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M U S I C G A M E S V I D E O C O M M U N I T Y A D U LT
JULY 2008 ISSUE 41
HAIL THE
FEMALE! MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT
We name the top 50 women in mobile content
FOR EVERYONE IN THE MOBILE CONTENT INDUSTRY
www.mobile-ent.biz
Voda to live! again World’s biggest operator begins VAS overhaul Consumer launch slated for April 2009
www.f1-site.com
VODAFONE is rising to the challenge posed by Apple, Google and Nokia with a radical revamp of its Live! content services. The strategy is being masterminded by Pieter Knook, who moved from Microsoft earlier this year to head up Voda’s newly-formed Internet Services unit. A major planning meeting took place on June 19th and sources have told ME that the strategy is now ‘85 per cent’ formed. The new approach will be launched to consumers by April next year – and the plan is to do it simultaneously across all 25 opcos. Details are sketchy, but it seems certain the re-launch will mark a drastic move away from the storefront mentality of the current Vodafone Live! portal. It will comprise richer personalisation, new community elements and deeper integration with Vodafone’s broadband services. The company’s ambitious approach to ‘mobile 2.0’ is a robust response to
those who predict that operators will stick a search box on their front pages, bag some ad referral revenues and abandon the dream of being content service providers. A source said: “At the moment the portal is really just a shop. You go in, look around and buy stuff. It’s not good enough and it’s why only three per cent of our customers use it. We have to completely reassess the way people engage with our content services. Apple, Google and Nokia are doing it. We should too.” Although content will never directly deliver the revenues generated by voice and text, Voda clearly recognises the contribution it can make to brand profile, adoption of flat-rate data tariffs and mobile broadband subs. The revamp will also drive fresh expansion of Voda’s
Group Services team, which is a central resource for co-ordinating content services across the company’s subsidiaries. It’s a change of fortune for the unit, which was scaled down 18 months ago. Indeed, there were rumours that Voda would close it completely. Now, Group Services is hiring – it’s looking for a new London premises with room for 2,000 desks. Vodafone launched its Live! portal in 2002, and revamped it in 2007 with offerings from eBay, YouTube and Google.
Pieter Knook: Brought in from Microsoft to mastermind the re-launch of Voda’s value added services strategy
Will Voda’s drive into services be as exciting as a Lewis Hamilton F1 lap? Apologies for the poor quality pun
