(9 March 2006 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Mobile television and e-mail access via mobile handsets have been identified as the most popular advanced multimedia applications in a survey conducted by the German communication giant Siemens AG.

About three fifths of respondents participated in the survey expressed interests in paying for mobile TV while about three quarters said they are keenly interested in the ability to send, receive and edit their e-mail on their wireless devices.

About 74 per cent of those surveyed expressed interest in mobile e-mail access while 59 per cent voted for mobile TV.

The study conducted by Siemens surveyed 5,300 mobile users in eight countries – Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Russia and the United States. The survey results were recently revealed at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.

At the Congress, Siemens showcased a mobile multiplayer game Master of Maya that it said would be attractive to players while enabling new business models for network operators. The game unites the elements from the world of online multiplayer games with elements of popular trading card games from the United States and Japan.

Siemens also showcased its latest WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) solutions, which it said provides mobile operators another choice for wireless broadband deployment.