SMS in the news!

I ran across a new use for SMS (text messaging) that you don't see every day.  Cellular News is reporting that Finland has found a new way to protect their isolated rest-stop toilets from vandalism, while still providing public access.  If you need to use the facilities, people just need to send the word "open" to a short code listed at the bathroom, and the door is unlocked remotely.  If the room is vandalized, a short-term record of the phone number that unlocked the door prior to the vandalism can help authorities track down the vandals.  A clever solution using our favorite mobile technology!

Posted by 4INFO Kirsten

February 02, 2008 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Mobile Search Set to Takeoff

Mma

The Mobile Marketing Association has released their findings to the first mobile search study, which essentially confirms that mobile search awareness and usage is about to skyrocket:

"Consumers want anytime, anywhere access to information, and mobile search fills that need perfectly," said Christine Loredo, co-chair of the MMA Mobile Search Committee and marketing director for AOL. "The fact that cell phone owners who weren't aware of mobile search immediately recognize its benefits and plan to use it shows that it has a clear, compelling value proposition."

The study has some very interesting insights into how mobile consumers welcome advertising and what services users want on their cell phones.  It's great feedback, and here at 4INFO, we are dedicated to providing our users with the most comprehensive and useful mobile search service. 

Mobile services are everywhere these days!  A couple of the local radio stations in my area even have their own short codes, so that listeners can text message the DJs.  It is rapidly growing, and we're very excited to be leading the way!

Read the entire press release here.

- Posted by 4INFO Carol

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August 07, 2006 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Business 2.0 Rings in on SMS in the US

From Paul Kedrosky's article on CNN Money.com, "Why we don't get the (text) message," he states:

"Some skeptics think the overseas ardor for SMS is a quirk, somehow tied to a foreign nuttiness for cell phones, but they're wrong. Instead, it's a leading indicator of what will happen in the United States. Rather than substituting for PC-based communication, as it does in poorer countries, mobile messaging Stateside will untether commerce, social networks, and other applications originally tied to PCs. When smart innovators translate services originated abroad to America's cell phones, we'll really get the message."

From communication to information, we're finding ways to stay in the know when we are on the go. We desire to have information and contacts at our fingertips. We are making our lives more efficient, so we can do more things in less time. We want to be able to make informed real-time decisions.

Read the full article on CNN Money.

- Posted by 4INFO Bob

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August 07, 2006 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

What's the 411?

In case you didn't get the memo, we may be on the cusp of a Directory Assistance reverse price war (aka, price gouge). A major US carrier has recently announced the following 411 fee increase from $1.50:

Effective August 11, 2006, <insert carrier name> 411 calls will be $1.79 per call, plus airtime charges if applicable. For your safety and convenience, take advantage of our call completion feature at no additional charge. <insert carrier name> 411 offers local and national numbers along with movie show times and driving directions.

$1.79!!! Are you kidding me?

Hey, here's a hint, use 4INFO for 411, movie times, sports scores, and... well, the list goes on and on... and let's say you aren't on a bulk or unlimited text plan, yet, and pay $.15/text message. You'd still cut this $1.79 in half, at least, by getting a couple of 411 text messages or through the process of choosing a theater to display their show times.

- Posted by 4INFO Bob

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August 04, 2006 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Is The Money In "The Long Tail?"

LongtailJust read a great article by David Hornik about how aggregators and filters will be the ones to make revenue from the economic Long Tail. In a nutshell, the Long Tail, represented here by the yellow portion of the graph— can cumulatively outnumber or outweigh the initial portion of the graph, such that in aggregate they comprise the majority. The difficulty is figuring out how to make money from the Long Tail.
[See Wikipedia Definition]

"Yet despite the fact that 'Long Tail' has become short hand, the economics of the Long Tail are, to my mind, still often misunderstood. I continue to hear funding pitches that talk about the Long Tail as a powerful enabler for content creators. Companies are presented to me premised upon the increased value of Long Tail content for musicians and artists and film makers. The fact that increasingly the likes of Amazon and iTunes make it possible for Long Tail authors or bands to sell a few books or records through legitimate, recognized channels is touted as the revolution of the artist. Far from it."