REGULARS: PRODUCTS • JOBS • GAMES RELEASES • CHARTS • SHOWS • MARKETPLACE
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NEWS ISSUE 41 July 08
News 1-5 Features
Sega and Glu: the ME Awards prize guys
7 Aggro-gation
ME Awards 2008 new partners Panel to decide finalists
What happened to Telcogames…
8 A real face melter The Guitar Hero Meet-Up was wild
11 The X chromosome factor The Top 50 women in mobile content
15 Commercial sense? Is mobile advertising clicking into place?
19 D2C 2.0 It collapsed, it recovered, it changed
23 Game-playing field Testing the temperature of the games space
26 Jacobs’ cracker ME went to BREW. Here’s our report
30 MIDS range Will microprocessing usher in a new era?
SEGA MOBILE and Glu Mobile have signed up as Gold Partners to the ME Awards 2008. The two games specialists will benefit from extensive branding in the lead up to the industry’s big event and high visibility on the night itself. They are also planning a few surprises to make the evening even more memorable for its 400 guests. Sega and Glu join Player X as awards supporters. The latter signed up in May as a Silver Partner. Both Sega and Glu have been official supporters of the ME Awards before. Patrick Mork, marketing director of Glu (EMEA), said: “Glu is delighted to be a partner of the ME Awards for the second time. It’s a fantastic, prestigious event that truly brings the whole industry together for one fabulous night.” Late last month ME closed the nominations process for the
awards, having gathered its highest-ever stack of pitch documents. Now the process of deciding the shortlists will get underway. This is carried out by the ME team, which bases its decisions on its own industry knowledge, nomination documents and consultation with industry insiders. Finalists will be profiled in a special supplement bundled with next month’s magazine, published on July 24th, 2008. The winners are decided by a judging panel, which is drawn from the extensive ME contacts book and consists of around 400 highly knowledgeable executives from all sectors of the mobile content business. Members of the jury are sent a PDF of the aforementioned finalists’ supplement. They base their decisions on this document and their own industry experience. www.mobile-ent.biz/awards
ME Awards 2008: All you need to know Reference Section
When are the Awards? Tuesday, September 25th at The Royal Garden Hotel, London, UK
37 Product focus
How much is it to attend? A single place costs £295 +VAT and tables of ten are priced at £2,750 +VAT. For details of table sales and other ticket enquiries contact Jodie.Holdway@bhpr.co.uk or +44 (0) 1462 456 780.
A load of new stuff
38 Games releases All the releases from the top publishers
39 Games spotlight Coming to a deck near you...
40 Shows Wanna go to Cannes? Here’s your excuse
41 Databox Your monthly fix of stats and research
42 Charts The best-sellers
44 Network subs Keys numbers from key operators
58 Discontent All the funny stuff
www.mobile-ent.biz
Can I sponsor the event? Yes! There are a number of promotional possibilities available. Please contact Jodie Holdway at the above cordinates.
AIME: PhonePayPlus missing target UK SERVICE providers are calling on the regulator PhonePayPlus to change the way it punishes rogue D2C mobile content companies. AIME, the trade body that represents the premium telephony business, wants PhonePayPlus to punish unscrupulous content providers rather than the aggregators that power their operations. Sally Weatherall, chairperson of AIME, said: “Under the current PPP Code of Practice, primary liability
rests with the service provider. This gives the content provider no incentive to comply with the code at all. They can simply default on the fine, and move to a new aggregator – leaving the old one to pay PPP and carry the bad debt and reputation damage.” AIME is also advocating a content provider registration scheme and a review of the ban on third party databases. “If these initiatives were adopted by the industry and the regulator, the cycle of
‘growth, regulation and collapse’ in direct-to-consumer could be prevented and consumer trust restored,” added Weatherall. AIME’s call comes with complaints against rogue providers on the rise again. In May there was a US court case against AT&T Wireless for unauthorised charges from ringtone providers. And earlier this year PhonePayPlus reported a marked increase in UK consumer complaints. www.aimelink.org July 2008 3
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NEWS
Converging on 2009 I’ve got a mate who loves to tease me about my job. Whenever my phone rings he always refers to it as my ‘wireless entertainment module’ or some such. I laugh, but only after a detailed explanation of the convergence between rich media and mobile communication. You’d be right to assume that my cynical friend doesn’t have an iPhone. I’m fairly sure that Apple’s embrace of 3G won’t have changed his mind. But what of the rest of humanity? I’ve refrained from banging on about iPhone here before. Partly because everyone else does, and partly because I’ve always been an Apple sceptic. Don’t get me wrong, the “Is iPhone the game iPhone is changer many think fantastic. No one could it is... or just the argue with handset choice of that. But is it Mac users?” the gamechanger that many think it is? After all, a lot people say the Mac is miles better than the PC, but it still only commands a ten per cent market share. I think the iPhone will become the handset of choice for Mac users. For me, the UI remains an issue. It’s brilliant for web browsing and storing/using pics, music and media. But it’s not so great for obsessive texters, which includes most of the world’s under 30s. This is why the 3G iPhone is not big news. For Apple to break into the mass market it needed to launch a smaller device and address the texting issue. I’m sure it will. However, the tweak in the pricing is very interesting. O2 UK will offer iPhone free on certain tariffs – and lots of people have told me they will get one, when they were previously deterred by the cost. Now that’s significant. Though iPhone tariffs remain too pricey for the masses, Apple can make a lot of trouble for smartphone vendors. Already Samsung, HTC and LG have responded with touchscreen devices and Sony Ericsson’s Xperia is imminent. How will Nokia respond? And then there’s RIM. It’s already advertising the BlackBerry as a lifestyle device, rather than just an ‘emailer’. Yes, 2009 will truly be the year of the ‘converged wireless media hub’. Can’t wait. Tim.Green@intentmedia.co.uk 4
July 2008
Putting the ‘f’ in Sony Ericsson Device maker debuts new F-series entertainment device family with a motion gaming handset SONY Ericsson has created a new family of devices built around mobile entertainment – the F series. The first device to launch will be the F305, which comprises gaming controls and features a built-in accelerometer that lets users control games with the flick of a wrist. It offers three preloaded motion games: Bowling, Bass Fishing and Jockey from Gameloft and links to 50 more 2D and 3D games available at SE’s PlayNow download service. David Hilton, head of marketing at Sony Ericsson UK, told ME: “We wanted to introduce a new entrylevel range for consumers who want fun – whether that’s gaming or music or Bluetooth sharing or something else. We’re already working on more F series handsets.”
