" The idle screen of mobile phone shows what the person is interested in and what he wants. People used to launch calendar or daily schedule on the idle screens of their handsets. But young people of today use the idle screens to create their own customized information desktop. They check news, weather forecast, and other information on the mobile screens. To meet needs of those young customers, SK Telecom releases ‘T INTERACTIVE V2’ service. Enabling customers to launch any information widget on the idle screen and offering auto-update, the service is expected to deliver more personalized and exciting mobile experience. "


SK Telecom (CEO Shin Bae Kim, www.sktelecom.com) releases a beta version of its next-generation idles screen service titled T INTERACTIVE V2 on the website(beta.tinteractive.co.kr) on July 31, 2007.

Following T INTERACTIVE service opened in last April, SK Telecom will T INTERACTIVE V2 beta service to a pilot user group.  Services based on ‘Widget’ engine will be released to the group and the full commercial service will be available in the market by 2008 after reflecting opinions of the user group and securing stability of the service.

Widget enables users to organize desktop of their own with content applications they want and easily check the content with auto-update function. With the service expanding from desktop to mobile, a number of portals, mobile carriers, and handset manufactures are releasing Widget services (e.g. Widsets by Nokia, Yahoo Go by Yahoo, Celltop by Alltel, etc.). Widget is expected to be the next big thing in the mobile phone service market.

SK Telecom launched T INTERACTIVE SERVICE, a mobile widget service available on the idle screens at the end of 2006. In April 2007, it further diversified the service by introducing Expert Mini and Magazine functions. With Expert Mini, subscribers can set various widgets at once and use them more easily. Magazine function allows users to access diverse contents without need to access the network.

The biggest benefit of the new T INTERACTIVE V2 beta service is that users can launch virtually any widget on the idle screen ranging from news, weather forecast, real-time online search ranking, subway map, calendar, to shortcuts. In addition, users don’t have to handle all the complex settings on their handsets, but can directly set what will be displayed on their mobile screens on the website and apply the settings to mobile phones.

SK Telecom will recruit pilot users on the website (beta.tinteractive.co.kr). Anyone using Samsung’s SCH-W270 and LG Electronics’ LG-SH130, both WCDMA handsets, can apply for the beta service. During the beta service period, the group can use ‘Data Safe Plan’, an unlimited wireless internet service plan for free.

Director Song Yi Yoon, the head of CI Headquarter at SK Telecom said, “The service is provided both wirelessly and wiredly to offer the widest range of services to customers. When the service is fully available in the market after the beta period, it will bring greater benefits to customers.”