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Mobile Entertainment & Commerce
...the analyst view
Edition Forty Two - 24th October 2007 |
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WiMAX declares war on MNOs?
While mobile network operators view anything WiFi with suspicion, only allowing access to it, typically, if they are selling the iPhone, the ITU Radiocommunication Assembly has decided to include WiMAX and derived technologies, into its set of standards.
This is big news. Not only is it the first major amendment since 2000, but also it paves the way for the mobile web and a host of services and content models hitherto unknown, as well as opening up the internet, through a variety of devices, to the bulk of the world’s population.
"WiMAX technology currently has the potential to reach 2.7 billion people," says Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. "[this] announcement expands the reach to a significantly larger global population."
The new technology will facilitate delivery of broadband wireless services at lower cost and include multiple wireless broadband Internet services, including VoIP.
But how will the established networks and content business react? Network operators have long resisted anything that looks like a rival wireless network. The metropolitan WiMAX networks that this move by the ITU could herald would surely see a great deal of competition to the operators.
Most MNOs have disabled the WiFi functionality in the handsets that they sell to prevent users hoping off network and on to free or cheap WiFi networks, where they can make essentially free calls and download content from the web.
The handset makers have largely played along with the MNOs. After all, the MNOs buy the vast majority of handset makers wares direct and give them away to consumers: they can’t afford to upset this MNO hegemony.
But, as WiMAX becomes ever more prevalent and users start to look at how to make better use of them – not to mention someone entering the market with a WiMAX only handset that simply uses IP – and suddenly the market for mobile changes enormously.
From a content point of view it can only be good news: it is, afterall, the ultimate in off-portal – totally bypassing MNOs to deliver content – and can only mean more sales. But MNO resistance is likely to be stiff, so scuffles lie ahead before we arrive at a wholly rethought way of mobile networking.
Yours
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Personal navigation booming in Europe as Nokia rolls out N800 with free mapping and GPS
A new report from Juniper Research estimates that revenues from portable navigation solutions, including PNDs (Personal Navigation Devices) and software solutions for multiuser devices, will exceed 8.3 billion Euros in Western Europe by 2012.
Last week Nokia unveiled its iPhone chaser the N800, which ships with free Wayfinder mapping built in, which works from the devices inherent GPS system. Nokia is a strong believer in navigation as a killer app for mobile.
And rightly so, according to Juniper, PND sales in Europe are booming at the moment. However it can't last for ever. There are already signs of growing maturity in the earliest developed European markets, prices are continuing to fall and there is strong competition from original equipment in-vehicle navigation solutions and from software solutions for multipurpose devices, particularly mobile phones.
PNDs have been one of the great consumer electronics success stories of the past two years, with product ranges from suppliers such as TomTom reporting revenue growth of 89 per cent for financial year 2006.
Revenues from PNDs are currently estimated to account for over 90 per cent of the portable navigation market in Western Europe, with other navigation solutions losing market share in the face of the PND onslaught in recent years. Juniper Research believes this to be due to a number of reasons.
Firstly, necessity - while few products are absolutely necessary, increasing congestion on European roads has brought products aimed at congestion avoidance to the fore.
Secondly, GPS device prices have plummeted in recent years, as sales volumes have increased. TomTom, the market leader in europe, reports average selling price for PNDs as dropping from 464 Euros in 2004 to 270 Euros in 2006.
Thirdly, fuelled by increasing demand, product capability has improved over the last three years making hitherto top end features commonplace and shifting Sat Nav devices from "nice to have" to "must have" for many regular drivers. In Western Europe, Juniper Research expects the percentage of vehicles using PNDs to grow to 22 per cent by 2012.
Peer group pressure also plays a part, causing a domino effect around the realisation that someone else has something which is really useful. This is a powerful purchase incentive.
Finally, progress towards the ubiquitous personal entertainment and communications device continues, as manufacturers produce devices capable of running a wide range of applications with increasingly acceptable performance in all areas.
However, there are a number of threats to the future rate of PND market growth on the horizon and Juniper Research feels that the tide could turn again in the next two to three years.
Report author, Bruce Gibson commented "PND sales in Europe are booming at the moment, but it can't last for ever. There are already signs of growing maturity in the earliest developed European markets, prices are continuing to fall and there is strong competition from original equipment in-vehicle navigation solutions and from software solutions for multipurpose devices, particularly mobile phones."