David Hilton: More F-series devices in the pipeline
Walkman devices, C for Cyber-shot and K for lowerrange ‘kamera’ phones. Sony Ericsson also unveiled its most advanced camera phone yet, the C905 8.1 megapixel Cyber-shot. The first Cyber-shot slider comes with face detection auto-focus, smart contrast, image stabiliser, a 2GB Memory Stick Micro and the option to send photos wirelessly to a TV via Wi-Fi or using the TV-Out cable. www.sonyericsson.com
The ‘F’ stands for fun, and this reflects a further streamlining of Sony Ericsson’s device naming strategy. It used to be confusing, but now it’s much more clear with the W range for
EA calls for a re-think ELECTRONIC Arts says the European mobile games industry needs to smarten up its act with new business models. The publisher believes the market is limited by the dominance of the one-off download. It is advocating bundles and subscriptions as alternatives that could bring new players into the sector. EA says operators that have broadened their models, like Verizon in the US and Bouygues in Europe, have been rewarded with higher average usage of games. The firm estimates Europe generated a healthy 100 million mobile game downloads in 2007, but the market is struggling to turn mobile players into downloaders. Javier Ferreira, EA Mobile’s VP of European publishing (pictured), said:
“Casual gamers are risk averse and won’t spend time researching what’s on offer before buying. Therefore we need to use techniques like bundling and subscription to reduce perceived risk. “A hundred million downloads shows that mobile gaming is no longer
niche, but we need to close the gap between the five per cent Nielsen says download a game and the 25 per cent that just play them.” EA has forecast that its own mobile revenues will increase 20 per cent in fiscal '09 to reach $185 million. www.ea.com www.mobile-ent.biz
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Tip top Apple app shop? THE iPhone 3G may have been the least surprising news story of the year, but what’s got the biz talking is Apple’s move into content retailing. Loads of developers have been telling ME how much they like Apple’s business model. The Californian firm says content providers can choose price points between free and $9.99 – and receive a 70 per cent rev share. At the launch of iPhone 3G in May, Sega, Digital Legends and Loopt were among those
to show what they’ve done with the iPhone SDK. Now, analysts predict the store could become a $1.2 billion business by 2009. Investment bank Piper Jaffray said the store could add up to three per cent to Apple’s operating income by the end of 2009. It assumes users will buy at least two apps a year. Apple’s new 3G iPhone will roll out in 22 countries on July 11th, with 48 more countries to follow before year-end. www.apple.com
Ooh, Get Thumbplay Thumbplay has launched the beta version of an SMS-based search app called Thumbplay GET. The service allows mobile users in the US to instantly search for and purchase ringtones, games, videos and wallpapers when they send a text message with the word ‘Get’ plus any artist or song name to THUMB 84862. They receive back a WAP link to a menu they can browse without commitment.
