Concert Tickets Via SMS

This is an example of a physical world item being replaced and accessed digitally.

From This Is London Cncrt tkts by txt msg planned

Mobile phone tickets are to be used for the first time at a major music festival, O2 said today.

The electronic barcodes will be sent to ticket buyers as text messages. At the O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park in June, customers will simply hold their phone to a scanner to enter.
Customers who lose their ticket will also be able to request a duplicate barcode to be sent to their phone

BlueCasting Will Have Guidelines

One of the last things the mobile marketing community wants right now is the consumer to get ticked off with unwanted advertising on the mobile. It's good to see that bluetooth enabled ads (bluecasting or bluespamming) will have guidelines too.

Just because a consumer is near a bluetooth enabled ad, doesn't give the advertiser the right to broadcast it.

Mobile Marketing Magazine has a good story on the "other" form of mobile marketing, BlueCasting.

Last month, Viacom Outdoor launched a network of Bluetooth-enabled poster sites across the London Underground. Yet, these sites might breach the Privacy Directive, because people walking within 8 metres of the posters will receive messages without the option of blocking them.

Critics believe that a consumer having Bluetooth enabled on their phone does not equate to them giving their permission to receive marketing messages, even if the first message seeks their permission to be sent subsequent messages.

Next month the Direct Marketing Association will publish guidelines on marketing via Bluetooth and will raise the issue of initial opt-in with its new Mobile Marketing Council.

Bluecasting could be the equivalent of email spam if it's not done properly.

Third Screen Media's MADX Gets More Financing

From Boston Biz Journal Third Screen Media receives $5m in Series B round

The round was led by TD Capital Ventures in Boston.

The Boston-based company will use the money to bolster its sales-and-marketing efforts for its MADX mobile ad delivery platform. The company plans to target publishers, carriers, brands and advertising agencies for use of this software.

MADX Publisher provides support for GIF/JPG, image with text, J2ME, BREW and Flash Lite applications, video, SMS and MMS alerts and interstitials. MADX Publisher also supports ad standards across all carriers, phones and browsers; and allows for ad targeting by frequency, location, day-part, keyword, device, browser and carrier

Last week Heidi Lehmann, 3rd Screen's VP of content acquisition was elected to the Mobile Marketing Association's Board of Directors.

go2 Announces Record Mobile Traffic

During 2005, go2's mobile websites, which include Yellow Page, local search and other local information, delivered more than 210 million page views of local information, up 37 percent from over 150 million in 2004.

Launched in 1999 as the world's first mobile Yellow Page Directory, go2 is now one of the most widely used mobile, local search directories in the United States.

With eleven different, category-specific directories available today, including go2 Business, go2 Dining, go2 Movies and go2 Shopping, the go2 network of local search directories has one-of-a kind, multi-category placement on the wireless Web menus of most major wireless carriers.

Click-through rates for mobile advertising on go2 are significantly higher than click-through rates for online advertising, in part based on go2's ability to target advertising by both location and directory search category.

SMS Coupons And Vouchers

Ping Mobile LLC. announced today the commercial launch of the company’s flagship PingRewards™ Service, which sends registered users mobile coupons and vouchers from their favorite retail stores directly to their mobile phones in the form of SMS’s, or “text messages.

The PingRewards™ coupons and vouchers are then redeemed and cashed-in at participating store locations.

Ping Mobile provides store owners who choose this option with a PingRewards™ in-store advertising poster, which contains the stores’ personalized keyword and the short code number PING2 ( 74642 ).

The customer simply types in that keyword and sends it as a text message to Ping Mobile. They are instantly registered to the PingRewards™ service with that retail vendor automatically listed in their “Favorites”, and they receive their first redeemable coupon for that store location within 60 seconds.

Retail vendors sign on as advertising partners via a “pay per coupon” mechanism that allows them access to a brand new, performance-based, and revenue generating channel of communication with customers who they would otherwise not be able to reach.

Brands Shifting To Mobile Marketing

From NetImperative Major brands shifting marketing budgets to mobile-research

Nearly nine in ten major UK brands are planning to shift more of their marketing resources to mobile platform over the next two years, according to new research.

An independent survey of 50 brand name companies commissioned by mobile technology firm Airwide Solutions, found that by 2008 89% of brands will use text and multimedia messaging to reach their audience.

The top three things that would make mobile marketing more attractive to brands are the ability to reach a specific target audience, information about how the user responded to a marketing message and proof that a message has been received by the user's handset, the research revealed.

Those three things make mobile marketing the most direct way to interact with the consumer.

Your Personal Billboard

Paul Saffo, who works for the Institute for the Future, gave an interesting interview .

The more useful and targeted a new technology is, the more privacy we have to give up.

Most people don't realize that our Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Communications Commission have all mandated that cell phones need to have position recording built in.

They want to be able to pinpoint your location with a global positioning chip in your phone or some other way of identifying your location. This costs the telephone companies money, so the bargain they made with the Feds is that we'll implement it, but then we get the right to use this for commercial purposes.

You will get location-based marketing. People don't realize but their cell phone will become their personal billboard.

I have lots of interesting ideas on what I would do with a GPS application.

Barcode Creates A Consumer Report Wikipedia

This is a great idea. Instead of using the physical world connection for a one dimension application like price comparison, a barcode can be linked to a product review search engine.

