Mobile Entertainment Issue 53, July 2009 by Intent Media (now Newbay Media Europe)

JULY 2009 ISSUE 53

FOR EVERYONE IN MOBILE CONTENT www.mobile-ent.biz

MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT

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M O M SP U BI EC SI LE IA C L This month ME is pleased to present its first conference event. Mobile Music Now takes place on July 9th at BAFTA, and will attract around 150 content execs for an evening of stirring debate, networking, dinner and drinks. To mark the event, and the fresh interest in mobile music prompted by the strategies of Spotify, Virgin Media and others, we’ve made issue 53 of ME something of a mobile music special. We’re dedicating most of our feature pages to the subject, with examinations of ringbacks, subscriptions, discovery and more. There’s also a chance to gauge progress in India and Japan. So turn your amps up to 11 and enjoy...

CONTENTS 09 MOBILE MUSIC: MMN preview Let the networking commence.

10 MOBILE MUSIC: Sounding the right note? Mobile music into its difficult second album stage.

12 MOBILE MUSIC: Talking Frank The CEO of 24-7 talks ISPs, music bundles, DRM and more.

14 MOBILE MUSIC: Are ringbacks answering? Muzicall outlines its plans to wake up the moribund European ringbacks market.

RIM’s big money signing of U2 is just one symptom of mobile’s renewed passion for music. Expect to see apps soon...

16 MOBILE MUSIC: Gateway to India Hungama explains how it will move India beyond ringtones.

4-6 News 18 Meet-up memories 21 Transcoding 26 Appointments 30 Shows 31 Product focus 32 Databox 34 Charts 37 Network subs

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July 2009 3

NEWS

How can life go on? hey say that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Maybe. But they didn’t tell us that smartphones drain power pretty sharpish too. Last month, at an industry conference, a ‘futurologist’ asked all attendees to form into groups and cogitate on the most important issues for mobile content in the coming decade. Independently of each other, every group mentioned battery life. It’s funny. We at ME take a lot of calls from PRs requesting interviews with their clients. All welcome. However, we’re quite strict about sticking with entertainment-related stuff only, so we reject email firms, voicemail vendors etc etc. We might have considered battery specialists part of that group too. Well, we might have to reconsider that one. In a future in which phones are permanently connected rich media devices, battery power could become a critical differentiator for handset makers. How many times have you heard a mobile exec wistfully recall the week-long battery

Spotify goes mobile The landmark unlimited music store will be on smartphones shortly – but it won’t be the ad-funded version THE MUSIC service everyone’s talking about – Spotify – will launch a mobile version in Europe later this summer, and in the US by the end of the year. Spotify’s founder, Daniel Ek (pictured), has stated the company’s intention to go wireless and sources told ME that an app is being built for Android, iPhone and other smartphone platforms, and it will land very soon. However, it will only be available to consumers willing to pay the £9.99 monthly fee, and not to those who receive the free adfunded version. It’s estimated that barely one per cent pay for the ad-free version. A mobile move would be a huge fillip for Spotify – and record labels say they’re excited – although bandwidth might be an issue. It’s possible the service would be wi-fi

Ek hopes that consumers are willing to pay for Spotify on mobile

only, or could cache playlists to reduce data volumes. Spotify is Swedish-owned, and most successful in the UK,

with around one million users, but also available in Norway, Finland, France and Spain. www.spotify.com

How many times have you heard a mobile exec wistfully recall week-long battery life, then bemoan the daily charging required of their iPhone? life of the Nokia 6310 – and then heard the same poor soul bemoaning the daily recharging required of their new iPhone? Interesting, though, to read about Nokia’s newest breakthrough. It claims to have developed a new prototype charging system that powers devices with ambient radiowaves – the weak TV, radio and phone signals that surround us. The 20 milliwatts harvested is enough to keep a phone in standby mode indefinitely without having to recharge it. This sounds immensely promising, especially if combined with solar technology. But can anything keep pace with the demands being placed on what Nokia itself calls ‘multimedia computers’? It’s a bit like motorways. Traffic is congested so you build new roads. And what happens? They get used more, the gridlock is even worse, and the hedgehogs have nowhere to live. If we’re going to use our phones for important things like fart emulation and bubble wrap popping, the demands on battery life will just accelerate. It’s a noble cause. Let’s hope those boffins can deliver. Tim.Green@intentmedia.co.uk 4

July 2009

ME Awards 2009: the panel decides soon Still time to get nominations in before team makes final shortlists APPLICATIONS have been flooding in since ME officially declared its ME Awards competition open for submissions last month. Nearly 100 companies have sent in nominations, and we’ve extended the deadline by a few days – to July 10th, 2009. Finalist shortlists will be published online from July 27th, and in a special

supplement with the August issue of the magazine. The winners are ultimately decided by a judging panel, which is drawn from the Mobile Entertainment contacts book and consists of around 400 executives from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury are sent a PDF of the finalists’ supplement. They base their

decisions on this document and their own industry experience. This year’s awards are on Thursday October 1st at The Royal Garden Hotel in London, UK. For details of table sales and sponsorship opportunities contact Jodie.Holdway@bhpr.co.uk or +44 (0) 1462 456 780. www.mobile-ent.biz/events

www.mobile-ent.biz

Europe to seize Mpower Mobile games platform aims further afield MPOWERPLAYER has targeted Europe as the first destination for an expansion drive that will take its webbased mobile games platform beyond its US base. The firm told ME it is speaking to operators across Europe – but also in Asia, Australasia and the Middle East – about licensing its white label storefronts. The Mpowerplayer platform builds playable demos of mobile games that are integrated with an operator’s billing system. It means that casual players can trial games and purchase them seamlessly. Following the recent closure of a $2.5 million funding round, Mpowerplayer is targeting European operators, especially those with app stores and triple play offers. Powers said: “We complement these strategies. I think we’re pretty frictionless.”

Mpowerplayer built its system after observing that 75 per cent of online consumers play games in web browsers, but less than five per cent download them to mobile. It has hosted millions of game plays in partnership with AT&T and Sprint, and also through its Mplayit app, which puts operator-linked games on Facebook and MySpace. Michael Powers, the CEO of Mpowerplayer, believes this approach can help reach the most neglected customers. “People with a natural affinity to mobile – casual gamers – are not being actively marketed to,” he said. “It’s logical to go online to target them, because they’re on social networks.” Research by Mpowerplayer makes a compelling case. It found that, on average, 14 per cent of game plays produce a click to buy.

Guitar Hero is just one of the games that Mpowerplayer hosts

www.mobile-ent.biz

www.orange.com Raoul Roverato, Orange

Nokia’s Ovi app store needs WAP billing to really fly – and the handset maker claims it already has 27 integrations in place. It also claims consumers from 152 countries visited Ovi Store just two weeks after launch last month. Ovi Store is accessible from over 75 Nokia devices in five languages, and Nokia says the top countries for download in alphabetical order are: Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and US.

The German mobile-only community itsmy.com has launched a division dedicated to browserbased games. itsmy games will be the fourth division of itsmy after advertising, social TV and the core social networking service itsmy.com, which has 2.5 million users. The unit was launched after a trial of three games, including Graffiti, CrazyBee and WaterBalloon Battle, proved successful with more than five million play sessions within the last three months. There are 50 games in development.

Mobile is the new gay destination

www.mpowerplayer.com

Orange is working on versions for Java feature phones, and also OTA app shop portals. There are already up to 300 games and apps ready, with prices from €6 to €12. Developer rev shares are to be variable depending on the success of the app.

Ovi’s billing latest

itsmy ready to play

App store now Device wars heat comes in Orange up the summer ORANGE is busy building an app store experience into a quartet of its flagship phones, and should be ready to go live by 4Q 2009. The giant French operator, with 180 million customers, has been upgrading the Orange Application Shop (which is already available, but buried in the Orange World portal), so that it is available from the homescreen and built into the UE of the device. And those devices are the Nokia N96, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, HTC Touch Diamond and Sony Ericsson W980. Raoul Roverato, EVP of of Orange’s new growth businesses, told ME that lessons had been learned about app stores. “We’ve lived the app store dream, and spent the money,” he said. “And we’ve learned that you need to know who it’s for, and build device offerings that work.” He added that

[IN BRIEF]

Apple and Nokia choose same day for big launch, while Palm gets US excited IN THE future mobiologists may look back on June 19th 2009 as some kind of landmark, like the thriller in Manila. It was the day when Apple decided to launch its iPhone 3G S and Nokia shipped out its long-awaited N97 – the most significant handset launches of the year. The iPhone 3G S hit the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland first and will be in 80 countries by August. As expected, it looks just like the old one but has up to 32GB of memory, 7.2Mbps HSDPA connectivity and 3MP camera.

The Nokia N97 went out to 74 countries. The qwerty slider goes up to 32GB, has a 5MP camera, 3.5-inch touchscreen display and optimised Ovi Store access. It shipped with widgets from Facebook, Hi5, Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters. Meanwhile the Palm Pre received an excitable critical reception in the US last month, although sales were reportedly modest. It should arrive in Europe by the end of September. Analysts expect at least a million Palm Pres to be sold by the end of the year.

MoxieQ has launched what it claims is the first gay mobile entertainment destination, with content, news and UGC site tailored for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community. The site will present short-form content such as Test your Gay IQ, Psychic Snacs (‘gay’ horoscopes), Ask Mr. Moxie and ‘Bite, Sip and Buy’ recommendations for gay and green businesses. MoxieQ says the LGBT market is worth $712 billion LGBT.

MobiTV hits 7m subscribers The original streaming mobile TV provider MobiTV has added two million new customers in the last six months. It now has seven million people subscribing to its services through partners including Sprint, AT&T and Alltel.

Zed buys Temafon As soon as the ink was dry on the Player X deal, Zed went back on the acquisition trail to buy Russian content aggregator Temafon. The Spanish firm reportedly paid more than $5 million for a 51 per cent share in Temafon, which is part of Tema Mobile Media. Temafon is the exclusive aggregator of Russianbased mobile content to operator VimpelCom, which owns an indirect minority share in the aggregator.

Twitter phone? It’s done wonders for mobile Skype and Facebook, and INQ is now to build a device around Twitter. INQ’s first device, the INQ1, integrated Facebook, Skype, Yahoo, Google and various IM apps, and sold 700,000 units. The firm has said that its Twitter model would embed a Twitter client that would use wi-fi rather than SMS.

July 2009 5

NEWS

The future’s Bright Affiliate mobile gambling programme gathers momentum BRIGHTSHARE, the partnership programme for Wild Jack Mobile Casino and All Slots Mobile Casino, has grown its gambling games portfolio to 17. Mermaids Millions video slot is available through the two mobile specialists in the Brightshare programme. The Brightshare network lets operators and other partners earn monthly revenue by directing traffic via links and banners placed on their sites. Although traditionally the games have been available as Java downloads, Mermaids Millions is one of seven now available as browser-based experience for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android. According to Brightshare, this reduces the number of ‘clicks to play’ and removes the element of device fragmentation associated with downloaded apps.

