- Week summary
- General wireless data market related news
- Mobile application related news
- News about financing for wireless data businesses
| * - 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 |
- Verizon starts Qualcomm-based mobile TV broadcasting.
- Citi provides mobile payment pilot.
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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.
| IDC Says Don't Underestimate Full Potential of Mobile Marketing Original news source |
| Mobile marketing represents one of the most promising and challenging opportunities for both the advertising and mobile industries. With more than two billion mobile users in the world today, IDC believes that mobile prevails as the first medium through which advertisers can reach such a large audience on an individual basis in the developing world. According to IDC, the brand spend of the U.S. mobile marketing market in 2006 should more than double the spend in 2005. |
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This section lists news about innovative and competitive usage of wireless data by network carriers.
| Elisa to pilot Nokia's next generation mobile gaming platfor Original news source |
| Nokia and Finnish carrier Elisa announced that they will carry out a pilot of Nokia's new N-Gage mobile gaming service. The pilot will start in February 2007 and run until mid 2007. |
| * Verizon Wireless Launches Live Cell TV Original news source |
| Verizon Wireless launched a broadcast TV service for cell phones in about 20 Midwestern and Western markets, charging $15 to $25 a month for the initial lineup from eight leading networks. While Verizon had already said it planned to introduce the service this month, the launch provided this country's first detailed glimpse of the features and pricing for a long-awaited next wave in cellular technology.
Notably, the launch came one day after a demonstration in New York of a planned rival broadcast service called Modeo, as well as an announcement by MobiTV, a forerunner to these new offerings, that it has reached 2 million users.
V Cast Mobile TV, delivered over a separate wireless network operated by Qualcomm Inc., requires a new handset capable of receiving the broadcast signal in addition to the regular cellular signal for phone calls and mobile Internet access.
The eight 24-hour channels are CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go and Nickelodeon. |
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This section lists news that describe innovative and competitive implementation of wireless data applications.
| * Citi and Obopay to Pilot Mobile Person-to-Person Payment Service Original news source |
| Citi announced that an agreement has been
reached with Obopay, Inc. to pilot an innovative, real-time Person-to-Person mobile
payments service later this year. The service will be offered to new and existing Citi
credit and debit card customers. Further details, including cities for the consumer pilot,
are to be confirmed and announced at a later time.
The new Citi-Obopay Mobile Person to Person service will allow pilot participants to
easily and securely send and receive money instantly via any mobile phone.
Participants will be able to remotely track and manage their mobile payment accounts
by checking balances, viewing payment histories, and adding funds directly from their
mobile phone. Funds received via the Citi-Obopay Mobile Person to Person service can
also be accessed with a debit card provided with the service. |
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This section lists news about new financing opportunities for and in the wireless data industry.
| Carl Icahn Invests $50 Million in Motricity Original news source |
| Motricity, provider of mobile content services and solutions, announced the completion of $50 million in equity funding from Carl Icahn, through an affiliated company, along with the appointment of Brett Icahn, an investment analyst with Icahn Associates and affiliated companies, to the Motricity board of directors. |
| InterDigitalInterDigital Leads Funding Round in Kineto Wireless Original news source |
| InterDigital Communications Corporation and Kineto Wireless, Inc. announced the closing of a $10 million round of funding in Kineto, innovator and supplier of UMA technology. InterDigital led the round with an investment of $5 million, while Kineto’s existing investors -- Sutter Hill Ventures, Venrock Associates, 3i, Oak Investment Partners, SeaPoint Ventures and Storm Ventures – also participated in the financing. |
| iSkoot Raises $7 Million in Series B Financing Original news source |
| iSkoot, provider of mobile Internet communications solutions, announced that it has secured $7 million in Series B financing. iSkoot is recently working in close partnership with Skype to enable The 3 Group to become the first mobile operator to bring Skype-enabled mobile phones to consumers. iSkoot software was pre-loaded onto Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets used by The 3 Group to launch the industry’s first mobile Skype service.
The round was led by Charles River Ventures and includes previous investors Khosla Ventures, ZG Ventures, and Jesselson Capital Corp. |
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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.
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