New Media Age articles from September 2003

New Media Age archives from September 2003

Yoomedia says it owns use of SMS in TV shows.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The use of SMS to add interactivity to TV programmes is facing a potential threat from a patent claim by iTV games company Yoomedia. The patent covers 'synchronised interaction between mobile devices and TV', and the company has said it...

Orange opens to MMS providers.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Orange has become the first mobile network to open its MMS user-base to third-party content providers. Teamtalk and Premium TV are among the first UK providers that will be able to deliver MMS content directly to consumers. To date...

BBC said to be in running for NHS digital TV service.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The BBC is believed to be among a small number of companies short-listed by the Department of Health to develop an NHS Direct digital TV service, which the Government plans to roll out nationwide by 2004. It's the first time the...

Sky in talks to offer music downloads via dTV boxes.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Sky is in talks with record labels and other third parties over the possibility of offering music downloads for sale through its digital TV set-top boxes and online via its Web site. The company is keen to boost interest in its three...

Oxfam views online as the future core of fundraising.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... International charity Oxfam has revealed plans to take up to 70% of its campaigning online by 2005. This compares to around 40% of action currently done online. The plans were unveiled as it confirmed a scheduled Web site relaunch on 17...

MSN UK to follow US with beta trials of broadband paid-for services.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... MSN UK has revealed plans to trial premium broadband services later this year, with the aim of localising content to the UK market. Last week, MSN US announced its first paid-for broadband services, MSN Premium and MSN Plus. The portal...

THQ designs system to link mobile and console gaming.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... THQ, one of the world's biggest games publishers, has developed a system enabling true integration between console and mobile games. The initiative, from mobile arm THQ Wireless, is in the final stages of development and brings to fruition...

Poke builds charity awareness viral.(Global Rich List)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Creative digital agency Poke has launched a viral campaign ahead of next week's WTO ministerial conference, driving home the disparity between the world's rich and poor. The campaign, Global Rich List, is uncommissioned but has been...

Overture and T-Online row heats up search war.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... This week's row between Overture and the German ISP T-Online could mark the beginning of a new, more vicious stage in the 'search wars' being fought on a global level by Overture and Google. Overture sought a court injunction this week for...

Nestle launches 'Pop Idol' SMS push.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Nestle Rowntree has launched one of the biggest SMS pushes to date, with a Pop Idol campaign running on 80m packs. The promotion, by mobile firm Whoosh, offers prizes of Pop Idol VIP breaks in London. Consumers enter by texting their...

Autosport takes on Olive to launch digital edition.(Breaking)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Autosport magazine has teamed up with Olive Software to launch an interactive digital edition. Autosport has taken on Olive's ActiveMagazine technology via a distribution deal with Applecart Solutions. The digital edition will be accessible via...

CP UK launches competition microsite for Cookie Crisp.(Breaking)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Kids are being encouraged to practise howling in the latest integrated campaign from CP UK brand Cookie Crisp. In its; new ads, from Saatchi & Saatchi, CP is running an interactive competition site. Consumers are asked to ring the number on the...

Intuwave raises 2.8m [pounds sterling] in third-round funding effort.(Breaking)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Intuwave, the mobile software firm, has raised third-round funds of $4.5m (2.8m [pounds sterling]) from its existing pool of investors, 3i, GIMV, Sum International and NIF Ventures. The firm used previous funding to support product development...

GMTV moves towards in-house SMS with daily news service.(Breaking)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Daytime TV show GMTV has begun the first stage of taking SMS services in-house, with the launch of a daily news service. It lets viewers sign up to get three headlines twice a day by SMS. Written by the news team, the service is promoted in the...

Take a Break installs WIN's text console for competitions.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Women's magazine Take a Break has installed WIN's text console, enabling it to take its SMS competition activity in-house. The system will enable readers to enter all of the week's 15 prize puzzles via one text message rather than via post. ...

Wired Berkshire launches online PR service.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Networking group Wired Berkshire has launched an online PR service for its members. The service, Vibe, enables small businesses to communicate to the media and the public. The Wired Berkshire network currently has 260 member companies and...

Freeserve offers 'no risk' broadband trial to customers.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... UK ISP Freeserve is offering a 'No Risk' broadband trial, which allows customers to trial a high-speed Internet connection for a month, and receive a full refund if they decide it's not for them. The deal will also include a free modem and free...