The chips are up for Brightshare, which is rapidly gaining new partners

Brightshare believes its growing portfolio will accelerate its expansion. It currently has over 50 partners including operators, content aggregators and WAP sites. The UK remains its primary territory thanks to the clarity of its gambling regulation, but Brightshare reports growing business in France, Belgium, Australia,

Mobile evolves at Develop conference NOKIA’S Mark Ollila will explain the development of the music game Dance Fabulous at the Develop conference next month. His keynote will kick off the mobile stream at Evolve, which focuses on how to develop games for new platforms. Ollila, Nokia’s director of technology and strategy, will explain how the game hooks into N-Gage Arena’s community of users. The Develop conference will take place at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton, UK, July 14th to 16th. Evolve opens on July 14th. Sessions of note for mobile users are: Panel: Where next for Apple on mobile?

July 2009

Taking your game to iPhone and Android, without killing your team – Chris White, Glu How today’s social networks will change how you make, play and sell games tomorrow – Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish 20 great innovations in casual, social and mobile games that you should steal – Stuart Dredge, Pocket Gamer Panel: opportunities and hurdles for mobile gaming – Chair: Tim Green, ME Develop attracts around 1,200 game developers from over 30 different territories. The Expo pass is free of charge. www.develop conference.com

Germany and South Africa. The programme offers its partners an attractive revenue share model, marketing material, multiple payment options and up-to-the-minute reporting tools, and can set up new accounts in days without having to build their own e-commerce infrastructure.

mKhoj eyes Europe INDIA-BASED advertising network mKhoj expects to launch across Europe by September. It will take on market leader Admob by bringing into Europe a platform that already generates two billion impressions a month across 27 countries including India, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Despite widespread pessimism about the current climate for mobile advertising in the west, mKhoj is recruiting a team to be based in London and other major cities. It believes its platform offers greater intelligence than others – guaranteeing the most cost-effective customer acquisition in the market. Naveen Tewari, CEO of mKhoj, said: “I think the European market is more about relationships than intelligence, and this is

Naveen Tewari

where I see our opportunity. I have total confidence in the intelligence in our system because it’s helped us grow ten times in six months.” mKhoj provides a mobile advertising marketplace based on WAP banner and text ads. It doesn’t serve SMS ads. It can power advertising in local languages including Afrikaans, Tamil, Turkic, and Zulu, in 17 countries. www.mkhoj.com

www.brightshare.com

mBlox says ‘sender-pays’ Look carefully at this logo: you’ll be seeing a lot more of it UK TRANSACTIONS specialist mBlox claims the time is right for its ‘senderpays’ concept to come of age. The firm has created a generic ‘zero data charge’ trustmark to support the idea, and expects the logo to be used widely in the UK from this summer. It is currently enabled in the UK with three of the major four operators. The sender-pays proposition enables businesses to buy data wholesale from the operator, so they can provide content to mobile users with the guarantee of no costs for downloading. But the big issue is user education – hence the trustmark.

This trustmark will tell consumers that there are no hidden costs to worry about

mBlox believes the benefits of sender-pays include: Extends ‘free’ data to the 90 per cent of subscribers that don’t currently have flat rate plans Makes ‘free’ offerings genuinely free Avoids the issue of hidden costs for customers Provides a boost to non-

revenue apps like ticketing and vouchers Could revive the ondevice portal that needs to regularly download in the background. Andrew Bud, chairman of mBlox, said: “Sender-pays properly balances network use with revenue.” www.mblox.com

www.mobile-ent.biz

July 2009

www.mobile-ent.biz

Let’s talk music Mobile Music Now is a new kind of conference, with the emphasis on networking and debate. Here’s a look ahead to an exciting evening… ast month, Spotify hinted that it would take its streaming music service to mobile. Shortly after, Virgin Media confirmed the world’s first MP3-based unlimited music service. Things are moving fast in mobile music. Good time for a conference, then. The Mobile Music Now event is a little different from the traditional summit. It has been designed to get people talking, networking and having fun. We’ve recruited a group of star names, one from each of the major stakeholders in mobile music – operators, handsets, labels, advertising and technical services – to get the discussion going. And we expect the talking and the introductions to continue through the evening.

The speakers are: Barney Wragg, formerly head of digital at EMI and a senior VP at Universal Alex Vlassopulos, head of business development (digital), Sony Music Antony Douglas, head of content, O2 Telefonica Jonathan MacDonald, MD of JMA and consultant at OgilvyOne Tim Grimsditch, head of global product marketing (music), Nokia Frank Taubert, CEO, 24-7 Entertainment Juan Paz, Music Ally Morgan Donoghue, head of music, Vodafone Group Services

Barney Wragg

Alex Vlassopulos

Antony Douglas

Jonathan MacDonald

Tim Grimsditch

Frank Taubert

Juan Paz

Morgan Donoghue

Mobile Music Now sponsors Platinum sponsor: 24-7 Entertainment This digital music pioneer offers a platform that powers millions of downloads for TDC, 3 Austria, Omnifone, Sony Ericsson and more (see page 12).

The order of events 4.30pm . . . . .MMN starts 5.00pm . . . . .Welcome Speech – Tim Green, ME 5.05pm . . . . .Keynote – Barney Wragg, ex-EMI 5.25pm . . . . . .Market Research – Juan Paz, Music Ally 6.00pm . . . . .Panel Session with…

Gold sponsor: Muzicall

Alex Vlassopulos – Sony Music Antony Douglas – O2 Telefonica Jonathan MacDonald – JMA Tim Grimsditch – Nokia Frank Taubert – 24-7 Entertainment Neeraj Roy – Hungama

Muzicall is reviving the European ringback market with a platform that enables ringbacks to be sold by D2C players, and opens up the ‘product’ as an advertising channel (see page 14).

Gold sponsor: Hungama Close relationships with Bollywood have made Hungama India’s premier giant firm. Now it’s moving beyond ringtones with its first music subscription package (see page 16).

Gold sponsor: Materna Materna is using its MACS delivery platform to power a ‘Widget Microstore’ that lets labels and bands build ministorefronts for selling and marketing music (see page 11).

6.40pm

Keynote – Morgan Donoghue, head of music, Vodafone Group Services 7.00pm . . . . .Networking Drinks Reception 7.15 pm . . . . .Speed Meet Programme 8.00pm . . . .Three Course Networking Dinner 10.00pm . . .Drinks Midnight . . .Carriages ....

Mobile Music Now Thursday July 9th BAFTA 195 Piccadilly London W1 Ticket price: £259 plus VAT.

Haven’t booked? Do it now! Time is running out to join these speakers and around 150 other industry execs to gain insights, ask questions and meet valuable new business contacts. Tickets cost £259 plus VAT. Get in touch. Quick! For bookings contact: Rob.Baker@intentmedia.co.uk or call 01992 535646 www.mobile-ent.biz

July 2009 9

Platinum Sponsor

n a few days, ME will host its first conference: Mobile Music Now. And we’re doing so with the market emerging from a moribund state into something new and potentially game-changing. DRM, subscriptions, ad-funding, apps – all of a sudden everything’s up for debate again. When ME launched, the music business was milking the ringtone cash cow. It was briefly worth $4 billion a year. But mis-sold subscriptions and self-configuring by users butchered that bovine. And what came into its place? Operator full-track stores offering an inferior experience to iTunes – at twice the price. They were dark days, brightened only by a few interesting ideas like Shazam. So even though listening to songs on mobile flourished (thanks to Walkman, Xpress Music, etc), paying for it didn’t. Well, apart from in Japan, where they do things differently (see box). A year ago, things changed. Omnifone’s MusicStation concept brought unlimited subscription music to millions of Voda users. Nokia’s Comes With Music did the same, but hid the cost in the handset price. Then Sony Ericsson mimicked the model with PlayNow Plus. Meanwhile the general drift away from DRM was adopted by the mobile community, removing another high barrier to adoption: in March 2009, Vodafone became the first to go MP3 on its download store. But, of course, mobile music is not just about selling stuff. Labels are discovering its power as a marketing medium. At first this manifested itself in the obvious, such as over-paying Robbie Williams, and sponsoring festivals. But then came the app store and widget era (see box) and suddenly the ability of mobile to deliver new experiences around a band became possible. Thus, O2 and Sony Music launched individual artist stores, while developers like Yuza Mobile emerged to develop utilities for labels. In the last few weeks there has been more movement. First Spotify confirmed it was going mobile (although not with its ad-funded option), then Virgin Media UK unveiled the first DRM-free unlimited music service. Soon after, Nokia told ME it hoped to take Comes With Music the same way. Mobile music hasn’t truly delivered yet. But there’s still a lot to discuss over the next few pages.

July 2009

Has the music

started? After the barren post-ringtone years, is mobile music stirring into life? Tim Green thinks it may be. His thoughts kick off ME’s special focus on the sector ahead of the Mobile Music Now conference… www.mobile-ent.biz

Gold Sponsors

All join in if you want to sell

Apps turn tables for Yuza

Materna’s micro store concept uses widgets to help music owners sell far and wide...

What can the app store ‘revolution’ do for artists and bands? Loads, according to UK developer Yuza Mobile...

If the key differentiator of mobile music is its viral power, the question is, what’s the best way to make it fly? Materna, the content delivery specialist, thinks it has the answer: widgets. Materna’s micro store concept extends the online shopping experience with a widget that can be integrated into any website, while maintaining the content owner’s look and feel. The widget makes viral (and even user-gen) marketing possible because it can be deployed by fans, affiliates or aggregators alike. It also integrates the fixed and mobile internet, meaning content can be ordered on the web but delivered to the handset. Of course, the beauty of widgets is that they take automatic feeds, so they get updated transparently. They can also be used to market not just digital assets, but physical goods too. This gives labels or bands the chance to create widgets for specific events – concerts, festivals one-off promotions. Michael Orajuru, UK MD of Materna, believes this is critical

Historic relationships with the record labels have helped London-based studio Yuza Mobile become an indemand music app developer in less than six months. Headed up by former G8Wave man and music label owner Richard Skaife, Yuza can boast real insight into what the record biz needs – and what makes an iPhone app work. This was put to the test when superstar DJ Paul van Dyk and his management commissioned Yuza to build an app. The product itself is a kind of DJ’s tool with functions that measure beats per minute, frequency modulation and so on. It even has a glow stick. In this sense the app didn’t directly promote van Dyk’s work directly – more by association. That said, the DJ still filmed a Youtube preview, which racked up over 50,000 views, and there was a big launch party in London. It was finally released to coincide with van Dyk’s album Volume. The app achieved front page racking on the iTunes App store. All in all over 15 people from management, PR, technical, labels,

because it means vendors the chance to cross-promote and sell digital and physical assets. He says: “Bundling possibilities abound. And in an era in which artists have to monetise all facets of their ‘brand’, this is extremely important.” Ultimately, though, widgets have to work. Materna’s product is underwritten by its MACS platform. MACS is supported 24 hours a day, a 365 days of the year, by Materna’s team and is used by operators and publishers across Europe. Materna is a gold sponsor of ME’s Mobile Music Now conference.