[Read the entire post at VentureBlog]

4INFO, as both an aggregator and filterer for mobile downloads, is in a position to gain from David's premise as we continue to add content to our catalog and enhance our mobile search quality.

- Posted by 4INFO Zaw

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December 15, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

MobHappy Comments on Transcoding

I agree with what Carlo has posted over at MobHappy in reference to transcoding of web sites to fit into WAP browsers. The point that 4INFO tries to make constantly is that mobile search is not web search. So, why should mobile search results be web page results, for that matter? The mobile user needs or wants info and doesn't want to peruse a web page to get that info. I'll get my news headlines on my phone and choose the article I want to read. (In fact, it hasn't yet been announced, but we've been testing the "news" indicator with our system. Try "news lakers" or "news u2" or "news iraq"). I'll get my sports scores by texting "ncaab" or "chiefs" and so on. I don't need to browse a transcoded news site or sports site for the information that I want. I'll still travel with books to take up my time in the airport (yes, books), I don't need transcoded sites to surf.

"Transcoding full HTML sites is great, but the mobile Internet isn't just about cramming the wired web into a mobile phone; it's about understanding the needs of mobile users and the types of things they want from the Internet."

Tell is like it is, Carlo! Read the ful post here.

Related Reading: 4INFO's Bond. James Bond & Focused Search

- Posted by 4INFO Bob

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December 07, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Does the Screw Gun Compete with the Screw Driver?

There was question in the mobile search blog universe last week that pondered whether local search competes with social navigation. Meaning, people are more likely to ask a friend or a local about where to find what they seek rather than use their mobile device. Russell Buckley, at MobHappy, posted this interesting article on the topic.

He says, "Actually, it's easier to phone someone on your mobile for this info, than use the phone itself to get it."

This is a generalization that I agree with, but circumstantially it is not always an option. It is easy to phone someone when:

  1. You have someone that you can bother for the information.
  2. You can get ahold of that person.
  3. The information is accessible.

There are so many different reasons, times, and places that I need info. Simply relying on social navigation does not round out my channels for finding what I want, when I want it.

I am at a wedding and need a sports score? Not gonna make a call!
I am in a unfamiliar town after a late flight and can't find my hotel? Who am I gonna call at such an hour?
I want to see a movie, but I am not sure which one? Why bother a friend and have them locate such a large volume of info as theaters, movies and show times?
I am on the verge of running late for a breakfast meeting at a restaurant and I can't find the locale? I called my peers and they don't answer? Now what?

See, it is my belief that social navigation and mobile search don't compete with one another, they complement one another. I have a remodeling job in progress in my master bath and simply having either a screw gun or a screw driver will not allow me to complete the job. I must have both in my tool belt to finish the task.

There are types of information that are more easily wrought from my phone, like movie times, sports scores, stock quotes, etc. As technology and mobile local search improve, there will be less wringing and more cha-chinging when it comes to getting directional info from your phone (See post, "Is Mobile Search Local?"). There are also times when the social navigation channel breaks down. During those times, it is great to have an alternative group of tools.

So, to all my friends, as much as I may love you, I promise to someday stop bothering you with verbal queries because 4INFO will make the world a more efficient place. Instead, we can spend our valuable free time getting caught up and planning happy hour. What do ya say?

- Posted by 4INFO Bob

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November 28, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Is Mobile Search "Local" or "Need To Know Now?"

Russell Buckley, on the MobHappy.com Blog, has a statement to make...

"I think mobile search will be driven by another variable altogether and that's N2KN - or the Need to Know Now factor."

Well, at 4INFO, we agree with his statement that Mobile Search is more about N2KN than location. At 4INFO, 73% of our queries are not "location" based. Our categories include sports (scores & stats), directory, movie times, weather, stock quotes, entertainment (drinks, shot horoscope, pickup lines, jokes), flight times, and miscellaneous other services.

