Wireless Business Forecast articles from June 2006

Wireless Business Forecast archives from June 2006

Wireless Satisfaction: Is The Glass Half Empty Or Half Full?
June 1, 2006... Harris Interactive Technology's latest consumer temperature check of consumer attitudes toward wireless shows a half-empty glass that is starting to fill. After years of attracting user scorn, overpricing, coverage and complexity, "wireless...

Free Or Fee: Mobile Music Looks For The Right Key.
June 1, 2006... In a sure sign that just about anything is possible in this still-nascent stage of mobile-media evolution, two diametrically opposed views of mobile music's future emerged last week. One, following the industry line to its logical extreme,...

Discovery Report Card: Deck Cage Match Round 4 -- Amp'd Mobile.
June 1, 2006... Phone Used: Kyocera KX18 on Amp'd Live network This exclusive Wireless Business Forecast series offers an initial critical analysis of the competing carrier decks, their suitability for discovering content, and the ways in which they do and...

Advertising Takes A Virgin Cruise.(Virgin Mobile Telecoms Ltd. offers additional airtime to users interacting with advertisers)
June 1, 2006... Virgin Mobile becomes the first major U.S. carrier to trade ads for airtime. The prepaid brand everyone loves to point to as the model of the major modern MVNO, Virgin gives phone minutes to users who interact with select marketers. If you...

Mobile TV Gets Its Nielsens.(statistics of Mobile TV subscribers )
June 1, 2006... Mobile TV subscribers in the United States have cracked the 2 million mark (about 1.4 percent of wireless customers), says mobile metrics firm Telephia. The average user of the platform spends $40 a month more on wireless services than do...

Amp-As-You-Go.(mobile virtual network operator Amp'd launches advertisement)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Well-financed MVNO Amp'd is advertising a pay-as-you go model that was slated to launch May 31. The Web site claims users will be able to access over- the-air video downloads and songs, and there will be an on-screen realtime account balance...

Mobile And Media: A Marriage Made In Hell?
June 1, 2006... Media companies and mobile operators are on an inevitable collision course, where both entities will try to own the consumer and the lion's share of the mobile-content industry, says Informa Telecoms and Media. The research firm believes...

The Fast Lane Speeds Up.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... As we reported in this e-letter two issues ago, Versaly's "Fast Lane" channel will be the first free, fully ad-supported mobile-TV product from major carriers when it launches soon on Sprint. A dedicated site is now up at...

Fly The Friendly Boingo.(Boingo Wireless to acquire Concourse Communications Group)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... One of the highest-profile brands in the Wi-Fi hot-spot business, Boingo, will buy another one of the highest-profile Wi-Fi providers for major airports, Concourse Communications Group. This puts Boingo into 100 of the leading airports in...

NEW! Plugging In: Wireless News From Around The Web.
June 1, 2006... This issue marks the debut of new feature from Wireless Business Forecast that pulls together links to the must-see stories of the last two weeks. We want to point you the reader to the news you need to know, the best writing and thinking...

Year One: Is Mobile Marketing Out of the Gate?
June 15, 2006... At last week's Mobile Marketing Forum in New York City, Tom Burgess, CEO of Third Screen Media, declared 2006 "Year One" in the life of mobile marketing. After a year of testing in 2005, brands are starting to commit serious money and...

Content By The Numbers: Sizing Up Data And Its Consumers.
June 15, 2006... Consumer pickup of data services continues to grow by double-digits in the United States this year, but that is coming off of such a small initial base that it remains too early to tell whether this will be quite the market some expect. ...

Getting The Signal: Mobile TV From the Back End.
June 15, 2006... If mobile antenna orders are any indication, a flood of video-enabled handsets could set the stage for a major push of mobile TV services into a broad installed base by early 2008. "We see heavy uptake in Korea and China, and handsets for...

April Figures: Mobile Content Consumption Dips.
June 15, 2006... Following recent flattening in content sales, at least according to M:Metrics' survey-based data on mobile usage, April numbers actually suggest slippage in major categories. Content Sales Benchmark Survey (April 2006) ...