Is this a Consumer report Wikipedia?
From HeraldWet Toshiba service could be a boon from consumers



Checking out the Internet buzz about a DVD, book or candy while on the go is soon to become as easy as taking a snapshot of the bar code on the product.

Toshiba Corp., a Japanese electronics company that makes DVD players, laptops and nuclear power plants, has developed mobile-phone technology that searches for product reviews on up to 100 Web journals, or blogs, in 10 seconds.

In my opinion, blogs will be the new Consumer Reports. Information can be delivered faster and from numerous sources.

Just use the phone's digital camera to snap a photo of the bar code of a product you're thinking about buying.

The technology can tell if the blog chatter is positive or negative and tallies the count to show if a product is getting rave reviews or being trashed by consumers. That's useful if you're in a store about to buy an item.

The bar-code information is sent wirelessly to a Toshiba server, which gathers data on blogs from the Internet and analyzes them, and then sends a reply back to the cell phone.

Just a guess, but the server probably resolves the barcode and determines the product info. The server then does a search on blogs for that specific product with a value added rating.

House4Cell Offers Click-To-Call For Realtors

Cellit, LLC, the premier provider of self-service mobile marketing solutions, announced today the release of several new features for its real estate text messaging service, House4Cell.

House4Cell can now deliver photos to the phones of inquiring home buyers, along with additional information via email or FAX. Buyers can even click a button to directly connect to the listing agent via its "click-to-call" functionality

Real estate agents hang House4Cell riders from the signs of their listings, informing homebuyers of the availability of instant information. Prospective home buyers see these signs and simply text message a short, custom code to a special House4Cell phone number.

Within seconds, all of the essential property information -- including price, square footage and amenities -- are immediately sent back to the buyer's phone, along with photos.

What would be nice is the ability to click on a For Sale sign and get an interior video of the home too. Soon.

LocaModa Powers "The Web Outside"

"The Web Outside". That description might make it easier for people to understand what this technology will enable.

LocaModa(tm), Inc., a technology company powering "The Web Outside", was chosen as a "Disruptor" for its location-based interactive marketing and social networking platforms that were announced at the Demo 06 conference.

LocaModa CEO Stephen Randal (former EVP and founder of Symbian) refers to this paradigm shift as "The Web Outside", I refer to it as the Physical World Connection. I say whatever gets the technology adopted.

StreetSurfer, LocaModa's location-based interactive marketing platform revolutionizes the way brands and consumers interact by turning any mobile phone into a remote control for out-of-home digital signage.

As an example:

StreetSurfer enables consumers to use a standard mobile phone like a remote control to browse internet-connected TV screens in real estate brokerage front windows. Consumers can interact directly with real estate listings and brokers can provide a 24/7 dynamically responsive service to attract potential customers.

See the demo

Their Wiffiti (Wireless+Graffiti) is the first application that has been purpose built for StreetMessenger and allows users to send text messages from their mobile phones to large flat TV displays in locations where people socialize such as cafes, bars and clubs and on the web.

Wiffiti is currently being offered Massachusetts and Arizona, with sites in LA and Chicago soon. screen shot

I envision a mobile marketing campaign for teens that uses this platform. Imagine a screen in Times Square that offered this? This offers lots of creative possibilities.

LocaModa's technology works with any phone, any network, and does not require any downloadable software

These services bridge networks to allow consumers to access and manipulate information displays from the convenience of their mobile phones. These services will have interesting implications and drive innovative applications for closed-loop brand marketing."

Microsoft Buys Mobile Search Company MotionBridge

Mobile search space heating up.

Microsoft buys MotionBridge, which provides search services for mobile phones


MotionBridge is the only search engine truly designed for mobile Internet and mobile carrier's needs

MotionBridge CLASSIC offers only one, unified input zone, allowing to type a brand name, a common noun, a URL, to go inside or outside the portal.

MotionBridge's keywords are fast and easy to enter. Optional "numeric input" mode allows to type only once on each key, and is available for Western and Asian languages.

MotionBridge's Sponsored Links (also known as paid listing) program enables content providers to easily bid for keywords, define advertisement details and target specific mobile devices in order to increase exposure and consumption of their content.

MotionBridge is the most popular mobile search engine in Europe, handling several million queries per month and powering the portals of clients such as O2, T-Mobile and Orange.

MotionBridge has been adopted by major portals totalling more than 90 millions subscribers.

Submit your mobile website

Nextcode Launches Barcode Scanning Application

From Chron.com Nextcode launches ConnexTo Enterprise

Nextcode, a leader in optical barcode solutions for camera phones, announced the launch of ConnexTo(tm) Enterprise. ConnexTo lets businesses easily deploy robust mobile barcode-scanning applications that use standard camera phones to optically read bar codes.

"With ConnexTo Enterprise, we help companies turn camera phones into powerful tools to capture data, connect to information, and solve business problems."

ConnexTo requires no special optics, image resolution, or additional hardware. It can be loaded and run on camera phones right out of the box. (Could this solve one of the physical world connection obstacles?)

Beyond supporting traditional barcode formats, ConnexTo uses Nextcode's patent-pending mCode(tm) technology, specifically designed for camera phone applications.

mCode and the ConnexTo.com services are already used to create and read 2D barcodes that provide rapid access to WAP addresses, SMS messages, contact information and auto-dial phone numbers.