Of all the search categories that we provide, Directory and Hotspots have that "must find a location" attribute, while the rest do not. Many of them definitely have a local component, but it is not a directional component. And, as you can see, trying to find a location accounts for barely more than a quarter of our total queries. To me, this speaks loudly that mobile search is much more than trying to find a location.

In fact, Mr. Buckley presents us with a simple chart to explain his hypothesis:

N2kn_2As this graph shows, the upper right quadrant is the true home of mobile search. As an example, this could be "find my nearest" local search, but bear in mind my point that most people don't need these things most of the time. But it could as easily be nothing to do with the local environment at all.

The left hand upper quadrant shows where computer (or non-digital) search will remain strong. You're still motivated to find the answer, but it can wait until you get back to your computer. Whereas the lower two quadrants will probably result in you forgetting to do anything about searching at all, as it's just not important enough.

Read the entire article here.

- Posted by 4INFO Bob

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November 23, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Search Engine Activity Catching Up To Email Use

Some interesting statistics about search usage compared to email as the top online activity... [via PewInternet.org]

Search engines have become an increasingly important part of the online experience of American internet users. The most recent findings from Pew Internet & American Life tracking surveys and consumer behavior trends from the comScore Media Metrix consumer panel show that about 60 million American adults are using search engines on a typical day.

These results from September 2005 represent a sharp increase from mid-2004. Pew Internet Project data from June 2004 show that use of search engines on a typical day has risen from 30% to 41% of the internet-using population, which itself has grown in the past year. This means that the number of those using search engines on an average day jumped from roughly 38 million in June 2004 to about 59 million in September 2005 – an increase of about 55%. comScore data, which are derived from a different methodology, show that from September 2004 to September 2005 the average daily use of search engines jumped from 49.3 million users to 60.7 million users – an increase of 23%.

This means that the use of search engines is edging up on email as a primary internet activity on any given day. The Pew Internet Project data show that on a typical day, email use is still the top internet activity. On any given day, about 52% of American internet users are sending and receiving email, up from 45% in June of 2004.

View the PDF.

This may bode well for the mobile search space, as well... since our business is to bring search results to you wherever you may be.

- Posted by 4INFO Zaw

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November 23, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

1 TRILLION Messages!!!

It's quite amazing when you think about it... a service, SMS, that just got going in the late 1990's is predicted to accumulate 1 trillion total messages sent during the year of 2005. [per 160characters]

Since the first commercial SMS services started gaining ground in the late 1990’s, the texting phenomenon has grown to epic proportions and in 2005 it looks certain that we will see global SMS volumes exceeding 1000 billion messages. In a similar timeframe, in the wireline world, person-to-person email has grown from a standing start to traffic levels which The Radicati Group expect to reach a staggering 16,000 billion email messages transported worldwide this year (not counting spam).

Why SMS?
SMS is a very simple tool for passing on a piece of information - “I’ll be late home”, "Meeting delayed 10 minutes", “Can you pick the kids up from school”, “Meet me in the coffee shop in 20 minutes”, etc. This basic communication activity was always served by voice before, but SMS has shown the world an even quicker, cheaper and easier way of communicating these short ‘info bites’ and hence SMS has enjoyed widespread acceptance for it. This usefulness has built the success of SMS, the value proposition of SMS to the end user is hard to beat – in fact there has never been a quicker or cheaper way for two people in different places to communicate with one another easily, discreetly and almost instantly.

4INFO says, just keep on textin.'

- Posted by 4INFO Zaw

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October 28, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Malcontent of the Term “Mobile Content”

The following article discusses how to better convert a web user to a mobile user and the challenges that lie within.

