• by March 24, 2006

Forget about the video iPod for a moment. The next hot trend in mobile/portable entertainment is mobile games, or games played via wireless handsets. AirPlay Network Inc., a San Francisco-based startup, plans to introduce a line of wireless phones that are linked to live TV broadcasts.

Basically, it works by having subscribers to the games use their cell phones to compete against others in "real time" by predicting plays in sports, selecting winners on reality TV shows, choosing answers on game shows. You watch TV and use your wireless phone as a kind of game controller or input device. Think of the phone as a kind of Internet-connected TV.

The company's first consumer product, "AirPlay Sports," is due out this fall just in time for the football season. An NFL-related AirPlay game, for instance, would ask cell phone quarterbacks to predict the offense's next moves--a pass or a run--as the real game unfolds live on television. The company plans to debut games tied to reality TV and game shows.

There's no word yet on subscription fees, but subscribers will need an Internet-connected wireless phone to play. Games are downloaded to handsets through AirPlay's Web site or through wireless carrier partners.