Nextcode supports the following formats:

• UPC A
• UPC E
• EAN/JAN 8
• EAN/JAN 13
• Code 128
• QR Code
• Datamatrix

Carnival Of The Mobilists 15

This week Xen Dolev at Xellular Identity hosts Carnival of the Mobilists.

Xen, is a relative newcomer to the mobile blog world, but has already posted some interesting ideas.

Take a look at some of the new additions to the Mobilists gang.

MobileTag Links The Physical World

It seems like the physical world connection (PWC) space is heating up. Another PWC company MobileTag will be showing this application at the 3GSM Conference next week.

From CompanyNewsGroup MobileTag and Netsize offer direct mobile content

MobileTag is an embedded application that enables camera-phones to read and decipher data matrix prints, known as 'Tags', which appear as a small square symbol that can be inserted into any text on a paper document, on television, or any kind of advertisement.

By using this technology, MobileTag can provide mobile users with instant access to dynamic and personalized SMS services and mobile internet sites, managed by Netsize.

"Mobile Bar-coding presents enormous opportunities for retailers and brands to offer redemption of content, products and services via mobile phones," says Pascal Verveur, Vice-President Marketing Products & Services at Netsize.

The biggest opportunity is for advertisers, marketing agencies and print media who can make their advertisements interactive by adding barcodes readable by mobile phones."

The MobileTag application has been integrated with the Netsize mSuites solution allowing mobile content management and billing through SMS, MMS, IVR and mobile internet channels.

To use the service, users simply have to launch the MobileTag application from their mobile phone, centre the Tag within the screen, and then snap the image with their camera phone.

The user will then be automatically directed to a specific online service, such as a Wap or Web portal. The Tags can also be used to send messages to advertisers with just one-click, by using the phone's built-in SMS, MMS or e-mail capabilities.

Click here to read about some of the interesting applications.

FOX's Reality Offers Mobile Service

My cable provider doesn't offer the FOX Reality channel (I wish they did). Until IPTV (Internet protocol TV) is available, could this be a way to subscribe to a specific TV channel without having to wait for your cable company to include it?

With Sprint Power Vision I can subscribe to FOX NEWS and get a streaming feed of the channel on my cell phone. I know there are still cities that don't carry this channel.

So here's what I wonder. Can a TV channel introduce a mobile service that allows a feed into your cell phone. You could either watch the channel on your phone or transmit to your TV. Is this doable?

From itvt NewsBlog FOX Reality taps 2waytraffic for mobile service

The $4.99-per-month service, which will launch this spring, and which Fox Reality will promote on the air, will allow customers of all the US's major wireless carriers to access daily recaps of their favorite shows on the channel, participate in sweepstakes, and even receive casting call information so that they themselves can appear in future reality TV programs.

2waytraffic will provide all the service's wireless applications and backend service, and has also co-produced the commercial creative that Fox Reality will use to promote it.

To subscribe to the service, viewers will simply have to text "REALITY" to the premium number, 76666, and the service's monthly charge will then appear on their mobile bill

Google Goes After Print Ads

The fact that Google is going after print ads isn't surprising. I always try to see the mobile marketing angle with Google's moves, and the specific magazines they are choosing, makes me ponder.

From Guardian Google sets sights on old media

After revolutionising the internet advertising market, Google now has its eye on an altogether more traditional channel: print ads.

High-profile titles including Ellegirl and Martha Stewart Living are being included in the scheme, and winning bidders can expect to see their advertisements appear later this year.

It is interesting that Google is mainly targeting the female audience.

What is also interesting is they recognize that Ellegirl magazine "gets it" when it comes to new marketing applications.

ABC's Should Include D2C

ClickZ has a nice summary of what mobile marketing allows called the ABC's of mobile marketing. They failed to include the most powerful term in my opinion.

Mobile allows brands to track campaign success, so-called brand interactivity. By including a mobile call to action in a given campaign (broadcast, print, outdoor, etc.), marketers can more accurately track response rates for specific campaigns or channels.

Mobile allows a brand or content provider to target subscribers with anytime, anywhere marketing. Brands can now access consumers when they're at home, at work, in the car, traveling, and so on.

The key terms:

SMS (short message service): This is often referred to as "text" or "text messaging
PSMS (premium SMS): Premium means the service user will be charged an incremental fee instead of the basic text charge
WAP (wireless application protocol): WAP is simply the wireless Web
MMS (multimedia messaging service): Ever taken pictures with your phone and sent them to friends

You've heard of B2B (business to business) and P2P (peer to peer).

What is the one they missed? (that's OK, it's not available to the masses, yet)

D2C (direct to content): This is ability to connect directly with a brand or their content thru a one-click application. This isn't sending a text and waiting for response. This isn't going to a company's mobile website.

This requires a PWH (physical world hyperlink). Think this will get recognized as a term? Or PWC (physical world connection)?

This is clicking on a barcode, or 2d code and getting a coupon, information, tech support, video etc. When that is introduced, then brands will not only be able to target subscribers, they will form a close relationship with them as well.

They won't need to buy keywords from a search engine, or put lengthy website names in advertisments. They won't have to worry about click fraud. ALL of the key data (your location, type of phone, age, time of day,billing), will be delivered with one click.They will just say "from more information, click on our barcode".

That IS the holy grail for mobile marketing.