We all know the immutable laws of web site conversion can be summarized as follows:

1.    You have less than eight seconds to capture a web page visitor
2.    Once captured, the next click must be obvious
3.    Once clicking, minimize the steps needed to complete the desired action

The difficulty lies in maximizing information in a minimized process. You must be able to present what the majority need to see to complete your desired action. There will always be those who seek more information and tangents can be provided for them. Now, add another dimension to the “desired action” by making that action something that you wish for them to do offline. That, my friends, is largely the challenge that we have at 4INFO. Not to take anything away from our web search service, because it does try to do something that the other engines do not by actually giving you an answer and not pointing you to one elsewhere (see 4INFO Blog: 4INFO's Bond. James Bond & Focused Search). But, getting a user to make the leap from, “I can get all of this info from my computer,” to, “I have access to all this info when I am NOT in front of my computer,” can be challenging. Especially, when dealing with an industry that hasn’t quite settled on what to call the segments within it. Mobile search's popularity is increasing every day, yet there is still an opportunity to sanity check the terms we use to describe the industry.

There are four terms that we use on a regular basis in the world of 4INFO mobile. These are, Mobile Content, Mobile Download, Mobile Information, and Mobile Search.

Before we get into how these terms apply in the mobile sense, let’s first look at what they mean in a general (and very simplified) sense:

Content
Something contained. The proportion of a specified substance present in something else.

Download
To transfer a file or program from a one computer to another computer.

Information
Knowledge derived from study, experience, or instruction. Knowledge of specific events or situations that has been gathered or received by communication

Search
To make a thorough examination of; look over carefully in order to find something; explore.

Now that we have these definitions in front of us, let’s look at the industry’s current definition of Mobile Content. [per Wikipedia]

Mobile content is any type of media formatted for mobile phones, like ringtones, graphics, games and movies. The use of mobile content has grown dramatically. Ringtones, for instance, are currently (2005) the most widely used mobile media forms. A mobile game is a piece of content that is installed on mobile phones so that the user can play the video game right no their mobile handset. A wallpaper is simply a graphic that is formatted to fit the screen of hand held devices, mainly cell phones.

At 4INFO, we define the remaining terms as follows:

A mobile download is a piece of content (ringtone, wallpaper, game, audio, video, etc.) that is transferred from a host location to a mobile device.

Mobile information is comprised of the categories of services that we provide via our suite of search channels, such as local directory, sports scores, fantasy stats, weather, flight schedules, movie times, and stock quote searches, to name a few. These impart knowledge through communication with our servers.

Therefore, mobile search is the process of locating mobile downloads and mobile information via a mobile device.

So, where does this term “mobile content” come into play? I believe that you can shorten the above statement to read, “Mobile search is the process of locating mobile content via a mobile device.” For this case, the definition of “mobile content” must add “mobile information” to its list of attributes.

But, that is not what I would do.

What does the consumer think? I took a quick poll of 10 non-mobile search types, where I simply asked them to define the four phrases that we’ve been discussing. I realize this technique will not go down in the annals of mobile research, but if there is one thing to take from it – every single person defined a “mobile download” the same way, while fewer than half stated a definition of “mobile content” similar to that in Wikipedia.

I am not content with the term Mobile Content. Let’s get rid of it.

I have been dealing with these terms over the past several months as we have been redesigning the 4INFO web site in an effort to address these types of issues. It didn’t occur to me to write this post until I read a statement by the Pondering Primate earlier this week where he said, “Every time we hear the phrase ‘mobile search’ let’s replace it with ‘mobile info.’”

At first, I whole-heartedly agreed with him. Then, I turned around to resume testing 4INFO’s new Mobile Downloads Search service and realized that “mobile search” is more than just locating “mobile information.” It is also the location of “mobile downloads” now that 4INFO has this service in beta.

Mobile search is the process of locating mobile downloads and mobile information via a mobile device.

That’s my stake in the ground and I am here to defend it.

- Posted by 4INFO Bob

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October 27, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

SMS Storyboard

Stefhan Caddick's "Storyboard" will provide an opportunity for members of the public to post messages to a mobile Variable Message Sign using a mobile phone. The sign is located in the UK’s Hayes Island and from 10 AM to 11 PM on October 28th, 29th, and 30th, anyone in the world can send an SMS.

