Dear $Firstname$

Where does flat-rate data leave real m-commerce?

While the network operators in the UK — and increasingly across Europe and the US — wrestle with flat-rate data charging for mobile web access (see lead story below), the wider issue it raises of using the mobile as a billing tool won’t go away.

Billing for content used to be pretty simple: use premium rate SMS (PSMS). It was quick and simple and ideal for buying ringtones or interacting with other media. But as the mobile is increasingly being viewed as a content consuming device, a web access device, and e-commerce device and quasi- credit card, PSMS no longer cuts the mustard and nor, must I say, does flat-rate data charging.

Trying to use the mobile as a billing and payment tool requires heavy duty financial processing tools, along with effective, robust and uncorruptable authentication and validation technology. Not to mention a very well worked out revenue share model.

And, while the rise of mobile ticketing and couponing has seen the beginnings of the development of such standards, there is still much that needs to be worked out between merchants, service providers and network operators to insure that all three get satisfactory margins on m-commerce, or it won’t go anywhere.

Yours

Paul Skeldon

paul.skeldon@contentfutures.com

Sign up today: http://contentfutures.com/subscribe.htm

Player X nets FISHLABS 3D games global distribution deal

CPlayer X nets FISHLABS 3D games global distribution deal

Mobile media company Player X has partnered with 3D mobile games developer FISHLABS to distribute its premium content in Europe, Asia and South America.

Under the terms of the aggregation deal, Player X has acquired exclusive distribution rights to critically acclaimed titles such as IMGA-short listed Blades & Magic and the multiple top award-winning DEEP, the latter being launched across all three continents from mid-May. Player X will also announce three further FISHLABS games towards the end of Q3 07.

Player X has direct distribution deals with more than 110 mobile operators with a potential global footprint of more than 2.6 billion people and has recently taken top titles such as Miami Vice and Wallace & Gromit to places as disparate as Latvia, Mexico and India.

“Since more operators now outsource their mobile game needs, it’s vital for any content provider to find a distribution partner with as many direct channels as possible. Player X was our first choice to partner with because of their impressive list of global distribution channels and its highly professional in-house team,” says Michael Schade, CEO & Co-Founder of Fishlabs."

Player X will also distribute five other FISHLABS titles that include multiple top award-winning Galaxy on Fire, Planet Riders, Heli Strike, Burning Tires and Tank Raid in APAC territories.

The news follows Player X's recent moves in ramping up its presence in the mobile games market by partnering with companies such as Sky TV and EMI Music and extending its relationship with FremantleMedia by adding a PrizePlay element to evergreen titles such as Family Fortunes and The Price Is Right.

Read More: http://www.playerx.com/news

Comment | Forward to a Friend

Orange joins UK flat-rate data pricing fray — but excludes VoIP and IM

As predicted in ContentFutures back in April, the UK’s mobile network operators are, week by week, announcing their flat-rate data pricing plans, with Orange becoming the third MNO to announce such an offering.

Orange contract customers will be able to sign up for unlimited wireless web access for £8 per month, or opt for a bundle of evening and weekend browsing at £5 a month. There will also be a cap of £1 per day.

The move matches T-Mobile’s long standing Web ‘n’ Walk service, which offers either unlimited access for £7.50 per month or a daily cap of £1 — which works out at about 20 page downloads at current per Mb data pricing.

Vodafone announced last week that it was shaking up its data pricing strategy with the introduction of a plan that sees the user pay for the first half a meg of downloads — which the company says works out at about 20 pages, or a £1 — and then the operator will give you free access to the next 14.5Mb you download. So, put simply, you pay a quid for access to 15Mb of data a day. If you don’t use all 0.5Mb in any given day, you only pay for what you do use.

Vodafone, which has been much more explicit with its figures, says that this represents more than a 30-fold cut in costs: typically charging £2.35 per Mb at current rates, as opposed to a £1 for 15Mb.

But, as reported in ContentFutures,com, Vodafone is not including VoIP or Instant Messaging (IM) services in this, since they undermine its own business. Orange too has announced similar prohibitions on VoIP and IM. There is no mention in T-Mobile’s Web ‘n’ Walk Ts&Cs about VoIP or IM.

3 already offers flat data rates, offering 50p for an hour, or £1 for 24 hrs on prepaid and, on contract, a 10MB pack for £2.50 and the X series for £5 per month — and this time IM and VoIP is allowed, and a generous 1Gb cap.

O2 meanwhile has no immediate plans to roll out flat-rate data pricing, though hasn’t ruled it out. As a result it hasn’t disabled any of the VoIP functions on its latest phones.

