(11 April 2008 3:00 pm)

NEW DELHI: CNN International and Samsung Electronics have joined forces to offer CNN's new mobile Java application to consumers, exclusively preloaded into Samsung handsets from June 2008.

The handsets will be available in India as well as other countries from June onwards, officials told indiantelevision.com, adding that with the preloaded Java application, users would be able to browse the net and watch CNN.

However, the prices for the handsets were not disclosed and would be decided by Samsung, CNN officials said.

The agreement between CNN International's parent company, Turner Broadcasting System Inc., and Samsung affords a six-month window where it will be the exclusive device manufacturer to host this new Java service, which was launched in February at the GSMA Mobile World Congress.

The partnership will be executed across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

The agreement grants purchasers of select Samsung handsets one-click access to CNN's vast newsgathering output including access to thousands of reports and images from CNN's global correspondents in the field.

A company statement said that the roll-out will begin with the Samsung G810 5-megapixel cameraphone (available in Asia in the 2nd half of 2008), and subsequently roll out to other handset models.

CNN's Java application, pre-loaded on Samsung devices, enables users to prioritise favourite categories, get quick access to top stories via the animated news flipper, ads and watch the hourly on-demand 'CNN World News Now' video headlines.

"This move provides our audiences with easier access to CNN International's first class multi-media news service," commented Ringo Chan, Vice President of Wireless and Interactive Content, Development and Distribution, Turner Asia Pacific.

"The collaboration with Samsung underscores CNN's commitment to aligning with the best telecommunications partners in the business to provide consumers in the Asia Pacific region with a dynamic user experience and immediate access to our global news product, delivered through sophisticated technology," he added.

"With CNN International's solution, Samsung will be able to deliver its end users with the rich multimedia experience," said Samsung Electronics executive VP and head of mobile R&D team Jongkyun Shin.