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Asia-Pacific tunes into unlimited music downloads with MusicStation launch in Hong Kong
Hutchinson’s Asia-Pac subsidiary 3 Hong Kong’s mobile users are set to get unlimited access to music from all major record labels, when they subscribe to Omniphone’s award-winning unlimited music download service MusicStation, which has gone live in the region.
Featuring hits from the stables of stars at Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Music and Warner Music Group, as well as leading independents, on a range of new and existing handsets, 3 MusicStation gives users the freedom to download, play and share whatever music they want wherever they are, directly on their handset.
Customers can discover and download any new music risk-free at any time, enabling legitimate and effective music discovery. 3 MusicStation also features live charts, a personalised music news service and a music based social network community capability which enables users to make friends, build and share playlists and music recommendations with other 3 MusicStation users.
“In launching 3 MusicStation, we are the first operator in Asia-Pacific to rollout an All You Can Eat (AYCE) music subscription service that gives consumers the freedom to access as much music as they want, at any time, anywhere in Hong Kong, on a wide range of new and existing music mobiles over the 3 network,” says 3 Hong Kong Chief Operating Officer Amy Lung.
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Vodafone brings first “Made for Mobile” TV to Australians using MMS
Vodafone Australia has signed a deal with Dialogue Communications to use the latter’s MMS solution to bring the first interactive “made for mobile” show, Street TV, to the company’s 3G customers in Australia.
Street TV is a 3G “made for mobile” 30 minute weekly TV show available 24x7 on Vodafone Live! The service involves compressing and sending out Mobile TV video clips of up to 30 seconds to customers that have opted in to receive mobile advertising messages.
Dialogue’s technical solution allows Vodafone to deliver a media rich MMS, including a call to action to download that week’s free “full track music download” (FTMD), as well as a click through to the Street TV WAP Portal.
The technique, which has been pioneered by the Australian arm of the business based in Sydney, in conjunction with Vodafone Australia, recently won an MMA Award for Consumer Content Offering.
"This is an innovative use of MMS which has really paid off,” says David Green, head of Vodafone’s mobile advertising. "We have seen Mobile TV usage surge following the broadcast of these messages. As well as showing 'catch-up' or preview footage, these video clips can also include messages from advertisers and sponsors, making this an important revenue stream. Having seen the success of this service on Street TV, we are now getting calls from other suppliers of Mobile TV shows that are keen to increase their viewer numbers.”ellow Pages Group, New Zealand's leading directory publisher, is set to that launch its own WAP2.
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Russia’s largest operator launches super-fast search
MTS, Russia’s largest mobile operator, has launched the first and only operator-branded, Russian language mobile search solution using FAST Active Mobile, offering super-high speed searching facilities to Russian mobile users.
Based on the FAST Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP), FAST technologies have enabled MTS to create its own mobile search portal to meet the unique needs of the Russian market. The enhanced portal has resulted in a substantial boost in traffic and a 60 per cent increase in queries (searches), leading to increased download of digital content in the first three months.
Designed with the unique needs of the mobile subscriber in mind, the MTS mobile search solution takes advantage of FAST Active Mobile’s proven search capabilities to provide a superior user experience. The solution delivers highly relevant results in a format appropriate for the user’s device, improving ease of use and customer satisfaction. This not only helps to reduce churn and increase revenues, it gives MTS a distinct competitive advantage, as well as allowing them to explore the new business opportunities that the mobile web provides.
“The FAST-powered MTS mobile search solution enables us to deliver on our commitment to innovative the mobile experience,” says Pavel Roytberg, director of products and services department, MTS. “We wanted to leverage FAST’s expertise to build our own competitive advantage in mobile search that will be unmatched in the Russian market. MTS will continue to innovate on FAST’s solution by introducing new search capabilities that will enable MTS to sit at the center of the user’s digital lifestyle.”
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Operators and consumers get better deal with ad-funded games
Digital Chocolate, a leading developer and publisher of original, high-quality, games and applications for mobile phones, and Amobee Media Systems, a leading provider of telco-grade mobile advertising solutions, are teaming up to offer an ad-funded business model wherein select game titles will soon be offered by multiple mobile operators worldwide.
Through the partnership, Digital Chocolate will integrate Amobee’s Handset Application Programming Interface (HAPI) to provide support to a selection of Digital Chocolate’s mobile game titles. The companies will collaborate on HAPI, a small SDK file that enables mobile phones to receive ads from Amobee’s mobile ad-server, to condition and prepare the mobile games to receive ads. Further, HAPI’s flexibility enables game publishers to show ads in game, based on their preferences.