To post a message send a text to: 07929 461727. Messages are limited to 144 characters in length.

295The intention for the project is to encourage members of the public to find a new use for these signs, which usually carry mundane but important traffic and road safety information. Instead the Variable Message Sign will carry text messages, which by their nature are often deeply personal.

Stefhan Caddick is a visual artist based in Wales. His work is often multidisciplinary, encompassing visual art, new media and elements of performance."

[via textually]

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October 27, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Mobile Messaging Continues to Grow In the U.S.

Mobile messaging grew 106% in 2004 and will account for 10% of total mobile services revenue by 2008.

Mobile messaging revenue in the USA increased by 106% in 2004 and is expected to continue to grow strongly over the next five years from its current low base, according to a new report, The US Mobile Market: trends and forecasts 2005-2010, published by Analysys, the global advisers on telecoms, IT and media.

What's the reason for the change? We think that it is manyfold:

1. U.S. operators are now addressing the factors that have stifled usage of messaging services.
2. U.S. operators have introduced large bundles of various types of messaging services.
3. Several ubiquitous and niche services are entering the market to provide easy access information and downloads to the consumer.

You know, like 4INFO!

4INFO’s suite of Mobile Search services easily replace the traditional means to locating information while on the go by allowing you to text query business listings instead of using the costly 411 (“starbucks 94303”). You can also get sports scores (“colts”), fantasy sports stats (“priest holmes”), weather (“w 92111”), flight information (“swa san jose san diego”), movie times (“movies 10001’), horoscopes (“libra”), and more. Simply send your query to 44636 in text or access wap.4INFO.net on your cell phone.

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October 27, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Late for Dinner? The SMS Savior...

Some very nice information has been gathered about usage and importance of certain SMS features, with a very interesting weight on SMS being used for reminders. Here at 4INFO, we feel that we may have skewed the averages on these results, since SMS is 100% of our working lives. :-) [via 160characters.org]

A survey undertaken by text-messaging company, KAPOW!, concluded that nearly two-thirds of people have been helped by text messaging to remember a meeting, work commitment or other appointment such as those with dentists, etc. This has helped many mobile-phone users avoid the inconvenience and embarrassment of forgetting where they should be, whilst many organisations are saving money through avoiding the constant rearrangement of appointments and other missed commitments.

The majority of respondents (87 per cent) did think that SMS will become a much bigger part of our working and domestic lives over the coming years.  Respondents thought that useful services for text messaging included the confirmation of appointments (28 per cent), travel information (19 per cent), bank account balances (18 per cent) and football scores (14 per cent).  Whilst many of these services are already available from some companies it is clear that many more could be delivering information services via SMS.

Read the complete article here.

- Posted by 4INFO Bob


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October 19, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Real-time Production of Humor

From the Pondering Primate's great trove of mobile advancements in the world, I dearly love this one... now, we can take the seat of the radio studio producer with their enormous stash of sound effects and insert them real-time into our phone conversations. Think of the next conference call from your Treo (claps and boo's)? Think of the next time that you have to fib your way out of something that you don't want to do at work by saying that you had to take the kids to the amusement park (roller coaster sound effect)...

"Word of mouth mobile marketing takes on a new meaning with the "Yella" campaign from 12Snap and Adidas.

A completely new software for mobile phones was developed, with which the customer can guide a virtual football crowd while on a phone call. Once the software is downloaded to the phone by sending 1 simple SMS message, then with a touch of one of the phone buttons during the call, he could let them applaud, scream “boo!”, sing etc..

Didn´t you always want to let ten thousands boo out a friend if she doesn´t want to go out with you? . The sound crowd was integrated so smoothly into the call that the recipient could tell the difference. That´s real “talk-about value.

Think of the other background noises or individualized recordings that you could create mobile marketing campaigns around. A sultry voice saying your name, a stranger giving you a compliment, a celebrity asking if that's you."

- Posted by 4INFO Bob

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October 18, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Phone Jolt

You can definitely form your own opinion about this one [via NewScientist.com]...

