If I Was A Service Provider

The first thing I would accept is that voice is a commodity and soon will be given away for free.

Next, I find an application that allows me to generate revenues that both my subscribers AND advertisers could utilize.

Mobile service providers have to realize that they have an enormous untapped database that the Googles can’t touch, yet. Use that to your advantage while you still can.

Did you know there are over 3B unique web portals out there that can’t be accessed by the Explorer, Navigator, Firefox etc?

Sprint, Verizon etc have the unique ability to link 3B plus portals and generate revenues to do this.

If you told Google they could provide 3B plus sites in their database and sell advertising on them, would they find a way to tap into them?

These unique portals can:

Download a song from any CD
Register for a rebate
List allergic contents
Buy concert tickets
Put an item up on eBay
Provide bus schedule
Connect a call with a service rep

These portals will be open soon, but will the service providers be smart enough to offer it? This represents an incredible opportunity, but will they be too late?

The fear service providers should have, is a company introducing a platform that allows these portals to be accessed, while using my network. Not only am I not generating any revenues from this data application, but my backbone is being used for this. The SP provides the highway, but never collects a toll.

That’s not even the biggest problem. Once a consumer accesses these portals, a direct connection is made with a brand/advertiser, and the service provider doesn’t stand a chance at tapping into mobile marketing dollars.

There are 3 ways a SP can generate revenues from this application. Will they see it?

Here’s what I see. The closer we get to a 3rd party introducing this application on a grand scale, the service providers make a mad dash to introduce it on all of their Web enabled phones.

So service providers listen up. It’s time to put away the small- minded ringtone mentality and think big. Because if you don’t act soon, somebody else will.

In case you haven’t figured out how to get access to those portals, every packaged good has a hyperlink, you just need a camera phone.

2D Tickets And Coupons Come To Mobile Phones

Mobile marketing using a physical world hyperlink.

Twelve Horses and Mobile Technology Group join forces to deliver 2D tickets and coupons to mobile phones.

Delivering mobile tickets and coupons promises countless scenarios of transitioning electronic commerce and promotional relationships dependent on the desktop, laptop and landline to the mobile phone.

2D Barcodes are the Ticket to Mobile Commerce & Redemption

Built on the combined technologies of Twelve Horses and Mobile Technology Group , 2D Data Matrix barcodes can be delivered to mobile phones

Consumers can drive by a billboard, see an 800 number, call it, and start an interactive voice process to get a 2D ticket in to their phone, then drive to their favorite entertainment locations and redeem.

2D codes will be a great way to connect the physical world to the electronic world, but these must be applied to the object.

Can you think of a physical world hyperlink ALREADY on objects that can be used instead?

FOX TV Goes Mobile With SMS

Want to keep up with your latest FOX TV show? Want to get Stacked behind the scenes info? Want to know about the latest FOX text game?

Through FOX Mobile you can.

1. Type 36988 (FOXTV) as the short code.
2. Enter FOX as message
3. Confirm your registration as instructed.

I expect to see other TV channels introduce this as a way to introduce mobile marketing.

FOX should do a better job of promoting this.

Overstock Goes Mobile

More of the major ecommerce sites are recognizing they must provide a mobile solution. The ecommerce realize how important the mobile space is, when will the advertisers?


Overstock.com® today unveiled a new mobile commerce application called Mobile O(TM) that lets Mobile Web 2.0(SM) customers of Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service provider, browse and shop the entire Overstock.com Web site right from their wireless phones.

Mobile O was designed, developed and deployed by mRocket Inc., a leading mobile commerce solutions provider, using its patent-pending technology.

eBay Goes Mobile

Both Moonlight Mobile and Abidia3 Wireless have introduced an application that makes eBay mobile

The new applications allow consumers to receive updated, real-time information onto their handset so they can watch, bid, buy and sell while they are on the move.

Mobile Auctions services include a scrolling ticker bar, showing the user's transaction status for live auctions and sophisticated alarm and alert settings allowing notification of bids being beaten, auctions closing and items wo

Cell Phone Payments From NTT DoCoMo

Your cell phone will eventually be your wallet.

A good article about MasterCard's upcoming IPO has some impacts on the mobile phone payment industry.

Start looking for phone manufacturers and service providers getting into this space as a way to keep customers and increase their average revenue per user (ARPU).

Nokia and Motorola are testing cell phones that read RFID tags, and Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc. plans to launch new cell phones next year that can function like credit cards, in partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, the world's largest bank.

I expected to see service providers buy into credit card companies or banks to tap into this wave. NTT DoCoMo already did.