App store and of course the artist themselves worked together to ensure the app worked on all levels. Skaife says: "A great brand, and a relevant and well executed idea is key to success in the highly noisy app space. You have to be highly strategic."

Music moves for the Far East

Mobile music can trump piracy

Mobile dominates the digital music market in Japan. Mobikyo’s Lawrence Cosh-Ishii explains why...

Blackberry and Apple have showed how to make data services fly on mobile. The rest of the industry should apply their example to mobile music, says Rob Lewis, CEO of Omnifone...

It should come as no surprise that mobile music is so huge in Japan, the original home of wireless content. According to the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), mobile accounted for 90 per cent of digital music revenues in 2008, with 437 million units shipped and $800 million in sales value. While iTunes and Napster have made efforts to enter Japan, they have struggled with a lack of local content. For this reason, operators have dominated. Among many services available, KDDI’s Chaku-Uta Full stands out. Its full-track download offering, with flat-rate data plan, debuted in November 2004 and moved 30 million units in the first year. By January 2006 the company had added dual downloads in a platform called LISMO! (Listen Mobile). Critically, the KDDI app, which comes pre-installed on all handsets, also lets user manage photos, videos, calendar functions and email, and puts payment on the phone bill. Another successful feature is Uta Tomo, or Music Friend. It uses GPS to let users see the most-downloaded

www.mobile-ent.biz

music by other people in the vicinity. Members can also create a public profile, with the ability to blog, chat and share playlists. These functions helped consolidate the service, and by May 2008 there were 200 million fulltrack sales. Lawrence Cosh-Ishii is the representative director of Mobikyo, which publishes Wireless Watch Japan, organises Mobile Monday Tokyo events, and provides research and consultancy. www.mobikyo.jp

P2P file sharing is ten years old, and in that time Europeans have grown used to sideloading and sharing tracks with friends via Bluetooth. As a result, piracy now accounts for 95 per cent of digital music downloads. But P2P is flawed. Users face viruses, poor quality content, corrupted meta-data, missing artwork – and they always have to sideload. Yet the paid-for alternatives have been less than compelling thanks to clunky WAP user interfaces, unpredictable data charges and (again) sideloading. Still, there’s hope. Research says 69 per cent of 12-18 year-olds have listened to music on their phones, even if barely one in ten consumers has ever downloaded a track. Happily, mobile music can be better than piracy. We can provide unlimited access to millions of tracks, with the ability to discover, play, recommend and share – all of it over the air. But to genuinely win people over, we need more than great functionality, we need an experience consumers adore. That’s the greatest challenge.

Consumers are more likely to use a service that’s fully integrated into a device, with a UI and menu structure perfectly aligned to the phone’s regular functions. Look at the success of Apple’s AppStore over operators’ WAP stores to see the difference. Apple sells ten times more apps every day than every operator in the world together. It can be done. Blackberry did it for email, and the carriers saw huge revenue benefits. Do it right, and the consumers will respond en masse.

July 2009 11

Platinum Sponsor

The power behind the tune

Clearly MP3 has proved the most convenient format for one-off downloads, and it’s time we looked at it for subscriptions. I know discussions have taken place about it.

What you’ve done with TDC in Denmark (see box) has attracted attention all over the world. Do you think it will be replicated elsewhere? There’s no doubt that people are interested. We’re having conversations with companies across Europe, especially those with a triple play offer – unsurprisingly. It’s easy to imagine a company like Sky or Virgin considering the merits of subscription music and using it to strengthen their consumer offerings (after this interview Virgin Media did announce such a service – Ed).

But wouldn’t it give carte blanche to file sharers? It could, but I think the ISPs – who would benefit from the music subscriptions idea – could do their bit by chasing down and closing file sharing services on their networks. It’s difficult. Maybe we should trust users more.

24-7 also works with Omnifone and Sony Ericsson on their flat rate music services. It’s clearly an idea whose time is coming. It is, and I know that operators are looking carefully at what Nokia has done with Comes With Music and Sony Ericsson with Play Now Plus. Sony Ericsson in particular likes to be supportive, but the tier one operators still want to run their own services. Surely the big question over progress is the user experience? Mobile music has been around for five years, but the iPod and now the iPhone are still miles out in front because of Apple’s superiority in this. Do you envisage the gap being closed? It is a difficult one. Different players with different agendas have to work together, and that’s not easy to make happen. However, we must keep working at it because mobile music has so much to offer in terms of recommendations and discovery and location. Would it help to remove DRM from subscription music? It’s the last taboo, but it is being entertained… I totally believe it can succeed, especially as a mobile proposition. 12

July 2009

24-7 Entertainment has powered a number of music firsts based on subscriptions, superdistribution and more. Tim Green chatted to the firm’s CEO, Frank Taubert…

24-7 CEO Frank Taubert thinks mobile music and its retailers need to keep evolving

History PLAY pays 24-7 and TDC, the Danish ISP, made history in March 2008 when they created TDC PLAY, an unlimited music download service. It gave mobile, broadband and cable customers access to three million tracks as part of their subscription fee. It was an incendiary idea – all that music effectively for ‘free’. But within a year, more than 70 million tracks were downloaded and, crucially, the churn

rate was reduced significantly among active TDC PLAY users. The service also helped to double the legal digital music consumption in Denmark. In September, the partners innovated again with the addition of the first legal super-distribution service on the market to use OMA1. It gave TDC PLAY users the option to forward tracks to fellow subscribers, further enhancing the stickiness of the service.

24-7 Entertainment: 24-7 Entertainment is a digital music specialist that operates 41 download stores in 13 countries and has licence agreements in place with over 12,000 labels. It is the Platinum Sponsor of Mobile Music Now.

Another idea on the up is streaming, thanks largely to the growth of Spotify. What future does it have on mobile? It’s clear that streaming is being revived, and I think it’s partly due to broadband but also because the labels seem to be reducing the rates for licensing their music for it. Spotify’s challenge is to build a decent experience on mobile, and create something that works for operators too. I’m not sure a complete outsider like Spotify can ultimately succeed, especially with an ad-supported model. It’s so hard to make money that way. But Apple’s an outsider. It’s done okay. And the traditional music retailers have been slow into new media, although I’m aware that 24-7 was bought by the MediaSaturn Group. I agree that the retailers have lost ground in this space, and that they need to do something. Obviously, Media-Saturn moved by buying into 24-7, while Best Buy did something similar with its purchase of Napster. Speaking personally, our association with Media-Saturn has really improved our buying power and brought us many new relationships, so I see it as a great move for both parties. www.mobile-ent.biz

T S E B E H T ” N “SIMPLY O I T U B I R T S I D L A T I G I IN D

E TION SERVIC IP R C S B U S Y ELIVER RIES ’S #1 DUAL D D L R O W IN 14 COUNT E H S T E R S O R T E S W E O P NE SERVICES ONLIN O & IF E N IL M B O O S M T 0 SUPPOR OPERATES 4 SS MODEL & E C C TH A Y A L P KS PER MON C A R RUNS TDC T L L U F MILLION EOS BELS DELIVERS 10 00 MUSIC VID M 12,000 LA ,0 O 5 R 2 F , S T E N N E O T T N 00 TRUE OFFERS CO RACKS, 65,0 T N IO L IL M HOSTS 5 ATS IGITAL FORM D 4 1 S E ID V PRO

W W W. 2 4 7 E N T E R TA I N M E N T. C O M

Gold Sponsor

Waiting to pick up Muzicall says Europe’s abysmal track record in ringbacks has nothing to do with attitudes and everything to do with marketing. It told Tim Green how it plans to invigorate the market… n South Korea, the penetration of ringback tones stands at 55 per cent. In China it’s 45 per cent. But in Europe – where mobile penetration is over 100 per cent – the rate is barely four per cent. What’s going on? Either Europeans have got some grudge against playing calls to their friends, or they’re just not selling them properly. Richard Jackson is withering in his dismissal of a supposed cultural divide. And as for sales and marketing, well he thinks he has the answer to that, too. Jackson is VP of sales and a co-founder of Muzicall, a company that is dedicating itself to making Europe a viable market for the ringback. Or the Color Ring. Or the Caller Tune. In fact, this lack of a agreed name is a problem for ringbacks. “There’s no recognition,” says Jackson. “Partly because of the name, mostly because operators have failed to market ringbacks properly. Operators sell tariffs, not services. And because they see things from a capex point of view, they think about their own investment rather than the greater good. That’s fair enough, but it hasn’t helped the market.” Amazingly, Muzicall says only 15 operators in Europe don’t have a ringback platform, so the infrastructure is there. And when operators do support ringbacks, they see results. In Spain, for example, carrier resolve raised the penetration rate to 7.8 per cent. In Greece, the market has hit 11 per cent. But generally, in a region as fragmented as Europe, what’s needed is operator-neutral marketing and sales. The best companies to do this are D2C companies – whether mobile specialists like Zed and Buongiorno or entertainment brands like MTV. But ringbacks are network-centric. You can’t sell them unless you have a network. This is where Muzicall comes in. It positions itself as an intermediary that can link the operators (and the platforms they licence from Comverse, NMS, etc) and these consumer-facing firms via its RBT4ALL service. This way,

July 2009

Ringback penetration by country Aside from a few standouts like Spain and Greece, Europe’s record in ringbacks is dismal. Penetration currently stands at two per cent, but Muzicall believes that this could rise to 14 per cent by 2014, with onportal subs representing five per cent, off-portal five per cent, adfunded subs at three per cent and corporates at one per cent. Country % penetration Korea................................................55 China ...............................................45 India ................................................30 Russia .............................................20 US....................................................10 Greece..............................................11 Spain .................................................8 Czech Republic...............................7.5 Europe...............................................2

1,200 days worth of ringbacks Muzicall believes the ringback is one of the world’s great untapped ad inventories. It contends that in a developed European market of 885 million subs taking three calls each a day, there would be over 600 million minutes of ‘inventory’. This equates to 1,262 years in a single day. Here’s the maths… Something needs to change if Europeans are to use ringbacks. Inset: Jackson says Muzicall is the answer

ringbacks are marketed aggressively by incentivised specialists desperate for ‘legitimate’ subscription products. Muzicall has already won over some operators, most notably in The Netherlands, where it is now working with Vodafone and T-Mobile, and is currently talking to KPN. It believes at least three quarters of the operators in any territory should be on board for the proposition to truly fly. The critical element in Muzicall’s proposition is less technology than marketing. Jackson says that its

contracts dictate that operators must contribute to a central marketing fund run by Muzicall that promotes the ringback concept generically. But they only contribute when revenues hit pre-agreed targets. “This way, the operator can’t lose. We fund the marketing ourselves until our partners are making money.” Muzicall is aggressively seeking new operator deals and is working towards the next stage of its vision – bringing in ad-funded ringbacks and building services for corporates.