Veet to sponsor fashion and beauty section of icircle.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Wax strips brand Veet is to sponsor the fashion and beauty section of Freeserve's women's channel, icircle. Through its agency All Response Media, brand owner Reckitt Benckiser is placing a button ad which links to an advertorial--including a...

Alderney pushes Isle of Man out of online gaming.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Alderney has won the battle to attract online casinos in the British Isles after the last remaining casino operator on the Isle of Man confirmed that it's close to quitting. Littlewoods Casino says it's now weighing up a move to Alderney...

RNIB settles legal cases on Web site accessibility.(Royal National Institute for the Blind )(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The Royal National Institute for the Blind has reached out-of-court settlements with two of the companies it was pursuing under the Disability Discrimination Act for failing to make their Web sites accessible to blind and partially sighted...

CheckM8 enters Japanese market.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Rich media software company CheckM8 is entering the Japanese market through a partnership deal with agency CCI. CCI, part of the Dentsu group, is using CheckM8's system as its in-house rich media system, to design and deliver online ads for...

NetBenefit plans to extend into US and Europe.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Domain name registration, management and hosting business Net-Benefit is planning an assault on the North American and European markets to expand its client base and grab a greater market share. The firm already has a small office in New...

Analysts fear for Freeserve following AOL/Dixons link.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Industry analysts agree that AOL will benefit from its recent distribution deal with Dixons, despite Freeserve's claims that retail partnerships are an outdated customer acquisition channel. Earlier this week, the consumer electronics...

Premium TV in Carling Web deal.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... NTL sports right subsidiary Premium TV is making its first foray into Web development for third party brands after tying up a deal with Carling to develop its official Carling Cup site. Brewing giant Coors is returning to top flight...

Industry demands review of Internet security laws.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The new media industry has called the Government to review its Internet security legislation, after virus attacks wreaked havoc with global businesses, writes David Titmas. Companies protected by patches and firewalls still suffered from...

Virgin Atlantic enables m-commerce.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Virgin Atlantic has become the first company in Europe to enable consumers to purchase flight tickets over a mobile phone. The firm has launched the service, which allows users to browse and buy tickets, on Vodafone Live!. Users can...

Telegraph.co.uk launches Fantasy Champions League.(soccer)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Telegraph.co.uk, the online presence of The Daily Telegraph, has launched its Fantasy Football Champions League, marking the game's second season as part of the newspaper's collection of Telegraph Fantasy Football Online products. Virtual...

SmartFlirts teams up with MyVillage for content service.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... International flirting community SmartFlirts has teamed up with entertainment network MyVillage to provide a new flirting content service for MyVillage users. Revenue from the service will be split between the two firms. MyVillage is the first...

The Times Online launches entertainment section.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The Times Online has launched a new entertainment channel following parent News International's release last week of 'The Month' CD-Rom, a multi-million pound multimedia supplement supplied free with The Sunday Times. The new section of Times...

Victor Chandler offers virtual horse racing product.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Victor Chandler is the latest online bookie to launch a virtual horse racing product. The Gibraltar-based firm will be competing with similar offerings from several other bookmakers, including Ladbrokes, Sportingbet and Digiturf.com. Virtual...

Opera helps Broadcasters to generate more profits through audience interaction.
September 4, 2003... Telephone Interaction--Opera has the UK's largest telephone response network with 12000 lines, the core of which is our single interactive call handling platform with a 6000 line IVR capacity. Working together with BT we have established the...

BT hopes Yahoo! deal will double broadband take-up.(BT Yahoo! Internet service )(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... BT is hoping to double its rate of broadband growth through E its partnership with Yahoo!, despite missing the target it set this summer for BT Openworld subscriptions. The BT Yahoo! Internet service launched on Tuesday and, although the...

Sony Ericsson in deal for Cartoon Network content.
September 4, 2003... Sony Ericsson today announced its first major content deal outside mobile gaming, joining with Turner Broadcasting to launch Cartoon Network-branded mobile content. The operator will make the content available directly to consumers through...

Paddy Power leads growth with online casino launch.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Paddy Power is to launch an online casino before the end of 2003, after announcing a profit for its online betting service for the first time. Finance director Ross Ivers said the casino would be based in Europe and that the firm is in...