RFID And Cars

I asked PP readers if they wanted me to post stories that I find of interest in other emerging technology spaces.
When I see a story this big, I look for all the players that will be associated with this application.

Technology giant 3M, which owns brands like Scotch and Post-It, also expects to launch a countrywide vehicle registration system based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags next month, said Jaime Ojeda, business manager of electronic vehicle registration.

3M’s technology incorporates RFID technology in sticker-like tags that would be placed on a vehicle’s windshield, as well as in reflective sheeting placed over the license plate.

Transportation departments could use the tags to monitor traffic and travel times, and vendors could use the system to accept micropayments for parking or drive-through restaurants

A Troubling Mobile Service

Local 6 News is reporting a troubling item.

Several Web sites will sell the last 100 phone numbers you have dialed to anyone who knows your phone number.

The report found that sites like Locate Cell will sell the private phone numbers for about $100.

Once the fee is paid on the Web sites, anyone can get access to the phone numbers, including bank, doctor and work numbers, Local 6 News reported.

The Web sites are not illegal, according to the report.

Yellow Pages Goes Mobile

Yellow Pages is now available on your mobile. Just type http://m.yp.com/on your mobile phone to get your info.

They offer yellow pages, white pages, address look-ups, maps and driving directions.

Mobile Marketing Dollars

BusinessWeek has a good story called Googling for Gold that forecasts what companies and technologies Google might buy into.

Last year U.S. advertising spending was an estimated $300 billion to $400 billion. Just $10 billion of that was spent online, even less than for ads in the Yellow Pages.

By contrast, newspaper and direct telephone markets were worth five and nine times as much, respectively. Yet, according to Forrester Research Inc., households now spend at least 30% of their media time online, while the Internet has just 5% of total ad spending.

We spend 30% of our media time online and yet advertisers only spend 1/30th of the total advertising dollars on that medium. Your cell phone is with you what % of the day?

Where do the advertising dollars go when advertisers figure that stat out?

CueCat Has Nine Lives

The CueCat was a great concept, but didn't have the right tool for execution, until now. A camera phone and a physical world hyperlink (barcode, logo, RFID tag) can offer Internet access.

From Wired.com The CueCat is back

The ill-fated CueCat bar-code reader has been reincarnated as a cell-phone application that recognizes corporate logos.

Distributed to millions of magazine subscribers, the scanner redirected readers to advertisers' web pages after they scanned a bar code printed in the magazine.

Mobile marketing campaigns are starting to offer physical world hyperlinks as a great way to interact with the consumer.

"We hyperlink the visual world," said Harmut Neven, NevenVision's CEO. "Users should come to expect that every billboard is not just a billboard -- it's a big shining link to mobile content."

Notice how we are seeing more press coverage about the physical world being connected to the electronic one. It's only a matter of time till brands realize how big a role this will play in mobile marketing.

Free Wireless Service

Is this a sign of things to come? Give away voice in order to get data revenues? Has voice turned into a free commodity?

Forbes is reporting that BT Group PLCis offering free calls on their mobiles

BT Group PLC will before Christmas announce plans to enable owners of new 'smart phones' to make free calls on their mobiles, the Business reported.

Smart phones, the latest devices made by companies such as Nokia and Motorola, use software that routes calls free of charge through local area wireless connections to the internet.

The calls will be free, but there will be a flat charge to use the network

Sports Illustrated Offers Swimsuit Reveal

From Phone Content I-play reveals SI Swimsuit models

I knew that would get your attention. From a mobile marketing standpoint, isn't this better than a ringtone?

I-play , the mobile games company, and SI Mobile, part of Sports Illustrated™, one of the world's most recognized media and sports entertainment brands, today announced the North American launch of SI™ Swimsuit Reveal.

The game provides a selection of the world's most beautiful women, hiding behind the game's simple yet compulsive puzzle matching gameplay. Players must have a good memory and the ability to stay cool when the steamy image begins to be revealed!

Cameraphone And Barcode A Powerful Tool

Another news medium is recognizing how powerful the camera and barcode combination will be. At this point it's a matter of educating the "early adopters" before the masses utilize this.

From US News.com Ringing up the best bargain

It turns out those cameras built into almost every new mobile phone actually are good for something: They can recognize bar codes and use that information to connect to websites.

"Your cellphone is your mouse, and you surf the real world," says Joe Jensen, marketing director of NeoMedia Technologies, one of the companies exploring the potential of using cellphones for shopping with the software it offers at www.paperclick.com

Competition is already forming to deliver the best mobile phone shopping technology: Almost 5,000 early adopters have visited www.scanbuy.comto download a test version of that company's Scan Zoom technology, which lets them link bar codes on products to such sites as Amazon and Pricegrabber.