How many times have you missed a call when the phone is on "silent" and it is too loose in a pocket to feel it vibrate?

It must be a recurring problem for engineers at Toshiba in Tokyo, Japan, as they have come up with a way to make the vibrations more noticeable.

Their flip-open phone has a sensor pin to detect how tightly closed it is. From this the sensors can tell, for example, if the phone has been popped into a loose pocket or tucked into a tight one close to the owner’s body.

When a call or message comes in, the sensor checks the pressure and adjusts the vibration strength accordingly. High pressure, meaning a tight fit, will result in just a gentle shake. But a loose fit will result in an almighty judder, hopefully enough to grab the user's attention.

Almost as interesting as 4INFO's post on the cell phone that really, really knows you!

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October 14, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

A Phone for Every Gait

Article taken from Reuters...

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish scientists have invented a device to make it harder to steal mobile phones and laptops by enabling them to detect changes in their owner's walking style and then freeze to prevent unauthorised use.

The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland said the device, which is has patented but has yet to sell, could prevent millions of portable appliances being stolen every year.

"A device is equipped with sensors that measure certain characteristics of the user's gait. When the device is used for the first time, these measurements are saved in its memory," VTT said in a statement.

The gadget would monitor the user's walking style and check it against the saved information. If the values differ, the user would have to enter a password.

"Compared with passwords and traditional bio-identification, the new method is simple: confirmation of identity takes place as a background process without any need for user's intervention," the researchers said.

Whoa Nelly! What happens when I have a limp from playing too much soccer? What happens when I'm in a hurry and my gait is a trot? What happens when someone has broken a leg in a car accident? What happens when I'm carrying a large box that alters my walk? NO PHONE FOR YOU!

Ah well, as long as y'all are using 4INFO, then I guess we'll be happy.

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October 14, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Challenge of Translation

There are a couple of good articles written in the last few days from journalists that covered the Mobile Entertainment (MES) and CTIA conferences in SF earlier this week. They hit the nail on the head about Mobile Search being:

- In its infancy. When you think that a very, very small percentage of total mobile device users in the U.S. are using Mobile Search, you draw the conclusion that either the service isn't that great, or knowledge about the service isn't widespread. We, of course, believe the latter to be true and it seems to hold up when we promote our wares to new audiences.

- Translation, minus a demonstration, can be challenging. Think about it for a second. If you learn about Mobile Search from your computer, your first thought is likely, "Well, I can just get that from my computer!" Many eventually set out and experience epiphany... stuck in traffic and want to know the Monday Night Football score now... trying to make it home for first pitch of the MLB playoffs and running late... lost and trying to find that new restaurant in town... these answers can be found from your cell phone with a quick text message to 44636.

In our experience, when we give demos one-to-one, we acquire a user practically every time. When we promote in offline formats, such as the newspaper or print collateral, the call to action is easier to understand from a user's perspective and the answer isn't readily available unless they pick up their phone and try it. We still see success from the Web, but the chasm is a bit larger to leap compared to personal or offline messaging.

What is amazing about a personal demo is the "AHA!" look that you get when someone realizes that this is a service that is useful to them on a daily basis. "AHA!" is buzzworthy and that is a good thing for Mobile Search and 4INFO 'cause word-of-mouth is a huge part of marketing.

Gary Price at Search Engine Watch recently posted an article about the Mobile Search market and adoption, which was a response to an article written by Ben Charny of eWeek. Check 'em out.

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September 30, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

When Your Phone Grows Up

PC World wrote an article entitled "Use Your Cell Phone Instead of Your Credit Card" which plays off the Coke & Ringtones post that we made here yesterday. We just figured that we'd continue that thought, link to the PC World article and to The Pondering Primate's criticism of the way current companies are attempting to make the cell phone wallet a reality.

Enjoy and keep using 4INFO!

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September 20, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Have a Coke and a Smile (scratch that)... Ringtone!

