, TV Guide Mobile provides consumers with television-orientated content and personalized tools, including:

Instant access to TV Guide(R) daily local TV listings;

Ability to search TVGuide.com's "Big Movie Guide" database, which contains 40,000 movie reviews, and its "Show Guide" database, which includes episode synopses and other information on 600+ TV series, past and present;

Searches organized by title, genre or celebrity;

Customization allowing users to receive information only about their favorite channels, shows or celebrities, through features such as "My Watch List," that keeps users favorite programs in one place;

Hollywood news, gossip and commentary, including: Ask Ausiello; Insider; The Biz; Ask Matt; Roush Review; Ask The Televisionary; Watercooler; and Soap News.

"We're excited to make TV Guide Mobile available for these smartphone platforms through Handmark," said Richard Cusick, senior vice president and general manager of Digital Media at Gemstar-TV Guide. "This is one of several initiatives in the mobile space that Gemstar-TV Guide is pursuing. Mobile is a key area for the company and one that we are prioritizing across all of our products, services and partnerships."

The TV Guide Mobile service costs $29.99 per year. A list of compatible devices is available at the Handmark TV Guide Mobile Web site.

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