Verizon FiOS TV customers do not have to reach for the remote anymore to control their television sets. All they need is their mobile phone.

As part of its new innovative campaign, FiOS customers who have an HD set-top box and a Motorola Droid or HTC Imagio mobile phone can use their handset as a remote. The mobile phone will now have the same functions as a standard FiOS remote.

?Verizon has been a leader in the interactive TV space in the U.S., launching over 25 applications through the Widget Bazaar  Marketplace app locations  store - including applications like Facebook, Twitter,  HSN Shop By Remote on the TV,? said Maitreyi Krishnaswamy, director of interactive video services for Verizon, New York. ?These applications have been very popular with our customers.

?Many of these applications require text input to create an engaging, interactive and compelling experience for our subscribers,? she said. ?Standard TV remotes are not the best devices to support easy text input so the FiOS Mobile remote goal is to make TV interactivity a way of life for our customers, without needing to relearn or adjust to a new device or keyboard.?    

The mobile remote not only has the same features as a regular FiOS remote, but contains additional functions, including the ability to instantly transfer photos from the handset to the TV screen.

Although the feature is only currently available on the Motorola Droid and HTC Imagio phones, Verizon will expand its service to include additional mobile phones in the coming months.

In sync
To sync the phone to their TV sets, FiOS TV customers go to the applications store on their mobile phone and pair the device with their in-home FiOS network. They would open up the Mobile Remote Widget on their TV and select either the Motorola Droid or HTC Imagio icon.

Consumers have to register their wireless telephone number by using the widget.

FiOS customers can set up their mobile remote to change channels, adjust the volume, manage parental controls and use the DVR functions, including the ability to pause, rewind, fast forward or record live programming.

Mobile remote
Consumers can also use the mobile device to control the TV using their phone?s onscreen full Qwerty keyboard. They can search for their favorite TV programs and video-on-demand titles, as well as manage the Facebook and Twitter applications.

The mobile remote features the ability to transfer photos from a mobile device straight to the TV set and display slide shows right on the screen.

The FiOS remote also has a TV Mute feature which allows users to automatically mute the TV when they answer a call and resume the previous volume level after the call has ended.

?TV viewing in the U.S. is still mostly passive today and supports one-way interactivity with overlays and pop-ups on the video screen,? Ms. Krishnaswamy said. ?With text input devices like the FiOS mobile remote, TV viewing experience will never be the same again.

?It will be enhanced with highly interactive social networking experiences, real-time contests for subscribers, interactive games, and multi-platform texting and communication,? she said.