No of subscribers .......................885m Inbound calls (based on three calls a day)........................................2,655m RBT play sessions..................39,825m Minutes per day.....................663.75m Hours per day ...............................11m Days per day ..........................460,938 Years per day...............................1,262

Muzicall Muzicall is a ringbacks pioneer whose technology enables off-portal vendors to sell ringbacks on behalf of operators. It is a Gold Sponsor of Mobile Music Now.

www.mobile-ent.biz

India’s mobile music scene is dominated by Bollywood movies, and stars such as Shahrukh Khan (right)

Gold Sponsor

Indian mobile music – beyond the ringtone Mobile VAS giant Hungama Mobile is reaching all parts of Indian society with music services that range from rental MP3s to circuit-switched streamed songs. Hungama’s Neeraj Roy told ME all about them… t’s easy, when discussing India, to retreat into cliché and observe that this is a country of people driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for music and film. But, when you look at the numbers, you have to concede that there’s some truth behind the stereotypes. Take the Indian film industry. Bollywood was worth $2.3 billion last year, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Step forward Hungama, whose Bollywood deals have made it the unrivalled leader of the Indian mobile content space, with an estimated 74 per cent share. Hungama says this market was worth $1 billion in 2008, with the potential to hit $2.3 billion by 2010. And sitting at the heart of it is music. According to more Hungama stats, 65 per cent of India’s mobile content revenues come from music, against 24 per cent for video and eight per cent for games. The building block of this flourishing space is the ringtone, and Hungama markets them hard, ensuring that shortcodes are printed on every CD, DVD and marketing

July 2009

Hungama excels at meeting its markets and Neeraj Roy (left) is excited about its new services

spin-off produced by its Bollywood partners. However, India is a country of contrasts – with a growing middle class at one end and a vast rural population (100 million of whom have mobiles) at the other. The affluent are seeking richer experiences, and those at the lower end don’t have data-enabled phones. Hungama is now building out services that serve both. Earlier this year it launched an unlimited digital music service with

state-owned operator BSNL. The ‘On-Demand Entertainment Store’ is available to BSNL’s 4.2 million broadband subscribers, and offers unlimited access to over 50,000 songs and 1,500 videos for Rs. 149 a month (less than $3). Such deals are fairly common in the West, but in India, where fixed access to the internet is low, it’s a first. The service permits sideloading to mobile, but for Hungama it serves as a dummy run for the inevitable

arrival of 3G and flat rate data plans – at which point tracks can be downloaded over the air. Neeraj Roy says: “OTA is not practical in a 2.5G world, but 3G is coming and we need to prepare for it. Also, these kinds of services work well for operators with a triple play offer – and they provide an alternative to piracy.” At the opposite end of the scale is Hungama’s roll-out of a circuitswitched streaming music service with Aircel. Because it uses the voice network, it’s pitched at that rural user base with basic phones. They dial in to listen to a selection of songs available via an IVR menu. It costs one cent a minute. Now, Hungama is experimenting with new features such as dedicating and sending a song to someone. It’s seeding the social networking idea among newer converts to mobile. Roy says: “It works for these users. And it meets the desire for mobile music from even the lowest income consumer.”

Hungama Hungama is a Gold Sponsor of Mobile Music Now.

www.mobile-ent.biz

KILRUSH MEET-UP

– such a rush Last month’s ME MeetUp party was sponsored by MIG to promote its new Kilrush mobile publishing unit. What a night it was… he omens weren’t good. There was a Tube strike across London, it was raining and England were playing an international at Wembley. We needn’t have worried. The promise of a free drink and through-the-night networking brought nearly 200 mobile content execs to the ubercool 24 London venue for last month’s Meet-Up event. 24 proved a glitzy setting for the party, with trendy décor and interactive walls displaying images provided by the event sponsor Mobile Interactive Group (MIG). It used the Meet-Up to promote its five units, namely:

Kilrush – mobile internet publishing 4th Screen – mobile advertising Mobile Interactive Technology – m-commerce, messaging, platforms Jigsaw – cross-platform digital solutions New Toy – live experience design

It was standing room only in 24. Until ME exec editor Tim Green started singing, that is...

Here are some pictorial memories of the night…

July 2009

www.mobile-ent.biz

KILRUSH MEET-UP

Smiley happy people – the alcohol flowed and so did the networking

You too can be a Meet-Up sponsor... Imagine hosting your own product launch party but getting someone else to do all the work! And then imagine getting masses of exposure in the world’s leading mobile content trade publication and website into the bargain.

This is what Meet-Up does. It’s a hassle-free and affordable way to launch a new product or service – or just raise your company’s industry profile – in front of your own invited guests and a general industry audience.

Contact Tim Green at 01992 53546 or email tim.green@intentmedia.co.uk for more information. www.mobile-ent.biz

July 2009 19

TRANSCODING

What a

transformation Does anything divide mobile people quite like transcoding? Tim Green examined the sector and found it full of ‘colourful’ opinions… obile is a business full of powerful players, often with robust personal agendas and a strong desire to get their own way. Occasionally a row breaks out. But few can match the heat generated when Vodafone and Novarra introduced internet transcoding two years ago. The blogosphere was aflame. Petitions were signed. So what exactly did Vodafone do and why do some people hate transcoding so much? Basically, transcoding uses serversided technology to re-configure full HTML internet sites for handheld devices. In theory this makes every website easy to navigate on a phone, and improves the browsing experience for users. It also means that operators can sell a vision of

Not for everyone though. Take Rich Holdsworth, CTO of Wapple. Given that Wapple specialises in creating made-for-mobile sites, he’s not enamoured of the practice, whatever anyone chooses to call it. “Transcoding is a load of rubbish. It should be banned,” he says. Cripes. Other developers are more conciliatory. Luca Passani, leader of the Voda protests, has said: “The large majority of mobile developers, including me, are not against transcoding as a general idea. They are against aggressively-tuned transcoding, which breaks carefullytuned, mobile-optimised sites. A good transcoder should be able to detect the presence of a mobileoptimised site and pull itself out of the way immediately and completely.”

Transcoding reconfigured carefully assembled mobile pages. There was uproar. Developers organised a protest. ‘bringing the internet to mobile’ in their consumer-facing marketing. But the danger is that in the process of transforming full websites, the system also re-configures carefully assembled mobile pages. This can ruin nicely designed sites and even remove advertising banners. Which is precisely what happened with Vodafone in 2007. There was uproar. Developers organised a loud protest. Two years on, the transcoding conflict has disappeared. But only because the sector snapped into action and re-christened transcoding as ‘web transformation’. A bit like the Winscale nuclear plant being renamed Sellafield. Problem solved. www.mobile-ent.biz

His appeal has worked, and many transcoding firms have introduced protective measures. InfoGin was the first to sign up to a ‘manifesto for responsible reformatting’, promising its ‘Intelligent Mobile Platform’ technology would ensure sites are requested with the original device’s user agent, so that they will display the mobile version instead of the web version. Eran Wyler, CEO of InfoGin, disputes that its technology is about transcoding anyway. He sees it more as an enabling technology for understanding the visual aspect of the content. “Our technology automatically prioritises these elements, knowing how to lay out the

Top: Mobile Phone Wizards’ Njal Wilberg. Bottom: InfoGin goes to work on an iPhone site

July 2009 21

TRANSCODING

The iPhone makes some people believe they won’t need a mobile site. That’s wrong. page and thus deliver web content in a user friendly way, adapted to best fit the mobile screen and optimised according to the attributes and capabilities of each device,” he says. Infogin’s customers now include Si.mobil, KPN, Cellcom, and AOL, among others. In the intervening years since the Vodafone squabble, smartphones like the iPhone – with large screens and desktop browsers like Safari – have emerged. And so too has the belief that mobile sites are redundant on these handsets. Wyler disputes this. He says: “Safari also has limited flash capabilities, making it impossible to view web pages packed with rich Flash content. Some of the web page scripts don’t run as well – either an error message is shown, or the page is not loaded at all.” Netbiscuits, a developer of mobile sites, expresses similar reservations about the iPhone browsing experience, albeit from a different angle. Lars Hartkopf, head of marketing at Netbiscuits, says: “The iPhone is great: it has really boosted the mobile web. But it makes some people believe they won’t need a website tailored for mobile. That’s wrong. PC website layouts, navigaton and click flows are generally too complex for mobile usage. You need a solution that is tailored for mobile and based on a software platform that 22

July 2009

Publishers pay clip service It’s not just sites that need to be modified for mobile. Yospace’s Dave Springall explains his firm’s approach to re-formatting video. We created our video transcoding platform when we were looking for a way to inject advertising, device detection and streaming on our own video service, EyeVibe. We soon realised we had to build it ourselves. The resulting ‘Yospace Content Delivery System’ combines a video asset repository and storefront with media processing and streaming. Eventually we started offering it to third parties. The main problem with transcoding (of websites) is that it perpetuates the idea that people use mobile the way they use the PC. They don’t. We have to move beyond thinking about technological differences between the channels and think more about usage. adapts your website to all mobile devices worldwide on the fly.” Hartkopf refers here to the problem that underlies the need for mobile sites and/or transcoding in the first place: device fragmentation. The vast number of handsets means that content providers need databases in order to tweak their site builds. Norway’s Mobile Phone Wizards, the creator of DetectRight, is addressing this with a database that holds up to 200 data points for more than 10,000 devices, plus a handset data search engine and an API for automatic device detection. Njal Wilberg, CEO of Mobile Phone Wizards, says the API is what sets DetectRight apart from other database vendors: “It’s one thing

