It’s ‘Kool To Kōrero’ – With Your Mobile Phone!

PĀNUI PĀPĀHO / PUBLICITY RELEASE
HŌNGONGOI 31 2009 / JULY 31 2009

KA ‘PĀREKAREKA TE KŌRERO’ – ME TO WAEA PŪKORO!
IT’S ‘KOOL TO KŌRERO’ – WITH YOUR MOBILE PHONE!

Ko Whakaata Māori te hunga pāpāho motuhake o Aotearoa. Kei te whakamānu a ia i te reo mo ngā waea pūkoro – m.MĀORI – e hopu nei i ngā taputapu hou o ēnei rangi hei toko i te reo Māori ki ngā tāngata katoa. I te wiki mo te reo Māori, m.MĀORI ka wātea te tangata ki te kohi 40 kupu Māori, a rongo ki o rātou waea pūkoro.

New Zealand’s national indigenous broadcaster, Māori Television, is launching a Māori language application for mobile phones – m.MĀORI – as it embraces new technologies to disseminate and promote te reo Māori to as wide an audience as possible. A Māori Language Week initiative, m.MĀORI allows people to download a total of 40 fun Māori language audio phrases and words to their cell phones.

E whā ngā peka a m.MĀORI – ki te kāinga, ki te mahi, i ā koe e haerēre ana, he kōrero noa iho – kupu pēnei i te ‘change the channel to Māori Television’ (huria te teihana ki Whakaata Māori) me te ‘pass the salt’ (hōmai te tote). E tokohia ana tēnei i runga i te hōtaka mo te taiohi, a Haa (rā wiki 6.00 PM) me tērā hōtaka hākinakina a, Hyundai CODE (Taite 8.30 PM) me te whakataetae a waiata a Homai Te Pakipaki (Paraire 8.30 PM).

m.MĀORI has four categories – at home, at work, out and about, and common sayings – which include phrases such as ‘huria te teihana ki Whakaata Māori’ (change the channel to Māori Television) and ‘homai te tote’ (pass the salt). The application is being promoted on Māori Television youth show Haa (weekdays at 6.00 PM) as well as sports entertainment programme Hyundai CODE (Thursday at 8.30 PM) and live karaoke competition Homai Te Pakipaki (Friday at 8.30 PM).

Hei ta Jim Mather te Tāhūhū Rangapū o Whakaata Māori, ko te kaupapa, kia rongo whānuitia ai te reo – i runga i ngā ara katoa. Ko te waea pūkoro e peka ano hei whakawhānui ake i to tātou reo. E kite whānuitia ana e te ao ngā hua a Whakaata Māori ma runga i te www.maoritelevision.com. E 330 haora kei te wātea, kāre e utu.

Māori Television chief executive Jim Mather says the aim is for the channel – and therefore te reo Māori – to be available on every viable platform and the mobile phone application is a long-term project which will be enhanced and expanded. The organisation’s revamped website, www.maoritelevision.com, now enables local and international viewers to access up to 330 hours of on-demand and free programming.

Ko tēnei kawenga reo erua, e kawenga kua oti kē. Pera ano i te Freeview (ā mati nō te papa me mati amiorangi), UHF, digital satellite, Sky UHF me Sky Digital raua ko Saturn. Te peka tuarua, Te Reo. Ko te katoa o te kawe kei roto i te reo Māori. Kāre e utu i runga i a Freeview 24 me SKY Digital 59.

The dual language website is among a number of platforms that the broadcaster is already available on, including Freeview (both digital terrestrial and digital satellite), UHF, digital satellite, Sky UHF and Sky Digital, and Saturn. A second channel, Te Reo, broadcasts 100 per cent Māori language programming on Freeview channel 24 and SKY Digital 59.

“E tautoko ana a Whakaata Māori – pēna e hiahia ana te ao pāpāho ki te whakarahi ake i o rātou kaimātakitaki me kawe ratou i ēnei momo āhuatanga hou. Pērā anō i a mātou e whakamahi ana i ēnei kaupapa hou hei kawenga mo a mātou hōtaka ki te ao whānui,” hei ta Mr Mather. “Pērā anō i te pouaka whakaata, m.MĀORI hei kaupapa whakangahau. Ko tēnei kaupapa hou mo ngā waea pūkoro hei whakakorikori i a Aotearoa whānaui ki te kōrero i te reo.”

“Māori Television fully supports the view that for broadcasters to counter the impact of fragmenting audiences, they must embrace these new technologies. Equally, we are strongly supportive of using new technologies to deliver our programmes to as wide an audience as possible,” Mr Mather says. “Like television, m.MAORI is all about entertainment and this new mobile phone application is an encouragement to all New Zealanders to learn and use the language.”

Ends

To download m.MĀORI, text REO to 3553 (texts cost 20c) and you will receive a reply text with a link to download the application. Follow the instructions to install and depending on your phone, locate m.MĀORI in your phone menu, games or application folder. Everyone who downloads m.MĀORI before the end of August goes into the draw to win a Nokia N95 mobile phone. Note: m.MĀORI works on Java ME phones only – most of the latest models.

ENDS

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