Plans by UK regulator Ofcom to re-sell off some of the old 2G spectrum, following an initiative spearheaded in Finland, France and Portugal, make for an interesting development in mobile content. While much attention has been devoted to how this will effect O2 and Vodafone — who, incidentally, paid for the spectrum in the first place and are unlikely to see any money from its second sale — the move opens up some interesting possibilities for new players to enter the mobile market, with the potential to really shake things up.

The ‘spare’ spectrum being sold could be used for wireless broadband and one company in particular is stalking this area with growing menace: Google.

Google plans to roll out a phone to counter the iPhone — imaginatively dubbed the gPhone by the press. It is also looking at perhaps rolling out a wireless broadband network too on which to operate the phone: something that looks all the more feasible now that the 2G spectrum is up for grabs.

Google is already bidding more than $4billion in the US for spectrum to set up its own open standards based wireless broadband network. The liberation of spectrum in the UK could see this becoming a more international strategy.

But so what? Well, it makes things very interesting for the mobile establishment. Apple has already done an unprecidented deal with network operators in the US and UK that see the MNOs ceding substantial revenue and control to the gadget maker. Google is looking to go one better: running its own network, own phones and own business models.

It is widely expected that a Google service offering will be ad-funded. Afterall, Google is an ad space broker. This could see users offered free services, free content and free calls as well as substantially shaking up how users access the web on the move.

The network operators can argue that ad-funding is fine, but not everyone will want it, so they can, if you will, be a premium service offer, while Google is a sort of sophisticated Blyk for the masses. But nevertheless they must be worried — a shake up is coming to mobile, but the battle has yet to be joined.

 

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), which represents more than 450 companies across the mobile marketing ecosystem, has released its Mobile Advertising Guidelines tailored specifically for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

The guidelines make it easier for marketers to develop mobile advertising campaigns while ensuring the campaigns are delivered consistently on the majority of mobile devices ensuring a positive and consistent consumer experience.

Designed to foster the uptake of mobile advertising by global brands as well as enhance and protect the customer’s experience, Yahoo! has become the first company to announce that all of its global, mobile properties will adhere to new guidelines.

Yahoo! worked closely with the MMA to establish the mobile advertising guidelines which enable Yahoo!’s advertising partners to enhance the consumer experience and launch global, mobile advertising campaigns effectively and with lower production expenses.

“Yahoo! has been at the forefront of the global mobile advertising industry since 2004, and we realize that the adoption of industry best practices and guidelines are a critical factor in the success of the mobile advertising industry,” says Michael Bayle, GM, Global Monetization, Connected Life, Yahoo!. “We worked closely with the MMA to develop guidelines that benefit our global advertisers and consumers alike and will continue to do so as the industry develops best practices for additional mobile marketing practices and formats such as games, video and search.”

The MMA EMEA mobile advertising guidelines were established to allow mobile advertisers to reach consumers while ensuring that advertisements display effectively on the majority of mobile devices without compromising the user experience.

“Companies like Yahoo! that demonstrate leadership in developing and supporting a single consistent global guideline for mobile advertising will help to drive the evolution of the mobile advertising industry and create a consistent and positive consumer experience on mobile phones,” says Laura Marriott, president of the MMA. “The EMEA guidelines were developed to establish a common global advertising framework including aspect ratios, banner dimensions, file formats and so on.”

The MMA’s new EMEA guidelines are also designed to limit the effort needed by advertisers to prepare global mobile campaigns, thus reducing the money and time spent developing multiple iterations for various regions of the world. With the option for two aspect ratios, advertisers have the flexibility of layout and context which are large enough to give the consumer a compelling experience but small enough not to be intrusive.

Yahoo! expects to complete the conversion of its mobile web properties and all of the mobile properties supported by Yahoo! by Q4, 2007.

  

Blyk, the ad-funded mobile network that offers its target market of 16 to 24-year-olds free calls and text if they accept adverts has finally gone live in the UK, following a few false starts.

According to the bumpf, Blyk is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that links young people with brands of their choice and gives them free text messages and talk time every month. It operates the First Hop Wireless Broker suite, including the Ad-Gateway that enables targeted, personalised ad insertion using messaging, multimedia push, and browsing services.

First Hop has had a significant role in building its unique service delivery platform designed to deliver a free mobile phone service for young consumers in return for their interaction with relevant brand advertising. First Hop’s experience in building service delivery platforms to over 60 mobile operators worldwide enabled it to offer Blyk a robust campaign management and ad-insertion solution.

Pekka Ala-Pietilä, CEO for Blyk says that: “We have spent the last year developing a unique, robust advertising content engine, and whilst the technology we are using is incredibly advanced, the main premise of Blyk is driven by three basic principles – ease of use, interaction, and relevance of communication.”

But, while Blyk seems like a students dream come true on paper, will it work in the real world? Commenting on the launch, Patrick Parodi, CMO of Amobee, told Contentfutures.com that: “Blyk will test the level of consumer acceptance for mobile advertising. I am concerned that a model based on advertising pushed to users may be too intrusive for what is quickly becoming the most personal media ever created. Making the ad-impression relevant and contextual will be the key to unlocking this billion dollar industry and will require intimate involvement of mobile operators who are most in control of the mobile advertising experience.”