NeoMedia Merges With Visual Search Pioneer Mobot

From Business Wire NeoMedia signs merger agreement with Mobot

NeoMedia Technologies, Inc., an innovator in wireless services and patented technologies that provide automatic links to Mobile Internet-based information, announced today that it has signed a merger agreement with Mobot®, Inc., of Lexington, Mass., a pioneer in mobile visual recognition technology.

NeoMedia expects the transaction to close this month


Mobot's visual search technology connects mobile consumers with international brands, including L'Oreal®, Samsung® and Saturn®, major media companies, including ELLEgirl®, VIBE® and JANE® magazines and leading music labels, including WEA (Warner Music Group's U.S. sales and retail marketing company).

Mobot campaigns require no changes to existing visual media and work seamlessly with all wireless carriers.

Mobot's best-in-class solution requires no download and supports all camera phones in the market, using picture messaging on the handsets to connect with Mobot's visual recognition platform and deliver back SMS, MMS and WAP push interactivity.

Future comments forthcoming.

4INFO Compares Prices With Shopping.com

Until camera phones come with barcode scanning capabilities, this will work just fine.

4INFO forms partnership with Shopping.com to offer more functionality with their SMS service.

This partnership gives us a true price compare service from the company that pioneered online comparison shopping. Just enter a barcode or product keyword with "price" and send to 44636 to see your results.

Their numerous products, merchants and Epinions combined with our ability to check prices from a mobile phone, Shopping.com and 4INFO empower consumers to make informed choices when on the go.

Simply use the "price" indicator via SMS, WAP, or Website.
Try it here

"price" + item price xbox 360
"price" + UPC price 805529892835
"price" + keyword price laptop

When Will The Physical World Connection Get Adopted?

I have been asked a number of times when will the physical world connection (PWC) take place and what is taking so long for adoption.

The PWC is when a mobile phone (or other computing device) is able to scan/read a machine readable identifier and link the object to the Internet. The most visible application is scanning a barcode with a camera phone and comparing prices.

I don’t think many realize what a monumental task this really is.

However, it is said the longer it takes an emerging technology to get adopted, the bigger impact it usually has. I think connecting the physical world with the Internet will create endless and enormous opportunities, and not just using a cell phone.

There are 3 basic obstacles this technology faces. (the camera lens, handset capablility, and service provider)

The first issue, and probably the biggest, is the lens on the camera phone. Have you ever tried to take a picture with your camera, close up? Zooming in doesn’t make any difference either. This issue should be resolved soon.

Let’s assume the lens isn’t an issue.

The second obstacle the PWC faces is the handset. A PWC application has to be designed/programmed to work on the endless number of handsets. If you look at some of the PWC company websites , pay attention to what and how many phones, the application is available for. The handset availability is pretty limited. This isn’t a simple program that every phone can download, it has to be programmed to meet EACH handset specifications.

Remember, the handset guys (Nokia, Samsung etc) don’t have a vested interest in adopting this application. There is no incentive for them, yet.

Ok we have a handset that has the PWC and our lens can read a machine-readable identifier, are we ready now? No.

The final obstacle is the network itself. The wireless/mobile Internet isn’t like the PC Web. Every PC with a modem can surf the Web. With the mobile Web, each provider (Sprint, Verizon etc) has their own restrictions. (that’s something that can be resolved easily).

Getting the PWC launched, would be the equivalent of designing a program for every different type of PC, and configuring it to meet every Internet service provider specifications. Oh, and then having people download it to their PC.

The good news? If you resolve JUST ONE of these obstacles, the other two get resolved too. Resolving the “ONE”, will require some creativity and vision. Do you know which one?

There are 2 ways the PWC will get adopted.

First, there will be an application that is in such great demand that users will either download it themselves, or put enough pressure on the wireless carriers to implement. I have some ideas on how to do this.

The other way is to show the service providers how they stand to benefit (increased ARPU) from this exciting technology.

There are basically 2 types of physical world hyperlinks (PWH) available today.

The first and the easiest to use is the 2d code. Look at any Fedex package or a bank statement you will see one. They look like box with a bunch of dots and bars. They are usually used in a closed network and provide info only to the company issuing the code. A Fedex guy can’t use his scanner to scan a UPS box and get the desired info. It’s a valuable tool, but only to the users in the network.

The Fedex guy was probably the first physical world connector on a massive scale.

The most common PWH is probably the barcode. There are 3 billion unique barcodes out there. A Coke Classic 12 oz can has just one, but how many of those cans are out there? See how many potential hyperlinks can be used?

Ok we resolved all of those issues, now what?

CONTENT

What will be delivered when you click on a PWH? Did you ever think about that? Everyone assumes it will be used for price comparison, because it is the only application that gets the press. I can think of dozens of applications that could offered just by clicking on a Jimmy Buffet CD. What would you like to see?

There are two mindsets to consider when delivering content. Do you know who they are?

There are a couple ways to get a service provider to adopt the PWC and there are thousands of applications that can be used with a PWH, …… all it takes is some Visionary Innovation .

UpSNAP For Cash?

This reminds me of IWon and how they tried to get users to use their portal/search engine. If your service is good, people will find it and they will tell their friends.

From PR Newswire UpSNAP offers $10,000 sweepstakes

People can enter to win the grand prize drawing once per day by signing up
for free online at Sweepstakes entry.

