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A seamless convergent multimedia solution will allow sailing fans all over the world to follow the most dramatic moments of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race live and direct.

Viewers can follow the action either via their mobile phone, the Web, or via IPTV in Ericsson's customer pavilion at each port stop. The race starts today in Alicante, Spain, and ends in late June next year in St Petersburg, Russia. There are 10 legs in the race which takes sailors to 11 ports around the world.

All boats are equipped with five fixed cameras and two radio microphones. This, together with advanced multimedia solutions from Ericsson, combined with a dedicated media crew member on each of the eight boats equipped with two handheld cameras, will bring the onboard experience closer to hand. Photos, videos, podcasts and feature stories will be available on your mobile phone.

Exciting Content

Knut Frostad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race and a former skipper in the competition, said: "Our audience demands content that is exciting, accessible and immediate. Our multimedia channels, including mobile, help us bring the story closer to the audience and maintain our strong tradition of leading at the forefront of communications technology."

With the inclusion of a dedicated media person on every boat, audiences--wherever they are and with whatever screen they are watching--will have an open window into the most remote and dangerous parts of the ocean. One editorial process feeds both existing and new channels. Each channel experience has been tailored to maximize its unique value to the production mix.

Geoff Hollingworth, director of innovation at business unit multimedia, Ericsson, said the Volvo Ocean Race event is a living vision of the future: "Our goal is to keep the next generation multimedia evolution as simple as possible, to keep the focus where it really needs to be, on the audience and their experience. That is what we are doing with the Volvo Ocean Race."

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