AT&T Inc. is now an official partner of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team, bringing Beijing Olympics coverage of that team to its wireless subscribers via a mobile widget.

The AT&T-developed branded downloadable widget, titled the USA Basketball Communicator, lets consumers view USA Basketball news, information and schedules. Fans can go online and download the widget from the AT&T blue room or on the USA Basketball Web site.

"Carriers have had a really hard time explaining to consumers why they should view content and browse the Web on mobile, so when high-profile events like Olympics come along, people are very interested in that," said Julie Ask, San Francisco-based vice president of wireless research at JupiterResearch.

"Mobile widgets are very new but I think they're going to be very effective going forward," she said.

AT&T will not have advertising on the widget.

By texting keyword USA to short code 33992, customers can access the AT&T Tips and Training program on their wireless device.

Tips and Training is an original production that gives fans sport-specific training tips from several elite U.S. Olympic Team hopefuls.

The agreement with USA Basketball will provide AT&T and its customers with exclusive USA Basketball team online and Video on Demand content.

Along with exclusive wireless and online content, AT&T will also feature its products and services through special USA Basketball-themed marketing materials.

"USA Basketball benefits because their content is delivered to consumers in new and engaging ways," said Jenny Parker, Dallas, TX-based spokeswoman for AT&T. "More fans have the opportunity to get the inside-scoop on the team and follow their favorite players as they prepare for Beijing.

"AT&T benefits because we can truly demonstrate the power of our platforms and technology to distribute content," she said. "It also helps us connect with youth and basketball fans, and provides us with another terrific opportunity to show our support for these athletes."

Fans can connect to exclusive USA Basketball. content today through AT&T blue room and soon through AT&T CV on AT&T 3G wireless handsets, and on AT&T U-verse TV via AT&T Team USA On Demand.

Fans can access exclusive behind-the-scenes footage including USA Basketball training camp, exhibition game highlights, USA Basketball video segments, interviews with athletes and coaches and other vignettes.

AT&T blue room and AT&T Team USA On Demand will keep fans connected to the U.S. Olympic Team with Webcasts and footage of events, plus exclusive interviews with Team USA hopefuls.

AT&T is an official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Team and provides significant financial support, products and services to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The telecoms giant will also serve as the official telecommunications services partner of the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing next month.

In addition to supporting USA Basketball, the company serves as an official partner for several national governing bodies, including USA Diving, USA Track & Field, USA Gymnastics and USA Swimming.

"We're sponsoring USA Basketball, among several other U.S. Olympic teams, to help connect consumers to these amazing athletes and the excitement of the Olympic Games," Ms. Parker said.

"This year's USA Basketball team offers a great lineup of athletes, and the basketball content will appeal to many audiences," she said.

Named to the 2008 USA Basketball Senior National Team were Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets); Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz); Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks); Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets); Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons); Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks); Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat); and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz).

Duke University Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski is head coach of the USA Senior Team program. Serving as assistant coaches are Syracuse University and Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

Through AT&T's three-screen agreement with NBC Universal, fans can use their wireless device to access a new NBC Olympics WAP portal, available through Media Net, which will offer real-time results and event schedules.

Customers can also sign up for mobile alerts about medal results and athlete news and, during the games, watch round-the-clock competition on the NBC Olympics 2Go mobile TV channel available on AT&T Mobile TV, which is powered by MediaFlo USA.

Several of today's top artists have come together to record exclusive tracks for the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack.

Consumers can download songs from AT&T Media Mall on AT&T wireless phones and online at http://www.att.net/teamusa during the Olympic Games. Consumers can also access music through NBCOlympics.com.

AT&T wireless customers will also have the option to buy ringtones and Answer Tones featuring the exclusive songs.

As for mobile widgets, analysts feel that they may be nearing a tipping point.

"Companies are taking mobile widgets beyond generic content, now there's videos, news, sports scores, weather, traffic and they're generating demand for some of these data and information services they have," Ms. Ask said.

"Widgets are a single-purpose application, I've selected it, I've personalized it, and there's 'glanceable content,'" she said. "It's very easy to click on icon and pull it up, as opposed to launching a browser and searching on Web, which can be very tedious on small screen with a 12-digit key pad."

Nokia has found success overseas with its WidSets widget strategy at http://www.widsets.com. There are many examples in Europe, most notably a World Cup mobile widget with video content.

In the United States widgets have gained the most traction on iPhones, Windows Mobile devices and other high-end Web-enabled smartphones.

The next wave will be mobile widgets for basic-feature mobile phones. Surf Kitchen, Action Engine and Qualcomm have all developed mobile widgets for this tier of handsets.

"A browser is still best if you're reading 10 pages of news, but there will be widgets for anything that you need quick access to that's not very in-depth," Ms. Ask said.

"Widgets are still in the really early stages, they're still nascent, but in 12-24 months we'll see widgets on your average basic-feature mobile phones, which will provide a much better user interface experience," she said.