Sweepstakes entrants can also receive a free horoscope sent to their mobile phone and explore all of UpSNAP's free and premium SMS services. When participants sign up with UpSNAP, each day they use UpSNAP's services they automatically get an additional entry submitted.

Do this, go the sweepstakes page.

There are 2 things I see that make me question who does their marketing..

1. What is the short code for their service? They don't even put it on the page. Look at 4INFO, Qtags you will see their code on ALL of their publications. I have said a number of times that it will come down to ease of use for a SMS info application to gain traction. Ease of use involves remebering the short code.

2. "Come back and register everyday to increase your chances of winning!" Huh? This is a mobile application and I need to reregister each day on my PC? Where do you want me to use this service, on my mobile or my PC. If you saved the first text message UpSNAP sent you, just have the user send a certain keyword to register again.

Personalized SMS Services

Here are some creative features that can be added to a text-messaging SMS service.

From Business Wire Comverse introduces Personalized SMS Services

Comverse , a unit of Comverse Technology, Inc., today announced the availability of SMS Personal, a package of services that increases personalization of SMS text messaging, maintains high user interest and is designed to boost usage.

These are some features that can be added to an SMS platform.

SMS Sponsored:(my favorite) Reduces the cost of SMS for users who elect to allow unused space at the end of their SMS messages to bear sponsored messages. See the mobile marketing opportunity here? A cheaper text charge gives you permission. There's a lot of space in a text message box that could be utilized with some creativity.

SMS Auto-Reply: Automatic SMS reply is sent to senders of SMS messages. Brings email "out-of-office" automatic response functionality to SMS. Remember how good this was when AOL and others offered "away messages"?

SMS Duplicate: Sends duplicates of incoming SMS messages to an alternate destination. Useful for business users who want messages delivered to multiple devices

SMS to Email: Sends copies of SMS messages to an email account.

SMS Forward: Allows users to automatically forward SMS messages to another device or email account

First Clickable Mobile Ad

Great idea from Third Screen Media.

First there was click to call on a mobile site or SMS, now there's click to call for a mobile ad. Are you getting permission because the WAP site is doing the advertising? If so, this is a little push to get some pull.

From IMediaConnection First clickable mobile ad launches

The Weather Channel Interactive (TWCI) has announced that its mobile group will be launching its first “clickable” mobile ad campaign, for ArubaTourism.

The ads, developed by Atlanta-based Fitzgerald+CO, will appear on The Weather Channel Mobile internet pages and will feature a banner-style ad that when clicked redirects users to an interactive information page. From the information page of the ad, users can click an 800 number, which will then initiate a call to the Aruba Tourism information center.

The ad leverages new technology developed by Third Screen Media and its MADX Publisher solution.

Their new platform, designed to streamline ad management and delivery on mobile networks, has been selected by publishers such as The WeatherChannel, USA Today and MSN to manage advertising inventory in their mobile content. (there's USA today again)

Mega Mobile Merger?

Rumors have it that there may be a significant merger between 2 mobile players in the near future.

If this is true, this combined entity could change the mobile marketing playing field.

Text Message Song Requests On Radio

I remember as a kid I would always get a busy signal when dialing a radio station, you can now text in your song requests, for a fee. With ipods and satellite radio coming on strong, will this save the dying radio industry?

From Chron.com Enpocket allows listeners to text in song requests

Enpocket today announced that Orlando listeners of WXXL can now text their song requests with their mobile phones using its technology to power interactive mobile programs.

New features include a Song Request program, where listeners use SMS text messaging to purchase three song requests for 99 cents.

Listeners also receive an SMS notification 15 minutes before each song reminding them to tune in to hear their request.

What WXXL should do is use the short code for this service as a "info engine" and have advertisers buy keywords. So when an ad comes on the radio, have users send text for more info using that keyword. I would be wiling to bet the revenues generated are MUCH greater and advertisers would love this.

Refresh Mobile Offers Mobizines

Will this be a better way to deliver content than a WAP site?

From NetImperative Mobile users get mini magazines
Mobile technology firm Refresh Mobile has launched a new service, called Mobizines , that lets magazine publishers distribute their content to mobile users. This will allow consumers access mini versions of their content.

To download Mobizines to the handset, the consumer texts 'Mobi' followed by the name of the Mobizine (e.g. TimeOut) to 63333 and follows the instructions to download.

Content partners that feature in the current portfolio of Mobizines are Condé Nast (GQ and Glamour), OK!, TimeOut, ITV, Daily Snack, TV Genius and sports news from TeamTalk.

The cost per edition varies by network but on average costs between 3 and 10p.
Does this represent good value? Would you pay for it?

Refresh Mobile CEO Scott Beaumont, said: “Until now, neither brands nor advertisers have been able to take advantage of the intimate relationship that consumers have with their mobile.

“At the same time, advertisers can begin to target their customers directly and build a relationship through contextual adverts which are meaningful to the reader,” Beaumont added.

Philips Makes Plastic RFID Tags

The RFID space is one I watch closely. There will numerous applications and businesses that get created from this emerging technology. Think of an RFID tag as a barcode on steroids.

This story from EE Times highlights the advances chip companies are making. One of the biggest obstacles for this industry is cost per tag.

