January 25, 2008

MyRAP
It's Disney – or Dizzying
By Monica Alleven

At first, it sounds like the bizarre kind of move you might read about in a celebrity tabloid: Disney plans to target women in their 20s and 30s with an MVNO in Japan.

Various media reports say the company is hooking up with SoftBank Mobile to launch the MVNO next month. This, after Disney failed with MVNOs Mobile ESPN and Disney Mobile in the United States.

Apparently, Disney believes it can do better in Japan with SoftBank's help. In the U.S. market, Disney largely was on its own.

This time, instead of kids and/or their parents, the MVNO will target women in their 20s and 30s, which doesn't sound to me like the demographic that usually lines up for Disney fare. I know maybe one woman in the United States who was really into Disney characters even before she had kids and remains a Goofy devotee to this day. And, I have to confess, "Ratatouille" and "The Shaggy Dog" were fun movies. But I don't think I'd buy into a Disney-themed cell phone service for myself or anyone I know, for that matter.

Sure, cultural differences would explain some of Disney's motivations. The brand gets a lot of visits to its Websites from women in Japan. And companies learn from their mistakes, so maybe Disney will get it right this time. But for some reason, it sounds less like "third time's a charm" and more like "Strike Three.

What do you think? Send me an e-mail at monica.alleven@advantagemedia.com

VIDEO

YouTube Gets Bigger; Others Too
By Monica Alleven

YouTube may be well-known, but it's not the only game in town.

That's the message from mywaves after YouTube's announcement this week that it was opening up its service to millions of mobile devices worldwide. Previously, YouTube just had deals here and there with the likes of Verizon Wireless on a limited video-viewing basis and Helio for its Ocean, as well as for the Apple iPhone.

But mywaves has been around longer, and while it does have some user-generated content, most of it is professionally produced by companies like CBS and Fox or lesser-known but no less creative outfits such as RipeTV. "We look at this [YouTube expansion] as validation that the mobile Internet is really going mainstream, which is really exciting for us," says Susan Cashen, vice president of marketing at mywaves.

Most mywaves users are 18- to 25-year-old males, but the user base is starting to include more young women, she says.

Mywaves boasts that its carrier-agnostic platform is the fastest-growing mobile video destination for consumers, attracting more than 4.5 million unique visitors worldwide every month to its free video service. About half of its users are based in the United States.

GAMES

Glu Makes Move for Superscape 
By Monica Alleven

Consolidation continues in the mobile game space. This week, Glu Mobile said it plans to acquire mobile game publisher and developer Superscape Group in a deal valued at $36 million.

Founded in 1993, Superscape ranked among the top five mobile games publishers in the United States during the third quarter of 2007, according to the Mobile Games Report from Nielsen Mobile.

Superscape has headquarters in San Clemente, Calif., with a production facility in Moscow and an office in the United Kingdom. It has about 135 employees. Glu is based in San Mateo, Calif.

Superscape has a white label partnership with Verizon Wireless and a mobile gaming community with Alltel Wireless. Its portfolio includes original and branded titles.

In a press release, Glu CEO and President Greg Ballard said the offer represents Glu's strategy to become the No. 1 mobile games publisher in the world. In December, Glu closed the acquisition of Beijing Zhangzhong MIG Information Technology, a developer and publisher of mobile games for China.

Last year, Oberon Media acquired I-play, which specializes in casual mobile games. In late 2005, Electronic Arts announced its plan to acquire Jamdat Mobile for about $680 million.

ENTERTAINMENT

SendMe Inks Deal with EMI Music 
By Monica Alleven

SendMe this week announced a strategic agreement with EMI Music that gives SendMeMobile.com members access to EMI's catalog of mobile content, including works from The B-52s, Coldplay, Norah Jones, Lenny Kravitz, Dean Martin, The Rolling Stones and more.

It's all part of SendMe's strategy to be the Viacom for online-to-mobile or direct-to-consumer services. The company's interconnected Websites – SendMeMobile.com, SoLow.com and mbuzzy.com – are focused on the mobile enthusiast, with each site acting either as a stand-alone or feeding off one another, explains SendMe Co-founder and CEO Russell Klein.