This underlies our approach to re-formatting video for mobile. We always ask our clients to consider navigation very carefully, to ensure that videos are maximum of two minutes in length and keep text to a minimum. We find that most web video works well on mobile as it’s generally short form already. We can transcode video for thousands of devices, and we also help partners to monetise their content as well as deliver a good user experience. We can splice in ads dynamically, for example. It’s something we’re doing for Reuters, Daily Telegraph and others. We can also offer distribution through Eyevibe. Not many services companies can offer an instant audience. We can. knowing about different handset properties, but some operators remove functionality from a device, so there’s still the potential to serve up content wrongly. This is why you need more than just a database, you need to detect devices too.” There’s little sign of transcoding – or the disagreement around it – disappearing. Infogin and Openwave keep adding new customers, while Novarra is targeting emerging markets and expects to announce Asic Pac deals soon. Additionally, ‘generalist’ data services companies like Bytemobile are muscling in on the specialists with their own transcoding platforms. Randy Cavaiani, VP of marketing and business development at

Top: Netbiscuits’ Lars Hartkopf Bottom: Wapple’s Rich Holdsworth

Novarra, believes operators cannot afford to ignore transcoding. He says: “They face a looming problem of network payload as demands on their networks increase. Transcoding can help them ease this, while improving navigation and maintaining their brand presence.” He won’t convince everyone. Let’s leave the last word on this debate to the ever-colourful Rich Holdsworth: “Computers are really bad at recognising patterns. The idea that automation can convert a site effectively is ridiculous. But occasionally transcoding does work in our favour. Sometimes we show customers transcoded sites, and they’re so bad, they employ us to build a mobile site for them.” www.mobile-ent.biz

The ultimate Internet browsing experience on any mobile device

World pioneer and market leader in Web to mobile content & functionality adaptation

Vendor of top-tier operators and content providers across the globe

www.infogin.com www.mobile-ent.biz

Full range of solutions, from a fully automatic intelligent conversion engine to professional editing and development tools

info@infogin.com July 2009 23

The Mobile Con

Premier Aw

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SPECIAL AWARD Outstanding contribution to mobile content

p opportunities contact Jodie Holdway Email: jodie.holdway@bhpr.co.uk Partner

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RECRUITMENT

Millennial meets Millard Wenda Harris Millard joins the ad specialist’s board, while Motricity hires new chief strategy and marketing officer Motricity has recruited former AT&T man JIM RYAN to be its chief strategy and marketing officer. Ryan was VP of consumer data services for AT&T, before becoming CEO of Mobile Campus two years ago. Flirtomatic has appointed GARY COHEN to drive the growth of its social media service in the US. Cohen has spent 14 years in the US operator space, working for US West Cellular (now Verizon) and AT&T Mobility. US mobile ad specialist Millennial Media has appointed WENDA HARRIS MILLARD to its board of directors. Millard is currently president of advisory firm Media Link, but has held high profile roles in digital media companies such as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Yahoo and DoubleClick.

KAREN CIULLA has joined Private Media as international sales executive for mobile. Ciulla has worked with Cherry Media and Buongiorno. At Private she will focus on on and off portal mobile distribution across the firm's operator network. France's Streamezzo has appointed ALAIN TINGAUD as chairman and

Gary Cohen boosts Flirtomatic growth

Alain Tingaud becomes Streamezzo chairman

OLIVIER AVARO as CEO of the firm. Olivier Avaro was also appointed to Streamezzo’s board of directors, while Alain Tingaud takes over from Pierre-Emmanuel Struyven.

of the company's Europe region, while Pusey joined Vodafone in September 2006 as group CTO.

MICHEL COMBES and STEPHEN PUSEY have joined the board of Vodafone. Combes is currently CEO

LG Electronics has its first UK and Ireland COO, WARD CRAWFORD, who has spent much of his career in the Cadbury Schweppes group, with senior positions in the UK and Asia.

Account Manager Mobile Ad Network London or Paris – Good basic bonus

Sales Director Mobile Agency Germany – Excellent Basic bonus

User Interface Designer Mobile Services Germany – Good daily rate

iPhone Developer Mobile Services London – Excellent package

Content Manager Mobile Content London – Excellent package

looking to further your career in the Mobile and Digital markets? VISIT OUR WEBSITE for a full list of our current opportunities.

July 2009

www.mobile-ent.biz

RECRUITMENT

An eBay for mobile jobseekers UK firm ARN takes the eBay template and applies it to the new Digimobjobs recruitment service

Shake hands on a new recruitment model. Digimobjobs makes job-hunting easy

Every so often a company decides to apply new thinking to existing business practice. This is what UK recruitment specialist ARN did when it re-appraised the traditional approach to jobseeking in the mobile content business. Its solution was radical: copy eBay’s model for introducing buyers to sellers. The results was Digimobjobs, a ‘functional and easy-to-navigate’ job site for the mobile and digital industry. The site lets candidates upload their CVs and even video/Youtube footage to the site, while employers can upload their vacancies and other information about their people, culture, products or services. The site went live last month and, after just over a week, over 90 new jobs had been posted. Hundreds more have followed since, with vacancies for jobs from Dresden to California. Hundreds of job seekers have signed up and most jobs are receiving around 60 views a day. Digimobjobs expects to post up to 5,000 jobs a month across all

territories by early 2010. Currently only US and Canadian companies can post jobs, but Digimobjobs will go live in over 15 more countries across EMEA, APAC and Australasia. The site is free for candidates, and ARN is also offering unlimited free job postings and CV search to all employers for the first two months Andrew Nicholls, CEO of Digimobjobs.com, said: “There are hundreds if not thousands of jobs out there in this growing industry, yet it’s difficult for most jobseekers to get the time to visit thousands of sites and find them. I believe digimobjobs.com will be for this industry what eBay is to buyers and sellers of goods: a known brand that’s reliable, simple and does exactly what it says. “I am over the moon with the response we have had so far. The numbers of hits and job postings in such a short space of time proves that there is a market for such a site and evidently needed right now.” www.digimobjobs.com

It is reliable, simple and does what it says.

www.mobile-ent.biz

July 2009 27

An ME Event

Platinum Sponsor

The essential conference for mobile music professionals returns to London The huge potential of mobile music With millions of consumers in emerging markets using the phone as their sole digital medium, the potential of mobile music is enormous. Over the last 18 months, the industry has responded to this promise with highly innovative services such as: Nokia Comes With Music TDC Play Shazam music ID Omnifone MusicStation Sony Ericsson Play Now Plus

Mobile Music Now is the perfect opportunity to find out more about these ideas and forge new business relationships.

The speakers:

150 top execs from the space will attend, including operators, vendors, labels, service providers and more. Delegate places cost only £259 +VAT. Sponsorship packages, running through Mobile Entertainment in print and online, start from £650. What You Get Mobile Music Now is a new kind of conference – affordable and social. It starts at 4.30pm and runs into the evening, with a speed networking system and informal dinner. Speakers and topics will include: Exclusive mobile music market research – with a copy for every delegate Panel session Q&A with leading mobile industry execs Speed networking opportunity: meet the speakers Informal three course dinner + coffee Refreshments – including post-dinner bar

Gold Sponsor

Barney Wragg

Formerly head of digital at EMI and a VP at Universal Alex Vlassopulos

Head of business development (digital), Sony Music

Antony Douglas

Head of content, O2 Telefonica

About Mobile Music Now The unique event will take place on Thursday July 9th at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London.

Gold Sponsor

Jonathan MacDonald

MD of JMA, Consultant at OgilvyOne Tim Grimsditch

Head of global product marketing (music), Nokia

Frank Taubert

CEO, 24-7 Entertainment

Juan Paz

Head of research, Music Ally

Morgan Donoghue,

Head of music, Vodafone Group Services

Our sponsors: 24-7 Entertainment: The Platinum Sponsor of the first Mobile Music Now conference is 24-7 Entertainment. This pioneer in the digital music space offers a platform that has powered millions of downloads for retailers, telcos, software and hardware manufacturers, record labels and media companies. Muzicall: Gold Sponsor Muzicall is currently reviving the European ringback market with a service and shared platform that enables off-portal brands to sell ringbacks, and also invites brands to access the ringback as an advertising channel. Hungama Mobile: Gold Sponsor Hungama is South Asia’s largest digital and mobile entertainment company, with worldwide exclusive rights to over half a million music and video titles. Materna: Gold Sponsor Materna is a leading provider of mobile service platforms and premium content services, as well as voice and video applications.

For more information contact the following: Content: Tim.Green@intentmedia.co.uk Sponsorship: Tom.Roberts@intentmedia.co.uk Delegate Bookings: Rob.Baker@intentmedia.co.uk, or visit www.mobile-ent.biz/events

Gold Sponsor

source Stuck for a stat or just looking to expand your mind? Find everything you need right here...

umbers. We love them. You love them. And they’re all here in Mobile Entertainment magazine’s reference section. It’s a one-stop shop for all the contentbased numerological and statological information you can possibly imagine. Our run-down of key operator subscriber numbers is here again. As usual, our Games Spotlight page focuses on the hot new titles coming out soon. We also have a round-up of all the latest industry research, a comprehensive show and conference guide, and a run-down of best-seller charts from across the mobile content market.

www.mobile-ent.biz

There’s also the Product Focus, which picks out a selection of the content, hardware and services either just launched or coming to market. What’s more, every month Mobile Entertainment magazine publishes the Mobile Marketplace, an invaluable directory of key product and service providers in the space. Put simply, there’s something here to satisfy every number cruncher and any PowerPoint presentation. If you have any queries about the data, or would like to submit information for any of the pages in this section, just send an email to: tim.green@intentmedia.co.uk.

INDEX SHOWS

P30

ME’s very own travel guide, with MWC instead of Thailand

PRODUCT FOCUS

P31

Best of this month’s content, hardware and services

DATABOX

P32

Be warned: contains content of a statological nature

CHARTS

P34

The ups and downs of a typical content sector

NETWORK SUBS

P37

Who’s got the most connections?

MARKETPLACE

P39

Mobile content product and service providers

July 2009 29

SOURCE: EVENTS

FORTHCOMING HIGHLIGHTS July 9th Mobile Music Now

July 14th-16th Develop Conference

July 21st Casual Connect Seattle

2009/2010 CALENDAR July 9th Mobile Music Now BAFTA, London, UK www.mobile-ent.biz/events Mobile Entertainment is hosting this popular music networking event and conference in association with the digital music specialist 24-7 Entertainment, ringbacks pioneer Muzicall, content provider Hungama and solutions provider Materna (see box for more details). July 14th-16th Develop Conference Brighton, UK www.developconference.com The developer event that likes to be beside the seaside. Mobile execs will be drawn to the new Evolve sessions. July 21st Casual Connect Seattle Seattle, US http://seattle.casualconnect.org Brings together the most talented and knowledgeable experts in casual gaming. August August 13th Edinburgh Interactive Festival Edinburgh, UK edinburghinteractivefestival.com

Part of the Edinburgh Festival, the EIF will embrace game development and publishing, including mobile platforms. September September 9th-10th Mobile Marketing Forum: Europe Berlin, Germany www.mobilemarketingforum.com

July 2009

The MMA brings its juggernaut to Europe, touting a strong belief that revenues from mobile advertising will be worth $12.09 billion in 2013. This is the fourth annual Mobile Marketing Forum Europe. September 11th-15th IBC Amsterdam, Netherlands www.ibc.org The annual shindig for the broadcast TV business. There’ll be blinking lights everywhere, but also a growing mobile zone. October October 1st ME Awards 2009 London, UK www.mobile-ent.biz/me-awards It’s back to the Royal Garden Hotel for the single biggest party in the content calendar. October 5th-7th The Handheld Learning Conference London, UK www.handheldlearning2009.com Describing itself as the world’s leading event for learning using mobile, the Handheld Learning Conference is sponsored by Nintendo and Apple and attended by more than 1,500 international delegates.The main speaker is Malcolm McLaren, would you believe. All delegates registering by July 31st will receive a free Apple iPod touch. Cripes! October 5th-9th MIPCOM Cannes, France www.mipcom.com Back to Cannes for the annual event for ‘key decision-makers in the digital and audiovisual content industry’.