Cantor offers mobile spread betting.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Cantor Index has teamed up with O2 to launch the world's first mobile spread-betting service. Cantor Mobile will give access to real-time finance and sports news, charting, continuous streaming of live prices and instant trading. Free to...

Diary.(Calendar)
September 4, 2003... 9 September 2003 The Forum: Effective Communications for All London 020 7261 8921 theforum.gov.uk 9-12 September 2003 British HCI Conference 2003 Bath 01793 417417 bcs-hci.org.uk 10-12 September...

Buongiorno Vitaminic cuts losses in first six months.(Finance)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Buongiorno Vitaminic has sharply cut its losses in the opening six months of the year. The online music and marketing firm lost 6.3m [euro] (4.4m [pounds sterling]) before tax in the first half, down 77% since last year, and made a small EBITDA...

VC body criticises planned changes to banking rules.(Finance; European Venture Capital Association )(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The European Venture Capital Association has criticised proposed changes to banking rules, saying they could lead to "a significant retreat by banks from private equity and venture capital funds". The EVCA was replying to proposals from the...

Themutual.net buys MyPoints.(Finance)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Email marketing firm Themutual .net is buying MyPoints Europe in a deal which should be wrapped up in the next two weeks. The company is paying 212,500 [pounds sterling] in cash and taking on 260,000 [pounds sterling] of MyPoints' debt. ...

GX Networks raises 12m [pounds sterling] for further acquisitions.(Finance)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... GX Networks, a business broadband firm, has vowed to continue with its buying spree after making another acquisition and raising 12m [pounds sterling] for more deals. The company bought hosting firm Firstnet Services last week, its fourth...

Freeloader looks to raise funds via subs.(Finance)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Games site Freeloader is preparing to raise more money in the coming months after relaunching its subscription service. At the moment the business is wholly owned by its management team. MD Tarick Kremeia owns 70% of the firm, with the...

Macrovision releases new copy-protection software.(Technology; SafeDisc 3.1)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Macrovision has released new copy-protection and digital rights management software which creates a unique security signature for each CD or DVD being protected. SafeDisc 3.1 builds on the company's existing software used by PC games...

Kazaa launches paid-for version of P2P software.(Technology)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Kazaa has launched a paid-for version of its peer-to-peer file sharing software, which offers enhanced search and downloading capabilities. Kazaa Plus will be free of advertising and available globally for a one-off payment of $29.95 (18.98...

LShift to run open training sessions for Web developers.(Technology)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Technical agency LShift is hosting a series of open training sessions for Web developers, to encourage the sharing of technical information between rival agencies. The first group of talks will be run by the Scheme-UK usergroup, called...

Agence Virtuelle launches Euro version of ClickTracks 4.0.(Technology)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Search engine consultancy Agence Virtuelle has partnered with US Web analytics company ClickTracks, to launch a European version of its traffic measurement tool ClickTracks 4.0. The Web analysis software is designed to measure the return on...

3 runs design competition to boost mobile creative.(Technology)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Mobile operator 3 is inviting games developers to design new applications for the new Motorola A920 smartphone, to boost creativity in the mobile industry. A competition was announced on 1 September which calls upon the development...

Scottish Executive trials mobile video news avatar.(Technology)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The Scottish Executive is exploring the potential of video messaging through a mobile video pilot trialling an avatar-based news and information service. The trial, which begins in late September, will use two messaging formats to send...

New Processing language to launch.(Technology)
September 4, 2003... A new open source programming language will be launched in its beta phase this weekend, with the aim of replacing existing scripts used by Web designers. The software, called Processing, is being developed in the Aesthetics and Computation...

Emuse joins with Digisoft for MHP standard roll-out.(Technology; Multimedia Home Platform )(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Irish iTV authoring firm Emuse Technologies has partnered with Digisoft, developer of Multimedia Home Platform (MHP), to enable it to roll out a range of interactive applications and services for the MHP iTV standard. MHP is the middleware...

AKQA signed to promote Samsung C100 online.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Digital agency AKQA has been appointed to help promote the launch of Samsung Mobile's new C100 handset. Media will include super skyscrapers and an Eye-blaster expandable banner, along with traditional banner and skyscraper placements. Ads will...

