Samsung Electronics' Wireless Olympic Works (WOW) service and official handsets using 3G communications platform were supplied to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). WOW was first introduced in the 2004 Athens Games.

According to Samsung, the devices in the recent Olympics are designed to ensure uninterrupted and secure game-time communications using 3G technologies, providing users with real-time Olympics results, schedules, news, weather reports, medals standings, participant information, and other internal communications capabilities to keep organizers, coaches and athletes in the loop.

"Communications is vital to any Olympic Games or major sporting event," said Gyehyun Kwon, corporate VP and head of worldwide sports marketing, Samsung. "At the core of the WOW platform is Samsung's drive to integrate cutting-edge global mobile trends to power the Olympic movement. Samsung has not only enabled BOCOG and the IOC to seamlessly host this year's Olympic Games, but we are proud to also enable Olympians share the excitement and pride of their performances and experience in Beijing with family and friends back home."

This year, the Beijing 2008 WOW brought 3G multimedia service to Beijing's Olympic Green. To provide whatis said to be the first-ever 3G service in China, Samsung worked with Atos Origin, the Olympic Worldwide Information Technology Partner of the IOC, and China Mobile (CMCC), Beijing's official wireless service provider.

Samsung's Beijing 2008 WOW also integrates a more user-friendly interface with its 'MyWOW' menu, as well as Text To Speech (TTS), and easy-to-access menu navigation functions. During the event, Samsung also rolled out what t claims another first in China, the PTT (Push To Talk) function to further facilitate communication among event organizers. Starting from the Torch Relay in April, Samsung's WOW service was provided throughout the Olympic period.

"The WOW service is streamlined and secure to meet the needs of the IOC, BOCOG and the Olympic family," said S.S. Kim, project manager for BOCOG, Samsung Electronics. "The i668 phone distributed among VIPs as well as the L288 provide a My WOW functionality allowing users to specify their country of origin, preferred language (English or Mandarin) as well as determine the category of relevant information they receive, including specific event news and medal announcements."

As part of its sponsorship this year, Samsung Electronics has supplied TD-SCDMA handsets to BOCOG, the Olympics' organizing committee. The company also donated G618 "Olympic phones" to the Chinese National Team, which features Olympics-related ring tones and images.

Samsung has demonstrated the WOW technology and handsets at the Samsung Olympic pavilion hub for communications during the Olympic Games. Athletes and visitors experienced Samsung's WOW technology first hand in the demo center, including recharging their handsets with the solar powered recharging station.

Source:eetasia