Tagit Offers Physical World Connection

Add another player to the physical world connection list.

Tagit

Tagit allows the end-consumer, when interested or stimulated by any tagged physical media channel he sees, to trigger his own one-on-one interaction with the Web via a camera phone, allowing a wide repertoire of marketing and promotional information and benefits to be "pulled' to him at a time and place of his desire. It is absolutely fascinating."


The process starts with one snap of the camera phone by which a user captures the "tagged" image. The Tagit application software then decodes and enables the user to obtain information about the product or service in both text and visual form

Carnival Of The Mobilists

This week, Howard Rheingold and the crew at Smart Mobs hosted the Carnival of the Mobilists . Russell Buckley from MobHappy was the editor.

Each week we are able to see various viewpoints on all different mobile applications.

Mobile Cash Register

From NY Times Wireless cash register


When Michelle Dubé, a golf instructor in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., finishes a lesson, she whips out her BlackBerry wireless device - to schedule the next appointment, sure, but also to swipe the student's credit card for payment right there on the driving range.

Often using nothing more than an ordinary cellphone and a card swipe attachment, or a handheld device with a built-in swipe slot

Some retailers are already experimenting with hand-helds as a way to do what they call line-busting: making sure that people waiting in long lines for a cashier do not give up and abandon their merchandise.

Store Advertisers Use SMS

Can you see the mobile marketing opportunities with this?

From NetImperaitive Multimap and TXT4 launch SMS store finder

Online mapping service Multimap has partnered with text response service TXT4 , to launch a service that lets advertisers send nearest store information to customers responding to advertising and promotional campaigns via text.

Mobile users can send an SMS reply to brands’ adverts with their name, house number or postcode, and Multimap then validates and geo-codes the data, and compares the results against the client's database.

An SMS is then sent to consumers with full address details of their nearest store.

TiVo Does RFID

I have done extensive amount of research on the RFID space, but don't post too often about it.

From InformationWeek TiVo files patent for RFID recorder

The patent is for a personal video recorder that recognizes viewer preferences through an RFID chip embedded in clothing, jewelry, or somewhere in "the user's body."

The multimedia mobile personalization system would have a remote control that recognizes the viewer's RFID tag closest to the PVR.

The remote control device would identify and link the viewer to the system using an "RFID tag that is attached to a key ring, necklace, watch, in his wallet, or even a sub dermal tag inserted somewhere in the user's body."

I see RFID playing an enormous role with many technologies.

Tell me if you want my insights on companies and strategies associated with RFID on The Pondering Primate.

Physical World Connection Dichotomy

As I see more stories and applications involving a mobile phone being used to connect the physical world, I ponder.

I am seeing two completely different strategies for using the physical world connection and I wonder which will get adopted.

Today Aura Digital announces another mobile marketing campaign that allows mobile phone users get content from a movie poster using Hypertag (bluetooth) technology.
This is their second campaign and it appears to be even more successful than their War Of The Worlds one.

Who benefits, the advertiser and consumer.

The other mobile application that is getting attention is price comparison using a camera phone and a barcode. ScanBuy has been getting tremendous amount of press with their scanZoom application. Download their software and scan barcodes to get price information.

Who benefitted, only the consumer.

I think you have to look at why Google is so sucessful in order to determine what applications will win the mobile info race.

Google, is a free application, that allows users to find digital content with their PC. Both advertisers and consumers are able to utilize this application.

Google's Froogle service really hasn't taken off and that makes me question how much demand will there be for a mobile price comparison service.

Not only do I not see price comparison being used on a mobile phone, but why would any advertiser want you to compare their product price? But they will want you to visit their website.

Your "next Google" is a mobile application that allows a physical world hyperlink to provide information (coupon, rebate, call center) to a consumer and then allow an advertiser to interact with that consumer to promote his product.

Price Compare Using Mobile Phone

Price comparison with mobile using barcode and camera phone.

Sometimes I wonder if people can't think of other applications for connecting a barcode besides price comparison.

From Chicago Sun Times Price checks at your fingertips

The author tested scanZoom's product and had some interesting comments.

ScanBuy, a New York software developer, has developed scanZOOM, a program that can be downloaded onto some cell phones to work with built-in cameras to scan the bar codes of products and get price information

Go to scanbuy.com to see if your phone can handle the software. If it will work, you download the software via SMS, short messaging service. Free add-on lenses are available to improve the resolution and magnification if your phone needs it.

I was able to look at books, DVDs and CDs. I knew in general that I could get those sorts of items on the cheap as "used" items at Amazon. I didn't need ScanBuy for that.