Scientists at Philips Research have created a fully functional 13.56-MHz radio frequency identification (RFID) tag based entirely on plastic electronics.

In contrast to conventional silicon-chip-based RFID tags, a plastic electronics RFID chip can be printed directly onto a plastic substrate along with an antenna without involving complex assembly steps, Philips Research said in a statement.

Plastic-electronics-based RFID tags have the potential to be manufactured via reel-to-reel and other in-line processing techniques, which should be considerably less cost than silicon processing.

Do you know what would bring these costs down even further? There are other interesting developments, and companies in this space, that get me pondering.

Action Engine And Motricity Team Up For Mobile App

In my opinion, Action Engine and their browserless mobile application platform, will turn heads at 3GSM Conference. After looking at what it does, and their content deal with powerhouse Motricity, this should create quite a buzz at the show. Action Engine is making it easy to retrieve info from the mobile web by putting icons/categories on your mobile screen giving you a "browserless portal"

The Action Engine Mobile Application Platform™ introduces a browserless, client/server approach to accessing transaction-oriented online services that takes 80% fewer keystrokes and drives 20x faster response times than browser-based alternatives.

The turnkey Brand-n-Go™ applications pack enables wireless operators to go to market in unprecedented timeframes with intuitive, responsive, and personalized applications that create an addictive user experience.

The company's software has been deployed by a robust list of global wireless operators that include SingTel, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Optus, Orange SA, O2, and SMART Communications, Inc.

Don't take my word for how good this is, try the demo

Take a spin on their BrandnGo application that includes providers like:eBay, Amazon.com, Microsoft MapPoint, RestaurantRow.com, Zap2it, Associated Press News, Associated Press Stocks, and AccuWeather.com
Try it out free for 90 days, click here

You can also try their PC application too.

In last month's "Best Software" for Mobility aware release

– Action Engine: Provides a new way for users to access information on cell phones rather than using the limited WAP menu tree. Allows users to define what’s at each level on the icon display. Provides access to a number of content portals such as news, weather, sports and financial.

Sprint users can get a 30 day free trial

Tell me what you think.

Short Codes Grow To 6 Digits

This is great news for mobile marketing companies. This will offer many easy-to remember short codes. If I'm Google I make a call and reserve 466453 (GOOGLE).

Start thinking of clever words, phrases and numbers that will be easy to remember for your mobile marketing/mobile search applications.

In my opinion, short codes will be the initial hot "keywords" for mobile. Any phone can use them and they will be a lot easier to use and remember than WAP sites.

I explained how this could create a SMS Land Rush?

From Pr News wire NeuStar expannds Common Short Code (CSC) to 6 digit codes

The Wireless Association(R) and NeuStar, Inc. , a leading provider of essential clearinghouse services to the global communications and Internet industry, today announced the planned expansion of the highly successful Common Short Code (CSC) program.

Today, CSCs are five-digit numbers. Under the terms of the agreement,
CTIA and NeuStar will expand the pool of available CSCs to include six-digit
codes in the CSC Registry, thus increasing the amount of usable CSCs to nearly
one million. CTIA and NeuStar plan to roll out this capability to potential
subscribers in Spring 2006.

Using CSCs, advertisers and content providers have been able to extend
targeted service offerings directly to the handsets of more than 200 million
mobile subscribers of participating wireless carriers.

To register a short code click here, Europeans click here

To see who owns what short code SMS Search Engine

What short codes would you register? DO you think there will be a rush to register the "good ones"?

New Mobile Marketing Player

Atlanta-based Mobile Transit Authority LLC (MTA) today announced it has opened its doors creating the first mobile agency to specialize in assisting brands in employing the growing potential of the mobile channel as an integral part of their marketing mix.

"We recognized the need in the mobile space for experienced professionals to steer marketers down the right road without getting them lost,” says David Miranda, Principal Driver of Marketing.

Mobile Transit Authority has been founded by an experienced group of mobile marketing, technology and internet entrepreneurs

Search Agency Goes Mobile

Expect to see a lot more of this. Search agencies, and then advertising agencies, will be entering into the mobile advertising and mobile marketing space. Finding people that understand mobile technology (and all of the available applications) and have creativity for advertising campaigns is proving the biggest obstacle.

From DM News Search firm debuts mobile unit

Though advertising on mobile devices is not new, search marketing firm iCrossing , New York, says it is the first search agency to devote a separate business unit to mobile advertising and search.

"We see every day more content migrating to mobile phones. Wherever content goes, search is right behind it," said Noah Elkin, director of industry relations at iCrossing.

MCrossing will provide location-aware services, letting ads target customers looking for a particular type of store or service. It also can set up e-commerce and billing capabilities so users can browse catalogs, redeem gift certificates and track orders from their cell phones.

I keep thinking about that quote from JumpTap, "More sophisticated mobile devices and increased use will push mobile search revenues over those of Internet search".

Carnival Of The Mobilists

This week Carnival of the Mobilists is hosted by Daniel Taylor at Mobile Enterprise Weblog.

Hard to believe this is already the fourteenth week for us. It just keeps getting better.

Topics include:

-The Calendar
-Industry Trends
-Mobility & Web 2.0
-User Behavior
-Mobile Applications

Have a looksie and next week why not contribute?

Pam Anderson Promotes Text Messaging SMS

This is just what the industry needs, a high profile celebrity promoting a valuable tool for mobile marketing.