Harvest Digital gets access to Dynamic Logic analytics.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Online marketing agency Harvest Digital has appointed marketing effectiveness research company Dynamic Logic Europe, The deal will give Harvest Digital access to Dynamic Logic's MarketNorms analytical tool and databases for measuring online...

Nucleus builds design guide application for Roche.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Brand experience consultancy Nucleus has designed and built an intranet-based product design guide application to support the design management of Roche Diagnostic's handheld products. It will be used by internal development teams, external...

Receptional goes large.(Agencies)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Internet marketing consultancy Receptional.com is positioning itself to appeal to medium and large organisations. The shift in target clients is explained by MD Dixon Jones as a recognition of the emerging needs of the SEO and Internet...

Good Tech founder to head WPP new media initiative.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Communications giant WPP Group is stepping up its interactive capabilities with the creation of a role dedicated to finding new media agencies to bring into the fold. Richard Davies, founder of WPP's key digital agency Good Technology, is...

Lightmaker to roll out TMT worldwide.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Full service agency Lightmaker has revealed global expansion plans that will see its proprietary software Total Media Technology (TMT) rolled out across a worldwide sales network. From 1 October, sales and marketing director Rob Noble will...

Aerodeon reshuffles top brass to give country focus.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Mobile marketing agency Aerodean is restructuring its management as a result of global expansion begun earlier this year. The agency has this year established offices in Paris, New York and Istanbul. The restructure will see co-thunder and...

Brylcreem runs SMS promo via free samples at Club 18-30.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Brylcreem has tied up with tour operator Club 18-30 to run its first pan-European SMS campaign. The hairstyling brand will be distributing thousands of samples of its Next Generation Ultra Gel product at Club 18-30 welcome meetings in holiday...

Wrigley launches chewing gum site for retailers.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Chewing gum giant Wrigley UK has launched a dedicated site in a bid to market more effectively to independent retailers. The site, which has been designed and developed by Sense Internet, will provide retailers with online access to merchandise...

Kellogg's offers Desktop Tony.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... FMCG giant Kellogg's has taken Tony the Tiger online in its latest campaign for Frosties. Desktop Tony will bring kids the latest news on the 'Earn Your Stripes' challenges that will be running on a range of kids sites over the next few months....

Delia hosts ketchup microsite.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Heinz will promote its Top Down Tomato Ketchup bottle on Delia Smith's Web site. The campaign--an advertorial microsite hosted on Delia Online--will run for a month. Heinz chose the site for its brand association and a similar target audience....

AOL brokers million-pound credit card deal with MBNA.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... AOL UK has struck a multi-million-pound deal with financial services giant MBNA Europe for an AOL-branded credit card. The initiative forms part of the ISP's continuing marketing push for new customers. AOL will market the credit card...

Toon Disney plugs 'Ratz' launch on children's sites.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Cartoon channel Toon Disney is targeting kids' sites as part of a marketing campaign for the launch of its new animated series Ratz. The series, which launches next week, will be marketed on Web sites popular with children, including...

This is Money ads target Web users.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Personal finance portal This is Money is launching a six figure marketing push targeting Internet users who have not yet addressed their personal finance needs online. The London-focused cross-media campaign will encompass posters, online,...

US car rental sites get over 4.5m visitors in July.(Trends)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... More than 4.5m consumers logged onto US car rental Web sites in July, according to latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings. Hertz led the car rental brand sites, attracting more than 1.75m visits, a 3% increase on last year's figure of 1.71m....

WAP usage still on the up.(Trends)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The Mobile Data Association has announced that the number of WAP pages viewed on mobile phones in the UK has risen for the 11th consecutive month. The total number of pages viewed in the UK during July stood at 904m, a 15% increase on June's...

Data recovery busiest after the weekend, reports Kroll.(Trends)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Monday morning is the prime time for data loss, according to Kroll Ontrack. Over the last two months the company has seen a 15%-20% increase in calls to recover data on the first day of the week, Recurring causes are staff leaving on Friday...

Over a quarter of employees have had ideas stolen.(Trends)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The UK is facing a scourge of plagiarism, with new research revealing that over 25% of the workforce have had their ideas used without permission. Analytics firm SPSS surveyed over 150 employees in the UK and found that despite the high level...

Set-top boxes to halve in price as demand rockets.(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
September 4, 2003... The prices of digital TV receivers are set to plummet to less than 30 [pounds sterling] each by 2007, in the wake of the continuing rapid take Up of multi-channel television. According to the latest findings from Strategy Analytics, demand...

