- Week summary
- General wireless data market related news
- Carriers news
- Vendors of software for client wireless devices news
- Mobile application related news
- Application outsourcing and hosting news
- News about financing for wireless data businesses
- News about trade shows and conferences
| * - Star sign marks especially important (from the editor's point of view) news items and is also a link to the next important news item. |
Week summary |
- Valimo Wireless now offers a generic mobile digital signature software for SIM card deployment. That could give a real boost to mobile commerce and related applications that could be safely run on any current GSM phone.
- LiMo Foundation is launched to promote mobile Linux. Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications,
Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone are there for now.
- New York City to add mobile photo- and video-sending capabilities for 9-1-1 calls. Now that is an important mass-scale mobile application.
- It is interesting to evaluate business models used by mobile portals to get income. Some, like 30 Second Software, are changing a commission from retailers for presenting their stuff. Some, like Moderati, charge carriers and carriers are supposedly receiving their share through increased data traffic and in some cases from subscription fees. And some, like mdog.com, are providing everything for free - so like landline portals and services (think e.g. Google and Skype) are relying on getting critical user mass for now and later adding premium services, starting to provide advertising and trying - via e.g. partnerships - to get something from sites that benefit from the service existence. We will see in couple years whether there'll be any major new entrants or whether old guys like existing portals have everything in mobile as well.
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This section lists all breaking wireless data related news that do not belong to any particular section (or should belong to multiple) as well as to general reviews of interest.
| Gartner: Mobile Music to Soar by 2010 Original news source |
| Gartner expects the total revenue from mobile music services - from basic ringtones to full track downloads and streaming - to rise significantly in the next three years, from $13.7bn in 2007 to $32.2bn in 2010.
The two factors behind the uptick are the desire for personalisation and for entertainment, with phones increasingly taking the place of dedicated MP3 players. |
| inCode Announces Top 10 Global Wireless Predictions for 2007 Original news source |
| inCode Telecom Group, Inc., a global business and technology consulting firm, revealed its Top 10 Global Wireless Predictions for 2007. The predictions help identify emerging wireless trends for the year and indicate ways that consumers and businesses will benefit. These trends include widespread use of mobile social networks, greater choice in multi-function devices and more wireless home entertainment options. |
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This section lists news about innovative and competitive usage of wireless data by network carriers.
| Napster Mobile Launches on au/KDDI Original news source |
| Napster announced the launch of Napster Mobile on au/KDDI, the second largest mobile network in Japan with over 20 million mobile phone subscribers. For a low monthly fee, au/KDDI customers can access Napster Mobile through the EZ web network to get full-length songs and ringtones that can be delivered over-the-air (OTA), directly to their mobile handset for immediate listening and downloading. This launch on au/KDDI’s network puts Napster Mobile at the fingertips of over 60 million mobile subscribers across Japan. |
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This section lists breaking news from companies which provide client software that runs in end user wireless devices (phones, pagers, PDAs etc.).
| * Valimo introduces dedicated mobile signature client for SIM cards Original news source |
| Valimo Wireless has achieved what the telecom industry has been looking for: a generic, easy-to-use, secure and feature-rich mobile signature client. With this client application, located on a SIM card, mobile phone users can authenticate their identity, as well as approve and digitally sign content. Since the VMAC is SIM, OTA- and mobile signature system- vendor independent, mobile network operators can now acquire mobile signature-enabled SIM cards from a variety of sources. |
| * Mobile Leaders Around the World Launch LiMo Foundation Original news source |
To support their goal of creating globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile
devices, Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications,
Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone announced the official launch of the
LiMo Foundation.
A not-for-profit organization, the LiMo Foundation is aimed at blending the
community-based development benefits of transparency, innovation and
scalability with the best development practices from the mobile community to
create an innovative new business model. LiMo Foundation will be seeking new members interested
in participating in the development of a set of APIs, architecture, and
contributing source code for the common components of the Linux based
mobile platform. |
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This section lists news that describe innovative and competitive implementation of wireless data applications.
| * New York to add photo-sending capabilities for 9-1-1 calls Original news source |
| New York will soon be getting a new system that could be one of the biggest advancements in emergency call centers since the creation of 911 over 35 years ago. In his State of the City speech, mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city has plans to allow callers to send cell phone pictures and videos to local 911 dispatchers. |
| * 30 Second Software Announces 'Digby,' a Mobile Commerce Service for Blackberry Users Original news source |
| 30 Second Software, Inc., an innovator in mobile commerce technology and services, announced “Digby,” an electronic commerce service that radically simplifies the buying experience by combining rich content from name-brand retailers with an intuitive shopping process that is optimized for mobile devices. Available first on BlackBerry handsets from Research In Motion (RIM), Digby is a free service available to mobile users. |
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This section lists news about outsourcing/hosting of mobile corporate/enterprise applications by e.g. software developers, network carriers, and consulting companies. News about mobile access to portals are also included here.
| LYCOS Locks in PlayPhone to Power Its Online Storefront for Mobile Content Original news source |
| LYCOS, Inc. announced that it has launched LYCOSmobile by PlayPhone, its mobile content site, providing hundreds of downloadable games, wallpapers and ringtones for mobile phones. Located at http://mobile.lycos.com , the site is powered by PlayPhone, Inc., the pioneer of direct-to-consumer wireless distribution. |
| * Moderati Introduces Mobile Faker Original news source |
| Social warriors armed with cell phones have new reason to celebrate with the introduction of Mobile Faker by Moderati, a new service available exclusively to Sprint Power Vision and Vision customers. Mobile Faker turns wireless phones into social tools, with tips to conquer any personal interaction. From fake incoming calls designed to ward off bothersome suitors or impress potential soulmates, to witty zingers to dominate any water cooler conversation, Faker has something for every social maneuver.
