Wireless Business Forecast articles from May 2006

Wireless Business Forecast archives from May 2006

And The Fee Walls Come Tumbling Down: Free Mobile TV Coming To Sprint.
May 4, 2006... Keeping with the theme of ad-supported mobile content in this issue (see our exclusive interview with Xero Mobile executives) comes word from brand- management firm Versaly Entertainment that the first free, fully ad-supported mobile TV...

Executive Q&A: Xero Lifts Its Skirts Just A Little (Part One).(Peter Lilley being interviewed)(Interview)
May 4, 2006... The months of rumors are over as the novel ad-subsidized mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Xero Mobile decides to go public in this extensive and exclusive interview with Wireless Business Forecast. CEO Peter Lilley and Director of...

Amp'd Ramps The ARPU, But Can Others Make The Grade?(average revenue per user )
May 4, 2006... Will they or won't they pay? That is the question. Is mobile content compelling and important enough for consumers to ramp up the ARPU as carriers envision? If the early returns from high-profile, well-funded mobile virtual network operator...

Third Screen's MADX/Agency Manages WAP Campaigns.
May 4, 2006... Mobile advertising network Third Screen Media launched the second of its three-part suite of tools for serving ads dynamically to mobile Web pages. MADX|Agency lets ad agencies link to the network of available WAP inventory, research...

OpenWave Hangs Ten.
May 4, 2006... Recent earnings reports from mobile browser and applications supplier OpenWave painted a rosy picture of the health of the mobile content industry or at least the commitment of the carriers to making it work. This major supplier to...

Who Wants Mobile TV Anyway?
May 4, 2006... More sobering news on the consumer uptake of mobile TV comes from NPD Group, which found that while 28 percent of cellphone owners report having a video-capable phone, only 1 percent actually uses it to watch video. Only 12 percent of the...

March Goes Mush: Mobile Content Usage Dips.
May 4, 2006... Mobile content access and downloads declined across almost every category in March, according to M:Metrics' monthly benchmark survey of 35,000 cellphone customers. Activity: Sent Text Message Subscribers (000s): 64,834 Percentage...

Deal Sheet 05/04/06.(Thumbplay Inc. signs distribution agreement with Universal Music Group)(Vocel deals with Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.)(FunMail Inc. acquires Zapptrio)
May 4, 2006... Who's Doing What With Whom? Thumbplay Inc., headquartered in New York City; are.traasdahl@thumbplay.com Forms a D2C content distribution agreement with Universal Music Group [V], headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif.; 310/865-5000...

Company To Watch: AirPlay Stays Tuned To The Power Of Living-Room TV.
May 18, 2006... Why should mobile content providers try to reinvent a video medium or squeeze a full-screen experience onto a palm-sized screen? All you really need to do is leverage the most popular medium even invented. "TV is still unparalleled in its...

What Game Is This, Anyway?
May 18, 2006... Last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) brought with it the inevitable announcements, promises, forecasts and pulse-taking for the mobile games market. Like TV, music, film, and print, gaming is suffering some consumer ennui and...

Fifteen Cents a Head: Xero Mobile's Ad Pitch (Part Two).(Peter Lilley, Mika Astrom)(Interview)
May 18, 2006... In Part One of our exclusive interview with Xero Mobile's CEO Peter Lilley and its Director of Marketing Mika Astrom (WBF, May 7), we explored how the upcoming mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) would appeal to college students with...

Microsoft Anywhere...Everywhere...Nowhere?
May 18, 2006... Gaming has becomes such an integral part of the computer and consumer electronics economy that the E3 game industry convention attracted Bill Gates to pitch his company's Xbox 360. But the big news for mobile that came out of Gates'...

In-Event Mobile Gets Real.
May 18, 2006... Wireless Business Forecast is hearing more and more anecdotal evidence that interacting with consumers on mobile during live events is moving in fascinating ways. Finally, a few numbers make the tales a bit more real. Tyson Foods is...

'Pre-N' Is A Preemie.
May 18, 2006... The IEEE working group assigned to hammer out a final spec for the MIMO- powered 802.11n protocol failed to move the current draft of a standard on to the next stage. This comes after all of the major home-router manufacturers already...

Cracking The Short Code.
May 18, 2006... Short coding only seems ubiquitous, but as LocaModa CEO Stephen Randall points out (see related story in this issue) texting is not a majority activity. The best-case scenario caps your potential text-response at about 30 percent of most...

Deal Sheet 05/18/06.
May 18, 2006... Who's Doing What With Whom? Engage In-Game Advertising, headquartered in San Francisco; 800/821-7019 Forms a strategic partnership with Greystripe, headquartered in San Francisco; 415/651-2650 >>What To Expect Short-Term ...