by Peter Suciu on May 31, 2007
The man in purple has announced that his first new single, “Guitar” from the upcoming “Planet Earth” album, has arrived. Fans can get the single starting today when they use Verizon Wireless’ free new V CAST Song ID to identify the single. To get the track you’ll have to download the Song ID app to a V Cast Music-enable phones, then from your PC go to the Verizon Wireless music site where you play the interactive video and hold the phone to the speaker. This will identify the song, which you can then download for free. Yes, this sounds like a lot of work… but it’s music fit for a king, make that from Prince.
FreeRange Communications has just released FreeRanger WebReader; a new downloadable app that provides news, blogs, stock prices and other information for mobile consumption, and runs in the background, pulling down quick bites of information or full stories. Internet information is tracked and downloaded automatically for reading at a later time, so the content can be browsed even when there is no signal or if the device is in “wireless off” mode. WebReader is available for Blackberry, Symbian and a variety of J2ME phones. A free version will support up to 10 sites, while an advanced version offers unlimited Web feed capability for $39.95 per year.
Remember those “save a buck or two” commercials? With MOBIVOX you won’t just save a dollar, you can actually earn bucks too. The Mobile VoIP service, which works from just about any cellular phone, is running a viral promotion where users get $1 of MOBIVOX credit for each friend they get to sign up. OK, this might not be the same thing as a dollar in your pocket, but it will pay for some of the long distance calls you make. This VoIP service bypasses the PC, and works with almost any phone in usage today. The basic service is free, and international rates outside of the MOBIVOX community are what the company calls “competitive.” But if you earn free bucks, those calls won’t cost you anything either.
Are ads going to pay for mobile content? That’s the analysis coming from Red Orbit, which reports that the UK mobile network market has taken its first fully-fledged steps towards the ad-funded model. And other European carriers, such as Blyk, a pan-European network, will soon offer free mobile phone calls and text messaging services for free in return for accepting advertising on handsets. This business model is being aimed at the 16 to 24-year old market, one that has less disposable income for making calls, but one that still tends to gab it up considerably. According to Red Orbit, Blyk will work closely with advertisers to pioneer more creative ads, and further track these ads in real time to allow the advertisers to view and adjust their ads accordingly.
A new report from Visant Strategies finds that the market for legacy mobile switching vendors will remain strong, even as there is a move to I/P-based switching. The report suggests the continued deployment of CDMA EV-DO, WCDMA/HSDPA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE base stations will lead to a market for all mobile network components at an ever-increasing rate. Global softswitch sales could reach more than $6 billion in 2011, while IP-based and IMS-based gear could see revenues nearly double that amount in the same year. 
Who has the best mobile game load process? According to Strategy Analytics Wireless Media Lab the honor goes to Verizon Wireless, beating rivals AT&T/Cingular, Helio and Sprint. This new study found that Cingular — we mean AT&T – received the lowest rating in four categories including: ease of task completion, process logic, time take, and ease of task duplication. Hopefully with the name change AT&T can do better next time.
Sega of America has appointed former Electronic Arts veteran Linda Chaplin to lead the company’s mobile gaming expansion in North America reports GameDaily today. Sega is looking to “become a serious player” in the mobile arena in the West, as the company already has a large mobile gaming business in Japan and Korea. In the last year Sega’s console software business has shifted toward a greater focus on Western markets. Chaplin will serve as vice president of Sega Mobile, and oversee operations for North, Central and South America, including the management of operations that were previously directed by Sega of Japan. These include product development, sales and marketing of existing and future mobile content.
Smoking might not be the only reason for long bathroom breaks in the UK. Cellular News is reporting that many Brits are using their handsets in toilets to bypass office rules on Internet usage. The nationwide study by T-Mobile found that more than one quarter of the UK’s workforce is still deprived of Web access and are turning to the Internet on their mobile phone. The study also found that 23% of employees were subject to bans from social network sites and 11% were banned from using Web-based e-mail.
Japan’s two biggest mobile operators, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, have announced that they are working on an advanced quake warning system reports AFP. This system would notify customers of an earthquake before it even strikes. This system is expected to go into operation within a few months, and will pass on information from the Japanese meteorological agency. No word has been announced on which type of messaging will be used, but it has been suggested that e-mail could overwhelm the mobile networks. 
