Dear Industry Executive

Time to rethink handset usability?

While content services for mobile get ever more sophisticated — and ever more like the internet — the handsets themselves are getting more difficult to use. A straw poll among my own colleagues reveals that most of them struggle to use most of the functionality on the phones, while many are also put off using mobile web and wap services — and more importantly from downloading billable content — by (a) the slow connection, (b) the fear of bill shock and (c) the complexity of what they are doing.

At CTIA this week one of the main topics of conversation has been the handsets and with everyone trying to get a glimpse of Apple’s much vaunted iPhone, along with other sleek offerings from Helio and others is showing that smart phones are where its heading, but that only Apple has truly got its head around the idea that the user interface has to be straight forward.

Clickable icons that are clear and simple to use seem to be the key, but it does lack a keyboard a per pro the blackberry and the Helio, but perhaps that is what lends it its air of, while not quite simplicity, but lower complexity.
As reported back in February, the CMO Council has found that 15,000 consumers questioned in 37 countries suggest that they have “function fatique” which is putting them off trying new services.

Perhaps, outside of the ever game youth market, Apple’s iPhone, when it does hit the streets, will inspire a bit of a rethink when it comes to ‘usability’ of handsets and perhaps then some thought on how users actually find, buy and then use mobile content.

Yours

Paul Skeldon

paul.skeldon@contentfutures.com

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Protection needed for young mobile UGC users, warns US state government

As social networking and user generated content services take the mobile content market by storm, the issue of protecting often young users from unsuitable content is becoming a major mobile issue, particularly in the US.

Just last week, the Connecticut House Committee on General Law passed a bill requiring social networking sites to independently verify the information being supplied by the minor and the parents upon registration. According to the Connecticut Attorney General’s office, 46 other states plan to follow suit.

As a result, San Jose-based GenMobi Technologies is introducing age-and-identity verification technology that can be used for social networking sites.

CQR-ID’s (pronounced “Secure ID”) allows social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Xanga to ensure that their users are who they say they are by cross validating multiple identifiers such as the mobile telephone number, the SIM Card and the carrier-user registration.

“CQR-ID answers some of the most urgent needs for kids, parents, educators and governments around the world, and we’re pleased that our technologies can help make that difference,” says Michael J. Schultz, GenMobi’s CEO.

Read More: http://www.genmobi.com/press-releases/Press-Release-GenMobi_05.pdf

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Orange to take social network Bebo mobile

Mobile operator Orange, keen to join the ranks of mobile networks offering mobile social networking sites has this week announced that it is to team up with leading online social site Bebo to launch Bebo Mobile – a new service that brings one of the world’s largest social networks to Orange customers. The agreement will launch initially in the UK and will also be tailored and rolled out to other Orange countries.

Combining SMS access to the Bebo social network, a Bebo mobile browsing experience and a members-only entertainment club, the new service enables Orange users to stay in touch with their friends when they are on the move.

Orange customers will be able to sign up for a “Bebo Bundle” for just £4 per month, offering unlimited mobile access to Bebo.com and also enables them to send SMS comments directly to their friends’ profile, receive immediate SMS profile notifications, upload photos directly to their profile and send Bebo Mails via SMS. Orange is also working to provide Bebo users with a great value communications package available exclusively to them.

“Orange is turning social networking into an ‘anytime, anywhere’ experience,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO of Orange “With Bebo mobile, the phone is moving from a one-to-one communication device to a complete social networking tool, enabling people to engage in conversations, discover new interests and express themselves in a completely new way.”

Read More:http://bebo.com/press.jsp

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T-Mobile offers mobile Czechs music download service

T-Mobile Czech Republic is set to offer a full track download service following a deal with Musiwave, which has a catalogue of more than 400,000 songs from all the top labels and a host of independents.

The t-music PLAY service will enable users to browse and purchase tracks that are then available for download onto a PC, for transfer to mobile devices, with the charge appearing on the mobile bill. The service is based on a fixed and mobile converged platform, using SIM-based billing. For the first time in the Czech Republic, users can access features that enable services such as recommending and gifting tracks to their friends for both PC and mobile downloads.

The service is available on the popular Czech Republic music portal www.t-music.cz and integrated with the equally popular television and radio chart of the same name. Over the air delivery to the mobile devices will be available in the second phase of the project.

“Our customers are looking for fast and simple ways to find, take and play their favourite songs at home, at work or ‘on the go.’ With Musiwave we are able to deliver a huge selection of fresh and engaging tracks with an interface that is familiar and easy-to-use,” said Michal Nemec, vice president of Portal & Content Services for T-Mobile Czech Republic. “Musiwave's industry knowledge and proven expertise in delivering top-quality, successful mobile music offerings made it the obvious choice.”

