Mobilious

“Mobile phone companies generally don’t let customers call their overseas friends for free. Nor do they let them dial interstate family members without charge.

So when 3 Mobile announced it would let its customers make up to 4000 minutes, or 66 hours, of free long-distance calls each month using mobile internet, they surprised more than a few industry pundits.

3 Mobile launched its unusual proposition last week, packaged in a plan to bring the internet to mobile phones in a meaningful way, including unlimited instant messaging, broadband-speed downloads, and access to goodies on your home PC from your mobile phone.

The company unashamedly admits the new service, called X-Series, is designed to “shake up” the mobile phone industry in Australia, both in services and pricing.

And mobile phone experts have responded positively so far, saying the plan will attract tech-savvy Australians due to its generous download allowances and capped, predictable prices…”This news, by Jennifer Dudley, was picked from and continue at; http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21497209-8362,00.html

“The world’s first trial of personalized mobile TV advertising has proven its effectiveness with a positive consumer response. The trial was conducted by Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).

The results of the three-month trial, which have been processed by M:Metrics, show that the average click-through rate reached an amazing 13 percent, and the average viewing time of each mobile TV user more than doubled – to seven minutes per session – when users interacted with customized ads.

The trial also showed this behavior was sustainable in terms of the click-through rate and session times because usage was consistent throughout the trial. Almost half of the users were 30 to 44 years old, followed by those 18 to 29 years old. Participants identified entertainment and music as their most common interests when starting in the trial.

Advertisements in the trial were interactive, customized to ensure their relevance to individual users, and tailored to the user’s age, gender, location, and personal interests. Advertising content also spanned an array of formats, including videos, banners, ticker texts, and branded downloadable content…”

This news was picked from and continue at; http://www.sys-con.com/read/362314.htm

“Mercedes-Benz has awarded Ymogen, a contract to create, implement and manage all its passenger car mobile marketing and communications during 2007. It follows a successful strategy of making mobile integral to Mercedes-Benz communication – no other automotive manufacturer in the UK has implemented such a large mobile presence and maintained it over such a long period.

The overall strategic aim of the partnership is to encourage active response from traditional advertising such as poster, print, TV, and DM, via mobile text calls to action, driving users to Mercedes-Benz mobile sites…”

This news was picked from and continue at; http://www.cellular-news.com/story/23278.php

“The UK based, Q Research has published the findings from its latest survey on what Britain’s young people think about receiving advertising messages on their mobile phones. The research shows that targeting advertising messages to the individual recipient is the key to success with this often-elusive audience.

Only 32% of the 11-20 year olds surveyed told us they would be happy to receive advertising messages to their mobile phones. However, these numbers more than doubled when we asked them if they would like to receive advertising messages targeted to their particular interests – 71% agreed.

The three subsequent options for receiving advertising messages showed a significant swing from the initial unenthusiastic response. Of the two benefits we questioned them on, top up credit proved to be the most popular, particularly with pay-as-you-go customers, with almost nine out of ten willing to receive ads in exchange for PrePay top-ups credit.

…The results showed that young people would prefer picture advertising messages on their mobile phones, with both video and text ads less popular. The main reason for the unpopularity of video ads was concern about the price of receiving these files. Only boys under 16 chose video ads, with almost three-quarters saying they would like to receive them.”

This news was picked from and continue at; http://www.cellular-news.com/story/23281.php

“Does anyone care about high definition?

With video on the go proving popular, who needs high definition? High-definition DVD players have finally hit the market, offering unprecedented picture quality. But movies and video clips are increasingly being watched on low-definition portable devices like video iPods, handheld media players or even mobile phones. So has high-definition DVD missed the boat?

Enthusiasm for the very best picture quality – in a cinema, at least – is certainly not what it was.

While annual cinema admissions in the UK grew steadily from 1984 until 2002, these figures have stagnated at around 167 million admissions per year over the last few years, according to the UK Film Council.

By contrast, the number of low picture quality videos watched on the internet has exploded over the last two years thanks to websites such as YouTube. Although precise figures are not available, on average an estimated 100 million videos are streamed off the site and more than 65,000 new videos are added every day.

Cinema tickets cost money while YouTube video clips are free so these figures can not be compared directly, but the success of YouTube shows that picture quality is not that important to a great many people.