Next, I tried a real-world experiment at some clothing stores. A couple of years ago, I nearly was booted out of a store while trying out a digital camera, as I waited for my wife to try on clothes. I wondered how scanning would go. It proved no problem. No clerks asked me what I was doing as I scanned bar codes on pants and shirts.

I could tell the bar codes were being successfully read, but unfortunately, it didn't get any pricing information.

There are two things that could be going on. Either the barcodes aren't "turned on" (linked to a website), or Scanbuy's service isn't able to read them.

ScanBuy is in discussions with cell-phone manufacturers and mobile-phone companies to provide scanning software as a standard feature on phones. Scanning might become a for-pay service.

I don't see the demand for a for-pay service when I can type in the numbers with Froogle.

Would you pay for a price comparison service?

Would you pay to scan any barcode and see what information/website you would get?

What service or application would you pay for that involved scanning a barcode?

Google Tests Click-To-Call Adwords

I see another revenue generator for Google and a way to implement Google Talk.

Will this create VOIP Hyperlinks ?

Greg Yardley has a great post that shows how Google is now testing Click-To-Call Adwords.



Here's how it works. When you click the phone icon, you can enter your phone number. Once you click "Connect For Free", Google calls the number you provided.

The Sun's Page 3 Goes Mobile

This wasn't hard to see. A major tabloid, that took its well-known topless girl page and offered mobile content from it.

News International, the publisher of well known UK tabloid 'newspaper', The Sun, has created its own mobile content service called Sun Mobile .

It will feature ringtones, java games and ... you guessed it ... Page 3 wallpapers and screen savers. For non-UK readers, Page 3 is the topless women page.

Despite The Sun having a presence on the Vodafone live! and Orange World portals, News International (NI) has set up their own mobile site, developed by Blue Start Mobile. It will be accessible in over 130 countries around the world, thanks to NI's deal with Bango .

Pondering Primate readers should know by now that anytime there's a pretty girl and mobile marketing involved, I will cover it. :)

The National Dog Show Uses SMS

This is a good mobile marketing campaign. They have taken the SMS text voting and added content for the user. Smart.

If American Idol and their mobile marketing company were smart, they would text every person that sent a vote for Kelly Clarkson and ask if they would like to receive content/updates for Kelly. That would be a bonanza.

Do you think they thought of that?

On Thanksgiving Day, NBC will once again delight millions of viewers with its enormously popular telecast of "The National Dog Show Presented by Purina" (Nov. 24, Noon - 2 p.m. ET/PT).

This year, an integrated mobile campaign powered by GoldPocket Wireless (GPW) will enable viewers to vote via premium text messaging (62288 NBCTV) for the dog they think deserves to be awarded "People's Choice for Best in Show" and download related content.

The judges will then select one winner from the seven finalists to win the coveted "Best in Show" award. Before the judges' selection is announced, however, viewers at home will be able to weigh in on which dog they think should be awarded the "Best in Show" title. Each vote costs only $0.50, and participants will also be able to download content related to the show, pending carrier and phone compatibility

Aura's Hypertags Loved By Consumers

More physical world connection being used for mobile marketing.

The recent launch of the Gorillaz single - Dare- by EMI Music Australia added Hypertag™ to the conventional promotions mix and more than 3,300 consumers received a free Gorillaz-Dare ringtone downloaded from a bus shelter advertisement using Hypertag™ technology

The campaign was developed by EMI Music Australia in association with technology service provider, AURA , and outdoor media company, Adshel.

Selected bus shelters in Sydney and Melbourne where chosen to display interactive Gorillaz posters with embedded Hypertag™ technology. Hypertags™ are short-range wireless devices mounted in the advertising posters. Consumers can activate the infrared or bluetooth component in their phones to download music or ring tones from the poster.

The number of interactions for this campaign more than doubled the previous campaign for the 'War of the Worlds' delivered through the Adshel network in June.

When will we see this in The States?

Mobile Visual Search

It's nice to see a major technology news medium recognize how big this will be.

A great article that discusses mobile phones and a couple physical world connection companies .

From ZDNet Search technology comes to the camera phone

In the United States, people will also be able to use their cell phones to take a picture of a movie billboard, and then send the image to a similar database that returns a film trailer, locates a theater showing the movie advertised on the billboard or allows the user to buy tickets to the movie.

"One of the biggest problems of the wireless Web--it's not that people don't want it, it's that the Web is based on a keyboard and a mouse. We keep trying to simulate that with 12 keys on the phone," said Lauren Bigelow, chief marketing officer at Mobot

Neven Vision's marketing application, called iScout, turns traditional forms of advertising such as magazines, billboards, newspapers, as well as any white space on a product, into a Web marketing tool. It has signed a deal with a dairy manufacturer in Europe, which executives won't yet name, to place iScout's "hyperlinks" on milk bottles for a year.