 

Mobile operator mobilkom austria is set to provide full mobile Internet services, allowing subscribers in Austria to surf any website they desire on any WAP-capable mobile device. This mobile Internet service includes a special start page which provides direct access to web search, address field, browsing tips, personal history and favourites folders.

Based on InfoGin's Intelligent Mobile Platform (IMP), the service will be made available via Vodafone live!.

“With the A1 Internet Browser, mobilkom austria for the first time allows all A1 customers to surf the Internet with just about any mobile phone. Thanks to this innovation, offered only by A1, all customers can access their favorite sites directly on their WAP-capable mobile phone with a single click," says Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, Director of Marketing, Distribution and Customer Services, mobilkom austria and Marketing Director, Customer Services, Telekom Austria.

Eran Wyler, CEO and Founder of InfoGin adds that: "The ability to give mobilkom austria's subscribers the freedom to choose the Internet content and services they're familiar with while being on the move - powered by InfoGin's platform – gives a new meaning to the concept of mobile Internet and ignites the imagination for the tremendous new opportunities that lie ahead."

InfoGin’s IMP is a server-based middleware platform that supports all mobile browsers, languages and advanced Web page features. The service will be promoted on mobilkom austria’s Vodafone live! home page, with customization and personalization to the user interface of mobilkom austria, including headers, footers, access links, error messages, history and favorites.

 

Barcrest Group, provider of amusement and gaming machines usually found in amusement arcades, Las Vergas, bars and pubs, has teamed up with lottery and SMS game provider Million 2-1 to develop Java-based mobile versions of its leading slot games.

The partnership marks Barcrest Group’s entry into mobile gaming, and over the coming months Million 2-1 will be developing mobile versions of a number of Barcrest Group’s industry-renowned slot machine games as the company looks to replicate its success in the new world of mobile.

Robert White, Managing Director, Barcrest Group, says that: “We’re excited about the prospect of entering into mobile gaming, which is consistent with our strategy of developing new markets for Barcrest’s great game content. Being leaders in our respective fields we believe the partnership of Barcrest Group and Million 2-1 will be a winning combination.”

As a wholly owned subsidiary of IGT, Barcrest Group is part of the world’s largest and most successful gaming machine designer and manufacturer. The Group’s teams at Barcrest Games, Vivid Gaming and Red Gaming, with design centres in the UK and the Netherlands, create a wide choice of successful games that translate into superior income levels for its customers.

IPWireless, a subsidiary of NextWave Wireless has opened a new development centre in Aalborg, Denmark, to meet the fast growing European operator demand for mobile TV technology over 3G development.

The facility will focus on developing TDtv terminal designs, MBSFN protocol stacks design, unicast/multicast integration as well as advanced development projects based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology.

The Aalborg TDtv development centre will support the commercial deployment of TDtv technology across Western Europe. The team has extensive background in telecom software development and 3GPP software for W-CDMA implementations. IPWireless expects the center to employ over 40 engineers by the end of the year.

The centre will be led by Henrik Dalsgaard, a telecommunications technology expert with over 20 years experience in the wireless communications industry. Mr. Dalsgaard previously directed a major research and development facility at Nokia, and was one of the founders of the wireless start-up WirTek.

"TDtv technology provides operators the ability to profitably deliver advanced, multi-channel, high-definition mobile TV services to their customers. It's a proven technology that is now ready for full commercial deployment," said Dr. Bill Jones, chief executive officer and co-founder of IPWireless. "The exceptional engineering team at Aalborg will play a crucial role in accelerating the rollout of TDtv in Europe."

 

 

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The company successfully publishes quality game titles and mobile entertainment content onto the largest mobile operators in the industry and distributes this content across all key global territories.

The objective is to focus exclusively on high quality entertainment content such as games and video applications from a small number of key developers and media owners, establishing a position at the forefront of the industry.

They are now seeking experienced Mobile Games Testers to join their West End based studio asap.

 

CacheLogic,provider of the world's leading Digital Asset Delivery Network, a new generation CDN (Content Delivery Network) designed from e ground up to offer unparalleled on-line delivery performance, economics and control for owners of large digital assets including video, software download and video games, today announced further expansion with the opening of its London office in the UK.

Phill Robinson, CEO, CacheLogic says, "This expansion reinforces our commitment to better serve the needs of those who are in the business of delivering
next generation video and rich media content over the internet. It also
provides us with an excellent base from which to hire the best talent in
the industry, alongside our headquarters in Cambridge"

  

Optimize mobile browsing & shopping experience on 2,500 devices with Netsize mDevices  
 
Netsize is launching a new online service totally dedicated to mobile handsets recognition. Access information on over 2,500 devices online and in real-time today. Netsize is pleased to announce the launch of its information database module, mDevices.

"Optimising mobile browsing experience and product merchandising according to devices capabilities may sound trivial or obvious. However with close to 2,500 mobile handsets in the European market and couple hundred new models coming out each year, this information update can quickly become a nightmare for brands and merchants and be of crucial necessity if they wish to propose their consumers a compelling shopping experience on mobile", notes Renaud Ménérat, marketing director of Netsize Entertainment Solutions.

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