Sunny spells for mobile The Met Office UK has ramped up its new media weather info offering to mobile. Met Office Media, the commercial media arm of the UK weather forecaster, can now broadcast, or serve to any IP platform, live and packaged video weather content. Weather information is one of the core destinations for mobile web users and the Met Office has an incredibly good brand profile among UK users.
Lion mating season
Moto goes to the movies MOTOROLA will position itself as the ‘movie phone’ company following the launch of a film download store with Paramount. It has created a video centre that lets users download full feature films direct to a PC and then sideload them to mobile. The UK website launches first, followed by Germany, Italy, Spain and France. Prices range from £5.99 to £8.99, with titles including The Italian Job, Jackass and the complete back catalogue of Star Trek films.
www.mobile-ent.biz
Saffron Digital will power the store. Its platform encodes and delivers the films to users in a format optimised for their device. The service was designed for the MOTO Z10, but other OMA DRM handsets will be compatible. Saffron CEO Shashi Fernando said: “This is a breakthrough service that provides a superior viewing experience for users, while providing peace of mind to content owners around the protection of their IP rights”. Motorola has launched its ROKR E8 music phone in the UK. The handset comes with a 2-megapixel camera, 2GB of internal storage and a crescent-shaped scroll bar for music naviagtion. Moto will promote the device with a ‘music you’ campaign. www.motorola.com
Confessions of a content company
Finland's BLStream and Poland-based Gamelion have completed a merger that creates a multiplatform content business comprising 300 people working in Finland, Poland and Ukraine. Gamelion will retain its brand and continue studio activities for publisher partners unchanged.
Sony hands over to Glu Sony Pictures has abandoned its 'direct' mobile games dream and outsourced to Glu. The latter has bagged distribution rights for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. .
MELODI has launched a 200-strong series of mobisodes featuring real people’s naughtiest confessions. It showcases 30-second candid confessions from everday people with a risque side. Series 1 features The RoofTop – filmed entirely on the roof of a building in New York known for its parties. Season 2 moves the setting to Palm Springs,
California for a four-day event in the desert featuring what Melodi describes as ‘killer parties, big-name music acts and bikinis, bikinis and more bikinis’. RoofTop Confessions is another of Melodi’s laudable attempts to do something original in content development. It’s already won recognition for its horoscope video ‘mobcasts’. www.melodimedia.co.uk
The industry goes bowling THE MOBILE content industry went on ‘strike’ last month in support of the Great Ormond Hospital. Several teams representing an array of UK content and service providers took part in the first Mobile Charity Bowling event hosted by recruitment consultant ARN. The biggest striker was Pocket Group, which
walked away with the overall first prize. Pocket’s Maya Garkusha also bagged a prize for being the best dressed bowler. Other participants included Saffron, Tanla, WIN and more. ARN plans to organise more charity events over the next 12 months, with go-karting and paintball on the agenda. www.arnconsulting.com
Smart surge Smartphone shipments rose 29 per cent year on year to 1Q2008, said Gartner. The sales figure was 32.2 million units – that’s 11 per cent of the global mobile device market. Among hardware vendors Nokia was the biggest winner with a 14 per cent share.
July 2008 5
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NEWS ANALYSIS
Talking aggro Lewis McDonald took a lot of flak when he formed Mobile Entertainment Distribution from the ashes of stricken aggregator Telcogames. He told the whole story to Tim Green… But why was Telcogames publishing while representing other publishers as a distributor. Wasn’t there a conflict of interest? We never self-published any Java games, so I didn’t see any conflict.
Just clarify for us how Mobile Entertainment Distribution fits with Telcogames. MED bought the assets and business of Telcogames, which includes all sales channel and supplier contracts. These include O2, Orange, Red Circle and others. We’re also employing some key Telcogames.