Mobile Video Still Doesn't Stack Up.
June 15, 2006... When asked about their anticipated level of engagement with emerging video-playback formats, Americans remain unconvinced they will be using mobile video anytime soon. While 16 percent anticipate they will be more engaged with sports and...

Hollywood's Uneven Wireless Strategy.(Brief article)
June 15, 2006... Hollywood studios and TV studios remain divided about the value proposition of mobile, reports Rutberg analyst Rajeev Chand in a new investor's note. After speaking with executives at the major media companies, Chand finds divided options...

And the Ad-Supported Apps Rush In.
June 15, 2006... A week after Cingular's content chief Jim Ryan warned the industry against simply trading free content for ad exposure, that very same model seems to be falling into place. Versaly Entertainment's free TV channel on Sprint, called "Fast...

Plugging In: Wireless News From Around the Web.
June 15, 2006... >>Is .mobi Necessary? Advertising Age weighs in with marketer response to the launch of WAP- enabled sites using the .mobi extension. Despite the hype and widespread support, many brands and Webverts are not convinced this is needed. ...

Missing The 'Mark'-et: Carriers Leave Off-Portal Dollars On The Table.
June 29, 2006... Even as many carriers open up their billing-and-content distribution systems to third-party and off-portal distribution, the major operators are squandering their own good reputations among customers with poor and underperforming content...

Plugging In: Wireless News From Around The Web.
June 29, 2006... Helio's Korean Influences GameDaily has a revealing look at some of upcoming MVNO Helios' plans for gaming and other mobile content. Apparently, the partnership between SK Telecom and EarthLink is taking its Korean lessons serious,...

Comedy Time: Making The Mobisode Economy Work.(Versaly Entertainment to launch an ad-supported channel 'Fast Lane' for mobile users)
June 29, 2006... Unless you're Fox or CBS and able to cut sweetheart deals with the major carriers, the numbers may not add up for mobile video. As Versaly Entertainment discovered with its "Hollywood Insider" channel on Sprint, getting a few thousand paid...

The Empire Strikes Back: Microsoft Unveils Its Mobile Strategy.(Microsoft Corp.)
June 29, 2006... The pieces are finally starting to fall together in Microsoft's grand strategy to overtake the mobile world. Its newly announced communications suite leverages the MS Office monopoly on everyday work tasks into every imaginable platform. ...

Mobile Games 1Q: It's All Strategy Now.
June 29, 2006... Puzzle and strategy titles dominated the best-seller list of mobile games in 1Q06, according to Telephia. Games like "Tetris"/"Tetris Deluxe" and "Bejeweled" accounted for about one-third of all dollars spent on mobile gaming in the...

Tag! P&G (Sorta) Gets It.(Proctor & Gamble Co.)(short-code mobile messaging campaign )
June 29, 2006... The largest media spender in the known universe took a big step into mobile this week, but it might try testing out its programs a bit more thoroughly first. Consumer packaged-goods manufacturer Proctor & Gamble is initiating a major...

Company To Watch: From Walking To Running On The 'MobileSidewalk'.(New Motion Inc.)(Company overview)
June 29, 2006... Can off-portal content providers really make a go of it in the United States? MobileSidewalk seems to be a good example of how low-cost subscription SMS programs, deft online marketing and selective licensing can move the needle into the...

Mini Media: Frequency And Brevity.(ad format for wireless devices)
June 29, 2006... If mobile operators and carriers are looking for the right ad format for wireless devices, they need go no farther than The Onion Radio News, where one- minute bursts of daily audio parody end with a five-second ad burp from sponsors like...

EA Goes Off The Reservation?(Electronic Arts Inc.)(plans to distribute games to cellphones off of the deck)(Brief article)
June 29, 2006... In a flurry of reports, denials and then non-denial-denials this week, Electronic Arts clumsily announced that it planned to distribute games to cellphones off of the deck. This apparently will be done in part through a desktop application...

Avast! Verizon Follows 'Pirates' Out Of The 'Port'-al.
June 29, 2006... Verizon's upcoming plans to allow more off-portal content distribution gets a practice run with its new promotion for Disney's sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean." Verizon customers can sign up for wallpapers and tones that get pushed to...