All these surfaces in the physical world can now be hyperlinked, and they all turn into added information

Next Time You Use Google...

That's right, keep using Google for searches, maps, price comparisons. But when you do, just keep this in the back of your mind.

Rinf.com has a very eye-opening post about what info Google gives you and what they get in return.

I've highlighted a couple startling items.

Google was the first search engine to use a cookie that expires in 2038

This Google cookie places a unique ID number on your hard disk. Anytime you land on a Google page, you get a Google cookie if you don't already have one. If you have one, they read and record your unique ID number.

For all searches they record the cookie ID, your Internet IP address, the time and date, your search terms, and your browser configuration.

Have Google's tool bar installed?

Google's free toolbar for Explorer phones home with every page you surf, and yes, it reads your cookie too.

Google essentially has complete access to your hard disk every time you connect to Google (which is many times a day).

Just something to think about.

Is Michael Moore Doing Mobile?

I suppose there's a market for this.

A new mobile service called Jenny Jet fuses blogging and text messaging to create an interactive sci-fi adventure. The Jenny Jet short code (53669) is now live on all major wireless carrier networks in the United States

Produced by SMS Media Group, Jenny Jet sends text message alerts to get the story out, and then subscribers are able to blog and interact with others on the web.

People can post their UFO sightings, share ideas, and any information they might have about the alien/government conspiracy.

RepeatSeat And Mobiqa Offer Mobile Marketing

Mobile phone + Barcode = many mobile marketing opportunities.

From CCN Matthews RepeatSeat issues shares to Mobiqa

RepeatSeat Ltd. is pleased to announce the issuance of 37,884 shares, to its partner in mobile ticketing Mobiqa as payment under our agreement to enable RepeatSeat to utilize Mobiqa's technology as part of its service offering.

Through its partnership with Mobiqa, the innovative world leader in the delivery of secure bar-coded tickets and coupons to digital cell phones and digital devices,
RepeatSeat is now capable of providing mobile ticketing capabilities exclusively throughout the North American Market.

This innovative technology allows our valued customers to receive tickets for movie theaters, live events, and excursions directly to their cellular phones, eliminating the need to print, collect or process traditional paper tickets.

RepeatSeat is very excited that the partnership has now developed the capability to deliver tickets across both the CDMA and GSM Protocols thereby enabling the majority of phones in North America." said George Davidson, President of RepeatSeat

Nuts Offers Mobile Content

This is a little racy for this blog, but I wanted to show what type of mobile marketing and mobile content are being offered for 3G. The campaign is called "Dial'em up and watch'em jiggle".

I think it's creative and fun, but I'll let you decide.

From Brand Republic.com Nuts sets up mobile content

Nuts readers have already been able to vote on the quality of women's physiques via still photographs on its established website assessmybreasts.com , but the mobile service will allow them to see, and for women to submit, new videos

Men's magazine Nuts has taken its first step into 3G video content with the not entirely unpredictable translation of its 'Assess My Breasts' feature, as part of new investment in digital content.

To see what type of content this involves Click here (Warning: content contains nudity)

Maybe We Should View The Mobile This Way

Russell at MobHappy has an informative post about what you can do with a Nokia phone.

What struck me was wording on the book's front cover.

"Your smallest computer"

I have been harping on Microsoft and how they just don't get mobile. 2 billion devices versus the 700 million PCS..blah blah blah.

Xbox is getting attention today and Microsoft hopes to sell a few million (I think they said the goal was 9m or 3m in 90 days).

There are 2 billion "smallest computers" out there that represent a much bigger opportunity in my opinion.

Maybe if we told Bill the mobile is just a really small PC he would get Microsoft to pay more attention to it.

Nine West Gets Mobile With Lucky

Lucky Magazine and Nine West introduce an opt-in mobile marketing campaign.

Lucky Magazine are starting a mobile marketing campaign, but they are missing the mark. There is a much better way to do this.

To see the campaign Click here

I know you're asking, Scott why do you know so much about women's magazines and their mobile marketing campaigns? It's the Maxims/Stuff magazines and the womens magazines like ELLE Girl/ Lucky that are becoming the early adopters for mobile marketing.

It is the Playboys and Sports Illustrated that have a huge opportunity, but they don't see it...yet.

Dipsie, The Perfect Search Engine?

Mark your calendars for Tuesday Nov 29.

I read about Dipsie and their search technology over a year ago and am anxious to see it in action.