Even though the publishing investment didn’t pay off, shouldn’t Telcogames have ring-fenced some cash to pay suppliers? We were weeks away from getting new investment in June 2007 that would have secured this funding. It didn’t materialise, and neither did the additional shareholder cash we were expecting in Q4 last year. The investment climate for mobile completely changed.
I’m sure you realise that creditors will look at the situation and conclude you’ve just started again and left them to carry the can. I say to them: we could easily have walked away, but we want to make things right. 33 companies expressed an interest in the business and ours was the highest cash offer. Obviously the administrator will manage the process in the best interests of the creditors, but we’ve pledged to pay seven per cent of gross margin in the first year back to the creditors. That shows we’re sincere, and it means that suppliers that work with us will directly repay some of their debts. What makes you think it’s worth having another go? Operators can’t sustain their walled gardens. They need quality distributors that can bring independent product to them, merchandise it properly and invest in the category. Also, the retail channel is getting more fragmented so suppliers will need distributors with the backend systems to manage all the transactions and reporting. We have strong knowledge of off-portal and this give us confidence. But one of the reasons people cite for Telcogames’ demise was its accounting system. That’s not accurate. The system was, and still is, excellent. The fact that our suppliers were chasing payments shows how thorough it was – otherwise they wouldn’t have known what they were owed.
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McDonald says Telcogames was undone by a failed move into publishing and an adverse investment climate
So why weren’t they paid? What failed us were late payments by sales channels, with some operators taking six months to settle bills. Of the 140 channels we dealt with, perhaps 40 per cent made regular full payments on audited dowloads. But every aggregator faces the same issue. Why didn’t Telcogames have the funds to allow for these late payments? They didn’t pursue the same aggressive policy as Telcogames in native gaming. We bought Fathammer and Magic Productions in the belief that high end mobile gaming was going to take off. I think we’re now being proved right about that market. But we were too early, and it hurt us.
“I can see why some channels wouldn’t go with us. But I believe the majority will. They know we had some bad breaks and that there’s a strong team they’d like to continue working with.”
Can you understand the anger directed at MED – and why some developers won’t work with you? Yes, of course. And I know some have moved to other aggregators. But I say again, we were the victims of unfortunate, complex circumstances. We could have walked away, and Telcogames would have been liquidated. Instead, we put the company into administration. It was a going concern thanks to the remedial action taken in 2007. We went from 72 people to 22 and closed Fathammer, Magic and the Liverpool publishing team. It’s because Telco was a going concern that MED has the ability to pay back the seven per cent of gross margin. I still believe we would have turned it round if some creditors had been more patient. What about the retail channels? Do you expect them to keep faith when there’s bad feeling around? I can see why some channels wouldn’t go with us. But I believe the majority will. Again, they know we had some bad breaks and that there’s a strong team of committed professional people in the company they’d like to continue working with.
www.mobile-ent.biz
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MEET-UP
Thrash
bash!
Over 200 execs celebrated the majesty of rock and the mystery of roll at the Guitar Hero Meet-Up last month. What a night…
There were fifteen million fingers Learning how to play And you could hear the fingers picking And this is what they had to say …Let there be rock AC/DC: Let There Be Rock OKAY, so there weren’t quite 15 million people there, but the Guitar Hero Meet-Up last month was the biggest networking party we’ve ever held. Soho’s Slug And Lettuce pub was rammed to the rafters with mobile content insiders eager to catch up with old friends, make new contacts and to stick it to the man via the medium of rock. The event was organised to celebrate the launch
of Hands-On Mobile’s Guitar Hero III: Mobile in Europe this summer. Every attendee was invited to take to the stage to play the Xbox 360 version of the game – which comes with a replica guitar and invites players to mimic famous rock anthems. And that’s just what they did. It was a beautiful night for fret work and power chords. More pics at tinyurl.com/6fye5b.