October 6th-9th CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment San Diego, USA www.wirelessit.com CTIA Wireless’s contentfocused fall (that’s autumn for any Limey readers) event arrives in San Diego for the first time. After Las Vegas, the sheer blandness of San Diego will be deliriously welcome. October 13th-15th Mobility World Congress Shangri-la, Hong Kong www.MobilityWorldCongress.com The theme of this year’s congress is ‘Optimising the Mobile Broadband Business Model’, and will examine the impact on operator business models of HSPA+ and LTE. November November 18th-19th 2009 Mobile Asia Congress Hong Kong www.mobileasiacongress.com The GSMA today has confirmed the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as the venue for its sixth Asian congress.

Mobile Music Now (July 9th) ME is hosting this networking event and conference in association with digital music specialists 24-7 Entertainment, Muzicall, Hungama and Materna. To book your place now contact: Rob.Baker@intentmedia.co.uk or call +44 (0)1992 535 647.

2009

July

AWARDS

Thursday, October 1st 2009

The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London W8

January 2010 January 24th-27th MIDEM Cannes, France www.midem.com The year's biggest music industry trade event, MIDEM, will return as ever to the Croisette in Cannes next January. But this time, for the first time, it will incorporate the MidemNet digital and mobile programme into the main conference programme. Next year's MidemNet will take place on January 23rd to 24th, with MIDEM scheduled for January 24th to 27th.

ME Awards 2009 (October 1st) It will be the biggest night in the content industry calendar, with over 400 execs from all over the world arriving in London to celebrate industry excellence. Visit www.mobile-ent.biz/me-awards for more details.

www.mobile-ent.biz

SOURCE: PRODUCT FOCUS

new stuff A selection of new content, hardware and services...

MobileDNA

BioSim Available: July

Available: Now Social networking may be dominated by a few big names – MySpace, Bebo and Facebook – but this doesn’t stop hopefuls trying to emulate their success with their own launches. InMobia's MobileDNA social networking platform has been conceived to power these services. MobileDNA has been built specifically for mobile and it works as a white label service, allowing businesses that want to break into the social networking market an ideal platform from which to do so. However, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, InMobia has taken what it describes as the best practices of the established market leaders and has utilised them in a mobile specific way that caters for the unique abilities – and handicaps – of the platform. This includes being designed to work on both 2.5 and 3G networks, SMS notifications, and the ability to use MMS to update profiles rather than potentially expensive internet services.

IN A NUTSHELL: A platform for delivering mobile social networks

Nokia N97 Available: Out Now

Russia’s Dynamic Pixels has enjoyed huge success with tamogotchi-style mobile games such as AquaPhone, which challenges players to keep a virtual exotic fish. It’s now applied its approach to the plant world, with a kind of botanical god game called BioSim. It gives those with green fingers the chance to mix and mutate plants, wherever they and their phone may be. BioSim has three mini-games designed to influence how the game plays out. And there is a huge selection of items and equipment for natural and hydroponic use. However, the fun doesn't stop there, because BioSim also gives players the chance to mess around with their creations. They can cultivate up to 20 separate plants at any one time, as well as create totally unique varieties by mixing different species together. The game also gives players the opportunity to show off their green creations through online leaderboards, ratings and top ten lists. According to Dynamic Pixels, BioSim will be available on over 700 handsets, including the iPhone, and Android-based devices. IN A NUTSHELL: The Sims, but with plants

www.mobile-ent.biz

Well, here it is – arguably Nokia’s most important new handset since the N95 in 2007. The latter was a colossal success, but then it wasn’t competing against iPhone, Palm Pre, Blackberry Bold/Storm and a collection of Android devices. Nokia’s response – a chunky device combining touchscreen and full qwerty slider – has not met with universal approval. To critics it looks a little outdated, like the old Communicator. Others say the N97 is the best of what’s made Nokia so successful. There’s immense power under the bonnet: 32GB of storage (up to 48GB using a microSD card),

5 megapixel camera with integrated Carl Zeiss optics, video at 30 frames per second, widgets links to Facebook, Bloomberg, Reuters and others. This is the first device to ship with the Ovi Store, rather than offer it as a download. In theory, then, it should deliver the best Ovi experience and give an indication of whether Nokia is equipped to compete with Apple, RIM and Google in the apps space. IN A NUTSHELL: Nokia’s 32GB multimedia monster

July 2009 31

SOURCE: DATABOX

databox

A selection of stats from across the mobile industry...

Mobile a big medium? Mobile advertising budgets are projected to grow strongly over the next five years, while other ad media decline. Juniper Research says that constraints on budgets have helped to migrate ad spend from above the line to below the line channels and that this, along with the need for a quantifiable ROI, makes mobile attractive. However, the level of growth has to be put into context: by 2014 mobile will only account for up to 1.5 per cent of total global ad spend.

Other findings from the Juniper report include: Mobile internet will become the most popular mobile delivery channel for advertisers in 2009, and will attract the largest proportion of mobile ad spend throughout the forecast period. CPC and CPM rates have fallen sharply over the past year, in large part due to the negative impact of the economic downturn. Mobile advertising rates remain substantially higher than those in other media.

Traffic moves in Africa Africa was the standout performer in Opera Software’s monthly study of mobile web traffic. The mobile browser specialist’s State of the Mobile report for April showed a 169 per cent increase in unique users across Africa during the last 12 months. Specifically, the top 12 countries using Opera Mini in Africa (South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Zambia, Tanzania,

Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Namibia, Ghana and Gabon), saw page views increase by 422 per cent in the 12 months to April. Overall data transferred in the top 12 countries listed increased 348 per cent. Globally, Opera says its Mini browser had 23.4 million users in April 2008, up more than 140 per cent on April 2008. Those users generated 151 million MB of data.

Now clean your handset 29 per cent of UK mobile users browse the mobile web while on the toilet. Almost a third of mobile users in the UK admit to searching for information while perched on the loo. That’s according to a Yahoo survey of 1,500 oneSearch users. It also found that 21 per cent browse the mobile web at the dinner table, 11 per cent during business meetings, seven per cent during wedding ceremonies and five per cent in bed.

Dial one for Nokia Nokia is still the number one teen mobile brand, but LG, Apple and BlackBerry are gaining ground. According to a report by virtual world specialist Habbo, Nokia is the top brand for the 112,000 teenagers who took part in the Global Habbo Youth Survey Brand Update 2009 (GHYS). It found 21 per cent of those surveyed favoured the brand. That share is down, however, from 29 per cent in 2008 and it only occupies the number one spot in 13 countries compared to 15 a year ago. Number two overall is Sony Ericsson, with 18 per cent of those surveyed favouring it (also down YoY, from 21 per cent in 2008). 32

July 2009

M-wallets opening up Mobile payment users worldwide will total 73.4 million in 2009, up 70.4 per cent from 2008. Gartner predicts that the number will grow to more than 190 million in 2012, representing more than three per cent of all users – enough to be considered ‘mainstream’, it says. Mobile payment is defined as paying for a product or service

using mobile technology such as SMS, WAP, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and NFC. It includes transactions that use banking cash, bank accounts or debit and credit cards, as well as non-carrier stored value accounts, such as travel cards, gift cards or Paypal. It does not include the purchase of mobile content or telebanking via IVR.

Thank God for smartphones Smartphones shipments are on the up despite the overall decline in the handset market. They’ll grow by 18.7 per cent between 2008 and 2009, and reach 406.7 million by 2014, says Ovum. The collapse of the market for mid-tier handsets in 2009 is polarising the market into low-end and high-end segments. The result is a quickening of the replacement of 2G in

favour of high-end 3G handsets, and greater volumes of smartphones. In 2008 Symbian OS had 58 per cent of the smartphone market, but Ovum expects this share to drop to 43 per cent by 2014, due to rapid adoption of rival OSs. It says Android will reach 72 million units by 2014 (18 per cent of the market). www.mobile-ent.biz

SOURCE: CHARTS

charts Check here every month for the best selling games, ringtones and mobile apps from across the market...

Tagging

Ringtones

Artists & handsets

Ringtones.com top Euro music tones, June

Song 1 2

Bonkers Untouched

Flycell US Top Ringtones, June

Dizzee Rascal

Song

Artist

The Veronicas

Birthday Sex

Jeremih

CU920/CU915/Vu

3 am

Eminem

Shine (CU720)

Model

Vendor

Boom Boom Pow

Black Eyed Peas

In For The Kill

La Roux

Crack A Bottle

Eminem

SGH-A767 (Propel)

Samsung

Boom Boom Pow

Black Eyed Peas

V3xx

Motorola

Not Fair

Lily Allen

I’m Yours

Jason Mraz

Beautiful

Akon

(Wild Card) M1000

Kyocera

Lady GaGa

Day N Nite

Kid Kudi

W350i/a/c

Sony Ericsson

Ironik

Kiss Me...

Soulja Boy

SGH-A867 (Eternity)

Samsung

Turn My Swag On

Soulja Boy

SGH-I617 (Blackjack II) Samsung

7 8

Poker Face Tiny Dancer

Knock You Down

Keri Hilson

We Made You

Eminem

Nasty Girl

Ludacris

SGH-A737/A736

Samsung

I’m So Fly

Fabolous

W580/i

Sony Ericsson

Source: Mobilestreams 1

Meerkat Simples!