A spokesman told ContentFutures.com that “To date, our focus has been on offering bundles – something we pioneered with text bolt-on’s which have proved very popular with customers. Going forward, we will continually seek ways to encourage greater use of the mobile internet and flat rate represents one option as part of an overall mobile data strategy we’re working on with Telefónica, but no final decision has been taken. Internationally, we are also moving to flat-rate type packages. For example, we recently launched the BlackBerry International Option for business customers in Germany. Further products will follow in due course”.

Read More:

Vodafone - Full story

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39286970,00.htm?r=3

T-mobile - Further Details

Comment | Forward to a Friend

UGC for mobile is a non-starter, except for adult, warns WAP pioneer

User generated content service, especially on mobile, do not offer a sufficient cost verses benefit balance to ever take off — except for adult UGC. So believes Rich Holdsworth, founder and chief technical office of mobile development company Wapple.

Speaking at World Telemedia Amsterdam at the end of April, Holdsworth told delegates that “Content created by unskilled amateurs will NEVER be better than that created by creative professionals. I want my content edited, I want it well produced and I don’t want to have to search for it — Someone PLEASE find me the good stuff.”

Holdsworth believes that very few items of content that have been generated by users progress much beyond obscurity and are only really of interest to a very small group of people. And this mass of material is making it harder to find anything good — especially given the device and search capability limitations of mobile.

“Cost versus benefit has always be harder to achieve on mobile [for UGC],” he says. “In terms of cost, users have to invest a lot more just to navigate mobile products and the benefits can be low: If the content doesn’t at least equal the cost EVERY TIME, then the experience is bad. By the time you have found out that a video is total rubbish it has already been downloaded to your handse.”

What does work, both online and on mobile, is adult UGC services. “Erotic will play a huge role in every UGC service online and on mobile,” says Minick’s Dr Alex Tomen. “Already 40 to 50 per cent of the content put up on MyLife [Vodafone Germany’s own mobile equivalent of YouTube] is moderated out because it is ‘illegal’, largely because it is erotic or is copyrighted or branded material.”

As a result Vodafone Germany and Minick are looking to roll out a soft core adult UGC service to test the water, with plans to eventually try and offer a hardcore product too.

“There is a huge market for it and we can use the existing AV and database details that Vodafone has to keep out under 16s,” says Tromen. “But, while Vodafone has excellent AV to keep kids from looking at it, how do you make sure the people in the content are over 16? This is what makes offering adult UGC — be it soft or hardcore — very difficult to do. We have to see how we can manage and moderate this issue with the softcore offering before trying anything more hardcore.”

Read More:http://www.noconline.org/newsdisplay.aspx?id=987

Comment | Forward to a Friend

Microsoft acquires mobile advertising leader ScreenTonic

Microsoft announced at the tail end of last week that it buying ScreenTonic, a Europe-based mobile advertising pioneer, in a move that combines the breadth of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions offerings with the mobile expertise and industry relationships of ScreenTonic to help advertisers reach a global audience of mobile users.

ScreenTonic's mobile solutions provide advertisers with a complete range of ad formats, from display to text, as well as ad management and reporting capabilities, while serving the needs of mobile operators and independent publishers equally. ScreenTonic will continue to operate out of its current headquarters in Paris. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The acquisition of ScreenTonic, in addition to Microsoft's work with industry groups such as the Mobile Marketing Association and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, will be an extension of Microsoft's commitment to connect advertisers with their target audiences at home, at work and on the go across multiple digital devices such as PCs, Xbox video game systems and mobile phones.

"The mobile Internet is an extraordinary vehicle for brands to connect with their target audiences, because devices like cell phones enable interaction to take place virtually anywhere or anytime," says Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of the Online Services Group at Microsoft. "The acquisition of ScreenTonic will be part of our long-term strategy to deliver ad experiences that map to the environment. Together, we will be able to provide relevant ads where consumers are, when they are actively engaged and communicating."

Berkowitz said it is important for Microsoft to deliver ad experiences that are mutually beneficial to publishers, mobile operators and consumers alike.

Read More: http://advertising.microsoft.com/msn-advertising-news

Comment | Forward to a Friend

Mobile gambling firm Probability massively expands mobile advertising ahead of September’s UK Gambling Act

Probability, one of the UK's leading mobile gambling companies, has signed up MIG and its sister company 4th Screen Advertising, to help develop and execute its mobile advertising strategy as PGC seeks to build critical mass in the UK and European market. MIG and 4th Screen will provide high speed premium SMS and WAP billing solutions and mobile advertising to the company.

"Early campaigns through 4th Screen Advertising have been extremely positive,” says Charles Cohen, CEO of Probability. “On the strength of this we will be investing significantly in this exciting new channel, particularly to launch new services, such as Russell Grant mobile bingo."

The deal will see Probability invest six figure budgets with 4th Screen Advertising in 2007, who will work closely with Probability's own marketing team to ensure the campaigns continually deliver ROI.