Mobile Faker was conceived and developed by San Francisco-based Moderati. Using the mod staff’s keen insights into pop culture trends based on five years of delivering world-class personalization products such as Modtones, Moderati created Mobile Faker as the ultimate social crutch. |
| * mdog.com Provides smartphone Users With the Largest Mobile Source of Real-Time News Original news source |
| mdog.com invites all smartphone users to experience the mega-library of mobilized internet news through the mdog.com portal. Whether it's to stay informed about industry developments, follow favorite stories in your hometown newspaper or even just to browse current events, mdog.com is the premier destination for all mobile news.
mdog.com offers perfectly-formatted and fully-mobilized versions of the internet's most-trafficked news publications -- all in real time. Users can point their mobile browser to mdog.com, and choose "Web" to see, read and enjoy the wide selection of publications for mobile viewing. mdog.com is a gratis portal that works immediately on all smartphones and through all carriers, with no downloads or pre-registration necessary.
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This section lists news about new financing opportunities for and in the wireless data industry.
| Mobidia Tops Off Series A With Cdn$3.75 Million in New Funding Original news source |
| Mobidia Inc. announced that it has raised Cdn$3.75 million in its second round of Series A funding. This brings the company’s Series A total funding to Cdn$7 million. The round was led by existing investor BDC Venture Capital with the participation of current investors British Columbia Discovery Fund and B.C. Advantage Funds. Mobidia is a service performance management company that lets wireless network operators monetize multimedia applications, such as the sharing of user-generated content, by dramatically increasing the quality of the end-user experience. |
| SilverBirch to Acquire Jambo Mobile Solutions Original news source |
| SilverBirch Inc., a publisher, distributor and developer of mobile entertainment content, has signed a letter of intent with Jambo Mobile Solutions Inc. , to acquire all of its outstanding shares. Jambo is an award-winning mobile marketing services provider to a roster of marquee Canadian and U.S. brands including Adidas, Coca-Cola, Dell, Disney - Buena Vista, Pfizer, Sony, and many others. |
| MCN Closes Series B Financing Round Original news source |
| Mobile Content Networks, Inc. (“MCN”), provider of mobile search solutions, announced it has closed its Series B funding round led by Meritage Funds with the participation of Dentsu.com, Netage Capital Partners, UniqueLab, Suneight and Intellect Capital Ventures. The company will use the funds to further expand the development and marketing of MobileSearch.net, real-time search management platform. |
| Kiptronic Receives $4 million in Series A Financing Original news source |
| Kiptronic announced the completion of a $4 million round of Series A funding, led by Blueprint Ventures and Prism VentureWorks with participation from existing angel investors.
Kiptronic provides a dynamic, targeted ad insertion service to content publishers delivering video and audio to disconnected devices such as iPods, mobile phones, and laptops. Kiptronic's patent-pending technology enables major media publishers and independent podcasters to seamlessly insert ads at download time without altering existing publishing processes. This funding round fuels the company's rapid growth, expanding addressable market, and ongoing technological innovation. |
| Magyar Telekom acquires Mobilpress Original news source |
| Magyar Telekom has closed the transaction to acquire a 100% stake in Mobilpress, one of the leading Hungarian mobile content producers and aggregators.
With the acquisition Magyar Telekom reinforces its leading position in the mobile content and enhanced services segments. |
| Twistbox Entertainment Acquires The Assets Of Infospace’s Us Mobile Games Studio Original news source |
| Twistbox Entertainment, Inc. announced the acquisition of all of the assets of Infospace Inc.’s US based mobile games Studio located in San Mateo, CA. Formerly known as Atlas Mobile, Inc., the Studio is a pioneer in the Play for Prizes business across the major carriers in North America that includes multiplayer tournaments and loyalty campaigns for leading consumer and entertainment brands. The Studio will be fully integrated into Twistbox Games, the company’s mobile games division which is headquartered out of Dortmund, Germany and maintains studios in Germany, Poland and the US. |
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This section lists the trade shows and conferences which are relevant to wireless data from either participation or exhibiting point of view.
| Red Herring Launches Global Wireless Conference Original news source |
| Red Herring announced its
first global wireless conference, to be held in Beijing on May 28-30. The Beijing conference will convene the established wireless players as
well as the up-and-coming innovators under one roof with investors and
market makers from over twenty nations. Speakers and participants will
address technology and business challenges for wireless around the globe as
well as the outlook for the next 36 months as the industry continues to
grow at a rapid pace. |
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A recommended introductory reading that may be helpful in understanding the scope of this publication is the Wireless Data Forum's Wireless Data Primer.
A glossary of wireless industry terms and acronyms can be found at the Wireless Week site.
Disclaimer: The information presented is personal opinion of Leonid Iakovlev (the editor) and does not necessarily represent the opinion of any company with which he may be affiliated or of any referred third party. All information in this report is NOT guaranteed to be accurate. The information and links were however verified at the time this text was created. Editor does not take responsibility for any actions you may take based on the information you find here. Editor accepts no liability to any party for loss or damage caused by errors or omissions or by statements of any kind in this publication, whether such errors result from accident, negligence, or any other cause. Editor assumes no liability for incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of information in this publication. Editor provides no warranties regarding the information contained in this publication, whether expressed, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Editor also does not assume any liability for links from this publication to publications from other companies, organizations, or individuals. Editor does not imply endorsement of any specific company, organization, or individual through offering links to this content. All information provided within this publication is subject to change at any time and is provided for informational purposes only by the editor. All products and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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