Guitar Hero III Mobile… coming to Europe! Hands-On will release Guitar Hero III Mobile in Europe imminently after a hugely successful launch in the US. It was the third best-selling game on the Verizon Wireless deck in 2007, and is now live on AT&T. More than 250,000 songs are played every day by US subscribers and over 100,000 users are listed on the online leaderboard. 8
July 2008
It was hot, it was sweaty, but the beer was cold and everyone rocked hard. Some harder than others
Why you should sponsor The Meet-Up, hosted by Mobile Entertainment magazine, is always packed with movers and shakers and offers sponsors a fantastic opportunity to publicise their products and services. It’s the only such event that occurs regularly in the UK and pulls hundreds of purely content professionals into one place. Sponsors benefit from: Extensive online promotion before the event to ME’s 9,500 strong email database Regular updates on the ME website Branding on the night itself News stories and a post-event full-page review in the magazine The next Meet-Up is scheduled for August 21st. It could be yours! For more details contact Tim Green at +44 (0) 1992 535 646 or mail: tim.green@intentmedia.co.uk. www.mobile-ent.biz
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TOP WOMEN IN MOBILE
(Left-Right) Yen Ong, Alice Kim, Geraldine Wilson, Ji Yung Park, Beth Marcus
Sisters in charge You wouldn’t know it from a walk round Mobile World Congress, but female execs are helping to shape the content business. Mobile Entertainment is proud to round up the top 50… T WAS during the Meffy awards that the idea for a top women in mobile list became irresistible. It has been mooted a few times before. But Sitting at a table alongside Ann Williams, CEO of Brazilian transactions provider Okto, and watching Beth Marcus collecting a brace of awards for the company she founded, Zeemote, it became clear that the time had come for some proper flagwaving. But let’s get things in proportion. For all the achievements of Williams, Marcus and the 48 others listed in the following pages, mobile content remains an overwhelmingly male preserve. Our corner of mobile telephony, a medium arguably more beloved of women than men, still overlooks female executives and consumers. Of the 88 speakers listed in the MEM conference programme, just five were women. That’s horrible. I say that out of commercial, not political, correctness. How much is this costing us? Look at video gaming – in the middle of a golden age because Nintendo abandoned chasing the hardcore (mostly male) gamer, thought laterally about gameplay and used Nicole Kidman in its advertising. Of course, these arguments risk grouping all men and all women into two distinct camps. Far too simplistic, I know. And this was why I was nervous about the list. Surely a good executive is a good executive regardless of their shoe size? But every woman I spoke to said no, go for it, it’ll be a rallying call. So we emailed hundreds of you to find names. And here they are…
I
www.mobile-ent.biz
Anne Baker VP of Marketing, Action Engine
Jana Eisenstein UK General Manager, Screentonic
Engineering graduate Baker has helped to make Action Engine the on-device portal company choice for brands like AOL and MTV.
Eisenstein moved to the French ad specialist from 12Snap where she was COO. Under her guidance Screentonic became a key partner for brands entering the mobile ad space. Microsoft bought Screentonic in 2007.
Kate Barry Operations Director, Pitch Helped to build the UK D2C company into an international force and a leader in the mobile communities space. Linda Bernstrom Sales Director for Asia-Pac, Kamera Bernstrom’s efforts have grabbed the Swedish video company some big
deals in Asia Pac countries such as China and Singapore.
Julia Dimambro MD, CherryMedia
Therese Cedecreutz Director of Business Development, THQ Wireless
One of the most recognisable faces in the business. Not just because she’s a female running an adult mobile content company and a frequent conference panellist, but because she’s a deep thinker with a genuine passion for the mobile medium.
THQ was the first of the console games publishers into mobile and remains in its ‘premier league’. Cedecreutz helped the firm bag IP such as Top Trumps and Indiana Jones. Linda Chaplin Vice President, Sega Mobile
Rubaba Dowla Head of Marketing, GrameenPhone Bangladesh
A 20 year veteran of the games business, Chaplin took control of Sega Mobile Americas last year. Sonic’s just sold his eight millionth unit so something’s going right.