From Canada.com Pam Anderson promotes Valentine's Day text-messaging campaign

Actress Pamela Anderson showed up Friday for a corporate promotional event filled with sexy - and text-y - wordplay.

Wearing a tight T-shirt that said "Text Kitten," the former Playboy model sat on a red chair in the shape of lips to help Virgin Mobile (always controversial) unveil its Valentine's Day text-messaging campaign.

The media briefing also involved the release of the company's new book, The Joy of Text: Your Guide to a More Satisfying Text Life.

"I do it to myself," Anderson, star of the Fox sitcom Stacked, said about the act of text messaging. "Everywhere and all the time, and a lot - and my fingers do get tired."

FYI "sexual innuendo" is 15 characters on the screen.

This Is Your Wake Up Call Service Providers

JumpTap , a mobile search company, put out a white paper entitled "Why Not Google: The Argument for Carrier-branded Mobile Search"..

I discussed this same dilemma, and provided a couple ideas, with If I Was A Service Provider


JumpTap states:"This new industry report makes the argument that carriers face substantial financial risk if they allow major Internet providers, such as Google or Yahoo, to access the device deck, the subscriber base, and mobile search advertising revenue".

This seems like deja-vous all over again (AOL).

One of the best quotes "mobile search is positioned to be the next significant value creation opportunity for mobile operators around the world".

Other highlights:
"More sophisticated mobile devices and increased use will push mobile search revenues over those of Internet search."

"Google Wants to Take the Value of the Carrier"

This paper is a GREAT READ. Email Peter Gorman at Topaz Partners for more info.

Here's what I see.

Once there's an mobile search (or any much desired) application that people want badly enough to download to their phone, service providers lose their dominance.

Imagine if Google says "to get a Google search box on your handset, send a text to 46645 and click on link to download. It can be easy as that.

The service providers have to be in front of the portals. What could they offer that both consumers AND advertisers would desire? What is the last thing the SP still controls and that they can use for leverage? Do you see it? I do.

There is a big money pie for mobile search coming, it's just a question of how greedy the players want to be.

Google Launches Free SMS Text Messaging Service

I don't have Google's Toolbar on my PC, so I can't tell if this is new. (Can someone verify if this is new?)

If this is a new application from Google, then the playing field just shifted in a BIG WAY in the text message space.

I saw the story on Real Tech News


Google Text Message (SMS) Give it a try. Click on the link or the screen shot.

Just remember Google is tracking all your text activity (wink wink)

The only problem with this is that you need to know the carrier of the user's phone number in order to send.

I can see a bunch of things Google can introduce with this. Notice the shift Google is making from the PC to the mobile.

Sprint Ambassador Program

Recently I was asked to participate in Sprint's Ambassador program. They provide me with a Samsung A920 phone and all of their services free of charge for 6 mos. In return I provide feedback in their forum (not necessarily on my blog).

I am discovering a couple things about applications, and their value, by using their Power Vision service.


Initially I thought mobile TV was a bad idea. Boy was I wrong. I find myself using this feature the most. Juliet Huddy looks pretty good on my little screen. Will mobile TV replace the demand for satellite radio feeds? I can get full video with my phone, will this impact the consumers that subscribe to satellite radio?

Surfing is pretty quick. The only problem is the phone, it has a number pad for a keyboard. Very frustrating when you're used to a QWERTY board (my Treo). I equate this to going on the Autobahn with a Hyundai. Typing in any lengthy website domain is frustrating.

Maybe when Sprint needs beta testers for their Treo 700, they will look up the primate.

There are a number of great applications Sprint provides with Power Vision. The maps section is terrific. It includes a GPS function, driving instructions and uses the GPS function for local search.

The audio on ALL applications is very good, with or without headphones.

The speed is probably the best "feature" I have uncovered. I love it and can't wait for Sprint to add the new Treo 700.

The things I would change:

--Make one click acces to specific functions. I hate having to go thru the menu every time I want to use an app

--When I am in middle of a text, and I receive one, the text I was writing, disappears.

--Startup menu (front screen) is too hard to navigate. Eliminate the pictures and put a text menu (1. Web 2. Camera etc)

--Add more "bookmarks" for the Web service. Typing in a URL is hard enough with a small keyboard once, you shouldnt have to do it every time you want to go to that site. I have more than 10-12 sites I surf regularly with my mobile.

I am still playing with this and seeing what it can do. If you have a mobile application that you would like me to try out, just email and I will be happy to do so.

Neomedia Gets Camera Phone Bar Code Patent

Physical world connection player, Neomedia, gets patent that covers the capture and processing of bar codes explicitly from camera cell phones.

Barcodes are just another example of a physical world hyperlink, and the camera on the phone acts as the browser.

The patent reads:
A camera-enabled cell phone that is adapted to image a machine readable code such as a bar code, decode the bar code, send the bar code data over the Internet to a resolution server that will return an associated URL that will link the camera phone to content on an information server. Thus, by taking a picture of a bar code symbol, the camera phone will automatically retrieve content from the Internet that has been linked to that bar code

Charles W. Fritz, the company's founder and chairman, said that NeoMedia also has patents covering search, location-based ads, and "other enabling technology for a wide range of mobile marketing activities and applications.

He also states,"Our patented technology is a mobile marketing necessity,".