“The ad-funded approach is an exciting and innovative way for game publishers and operators to drive more downloads and usage. This is especially true for Digital Chocolate where we want to expose as many users as possible to the highest quality mobile games in the industry,” says Gary Schofield, President of Networks at Digital Chocolate. “We chose to collaborate with Amobee on this initiative since its HAPI approach is an easy and flexible way to integrate networked ads into applications, making ad-funding games simple and hassle-free.”
Advertisements, which will be delivered interstitially during idle game time, dynamically in the game environment or as banner ads, are designed to be opt-in and non-intrusive. Additionally, subscribers can choose to receive additional information or initiate a transaction – such as receiving more information, calling the advertiser, or purchasing the item being advertised.
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Western Union and GSMA develop cross-border mobile money transfer service
The GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association representing over 700 GSM mobile phone operators, and The Western Union Company, a global leader in money-transfer services, have agreed to facilitate the development of cross-border mobile money transfer services.
Western Union and the GSMA are developing a commercial and technical framework that mobile operators can use to deploy services that enable consumers to send and receive low-denomination, high frequency money transfers using their mobile phones. The first commercial services that make use of the framework are anticipated to be rolled out beginning in the second quarter of 2008.
The framework forms a key element of both Western Union’s mobile strategy and the GSMA’s Mobile Money Transfer program which aims to use the reach and ease of mobile money transfer services to expand the mobile financial services market and stimulate social and economic development. Mobile money transfer services will make it simple, quick and affordable for more people to send small amounts of money through a conventional and regulated system. Both Western Union and the GSMA believe there is an opportunity to create and grow a large new market for low denomination transfers.
“Mobile networks now cover more than 80 percent of the world’s population and 3 billion people* have a mobile phone, creating an unprecedented opportunity to extend the benefits of financial services to the majority of the world’s families for the first time.” says Rob Conway, CEO of the GSMA. “Mobile money transfers are a key driver in the development of a potentially vast market for financial services delivered via the mobile phone.”
“Western Union has a long-tradition of innovation,” adds Western Union President and CEO Christina Gold. “Our focus on the mobile money transfer space is an important step in expanding the range of Western Union’s global services to a new category of consumers. Our brand, extensive network, and compliance capabilities, combined with the GSMA members’ market reach, uniquely positions Western Union in the mobile money transfer marketplace.”
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Mobile Internet World
13– 15 November 2007, Hynes Convention Centre, Boston
Over the next decade the Mobile Internet will represent the largest definable growth marketplace in communications. The Mobile Internet World Conference & Expo will be the first to bring together all the key players in the emerging mobile internet ecosystem. Mobile Internet World will be the defining event for this industry.
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Senior Sales Executive
France / EUR85000 - EUR90000 per annum
Our Client is a leader in technology and information services for the Mobile sector and is steadily expanding it's European effort. We are now seeking a Sales Executive/Key Account Manager to target new prospects and look after existing Clients within the French Mobile Operators.
The successful applicant will have a Degree level Education, be skilled in concept selling, demonstrated track record of achieving/ exceeding sales quota, the ability to make executive level company/product (non-technical) presentations, create value propositions and most importantly a track record of sales wins and long term relationships with the French tier 1 and 2 MNO's/ VMNO's.
For more information and to apply please click here
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"ilovemobileweb" campaign rallies mobile leaders to encourages everyone to learn about - and love - the mobile web
To highlight the value and enjoyment of easy access to the internet from a mobile phone, Bango today launched the "ilovemobileweb" campaign to increase awareness of the mobile web with consumers around the world.
"We are starting a parade," said Bango CEO, Ray Anderson. "We want more people to love the mobile web because it's fun, it's sociable and it provides the ultimate in convenience and choice for consumers world-wide."
Shazam sees mobile music services growth exceed 500% and expands to 25 new countries
Shazam is launching services in 25 new countries giving it coverage across 45 markets in all major territories including the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and MENA.
Andrew Fisher, CEO of Shazam commented: “We are delighted and proud to have reached this milestone in our history. 500 per cent growth in just five months is unprecedented and not only reflects the maturity of the market but also the depth of our service in delivering end users the rich music experience they want and need.
Price: £1490 (Single User) £1990 (Multi User) £2990 (Enterprise Wide)
This extensive study presents the current and future opportunities for portable tracking and navigation products and services in Western Europe from 2007 to 2012.
The report contains a thorough analysis of three key product areas: personal navigation devices; personal navigation software for handheld computing devices; and mobile phones & wireless connected tracking devices & services (for vehicles & people).
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