Dipsie's patent-pending technology to reveal content that is currently "invisible" to major search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

From C/Net A search engine to find what others can't.

Dcloak , is designed to show Web surfers the content in databases and on Web sites that is invisible to general search engines.

Google, Yahoo and other search engines are not able to crawl Web pages of many sites, particularly online merchants and others that use cookies, page templates, forms and client-side scripts, said Jason Wiener, chief executive of Dipsie.

Motricity Named "Private Co Of The Year"

Motricity named NCTA as Private company of the year

Motricity, the world's leading mobile content and solutions provider, was named "Private Company of the Year" at the 11th Annual NCTA 21 Awards Gala ceremony Thursday night in Cary.

Motricity has added more than 180 people in 2005, as the company continues to gain momentum in an industry that analysts expect to grow to $80 billion by 2009

Microsoft Has Mobile Search

Microsoft just doesn't get mobile.

Microsoft introduced their Windows Live Mobile Search beta.

Windows Live Search beta for mobile devices lets you use your Web-enabled mobile device to search the Web for almost anything you’re looking for, just like on a PC.

Search results are formatted to fit on your phone’s itty-bitty screen, so you can actually read them easily.

To sign up to try out Mobile beta Click here

This is all wrong. You need to sign up to test it? You also need an MSN Hotmail Email address to get an invite?

Tell Scoble this service is out and you will have more than enough people testing it.

The whole point of a mobile info service is EASE OF USE. If you have a good mobile service, the word will spread.

Wrong wrong wrong.

Send A Barcode VIA SMS

This opens up numerous mobile marketing opportunities.

From Ecoustics.com ValueFirst Messaging launches mobile barcode services

ValueFirst Messaging Private Limited, a leading MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), has launched a pioneering service of delivery of barcodes on mobile phones.

With the launch of this service, ValueFirst customers will be able to send a barcode on end-users’ mobile phones. The service provides the ability to send encoded seven digit numbers in a barcode form on mobile phones, readable by standard barcode readers.

Along with the barcode, a 120 character text message can be sent giving description of the offer in the barcode.
Many of the media and marketing companies are already in contact with ValueFirst to offer this service to their customers.

This service is available in India for now, but I can see the huge mobile marketing opportunities it will present in The States.

The Future Of Mobile

Japan and South Koreas early mobile adoption allows us to see what mobile applications will work in Europe and The States.

From New Straits Times The 3rd screen

I've highlighted a few lines.

The littlest screen may indeed be the biggest in the near future.

Mobile interactive advertising is getting increasingly popular in Japan and South Korea. A simple advertisement (with a specific code) can actually be a gateway of sorts for detailed information about a specific brand.

Notice it's called "interactive". When has an advertiser ever had the ability to interact with a consumer at anytime or anywhere?

Users have to simply feed in their code on their mobile phones and they are taken to a website where they can compare, buy, and even pay, through their mobile phones. Soon, they can just click on a code.

All this is not spam. The choice is entirely yours if you wish to know more about a particular brand or product.

A give-and-take relationship, based on trust, must be established to turn mobile marketing into a "win-win" proposal for all parties involved, including the users.

Marketers need to realise that mobile marketing isn’t about intrusively interrupting someone with a marketing message, but engaging the user with the interactivity.

Maybe eBay, Amazon, Yahoo and Google need to brace themselves for the next wave. Instead of bracing themselves, they should try to ride it. This wave will be a biggie.

Get Maps Sent To Your Phone VIA SMS

From NetImperative Multimap debuts map to mobile service

Multimap to launch a ‘Map to Mobile’ service, letting users transfer maps to their mobile rather than having to print out a copy.

Visitors to http://www.multimap.com can request that a URL of a particular map be sent to their mobile phones via SMS, by clicking on the mobile phone icon that appears above a map of interest.

Users are then asked to text the selected map’s unique code, as appears on-screen, to 84140. By return, they receive a text message containing a URL of the map.

This seems cumbersome. If you're at your PC, wouldn't it be easier to print the map and see it on an 8x11 piece of paper than a 2 inch screen?
This might be valuable if you're out and want a GPS map and need directions.

Maybe a SMS for map service? Send a text to WRAMI (hypothetical Where Am I ?)with zipcode or address and get link for map.

Bluepulse Works With Bluetooth And Cell Networks

From GeekZone Bluepulse works with Bluetooth and cell networks


Bluepulse is an application for mobile phones which allows a person to access information based on their surroundings.

For example, in a shopping centre, it will help users find a particular shop or an ATM or toilet with step-by-step directions automatically appearing. You can then check to see outside which shop a friend or relative is located, view available shop specials in the centre from any location, check the movie times, look at movie trailers and even have your shopping list appear from your home computer.