Cooperation is the buzzword of the day with the UK video game industry. Mobile Entertainment is reporting that a new era of cooperation in the mobile game sector is beginning as EA, Glu Mobile, Gameloft and I-play have agreed to release individual games simultaneously across all five UK operators. The deal came together thanks to the efforts of the industry trade body the ELSPA (Entertainment Leisure Software Publishers Association), and should resolve the ad hoc releases and exclusive deals. Four games including Glu Mobile’s Transformers, Gameloft’s Guitar Legend, EA Mobile’s FIFA 08 and a fourth unannounced title will be published simultaneously on the major carriers including 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone beginning in June.
Verizon Wireless will be one of the sponsors in the reality film-making competition, On the Lot, which is being produced by Fox Interactive Media. The carrier will be sponsoring a moviemaking challenge tied to the series, while also providing behind-the-scenes footage such as bios and outtakes. Verizon Wireless customers will further have the ability to take part in SMS voting during the reality series, which will be run by Telescope, the company that handles the American Idol voting. 
Need to get out of a terrible date? You can have your friend arrange that “rescue call,” or you could have a fake call with Moderati’s Mobile Faker (faux calls are $.99). On the other hand if you want to show off the Faker WAP site, which is accessible for free to Internet-equipped mobile phones, provides pickup and rejection lines, bar dares and other fun facts for a night on the town. The site will let you download photos of faux boyfriends/girlfriends, vacations and pets if you need to provide some props for your phone. 
Gemini Mobile has announced that it has raised an additional round of financing of $5 million from Japan’s ACCESS Co. Ltd., Aplix Corporation and Normura Securities. This round of financing follows the recent $20 million from Goldman Sachs, which was to underscore the continued support for Gemini’s wireless software. 
Third Screen Media has added Hovr to its mobile advertising network reports ClickZ News. The free mobile game publisher, which launched in February as a free ad-enabled mobile gaming network, should enhance the ad network’s efforts to attract the youth market. Until recently Hovr had been selling its own ad inventory, but under the partnership Third Screen Media will sell and manage the ads. Hovr is the first game provider to sell ads through Third Screen Media’s network, which is in the process of being acquired by AOL’s Advertising.com unit. 
Mobile accessories is where the money will come from, says a new report from ABI Research. This study reports that the market for mobile accessories will generate more than $32 billion in revenue in 2007, which is actually far greater than the $28 billion expected from the sale of smartphones! Around 77% of the revenues of accessories will come from the sale of “after-market” add-ons, and ABI Research further expects the market for mobile phone accessories to grow steadily in the next five years, with the potential to generate more than $80 billion in revenues in 2012. Who knew all those headsets and adapters added up to such sales?
Version 2.0 of Yeigo has just launched according to the South African developer. Yeigo is a new mobile app that uses a handset’s Internet connection to make calls and send SMS or other instant messages. Best of all many of these options are free, such as calls to other people using Yeigo. Calls to non-Yeigo users can be as much as 80% less as well. Yeigo will also lets users send free IM via GoogleTalk, MSN, Yahoo!, AIM, ICQ and Jabber. This service will work with domestic and international calls.
Lots of news this week from the Facebook front, including a post over at mocoNews that the social networking site has announced Facebook Platform. This app should allow third-party development of applications with Facebook, including Video. This will let users share personal videos between friends within the site, well also now allowing the creation and sending of video messages to and from the Facebook Inbox. This should mean that users can shot video on a mobile phone and upload it directly into the application, while previously users only post text messages from their handsets. 
French multimedia giant Vivendi could soon be launching a multimedia Web site for the third screen, reports Les Echos. The company has set up a new unit, Vivendi Mobile Entertainment with the goal of developing this new portal, which is being compared to Myspace or YouTube, and will offer music, video, film and game content from Vivendi and other partners. The service will be a paid site, and the story reports that it will likely launch in France this fall with a roll out to other European countries to follow. 
Need to check your calendar on the go? Well if you use Google Calendar you’ll be able to check on your events and maintain your schedule from your mobile handset via WAP. The good folks at the Google Calendar team have realized that more people have mobile phones than computers, and now you can visit 