As well as continuing to enjoy teletext on their television screens, the millions of people who regularly use the medium will soon be able to view their favourite teletext services on the move. Minitext is a new mobile teletext platform developed for Blackberrys and other MIDP compatible handheld devices which will be launched later this year.

Teletext pages are presented on screen in the traditional format and navigation is in the usual way - simply by entering the required three-digit number or using the familiar red, green, yellow and blue fastext links.

Sub-pages are detected automatically and can be accessed quickly via the on-screen menu options. Unlike broadcast teletext services, sub-pages on Minitext can be also be targetted direct, just by keying in the main page number and the required sub page, e.g. 123 sub page 4 is entered 1234.

A key feature of the platform is the ability to switch 'channels' from one teletext service to another, allowing the user to access world news, sports headlines, travel, weather, competitions and programme information provided by multiple organisations from just the single Minitext application.

The mobile teletext pages are optimised for fast retrieval, reducing the data costs associated with mobile web browsing.

Q What is Minitext?

A Minitext is a platform which shows teletext pages on your mobile phone with the same look & feel as teletext on your TV. The application grants super-fast access to, for example, the latest financial news, traffic information or sports results. Minitext can be installed and used immediately and is completely free to use.