Dowla has brought a progressive approach to the rawest of emerging markets, achieving high mobile net use and m-commerce activity. Has made Grameenphone’s sub-brand djuice a big success.
Jill Braff SVP of Global Publishing, Glu
Camilla Crabbe Head of Content, Blyk
Carole Faure CEO, Kaolink
Braff has been with Glu since 2003. Her skills have made Glu a mobile games ‘major’ and the first choice of third parties such as Sega, Hasbro, Atari, Sony Pictures and many others.
The whole world is watching adfunded MVNO Blyk right now, to see whether its radical model can work. So far it’s focused on messaging as its ad medium, but Crabbe is looking into the potential of richer multimedia concepts.
Another of the small band of women forging a presence in the maledominated world of mobile gaming. She’s the founder and CEO of this enduring French developer, which works closely with the behemoth that is Gameloft. July 2008 11
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TOP WOMEN IN MOBILE
(Left-Right) Linda Bernstrom, Laura Marriot, Linda Chaplin, Liz Schimel, Melissa Goodwin
Kim Hagberg Head of Mobile Content Services, TeliaSonera
Karine Kaiser Deputy Director of Marketing and Licensing, Gameloft
Alice Kim SVP of Business Development, MTV Networks
Sweden’s TeliaSonera is very progressive in mobile VAS, having opened up web access long before most. It even has its own awards. Hagberg leads the charge.
Responsible for the vast array of high profile licence deals swung by the French mobie games giant – from various Paramount movies to Vans footwear.
Kim drives all US carrier and handset deals for MTV Networks, and sets up co-marketing deals. Her boss Greg Clayman even describes her as a ‘rock star’.
Francine Havila VP of Corporate Marketing, Spin3 Sabine Irrgang COO, GoFresh Germany’s GoFresh is nothing less than a mobile phenomenon, with over one million users signed up to itsmy.com, its ad funded social network. Irrgang was a cofounder and currently manages operations.
Tanya Field Group Head of Mobile Internet, Telefonica O2 Former head of content in the UK now in an international role leading Telefonica’s push into the mobile advertising arena. Amelia Gammon Director, NBC Universal Mobile Taking long and short form video plus games into mobile on behalf of the US film studio. Has worked on innovative apps based on Miami Vice and other hit properties. Melissa Goodwin Controller of Mobile, ITV Goodwin made her name at Fremantle before moving to ITV and and is now responsible for taking the giant UK broadcaster into mobile. Quite a challenge. She’s already delivered the 50 part made-formobile show The Gym. 12
July 2007
Sissel Henriette Larsen Director of Content, Telenor
Marketing a gambling company is not easy. This makes Havila’s achievement in building a formidable Spin3 brand all the greater.
Larsen is one of the most familiar female faces in the biz, having founded DRM firm Beep Science before returning to Telenor to head up content strategy.
Sandi Isaacs VP of Interactive, Paramount Pictures Isaacs helped create a global mobile business unit for the Hollywood studio. So far she’s closed all manner of distribution deals and set up a D2C storefront too. Louisa Jackson Director of Content, VidZone Jackson co-founded this UK music and video distributor, which now takes content to 140 services globally. Virginjia Juodyte CEO, Vertex Lithuania is not always closely associated with mobile content. But it has Getjar and it also has Vertex, which develops and sells various products under the Lithit Networks umbrella. Juodyte heads it up. Peggy Johnson Exeuctive VP of the Americas and India, Qualcomm Johnson is now masterminding the adoption of 3G for Qualcomm partners in the Americas and India. She became well-known to the content biz as president of Qualcomm Internet Services.
Emma Kaye CEO, Gate7
Bernadette Lyons MD, End2End
Kaye’s background in animation led her to create Gate7, one of the foremost mobile media companies in the fast-growing African market. She serves on the MEF EMEA board.
Under Lyons, End2End has been a growing force in content delivery for years, and with the recent purchase of Terraplay it is now emerging as an innovator in games retailing.