The off-deck content provider has a lot going on these days. Just this month, SendMe Mobile announced a partnership with Interscope Geffen A&M Records to promote recording artists through the SoLow.com sweepstakes site. SendMe also struck a licensing agreement with Universal Music Group whereby UMG's catalog of hit songs will be made available to members of SendMeMobile.com. Last year, SendMe acquired the off-portal mobile community mbuzzy.

"We're continuing our slow, steady march and we were thrilled to put in place a partnership with EMI," Klein says, adding that SendMe has an extensive base of content that isn't relegated strictly to the top hits but includes offerings from independents.

SendMe doesn't reveal how many consumers are using its services except to say that mbuzzy has 500,000-plus registered users. SendMe works with Tier 1 and 2 carriers in the United States and gives them a share of the revenue. Its focus is the subset of the U.S. youth market that has a data plan or access to a data plan.

MOBILE ADS

Ad Infuse Gets Infusion 
By Monica Alleven

Ad Infuse CEO Brian Cowley

Ad Infuse raised $12 million in a financing round led by new investor SoftBank Capital. The round included existing investors ComVentures and Storm Ventures.

Ad Infuse has been given a "big vote of confidence in our platform, with an investor like SoftBank, in how we handle data and privacy, but we have more sophisticated capabilities we want to invest in," particularly around carrier solutions, says Ad Infuse CEO Brian Cowley.

Ad Infuse already is ahead of its business plan. Still, "we have a lot of work to do this year. I think everybody does in this market," Cowley says.

The new funds will be used to aggressively extend Ad Infuse's position in delivering a premium mobile advertising network and platform for mobile operators, content publishers and advertisers, the company says. It will also continue to invest in its rich media advertising solutions and personalization capabilities.

As part of the investment, SoftBank Capital partner Mike Perlis will join the Ad Infuse board.

MOBILE MARKETING

MMA Looks at Year Ahead 
By Monica Alleven

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) recently got together in Denver to lay out its priorities for the coming year.

Topics of discussion included MMS, adult content and age verification, binary free content downloads, user-generated content and communities, marketing to children, location-based services (LBS) and compliance in reference to monitoring and health measurement.

The Consumer Best Practices document, which is updated twice a year, was last updated in December.

The MMA's intention always is to get in front of the industry, and it is getting better at that, according to MMA President Laura Marriott in an interview late last year. "Our goal is to always protect the consumer experience," she says.

Updating the best practices involves a lengthy process of going over drafts and hammering out language between many parties and ends up with a final version that goes through carriers' legal departments before getting final approval. "The carriers are involved every step of the way," she says. "This is really a collaborative industry process."

The MMA Consumer Best Practices Guidelines Committee is made up of participants from the following companies: Alltel Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Bango, Buongiorno S.p.A., Chapell & Associates, denuo Group (a Publicis Company), Jamster, Lavalife Mobile, Limbo Mobile, mBlox, MMA, MTV Networks, MX Telecom, NeuStar, Qmobile, SinglePoint, Sprint, Sybase 365, Telescope, Teligence, The Walt Disney Company, T-Mobile USA, Twistbox Entertainment, VeriSign and Verizon Wireless.

The most recent version of the Consumer Best Practices guidelines can be found at http://www.mmaglobal.com/bestpractices.pdf.

Viral Marketing Grabs Attention 
By Wireless Week Staff

MoConDi is warning folks to get ready for mobile viral marketing to join mobile advertising and ad-supported distribution as trends to watch in 2008.

The company's MeYou platform is expanding its reach in Europe and the United States, allowing content purchases to be shared with friends and social networks for incentives via mobile devices. MeYou is now available in Italy, with plans to hit the United States this year, according to a press release.

With MeYou, users are rewarded for purchases and recommendations, which result in a purchase with redeemable credits. Friends receive mobile message recommendations that contain a message from users, a download link for the content and a link to install the MeYou application.

MoConDi is sharing some stats, including:

• Data shows 60% of MeYou users have purchased mobile content in the past.
• 64% of users send recommendations, with 24% of these users making purchases.
• More than 1.6 million users have received a MeYou recommendation from a friend in the past six months.
• Average carrier mobile storefront marketing costs have been reduced by 20% through the use of MeYou.

MUSIC

Venturi Mini from NextGen Venturi

Venturi Mini Streams Music, Calls 
By Wireless Week Staff

Verizon Wireless customers can now use the new Venturi Mini from NextGen Venturi to listen to music on their wireless phones through their car stereo systems.