Direct marketers worried by overuse of spam SMS.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The direct marketing industry has warned that unsolicited SMS, which continues to rocket, is the greatest threat to its long-term future. The Preference Service, which is building a consumer preference database, polled over 500 direct...

Text messaging continues to rise.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Over 1.6bn text messages were sent across the four mobile GSM networks in July. The latest figures from the Mobile Data Association (MDA) show that texting continues to grow, with this year's figure a 300m message increase on last year....

Quarter of game players are adult women, finds survey.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The games industry is continuing to attract a more diverse audience, with latest figures from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) suggesting that more women are playing than ever before. The ESA found that women over the age of 18...

Retailers plump for online rather than high street.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Retailers would prefer to set up shop on the internet and are scared of starting a high street business, according to a new report by Software firm Actinic. The research found that 68% of retail entrepreneurs would prefer to sell online if...

Building homes to be smart from the start.(Analyst Speak)(Column)
September 4, 2003... The term 'smart home' emerged from within the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) around 25 years ago as one of many visions of how we would live in the future. Since that time, the concept of the smart home as an 'intelligent' dwelling...

Mobile marketers welcome move to set up freephone SMS numbers: The use of 0800 freephone numbers is an important part of brands' CRM programmes, so a mobile equivalent, allowing customers to text in for free, would be a useful addition. But as operators move to introduce a 'freetext' shortcode, some advise caution.(Analysis)
September 4, 2003... The next time you buy a chocolate bar, a can of deodorant or a tub of margarine, take a closer look at the packaging. On almost every FMCG product you'll find a freephone number urging you to call with your comments, complaints or questions....

Don't miss the masses in a bid to capture the early adopters.(Leader)(Editorial)
September 4, 2003... After a summer when all the focus in the industry has been on broadband, this week's deal between Dixons and AOL has suddenly thrust narrow band back into the spotlight (see News). The deal, which is reputed to have cost AOL up to 100m...

Keep it informed for ad effectiveness.(Letters To The Editor)
September 4, 2003... It's good to talk, so the maxim goes. But recent evidence suggests that many marketers are failing to discuss their critical needs with their IT departments. This needs to improve. With tighter budgets, even tighter deadlines and fewer...

Napster's resurrection lacks what made it great.(Dwyer on trends)(Column)
September 4, 2003... So Napster is being resurrected again. Or is it? Anyone who read the story put out by the service's new owners will probably conclude, as I did, that while the name lives on, everything it represented still rests in the grave with Napster 1.0....

Facing the challenges of online advertising.(Opinion)(Column)
September 4, 2003... The Internet industry has to do in five year what other media channels may have taken 30, 40 or even 50 to achieve. That's the challenge the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) faces on a daily basis. But this industry is in fine form for the...

Easing the pressure: in his quest to simplify people's lives, Ray Anderson of Bango is now focusing on offering convenience to both providers of mobile content and its users.
September 4, 2003... Ray Anderson wants to make your life easier. In fact, for most of his career he's been on a mission to make everyone's life easier from early pioneering work on bringing a user-friendly face to the techiest of Unix systems, to developing the...

Opera Telecom.(Moves)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... James McNab has joined Opera Telecom, provider of premium-rate mobile services, as marketing manager. He will be responsible for branding and promotion of the company's white-label products, and generating new global sales opportunities. He...

Brainstorm.(Moves)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Brainstorm, the mobile technology specialist, has appointed Michael Troxler (pictured) as content director and Andrew Sirs-Davies as business development manager. Troxler will develop MMS content services across multiple distribution channels,...

Transversal.(Moves)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Cambridge-based software company Transversal has appointed Gerard Buckley as CEO. He was previously MD of Pischler Electronica, and will focus on expanding the company.

Times Online.(Moves)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Times Newspapers' Times Online has recruited Gary Kakouili as digital display sales executive. He joins from Handbag.com, the women's lifestyle site, where he held the post of agency sales manager.

SmartTrust.(Moves)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... SmartTrust, provider of infrastructure solutions for mobile services, has appointed Brian Carr as VP of product development; A seasoned telecommunications specialist, Carr was formerly IT development director at Hutchison 3G and supported the...