"The experience we are developing now will put us in an even stronger position in September when the new Gambling Act liberalises the advertising of gambling services such as ours across all media," says Cohen.

The move comes as mobile gambling struggles to fight off accusations that it has failed to deliver on its potential. Speaking at World Telemedia in Amsterdam at the end of April, Yishai Habari, CEO of 777 Mobile told delegates that “Nothing seems to have happened in mobile gambling for 18 months, but it will, eventually, be huge. You have to remember that you don’t need the numbers to make money: the value of a mobile gambling service user is typically 20 times that of an other mobile service user, so you need far fewer to make the kind of money that other sectors are already doing.”

Read More: http://www.migcan.com/

Comment | Forward to a Friend

South African’s on low income get instant life assurance via mobile

South African insurance company Metropolitan Life is harnessing the power of mobile to offer insurance to lower income families. Called Cover2go, the service — powered by technology from Clickatell — costs around R10 (approx €1), which is deducted from the phone’s airtime and provides instant life insurance for six days, paying out R60,000 (approx €6,300) in the case of accidental death. Cover2go has already been offered to the public at taxi ranks in Gauteng, South Africa, in a pilot campaign.

“Every day, a large majority of South Africans have to board minibus taxis, many of which are notoriously unsafe. Unfortunately, the common perception is that life assurance is a luxury that’s unaffordable and complicated to obtain. With Cover2go, people can get basic cover instantly, at very affordable prices, when they need it most,” says Derek Pead, CEO of Cover2go, a division of Metropolitan Life.

The customer purchases the policy by sending their name and identity number to a premium rate number. The system, powered by Clickatell, replies with a confirmation and policy number, requests the name of a beneficiary, and reminds the policyholder to inform an associate about the life insurance. One policy is permitted per person and a renewal notification is sent on expiry.

“Mobile phones are rapidly becoming payment channels. It’s a logical progression as mobile phones allow instant billing, they are on us all the time, and we can implement technology to make transactions safe and reliable. Metropolitan Life is a pioneer in this area, and we are excited about the possibilities that Cover2go has opened up for the financial services markets,” said Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell.

Read More: http://www.clickatell.com/company/press/press_article.php/78

Comment | Forward to a Friend

Mobile Entertainment Summit

iHollywood, 16th-17th May 2007, Los Angeles

The Mobile Entertainment Summit is the largest gathering of the mobile entertainment industry in North America attracting over 600 attendees, and providing compelling keynotes, panels, case studies, exhibits, and exclusive networking sessions. Join the dynamic deal-making environment between content owners and distributors where we discuss the hottest trends for mobile content and applications.

Visit: http://www.ihollywoodforum.com/mes_march_2007.htm

If you would like to promote your event in this newsletter please email: marketing@contentfutures.com

Senior OSS Consultant Spain - OSS Project Manager

£60K, Spain

A great opportunity for telecoms OSS consultants and OSS project managers to join a global market-leading OSS software vendor as Senior Consultant Spain. This challenging role is based in Madrid, Spain.

The successful candidate will have current experience consulting on OSS / BSS software implementation projects within the telecoms space. Technical software knowledge (e.g. Java, C ) is also useful; more important however are excellent client-facing skills and telecoms domain knowledge.

Salary and benefits are superb. Please forward your CV to iain.waugh@projectpeople.com to register your interest in this fantastic career opportunity.

If you would like to promote your job in this newsletter please email: jobs@contentfutures.com

Mobile Social Networking Specialist GOFRESH Doubles Revenues for the Third Year in a Row

Gofresh who run MoSoNetworking site itsmy.com, have doubled its revenue figures for the third time in a row.  The Munich based mobile internet entertainment specialists have successfully launched their full version off-deck Mobile Web Community "itsmy.com" and after only ten months it is now one of the leading “mobile web only” communities in the US and Europe in the US and UK.  Financed by advertising and thus free-of-cost for the user, "itsmy.com" offers a personal mobile homepage including all Mobile 2.0 services with all types of User Generated Content (UGC).

For more information please visit http://mobile.itsmy.com

Market Research Report: Mobile Games Subscription & Download, 2006-2011 (Third Edition)

Price: £1490 (Single User) £1990 (Multi User) £2490 (Enterprise Wide)

Mobile games provide a core element of the growing market for mobile entertainment products and services. This study analyses the evolving market opportunity for subscription and downloaded mobile games.

ContentFutures.com is a publication of Juniper Research Limited

Sign up today: http://www.contentfutures.com/subscribe.htm

We have sent this mail to you because we believe you will find it to be of genuine professional relevance. If however you would rather not receive emails of this nature from ContentFutures in the future, click here to remove yourself from further mailings. If you have any problems removing yourself from this list or wish to report any unwanted emails please contact marketing@contentfutures.com