The company says the software is faster and easier than WAP, including caching, using the phone's UI to speed rendering, and allowing the users to install new bluepulse apps from desktop browser as well as from the phone

Can eBay Get A Refund For Skype Purchase?

Add another VOIP player to the picture, Google's Base and that $2.6B that eBay spent on Skype seems even more troublesome.

Sony launches Free VOIP service

The electronics giant launched a free Web-based phone service on Wednesday called Instant Video Everywhere, designed to link users of the service via their computers.

Sony said it will also offer to connect IVE users to landlines and cell phones for a monthly fee of $9.95.

I wonder, will eBay's purchase of Skype be the equivalent of Time Warner's AOL merger? One powerful player already established buying an upcoming player in an emerging technology space.

Compare Prices Using SMS

Smarter.com offers the ability to compare prices using text messaging (SMS)

1. Send text to 610-762-7837 (they should get a shortcode that's easy to remember instead of a phone number)

2. Send an SMS (text) with product part number (barcode)
3. Lowest available price online is sent.

See their Demo

Or you can do what I do, use Mobile Froogle

Compare Prices With Mobile Ringfo

Want to see what Amazon charges for a CD or book?

Have the barcode number?
Have a cell phone?

Just use Ringfo, formerly Amabuddy.

1. dial 888-937-4462
2. enter ISBN (for book) or UPC (for CD's)
2. listen for new and used prices, consumer ratings and similar items.

This seems a bit cumbersome, but it still falls under the "prosumer" and mobile category. I'm sure there will be an SMS service that allows you to check prices by entering the barcode numbers.

Carnival Of The Mobilists #6

This week I have the privilege to host The Carnival Of The Mobilists. Each week I am finding more good mobile stories and am adding new names to the BlogLines account.

Next week, Smart Mobs will be the host.

This weeks submissions.

DoCoMo Losing Wireless Dominance

Japan was the pioneer for mobile Internet revolution. The next phase for wireless Internet, DoCoMo faces pressure from some key players. Walter Adamson at i-mode Strategy discusses why this time it's different, and who the new players will be. Once again we should keep an eye on what works and what doesn't work when it comes to mobile from the Far East.

Motorola Knows Radio

Mike from iRadio Waves discusses the real history behind Motorola and their iRadio Telematics project. Five years ago Motorola said their iRadio "will bring a wireless Web connection to cars, transforming the driving experience"

From Russia With Mobile Love

Rudy at m-trends.org continues his Women In Mobile series with an interview with QArea's Julia Palatovska. Quite an interesting take on their desires for mobile applications.

The News Brought to you by...

Emily at Textually.org highlights the Live Ticker service that Cingular and Motorola have introduced. This represents another content offering that service providers will offer to keep users on their portal and to increase ARPU.

Pssst, Know OF Any Good RSS Feaders?

Dennis from Wap Review wants a good WAP RSS feader
Quoting Dennis, "This week the editor at Wap Review recounts his quest for a mobile RSS aggregator that is actually usable on mainstream phones." Mobile is still looking for a an easy was to surf, Dennis is way out in front of the pack with this request.

If you haven't done so, check out his WAP portal http://yeswap.com Good stuff Dennis

The Mobile makes a monkey out of me

The guys from MobHappy, Carlo and Russell, submit a story that makes us question whether high technology is making us regress as a society. Can too much technology be a bad thing? I don't if know if I should be offended or complimented.

Step Right Up And Get Your Mobile News

Leonard at Wireless Data News Blog submits the weeks wireless highlights

Mobile Marketing, It Aint Deja-Vous All Over Again

Debi from Mobile Jones discusses why so many web centric services, applications and standards neglect mobility in their development and why mobile operators don't grasp the lessons learned on the web over the past decade. Will advertisers and content providers get it right this time around?

There's a New Service Provider In Town

Oliver at Mobile Weblog thinks content , not the pipes to deliver it, have always been the strength of the cable companies and it will be interesting to see what kind of mobile phone offerings they implement given the opportunity.

When Things Get Turned On (My favorite post) Mainstream media is now recognizing the vision Howard Rheingold had years ago.

Howard Rheingold and the gang at Smart Mobs discuss a story that could have come straight out of the "Era of Sentient Things" chapter in Howard's book. He calls this Phase 2 of the Internet. This is a world of networked and interconnected devices that provide relevant content and information whatever the location of the user.

If you haven't read the book Smart Mobs yet, what are you waiting for?

How Does Google Put A Sponsored Ad On A Mobile?

