Chat TV 2

I’m sure by now you might have noticed a number of these odd looking TV channels with the split-paneled screens showing music videos, banner advertisements and chat messages. On many occasions I have spent time challenged, trying to decipher the actual content of the SMS chat messages that scroll rapidly upward on the screen. Most messages, it seems, are personals type of content and friendly chatter of people just looking to make friends. As I am a voracious channel surfer, I can’t help but notice that I have never seen that chat message window ever still. There is always a continuous stream of chat messages coming in via SMS. Apparently, these channels have produced communities of their own who spend hours at a time participating in the SMS chat discussions.

Well, new TV chatters will have something to look forward to this summer. An updated platform version of the country’s first interactive chat TV channel, Link TV, was launched last Wednesday at the Philippine Cable TV Association’s (PCTA) International Convention held at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. Called ChikkaTV, it is a "do-it-yourself," customizable and upgradeable TV chat and entertainment platform installable merely by a CD. It was designed precisely for any cable system operator (CSO) anywhere in the country, no matter how large or small its base of subscribers is. CSOs may even decide to merge their communities so that they can chat with each other on ChikkaTV. This now also makes it possible for easy strategic apportioning of communities that share the same dialect.

A number of big provincial cable operators have now signed up for ChikkaTV to enjoy the advantages of its unified access code (the number people "text" to post their messages on a TV screen) for all major GSM networks. The cable system operators also possess the ability to control local advertisements together with any ticker and text sections that scroll through the TV screen. ChikkaTV can even filter any foul and offensive expressions, in any language or dialect.

The platform being employed uses patented technologies and processes that have allowed Chikka and its affiliates unsurpassed creativity with plain SMS (making it highly interactive). For ChikkaTV, these patented processes translate into the simplicity of mobile registration and actual posting of messages. "Suffixing," or the attachment of dynamic alphanumeric indices to the access codes, is key to these processes.

In 2002, Chikka Asia Inc. received ISO 9001:2000 certification for its quality management systems from SGS (Societe Generale de Surveillance), becoming the first mobile data enabler in the country and possibly in the world, to achieve certification in ISO’s latest series.

Congratulations Chikka for your many firsts and happy TV chatting to all cable viewers all over the country.

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Patrick R. Garcia is managing director of Bidshot Wireless Services. For comments or suggestions, text your message to 233011 (Globe) or 243011 (Smart), or e-mail [email protected].