Patent 6,993,573

Tribune Invests In Boodle

I have been watching Boodle for a while, waiting for someone to scoop these guys up. Frankly I thought it would be a major portal, but this is a very smart move for Tribune. Another print organization making the digital transition.

I see a big opportunity for Boodle and their platform in mobile marketing

From Marketing Vox Tribune sites to offer Boodle online coupons

Boodle provides online printable coupons to newspaper publishers. Tribune owns L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday. They already have distribution deals with Gannett, Knight Ridder, Midlands Newspapers and The Copley Press.

Boodle distributes Grocery Coupons through a prestigious network of Newspapers. Grocery coupons are based on where you live, not the paper's location.

See the mobile marketing implications here?

What could Google do with this? Create a special category called "Coupons".

Remember coupons are recurring content with a machine readable identifier.

Do a Google for Nike Air Jordan and see if there are any stores with a coupon for this. Print the coupon or have a link, or the barcode sent to your mobile phone. Google generates another division (another revenue stream) called Pay-Per-Coupon.

See how the barcode is gaining value in the digital world?

I have lots of mobile marketing ideas for this.

2006 The Year For ZigBee

This may seem a little off topic for most PP readers, but I said in '06 I would start to cover more emerging technologies that I think are disruptive and can lead to exciting applications.

There are many aspects to the physical world connection. ZigBee involves wireless sensor networks.

From Art George, a VP at Texas Instruments said "The low power wireless sensor networking market based primarily on industry-standard IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee is set to take off and will show significant growth in the coming years,"

TI just recently acquired Chipcon which got lots of attention in this space.

Over the past year, in excess of 2 million ZigBee radio chips were sold -- more than any other radio technology in this space. These chips were delivered to consumer product and other device manufacturing companies that are designing the next-generation end-user products that will be certified to work together seamlessly.

ZigBee is the only standards-based technology designed to address the unique needs of low-cost, low-power, wireless sensor networks for remote monitoring, home control and building automation network applications in the industrial and consumer markets.

The complete forecast

Some FAQs about ZigBee
Note the comparisons to Bluetooth.

Tell me what you think. "Hey Scott, this is too foreign to me, go back to the mobile". Or would you like to see what other disruptive techologies and killer apps I look for?

USA TODAY Launches Mobile WAP Site

Yesterday USA TODAY launched mobile search with 4INFO, and today they introduce their mobile WAP site. The largest national newspaper is making their shift to mobile. When will others?

Crisp Wireless powers USA TODAY mobile WAP site

Crisp Wireless , a leading provider of consumer facing mobile applications, content management, delivery, and commerce solutions, today announced that it has created a new mobile WAP site and provided content management tools to manage the new wireless offering from USATODAY.com

wap.usatoday.com

Users can choose from various USATODAY.com content categories, including news, money, sports, life, technology, travel and weather.

Activate Physical World With Hidden Hyperlinks

This is a must read for 2 reasons.

Mobile Insider has a great story called Activating the physical world that summarizes the CBS Marketwatch story about using a camera phone as a scanner.

But that's not the "ah ha" point.

Steve Smith has a great quote "the promise of activating the physical world, of letting content pour out of encounters with products and promotions, is just too great even for the mobile carriers to ignore. At some point, they will have to start making this idea work for everyone". Agreed.

What is ironic about this Mobile Insider story is the advertising on it. There's an ad from Yahoo! and their "Life Engine" in the top right hand corner. Wave your mouse over the objects in the ad and see what happens. (hope you see the same thing I see)

STOP DONT READ BELOW BEFORE YOU DO

This is great Internet advertising. What it does is show how objects of YOUR interest can be hyperlnked without intrusion. Hidden hyperlinks. I like it.

Imagine doing this with your cell phone in the physical world now. Waving your cell phone over an item to retrieve more information, or to interact.

That's the physical world connection.

Hey Yahoo! I would love to get a copy of this advertisement and give it some legs.

4INFO In USA TODAY

The official placement of 4INFO's mobile search started today in USA TODAY. 4INFO was smart. They chose a national paper to launch their search app in.

Their ads are placed on the front of the Sports and Weather sections.

Gannett, which is the parent of USA TODAY and a big media conglomerate, just bought a minority stake in 4INFO.
What you are seeing is an old medium trying to transform their business with new media application.

If I was News Corp, you know what I would do to counter this?

Point And Search Cell Phone

I am noticing more of these physical world connection stories being told as applications in use, rather than just concepts. It is coming.

From Information Week 'Point and Search' technology for cell phones hits Japan

Users can point their cell phones at 700,000 buildings, retailers, restaurants, banks, and historical sites throughout Japan to retrieve information. (that's a great idea, but I think being able to interact with products will be even bigger)

GeoVector Corp . said Monday that it has teamed up with Japan's Mapion to offer Mapion's cell phone searching technology for mobile phones in Japan.

Mapion was the original developer of Yahoo maps .

"Soon, users will point their mobile phones at restaurants to get reviews, point at billboards to shop at the advertiser's website, point at a movie poster to buy tickets, or play a game by pointing at their friends," said GeoVector president John Ellenby, in a statement.

From GeoVector's website:

"The human instinct to point is strong and GeoVector patented search
technologies and methods let you click on the real world, giving applications
and information services a natural interface even more powerful than voice"

See a demo