The companies this week announced the availability of the Venturi Mini, a plug-and-play car audio FM transmitter that streams music and calls from stereo Bluetooth-enabled music phones through any in-car stereo system.

To use the Venturi Mini, a customer first plugs it into a 12-volt power adapter in the vehicle and then pairs the Mini with a stereo Bluetooth-capable music phone. Up to four stereo Bluetooth devices can be paired to the Venturi Mini for music streaming or hands-free calling on multiple devices. The device costs $129.99 online through Verizon.

Mobile Content News Briefs - January 25, 2007
Companies in this issue's briefs: AT&T, LG, Samsung, Research In Motion, Apple, Verizon Wireless, ABI Research, Advanced Mobile Applications, Longtail Studios, HurryDate, Berg Insight, GoLife Mobile, JumpTap, Mohave Wireless, One Voice Technologies, SnapTell, Artificial Life, PlayPhone, 944 Magazine and Waterfall Mobile.

• Get ready to see red. AT&T announced $99.99 promotional pricing through Feb. 14 on three red wireless devices: the Shine by LG, the BlackJack II by Samsung and the BlackBerry Curve 8310 by Research In Motion.

• Apple reported it sold more than 2.3 million iPhones in the quarter that ended Dec. 29, 2007.

• Verizon Wireless' Open Development Conference is set for March 19-20 in New York City. Information about Verizon Wireless' Open Development initiative is at www.verizonwireless.com/opendevelopment. The carrier is encouraging developers from the device community to attend the 2-day event.

• ABI Research sees the total number of mobile TV subscribers over the next five years growing to 462 million, driven in large part by the expansion of 3G networks and flat-rate plans for mobile video. The buildout of mobile video delivery networks and an increase in the amount of available content will also contribute to the market's growth, the researchers say. ABI Research sees the Asia-Pacific region as the overall leader in the adoption of mobile video services.

• Advanced Mobile Applications and Longtail Studios, in association with HurryDate, announced the release of the mobile speed dating game, HurryDate's SpeedDaters, on leading wireless carriers. The game lets players test their dating skills and see how the pick up lines really work. Users practice speed dating as if they were actually attending a HurryDate event. HurryDate's SpeedDaters offer players the ability to step into the shoes of the other gender and experience dating from their perspective.

• According to a research report by Berg Insight, global shipments of GPS-enabled handsets is expected to grow from 175 million units in 2007 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.2 percent to reach 560 million units in 2012. Rapid adoption of GPS technology in mass-market GSM/W-CDMA handsets will be the main driver.

• GoLife Mobile announced its beta release of the GoLife Mobile framework. The initial beta launch consists of an object-oriented framework which is device neutral and enables the creation and distribution of personal lifestyle widgets. The technology is available to beta testers through two lifestyle widget applications — GoSocial and StreetNewz, mobile-to-anything messaging and supported by an interstitial advertising engine and business model.

• Mobile search company JumpTap hired Paran Johar as chief marketing officer. He most recently was at MRM Worldwide, McCann's digital division, where he was executive vice president of digital marketing for North America and managing director of the Los Angeles office. Johar will be opening JumpTap's New York City office to work closely with the advertising community but will support strategic brands worldwide.

• Mohave Wireless is now offering One Voice Technologies' MobileVoice service to subscribers. The platform allows customers to read and send e-mails, send voice to text messages, set up conference and preset groups and more.

• SnapTell is making its Mobile Movie Explorer available for general consumer use. Consumers can now use their cameraphone to snap a picture of a DVD cover, send the picture to SnapTell using MMS messaging and get back information about the movie on their cell phone.

• Hong Kong-based Artificial Life announced the partnership with PlayPhone for all mobile applications, namely V-girl, V-boy, America's Next Top Model, Big Brother, Bad Girls Club, Tokio Hotel – the official mobile game, Lollipop, Blackie's Teenage Club and a variety of animal-themed games, as well as the associated wallpapers, screensavers and video mails for all of the games. They will soon be available for sale on the PlayPhone website at: www.playphone.com and on its third-party portals powered by PlayPhone.

• 944 Magazine joined with Waterfall Mobile to extend its lifestyle, entertainment and fashion brand directly to consumers through mobile marketing. The company will launch mobile newsletters and event guides, promote artists and keep fans posted on the latest celebrity news using Waterfall Mobile's Web-based Msgme platform.