Compare The Meerkat

TV advert

Hey Girl You Got A Text

Fun alert

Silence I Kill You

Fun alert

Giggety Giggety Goo

Family Guy

Answer That You Tart

Fun alert

Full Length Spider Pig

The Simpsons

Baby Farting

Fun alert

The Fatman’s Calling

Family Guy

Cavalry Bugle Call

Fun alerts

TV advert

Music

Source: Mobilestreams

USA realtone soundalikes, May

South Africa realtone soundalikes, May

Ringtones Zed top truetones, 15th April - 15th May 1

Source: Flycell

Ringtones.com top Euro voicetones, June

Song

Artist

Poker Face

Lady GaGa

I Hate This Part

Liberata

Pussycat Dolls Pep’s

I Kissed A Girl

Katy Perry

Sweet About Me

Gabriella Cilme

American Boy

Estelle

Infinity

Guru Josh Project

Don’t Stop The Music

Rihanna

The Boy Does Nothing

Alesha Dixon

Disturbia

Rihanna

Source: Zed Zed games, 15th April - 15th May Game Publisher

Shazam Tagging June 1 In For The Kill La Roux 2 We Are The People Empire Of The Sun 3 Red Daniel Merriweather 4 I Remember Deadmau5 & Kaskade 5 Release Me Agnes 6 Knock You Down Keri Hilson 7 Untouched The Veronicas 8 I’m Not Alone Calvin Harris 9 The Show Lenka 10 Kiss Me... Soulja Boy Source: Shazam

My Life Would Suck...

Kelly Clarkson

Boom Boom Pow

Black Eyed Peas

Everybody Knows

John Legend

Blame It

Jamie Foxx

You Found Me

The Fray

Turn My Swag On

Soulja Boy

Day N Nite

Kid Cudi Vs Crookers

Poker Face

Lady Gaga

Love Sex Magic

Justin Timberlake

Day N Nite

Kid Cudi Vs Crookers

Please Don’t Leave Me Pink

Sugar

Flo Rida

Run

Leona Lewis

Dead And Gone

TI Ft JT

Reach Out

Hilary Duff

We Made You

Eminem

Away

Enrique Iglesias

Right Round

Flo Rida

Thinking of You

Katy Perry

I KNow You Want Me

Pitbull

Source: Melodi Media

Video & wallpaper Fonestarz top videos, June

Fonestarz top wallpapers, June

Sexy Cam

Sexy Bathtime Flirts

Happy Smiley

Glamour Girl Greetings

Grunge Smiley

Poker Face – Lady GaGa

Angel

Lingerie Sensations

Nodding Puppy

YouTube’s Baby Hulk

Davil Babe

Pink Dolphin

Bubble Boom Challenge

Zed

Life Is A Love Story

Zed

Life Is A Fiesta

Zed

Pumpet Adventure

Zed

Bacterium

Zed

Sniperops

Zed

Brain Coach 2

Zed

Wii Fit Girlfriend

Multicoloured Vortex

Trash Racer

Zed

We Made You – Eminem

Laser Skulls

4online

Zed

Number 1 – Tinchy Strider

All You Need Is Love

The Hangman SHow

Zed

Angry Kid

Jennifer Ellison

Source: Zed

Flycell US Top Download Handsets, June

Artist

July 2009

Source: FoneStarz

www.mobile-ent.biz

SOURCE: CHARTS

Bplay Smartphone Entertainment Charts Thru June 15, 2009 Top 20 games

Top 20 themes

Thru June 15, 2009

Smartphone Entertainment Charts

Title

Category

Hannah Montana Star Moves

Disney

Tonight

Jonas Brothers

JEOPARDY! Clue Crew

Jeopardy

Flavor of Love

IGfun

You Can Get It All

Bow Wow

Double Statues - EARTH Angels & Demons

Wheel of Fortune Deluxe

Sony Pictures

Hoedown Throwdown

Miley Cyrus

Haters Make Us Famous Pink Frosty

Deal or no Deal: Million Dollar Mission I-play

Swag Surfin'

F.L.Y. - Fast Life Yungstaz

Blue Water Beach

National Geographic

Win At Texas Hold'em

I-play

Trust

Keyshia Cole

Bloo Screen

Home for Imaginary Friends

South Park 10: The Game

Real Networks

Imma Put It On Her ft. P. Diddy DAY26

One Shall Stand

Transformers

Super Mah Jong Quest

I-play

La La Land

Demi Lovato

Stormalong Harbor

Misadventures of Flapjack

Call of Duty 4

Glu

Knock You Down

Keri Hilson

Amazing City Scape

Pink Frosty

Q*Bert

Sony Pictures

Come On Get Higher

Matt Nathanson

Hannah Montana: Pop Star Disney

10 Project Gotham Racing

Glu

Not Anymore

LeToya

Catalina Nature

Fun

Cake Mania

Real Networks

Blame It ft. T-Pain

Jamie Foxx

I pooted

Home for Imaginary Friends

James Bond: Top Agent

Sony Pictures

Turn My Swag On

Soulja Boy Tell`em

Hannah Montana: Color Fun Disney

God of War - Betrayal

Sony Pictures

My President ft. Nas

Young Jeezy

The Spirit Of Christ

14 Collapse! Chaos

Real Networks

All The Above ft. T-Pain

Maino

Spider-Man Swing

Spider-Man 3

Glu

Put It On Ya

Plies

Lara - Hanging On

Tomb Raider: Underworld

16 Jeopardy! Deluxe

Sony Pictures

Day 'N' Nite

Kid Cudi

Shut Up and Kiss Me

Pink Frosty

Artificial Life

Shakira

Blessed not Stressed

Christian Cool Designs

Diner Dash 2 V-Girl 3

18 Hexic

I-play

How Do You Sleep?

Jesse McCartney

Burberrys

19 Bounce Out

Real Networks

We Made You

Eminem

ATHF Action Now!

20 Guinness World Records

PlayerX

Music 2 Fly 2

20 Bubbles

Versaly

Aqua Teen Hunger Force The Powerpuff Girls

SOURCE: OPERATORS

network subs Key operator subscriber numbers from around the world

Operator

Subscribers

18,537,000

Mobile TeleSystems

54,420,000

16,794,000

VimpelCom

42,200,000

Kyivstar GSM

23,456,000

Ukrainian Mobile (MTS)

19,910,000

413000

1,892,000

16,400,000

Optus

7,238,000

35,274,000

Telstra

9,300,000

24,524,000

Vodafone

3,740,000

China Mobile

457,250,000

Country

Operator

Subscribers

Western Europe UK

Vodafone T-Mobile

Italy

3 (includes Ireland)

4,868,000

19,080,000

Orange

15,815,000

Vodafone

23,068,000

8,450,000

Wind TIM

France

Greece

Israel Netherlands

Orange SFR

19,300,000

Bouygues

9,300,000

Vodafone

5,542,000

Cosmote

6,280,000

Poland

Portugal

1,118,000

Bharti Airtel

85,650,000

Pelephone

2,400,000

Vodafone

4,360,000

Tata Indicom

31,763,997

4,900,000

Reliance

61,345,000

1,937,000

Japan Thailand

NTT DoCoMo

54,155,100

AIS

26,774,000 18,213,000

Vodafone

2,247,000

1,713,000

Dtac

4,868,000

True Move

12,448,000

Singtel

2,870,000

Singapore

Meteor

1,002,000

3 (includes Denmark)

1,079,000

StarHub

1,742,000

1,837,000

MobileOne

1,631,000

Movistar

14,652,700

Vivo

42,276,000

Tele 2

3,118,000

Djuice (Pannon)

3,475,000

Telenor

2,396,000

35,668,000

Telcel

54,381,000

Movistar

14,662,000

Bell

6,449,000

13,140,000

Rogers

7,338,000

1,079,000

Telus

5,981,000

Sprint

50,031,035 32,100,000

1,580,000 34,412,000

T-Mobile

36,000,000

13,978,000

E-Plus

17,027,000

3 (includes Sweden)

Latin America Argentina Brazil

Claro

Vodafone

Mexico North America Canada

USA

TDC

3,011,000

Sonofon

1,783,000

T- Mobile USA

3,752,000

Verizon Wireless

70,800,000

BASE

3,241,000

Alltel

13,319,000

Belgacom Mobile

3,705,000

US Cellular

6,200,000

2,642,000

AT&T

74,871,000

Mobistar (Orange)

Vodafone Orange

14,054,000

T-Mobile

13,000,000

Vodafone

5,267,000

TMN

6,732,000 1,510,000

Vodafone

16,039,000

Egypt Morocco Nigeria

23,436,000 11,224,000

T-Mobile

5,300,000

5,187,000

Megafon

41,740,000

www.mobile-ent.biz

Africa Algeria

3,058,000

Orange

Russia

Smart tone

46,228,000

Movistar

Eastern Europe Czech Republic

1,276,000

34,210,000

Optimus

Switzerland Spain

133,365,000

Idea Cellular

Debitel

Belgium

India

China Unicom

BSNL

Netcom

Denmark

Hong Kong

3,117,000

Telenor

Germany

China

16,400,000

3 (includes UK)

Norway

Slovakia Asia Pacific Australia

Cellcom Israel

KPN

Sweden

Ukraine

Wind

T-Mobile

Ireland

Country

South Africa

Algerie Telecom

2 880 538

Wataniya Telecom

4,989,491

Vodafone

15,202,000

ECMS

18,911,000

Ittissalat Al-Maghrib

13,327,000

Globacom

22,000,000

MTN Nigeria

20171000

MTN

16,173,000

Vodacom

36,000,000

Source: Mediacells was established in 2004 to assist clients in making more money out of mobile. The company provides accurate and actionable intelligence to the mobile, media, retail, research and information sectors. www.mediacells.com

July 2009 37

be inspired

14 -16 JULY 2009

The Develop Conference is an inspiring place - over 80 great sessions given by a host of international development experts and around 1200 developers getting together to share ideas, learn from each other and socialise. New Evolve Conference on Tuesday 14 July - focusing on how to develop games for new platforms including mobile, iPhone, XBLA, new technologies such as Facebook and YouTube and new markets like social and casual gaming. Don't miss these mobile gaming sessions:

KEYNOTE

MOBILE KEYNOTE: Dancing to a New Beat: The Development of Nokia's Dance Fabulous Mark Ollila, Nokia

How Today's Social Networks Will Change How You Make, Play and Sell Games Tomorrow Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish

Panel: After the iPhone Honeymoon: Where Next for Apple's Mobile Chair: Mathew Kumar, Freelance Journalist Alan Yu, ngmoco Michael Schade, Fishlabs James Brooksby, doublesix Chris Byatte, Chillingo

20 Great Innovations in Casual, Social and Mobile Games That You Should Steal Stuart Dredge, Pocket Gamer

Taking Your Game to iPhone and Android, Without Killing Your Team Chris White, Glu

Public Service Gaming: Public Value First, Commercial Value Second Alice Taylor, Channel 4 on behalf of Women in Games

Panel: Opportunities and Hurdles for Mobile Gaming Chair: Tim Green, Mobile Entertainment Mark Fletcher, Nokia