Read More:http://en.t-press.cz/

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Mobile music tools offer youth the ideal way to make their own music

The latest trend in the mobile music space is for youngsters to create — or Mash up, to use the correct teen argot — their own mobile music sounds, rather than rely on the music industry to sell them MP3s and ringtones. In Slough, west of London, the Slough Young People’s Centre (SYPC) is finding that more and more kids want to make their own sounds, but can’t afford the expensive decks and mixing gear needed to do it, so they are turning to mobile.

Working with SYPC, mobile music software company Tao Group has developed the miniMIXA, a series of music and media mixing software applications for smart phones, Pocket Pcs, PDAs and XP desktops. It includes personalised interactive music applications that enable consumers to create their own ringtones, and mix and perform live music.

Tina Palmer of SYPC says, “Until now there has been a severe shortage of pocket sized and affordable new technology available to create new music. miniMIXA has proved very popular because it is so accessible. Users don’t have to buy decks or an instrument or have access to an expensive studio. Young people already own mobile phones as an indispensable part of their lifestyle.

“What we found was that young people at the centre were already downloading MP3’s and MCing over these tracks; introducing miniMIXA seemed to be the next logical step. But this is far more creative than we had expected. miniMIXA allows them to mix up beats and samples to create their own backing tracks from scratch. This is an ideal platform for this age group who want to make music but who would perhaps otherwise not have had the opportunity.”

Read More: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6BSGy8mMsU

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Brands finding it hard to develop and monetise mobile web

Brands keen to exploit the mobile web are finding it more difficult to do than they perhaps thought, because they don’t have the tools to hand to do it. So says Bango CEO Ray Anderson and this is holding companies back from making full use of mobile content services and, by turn, is holding back the development of the mobile content space.

In a move to tackle this problems, Anderson’s company, working on conjunction with its partners such as Google and Yahoo!, is introducing a new service called Bango2Go, which offers an effective way to build mobile web services and monetise them.

Google and Yahoo! will help drive PC web users to brands’ mobile presence, built by Bango. The company can also provide stats and monitoring and billing services for content sales.

The service costs £2997 to set up, with monthly fees as low as £839 for hosting, the Bango Service, including billing, tracking, traffic, info and ongoing maintenance.

“By the end of 2008, twice as many people will have access to the internet world-wide through a mobile phone than a PC,” says Anderson. “Extending onto the mobile web makes perfect sense for brands that want to reach out to their consumers.”

Read More: http://bango.com/news/pressreleases/140_bango2go.aspx

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Bell Canada to offer mobile email and IM

Bell Canada’s mobile arm Bell Mobility is the latest big name carrier to announce plans to offer mobile email and Instant Messaging (IM) services and has selected OZ to provide the combined technology.

"We are very pleased to be working again with Bell Mobility," says Skuli Mogensen, Founder and CEO of OZ. "By combining two of the most popular communications services available on the Internet onto the mobile phone (IM and email), OZ enables Bell Mobility customers to stay connected with the people that matter most in their lives with the messaging solution of their choice."

The Bell Combo Client allows Bell Mobility and Solo Mobile customers to easily use their IM and email solutions at the same time. For example, a user is reading an email on a mobile phone, with a glance, the user can simply see which one of their contacts is available on IM and can start a chat discussion, and vice versa. The solution is currently available on the Samsung a900 and the Sanyo 6600 devices.

Read More: http://www.oz.com/#

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U-Turn Media Group mergers with Ginger Alliance

Mobile solutions provider U-Turn Media Group has merged with mobile technology development house Ginger Alliance to increase mobile service offering

U-Turn Media Group has announced its merger with Prague based Ginger Alliance, a mobile technology development house on. The announcement follows a string of successful deployments by U-Turn that have seen the company expand its offering to encompass international broadcasters, network operators and mobile marketing companies.

For more information please visit http://www.u-turnmediagroup.com

Openwave® Widget solution launched

Openwave has announced the Openwave® Mobile Widget solution, designed to simplify access to and discovery of highly personalised content.

The AJAX-based solution, based on the Openwave® MIDAS application development environment, enables compelling and highly relevant mobile widgets to be integrated directly into the mobile device’s idle screen and run on diverse mobile platforms, including BREW, Linux, Symbian and Windows Mobile.

For more information see http://openwave.com

Strategic Assessment Report: Mobile Sport, Leisure & Information Content
Opportunities & Markets, 2006-2011 (Third Edition)

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

Mobile phones are now widely used to access a variety of information such as news, financial, traffic and weather updates; along with sports content services - particularly those associated with soccer - that are continuing to prove popular. Wallpapers and graphics also remain core mobile downloads for consumers, with community applications developing rapidly as delivery platforms move to the next generation.

This third edition analyses the evolving market opportunity for these services and provides a suite of in-depth forecasts (on users, traffic, revenues, subscription ARPU) plus market assessment and technology comparisons, derived from rigorous desk and field research.

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