And there is evidence that given a choice between picture quality and convenience, an increasing number of consumers are choosing the latter…”

This news article of Paul Rubens is picked from and continue at; http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6558807.stm

“Nine of the largest US television broadcast groups have formed an industry alliance to accelerate the development of mobile digital broadcast television, the “Open Mobile Video Coalition”. The nice companies are Belo, Fox Television, Gannett Broadcasting, Gray Television, ION Media, the NBC & Telemundo Television Stations, Sinclair Broadcast and Tribune Broadcasting.

Estimates for 2007 U.S. sales of portable and mobile devices capable of video playback run as high as 100 million units. These include sales of video-capable mobile phones, personal media players, portable game players, imaging devices, notebook PCs, and in-car entertainment devices. With the addition of a low-cost receiver module, each of these devices could be built to receive DTV broadcasts from any of the 1,600 digital television stations in the U.S. that choose to transmit mobile capable signals.

The nine initial members of the Open Mobile Television Coalition collectively own and operate 281 television stations in 110 U.S. markets (including Puerto Rico), covering 95 million television homes, or 85% of total TV households. This includes coverage of at least one station in all top 20 DMA markets, 49 of the top 50 markets, and 83 of the top 100 markets…”

News picked from; http://www.cellular-news.com/story/23155.php

“Europe France : The excuses to put off learning English are as many as the reasons to learn the language. So busy executives will be interested to know that English instruction is now as close and convenient as their mobile phones. Professional English—Video Live Edition, launched in France and several other European countries this month, delivers video course instruction and live English tutoring by native speaking instructors on any video-capable 3G mobile phone.

News picked from and details continue at; http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/April2007/4540.htm

“Juicing up your cell phone or iPod may take on a whole new meaning in the future. Researchers at Saint Louis University have developed a fuel cell battery that runs on virtually any sugar source – from soft drinks to tree sap – and has the potential to operate three to four times longer on a single charge than conventional lithium ion batteries, they say. For consumers, that could mean significantly longer time to talk and play music between charges.

The new battery, which is also biodegradable, could eventually replace lithium ion batteries in many portable electronic applications, including computers, the scientists say.“This study shows that renewable fuels can be directly employed in batteries at room temperature to lead to more energy-efficient battery technology than metal-based approaches,” said study leader Shelley Minteer, Ph.D., an electrochemist at Saint Louis University. “It demonstrates that by bridging biology and chemistry, we can build a better battery that’s also cleaner for the environment.”… …”

“China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, recently announced that its subscriber base grew to 301 million, surpassing the total population of the United States.

Julie Pohlig, senior analyst at Vital Wave Consulting, a research and consulting firm focusing exclusively on emerging market business growth, says the 300-million-person milestone provides perspective on the sheer size of the Chinese market, and illustrates the perceived value of information and communications technology (ICT) to a population that has far less purchasing power.“The image is striking — the equivalent of every man, woman and child in the U.S. using a cell phone,” says Pohlig. “But it’s important to understand that the per capita income of the Chinese subscribers is US$1700, not US$44,000 as in the United States.”

“How to watch:

How do I put videos from my mobile device onto YouTube?If your phone has video and multimedia messaging (MMS) capabilities, you can probably upload videos from your cell phone or other mobile device. Here’s how to set it up:

 

“The stock photo provider, iStockphoto says that has selected AMUSE Entertainment to take its stock photography images into the mobile sector.

The pilot phase of the program will be launched in the UK and will allow mobile users to download wallpapers from a selection of 5,000 of iStockphoto’s images. Images will be found within a dedicated mobile storefront accessed through the iStockphoto website, and marketed and promoted jointly by iStock and AMUSE…

…The second stage of this agreement will see the iStock library of over 1.5 million images opened to AMUSE’s broader distribution network…”

News picked from and details continue at; http://www.cellular-news.com/story/23061.php

“Seventy-seven new HDSPA capable regional base stations will be built as part of an AU$85 (US$69) million communications deal signed today between the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) and the Australia based network operator, Telstra.

“The UK’s Chiltern Railways has entered phase two of its mobile phone ticketing project following the success of the initial three month pilot during which 6,000 mobile phone tickets have been sold.

“Optus Australia has said that over six hundred base stations in Sydney and Melbourne will be ready for HSDPA service by May 2007; and all Optus 3G sites across Australia upgraded to HSDPA by the end of May 2007. Once complete, Optus will cover 55 per cent of the Australian population with HSDPA services.