It is my feeling that keywords for Internet advertising will be replaced by a different metric for mobile marketing. A new way to measure traffic and relevancy for advertising.
This is what I see

Next week Smart Mobs will host The Carnival Of The Mobilists. Be sure to submit your post early to mobilists at googlemail dot com.

Apple Discovers Physical World Connection For Mobile Marketing

Leave it to Apple, a company that is mastering mobile digital content, to introduce physical world hyperlinks as a way of mobile marketing.


Fasol at Eurotechnology Japan shows us how Apple is using physical world hyperlinks (QR-Codes) to promote the iPod-nano in Japan.

Mobile Marketing i-Pod-nano with QR-code: QR-code takes you directly to the mobile Apple store to buy your i-Pod-nano here and now on the road:

I wonder if Apple will bring this marketing to the States?

ScanBuy Offers Scan Phone

Physical world connection player ScanBuy , makes the news again.
NBC30 reports on how a new technology will change the way you save money when you shop. All you need is a cell phone.

Bargain hunting may be changing big time as your cell phone revolutionizes it. You'll have the power to compare prices on just about any product, in seconds.

Is price comparison really the best application for this technology?

Olivier Attia is the CEO of Scan-Buy, which offers software that you can download to a cell phone that has a camera.

When you're shopping you can line up your camera phone with the bar code on an item, and SCAN-BUY almost instantly gives you a product description, customer ratings and a comparison of price from other e-tailers.

What if that barcode could link you TO the owner of the barcode, would that be more valuable to the consumer?

Would that be a way to create a mobile marketing campaign?

Question, where would you want the barcode to take you when you click on it?

Google's Trojan Horse For Mobile

I imagine this Jeopardy question someday.

Alex I'll take "Things Microsoft Didn't See Coming for $1000"

Question: How Google controlled mobile advertising without having their own operating system.

Answer: What is Google Local Mobile's free download

Correct

This is Google's PC Desktop Search, or Toolbar Part 2.

Do you see the other services/applications Google can offer, once this is on your phone?

Cingular And Motorola Offer Mobile Scrolling News

This is more than a great application, it's a sign that service providers are offering more content (more revenues) and trying to keep users connected to their portal.

From Yahoo Cingular puts scrolling news onto mobile phone screens

Cingular Wireless and Motorola Thursday are expected to unveil an always-on data service, called "Live Ticker" that will send scrolling text and images to the bottom of cell phone screens.

The Live Ticker feature is seen as the latest incarnation of push technology.

If they want to find out more about a Live Ticker headline, they'll have to open their Web browser to read the whole story -- for a fee. Live Ticker will initially offer about 10 content channels for subscribers. CNN, ESPN, E Online, the Weather Channel and Univision are providing the content

If you're a news service why share the revenues with Cingular. There's a way a FOX or MSNBC could disrupt this. Do you think they will figure it out in time?

All you need is a creative mobile marketing campaign.

Microsoft Buys Mobile Marketing 5th Finger

This is good to see. Microsoft is realizing the mobile is where the big growth lies. If you can't figure out how to enter an industry, buy somebody that can.

Will Microsoft and5th Finger allow them to give Google the middle finger when it comes to mobile marketing?

Online media company Ninemsn has acquired Australia's mobile marketing solutions company 5th Finger Pty Ltd

Ninemsn chief executive Martin Hoffman said the purchase is part of the trend for marketers to utilise the mobile phone as a distribution tool for content and advertising

Ninemsn is a 50/50 joint venture between Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd and Microsoft Corp.

From 5th's website.

"Mobile communication is now a serious business, as it is fundamentally changing the way businesses interact with their customers. Mobile is more direct and personal than traditional communication and distribution channels and no company can afford to ignore mobile, or the potential revenues or cost savings it represents, as part of their business model"

Some of 5th's other accomplishments.

• First-to-market with SMS on Radio
• First-to-market with interactive SMS TV
• First location based service
• First promotion to exceed 2.5 million entries

The next thing Microsoft needs is a killer application for mobile that 5th can utlize for their mobile marketing campaigns.

Next Generation Advertising

David Schatsky from Jupiter Research moderated a panel for 212: New York's Interactive Advertising Club

Ashley Heather from NextCode gave some interesting insights.

Ashley explained how NextCode will not be another CueCat.

At the presentation I (David) noted some timely support for NextCode's plan make print interactive from Kevin O'Malley, publisher of Esquire, quoted in the New York Times recently as saying,

If you are not finding ways to extend your brand so that it's more than just a magazine with printed pages, if you're not finding a way for advertisers to connect with consumers through multiple touch-points with event marketing, you will not be here in 10 or 15 years.

Ashley gets the concept of physical world connection.

Full Story