Other speakers confirmed include: Acclaim • Ariadne Capital • Autodesk • Bigpoint • Bizarre Creations • Blitz Games • Climax • comScore • Creative Assembly • comScore • Crytek • Denki • Disney Black Rock Studios • Eutechnyx • FluffyLogic • Google • Guerrilla Games • Gusto Games • Hansoft • ICO Partners • Kerb • Lightning Fish Games • Lionhead • Media Molecule • Matmi • Mythic/EA • MySpace • Mediatonic • Microsoft • NanaOn-Sha • Playora • Rare • Realtime Worlds • Relentless • Rockstar North • SGXEngine • Team 17 • thatgamecompany • The Mustard Corporation • Sheridans • Silicon Knights • Sidelines • Sony Computer Entertainment • Splitscreen Studios • Tag Games • thatgamecompany • Traveller's Tales • Ubisoft • Universal Music • Zoe Mode

Make sure you stay ahead of the game – come to Develop in Brighton!

www.developconference.com Mobile Sponsor

Media Sponsor

International Media Sponsor

Media Sponsor

gamesindustry.biz

Media Sponsor

Member Discounts

Media Sponsor

Organised by

MOBILE MARKETPLACE

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The Mobile Marketplace offers a complete marketing package of print, online and editorial visibility, allowing companies to maintain contact with readers each month without the cost of full display advertising. The Mobile Marketplace and its associated online version has also been designed to offer readers a directory of all products and services in the content industry. A presence in this section ensures that your company's details are easily found, keeping you one step ahead of your competitors. The standard package includes: 1/4 page advert in each issue Regular editorial coverage in the dedicated column Company details listed in the online directory with web link and marketplace index

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July 2009 39

MOBILE MARKETPLACE CONTENT DISCOVERY

MOBILE GAMING PARTNERSHIPS

LOCALISATION

INTERACTIVE MOBILE SOLUTIONS

(

July 2009

)

www.mobile-ent.biz

MOBILE MARKETPLACE AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

VIDEO/PICTURE AGGREGATION

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www.mobile-ent.biz

Xiam The Ireland-based firm Xiam is a major provider of software for the personalisation of mobile content and services through its MPOS (My Personal Offers System) discovery and recommendations system. Xiam describes its core business as aiding ‘content discovery’. This means that users can enjoy a personalised mobile web experience without having to manually search through portal sites for the content they want. Instead, the system throws up options based on behaviour. It analyses various quantifiable factors such as browsing, purchasing patterns and demographics to individually tailor a website towards the user’s preference. This brings personalised content directly to the consumer. But, critically, it also makes it easier for portal owners and operators to sell to their customers. As a result, MPOS straddles the divide between content aggregators, who want to present the right products to the most amenable audience, and advertisers, who want to reach a particular demographic with targeted content, websites, advertising and sales. Xiam’s marketing manager, Martin Clancy, says: “We see mobile as such a personal channel that it is

a waste not to serve up personalised content. The personalisation allows content distributors and advertisers to reach their target audience with far greater ease.” In March of last year, Xiam’s profile was increased when it was acquired by Qualcomm. Soon after, MPOS was integrated into Qualcomm’s BREW software proposition. Xiam sees this move as a huge endorsement of its technology, while permitting the company to market its services as a standalone enterprise. Xiam has capitalised on its new status by winning deployments with industry players such as Orange UK, which uses the MPOS system to serve personalised realtime recommendations on its Orange World portal. Other converts to the system are Vodafone Ireland, which has deployed MPOS into its mobile advertising proposition, and Universal Music Group. And in March 2009, Xiam upgraded the platform still further by integrating navigation algorithms into the MPOS solution. This will enable Xiam to deliver locationbased recommendations and assisted mobile internet discovery to its global customer base. www.xiam.com July 2009 41

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Universally Speaking In today’s global markets, deals are made and products sold across distances of thousands of miles. There are over 7,000 languages spoken throughout the world and within them there’s a huge amount of nuance and meaning. Thus, the need for translation services is accelerating. But the best services do more than merely translate: they capture the essence of a message in a new language without losing its meaning. Universally Speaking is a translation company that draws on many years of high-level industry experience. Over this time, Universally Speaking has developed a reputation as a trusted pair of hands within the mobile games sector. Because of its passion, it continues to build long term relationships with leading mobile publishers and developers such as Sony, Bethesda, THQ, Player X and EA Mobile. This is all down to a team of translators that delivers unrivalled localisation, quality assurance and audio services. Specifically, it has provided localisation in multiple languages on a number of highprofile mobile games including Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones, EA Mobile’s UEFA Euro 2008 and

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Universomo’s three Star Wars titles. The company’s core services include translation, proof reading, editing, glossary production, audio (including localised voiceovers), localisation QA, compliance QA, functionality QA, manuals and packaging DTP. Its translation team specialises in English (UK and US), French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Polish, Czech, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, but can also provide service for any additional language through its extensive global network of game linguists. “We love working with Universally Speaking,” says Paul Marshall of Player X. “No deadline is too tight and no concept is too difficult to translate while keeping all the humour and cultural references intact.” Universally Speaking recently expanded its global operation with the opening of a new Tokyo-based office. Universally Speaking Tokyo is based in the Shinagawa district of Central Tokyo, where leading Japanese publishers are also located. It will be headed by Toru Sasaki, who has been with the company since March 2008. www.usspeaking.com July 2009 43

MOBILE MARKETPLACE

July 2009

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

SALES AND MARKETING

ADULT CONTENT

MOBILE ANALYTICS

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MOBILE MARKETPLACE PUBLISHING PLATFORM

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

GAMES DISTRIBUTOR

Inlogic Inlogic is a content and app developer and distributor with three offices in Slovakia. The company attributes its success to an experienced team with the skills to create robust applications with engaging graphics support. Although the company focuses mainly on gaming titles like DeathZone, Sex Trip Amsterdam and Suicidal Squirrel, Inlogic has also developed a number of its own technologies and services, such as PlayOnWay, a system that allows mobile gamers to compare stats and scores on games developed by Inlogic or its partners. It also makes non-games apps. Inlogicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mobile life series, entitled INLife, comprises products that have been designed to assist people in their everyday lives. Other services include PlayAmo, an affiliate programme that lets partners sell mobile content through electronic or print media, but mostly via websites. It offers high-profit, client service for free and a huge mobile content database. At present, a Playamo service is limited to those companies who wish to sell mobile content in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. However, Inlogic has

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confirmed these services are to be launched in the near future across other parts of Europe. Another aspect of Inlogicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core business is software development to order. The company's product development team encompasses the ability to communicate with clients and to understand all requirements. Inlogic says it has the ability to quickly develop the required product, complete with full testing and quality assurance. Its main specialisation lies in the development of J2ME applications, but the Inlogic team has the expertise to use C++, J2EE, XSLT, XML and PHP among others. It has used these skills in partnerships with a number of renowned brands like Playboy, Lui, Pamela Anderson and Jordan. Meanwhile the in-house production team keeps developing new games products. In the last three months, these releases have included: SexyDice, an adult application intended for multiple players; Celebrity Pairs, a logic game enhanced by famous faces from film and music; Coin Flipper, available in standard and erotic versions; plus brain training games Atomania and Sudoku. www.inlogic.sk July 2009 45

Send your pictures and gossip to tim.green@intentmedia.co.uk

(Dis)content

We take content extremely seriously in Mobile Entertainment. But not here...

favourites Julian Stocker, UK MD, Gameloft Which phone do you currently own? Gameloft furnishes me with an iPhone and BlackBerry Curve 2.

BoJo’s sunny spell

Bling shortages

London Mayor Boris Johnson has been caught using a mobile while on his bike. But it was a publicity stunt for SolarAid, a charity that raises awareness of solar power and is sponsored by Nokia. The politician is pictured with cyclists Iain Henderson, Susie Wheeldon and Jamie Vining before they set off on a round-the-world trip.

Feel for hard-pressed hip hop artists, who have been hit hard by the slump in personalisation sales. ME learned of this when it spoke to Mike Johns, boss of mobile hip hop specialist Urban World Wireless. Apparently his old mate Busta Rhymes recently told him: “Pockets are gettin’ low, cos ringtone sales are slow.”

Mobile is so gay right now It’s long been ME’s contention that the content market is too myopic when it comes to targeting users for its services. Why always the 16 to 24 year-olds, who never pay for anything except alcopops and shoes? So it was refreshing to see new content destination MoxieQ arrive specifically for the gay market. It’s going after the estimated $712 billion LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community with content, news, info and ‘up-to-theminute Gay Weather’. Er, gay weather? What’s that? Cloudy spells to die for? Rainbows? Please write in and tell us, gay ME readers.

Wheely painful

N97 gets Fryed

Rich’s new Ox

Let’s hope those Nokia cyclists have better luck than ME’s Tim Green. He goes everywhere on his bike, but failed to make a scheduled meeting with Capcom Mobile when his bicycle was forcefully rejected by a pothole. There was a lot of blood, and one almighty bruise (see pic). Tim was very touched at the classically British response from his office colleagues: they laughed.

Here’s a pic that you don’t see every day: world famous Apple and iPhone enthusiast Stephen Fry lovingly fondling a Nokia device. The British actor and TV presenter dropped into the launch of the Nokia N97 and was so impressed he stayed for an hour. He was even moved to tweet “At the Nokia N97 launch. Mmm. Looking good...”.

Wapple’s Rich Holdsworth can always be relied upon for a good quote: “I fucking hate transcoding. It should be fucking banned,” was one of his more colourful contributions to our transcoding feature. But what could Rich mean when he twittered about Ox World. Some new expletive? No, the text complete on his Android had misunderstood PC World.

MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT

Executive Editor: Tim Green Tim.Green@intentmedia.co.uk Online Editor: Stuart O’Brien Stuart.Obrien@intentmedia.co.uk Managing Editor: Lisa Foster Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk Reporter: Ben Furfie Ben.Furfie@intentmedia.co.uk

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What’s the best phone you’ve had? The iPhone: discovering new games and apps is fun and even useful. What phone would you like next? iPhone nano (if the rumours are true). Current ringtone? Sci-Fi (sounds like a robotic ghost). Favourite mobile game? HeavyMach on iPhone. Favourite mobile internet sites? Facebook, Google Reader, BBC, LinkedIn. Anything you’d pay for on a mobile that you can’t get? Mario Kart. Which content company do you most admire? Nintendo. Best idea you’ve seen in mobile? Vicinity on iPhone: find your nearest pub, taxi, chip shop within a couple of steps.

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Total average monthly net circulation per issue for January 1st 2007 to December 31st 2007 was 8,012. © Intent Media 2009. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners. Printed by Pensord Press, NP12 2YA

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