Ok, for those that haven't seen it, there is a commercial where a football team drafts a vending machine and it becomes their star player. Yes, it is GOOD stuff. Remember the days when ATMs were going to sell you concert tickets? And, your mobile phone was going to have access to sports scores... oh wait, we do that at 4INFO! Well, check this out...

(a la Wayne's World)
dibbly-dee-doo
dibble-dee-doo

From electricnews.net...

Ireland will be the first European market to see a new generation of coke-vending machines, which will also sell mobile phone top-ups, ringtones and music.

UK-based Inspired Broadcast Networks has signed a deal with Coca-Cola to distribute digital content from its soft drink vending machines. The vending machines will be linked to Inspired's online content management system using DSL broadband connections.

Read the full article by clicking here.

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September 19, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Branded Mobile Content & Rich Media

4INFO recommends reading an article by Julian Smith at Clickz...

In the U.S., mobile marketing is nascent. Activities such as the BMW 3 series promotion are largely experimental. Here in Europe, however, the practice is increasingly widespread and sophisticated.

The mobile channel's growing adoption among European marketers has been driven by a number of factors. Deep penetration of the consumer marketplace, verging on ubiquity, means mobile now offers great reach, whatever the target audience's demographic profile. By the end of 2004, 77 percent of Europeans subscribed to a mobile telephony service.

Marketers have a simple and effective messaging platform with which to communicate to their audience, albeit within 160 characters of black and white text via SMS (define). It offers ease, speed, and comparatively inexpensive way to send and receive non-voice communications...

Read more at:
http://www.clickz.com/features/insight/article.php/3532366

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September 08, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

U.S. Ready for Text Messaging

Interesting article on the future of mobile marketing by the InternetWeek Mobile Pipeline Staff...

U.S. Ready For Marketing Via Text Messages
Marketing via text messages, already widely done in some areas of the world, provides a big opportunity for companies in the U.S., according to a white paper released Monday by a technology vendor.

"Wireless technologies offer all companies a very attractive medium for anyone looking to broadcast a message," Andrew Henderson, director of wireless solutions for Capita, the technology service provider that issued the white paper, said in a statement.

"For the first time, it's possible to send content directly to an individual audience member -- and to do so at costs significantly less expensive than more traditional media. As markets become saturated with handset users, the value proposition becomes more compelling each day."

Henderson noted that the U.S. lags behind other markets in this area, but that it is catching up, despite anti-spam legislation. However, Henderson cautioned that the marketing efforts must be deftly handled.
"If used properly, an audience will view wireless content as value-added rather than as advertisements," Henderson said. "For example, a movie studio that sends discounts for a film along with a schedule of viewing times to a phone base may be viewed as providing a service. This form of marketing has implications across a variety of industries including fast food, packaged goods, services, entertainment, and retail, among others."

http://www.internetweek.com/news/168601829

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September 07, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

8/19 Mobile Industry News

Recent articles or bits of news...

Ringtone Downloading Jumps Fourfold In Past Year
New York, NY — Amid growing consumer interest in PC-based music downloading and the expanding availability of mobile entertainment options, new research from global marketing research firm Ipsos-Insight shows that an increasing proportion of Americans are using their mobile phones to download ringtones and are beginning to sample other mobile entertainment content. One quarter of mobile phone owners have downloaded ringtones -- fourfold increase in the past 12 months...
(Source: Ipsos News Center)

Mobile Content Growing, Expected to Soar
Faster carrier networks, flashier handsets and consumer interest are just three of the factors contributing to the growth in mobile content. Games, music, news headlines and driving directions are common examples of the mobile content consumers are accessing via their wireless devices. As carriers continue to upgrade their wireless networks and manufacturers continue to offer devices with more functionality, consumers can expect more start-up companies offering a wide-variety of mobile content. While the use of mobile content is currently greater in Asia and Europe, the U.S. market is growing rapidly with analysts expecting sales of mobile data to reach $8.4 billion in 2006.
(Source: The Wall Street Journal)

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August 14, 2005 in Mobile Search Industry News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)