Sarah Keefe VP of Marketing, Bango
Katie McMahon VP of Business Development, Shazam
Over the years Bango has grown from an m-payments network to a specialist in all corners of the mobile internet. It’s even moved into analytics. Keefe has led the marketing effort behind every new initiative virtually since launch.
Shazam has moved from a wacky D2C app for identifying songs to a world force in mobile music. MacMahon closed the deal to put Shazam on Motorola phones.
Helen Keegan Founder, Beep Marketing If there’s anyone in the world that knows mobile marketing as well as Keegan, we haven’t met them. Great networker too – she organises the very popular London-based Swedish Beers evenings and is a prominent force in the Mobile Mondays organisation too. She even finds time to blog prodigiously.
Beth Marcus CEO, Zeemote At the MEM show Marcus bagged two Meffy awards. They were wellearned. Marcus created the industry’s first gaming controller, Zeemote, which launches imminently. Laura Marriott President Emeritus, MMA Marriott took the MMA from the margins of the business to its very www.mobile-ent.biz
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TOP WOMEN IN MOBILE
(Left-Right) Midori Yuasa, Peggy Johnson, Rubaba Dowla, Sarah Keefe, Sophia Stuart
centre, driving membership to over 600 and encouraging the brand and agency sectors to engage with mobile.
Suzanne Schantz Head of Content, Vodafone Global Voda is apparently gearing up for a huge services re-launch. Schantz, who was with Vizzavi many years ago, will take a central role in it.
Cindy Mesaros/Carolyn Schloeder VP of Marketing/President, Moderati We’re counting the two pillars of US content giant Moderati as one person. Achievements include the ‘booty call’ ringtone, which Mesaros voiced, the saucy minx. Yoshimi Ogawa Director of Mobile, Index Corp Index is a major force in Japan and has subsidiaries in the US, Europe, China and elsewhere. It’s best known for developing Bowlingual, an app that translates a dog bark. Yen Ong General Manager, Soundbuzz Soundbuzz is a major presence in mobile music across Asia Pac. Ong has been instrumental in rolling out services acros Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. Ji Young Park CEO, Com2Us Park’s passion and ideas have made Com2uS number one in Korea, and a growing presence outside it. The company is well-known for its innovation in both casual and massively muliplayer gaming. Rimma Perelmuter General Secretary, MEF Perelmuter is tireless and very wellconnected. The MEF had a handful of members when Perelmuter joined. It’s got over 135 now, with chapters all over the world. Claudia Poepperl CMO, mobilePeople After many years as the face of Qpass, Poepperl left to join the www.mobile-ent.biz
Liz Schimel SVP of Music, Nokia
Ann Williams CEO, Okto The founder of what has become a powerhouse in the huge Brazilian content market. Okto offers SMS and WAP services to operators, brands and financial institutions.
Danish search specialist. She is currently closing partnership deals with brands and directory companies. Lorane Poersch CEO, Crazyfunbabe Any woman pioneering femaleoriented content products should be on this list. Step forward Lorane Poersch, who’s doing just this with her US-based company. Lucia Predolin Head of Int’l Marketing, Buongiorno Predolin is a key member of the Buongiorno team re-orientating the company’s focus from D2C content into mobile marketing, B2B services and communities. Jessica Sandin Head of Mobile Practice, Fathom Anyone who’s been to a mobile conference will probably know Sandin. During her long spell with Informa, she chaired a few. Now providing consultancy with Fathom.
Schimel might just have the biggest job in mobile now. Nokia wants to take on iTunes and use music to become a services company. Schimel has to make it happen, that’s all. Ingrid Silver Partner, Denton Wilde Sapte If mobile content is to get bigger and more corporate, it’s going to need lawyers. None know more about the biz than MEF board member Silver. Sophia Stuart Director of Mobile, Hearst Digital Hearst has arguably driven harder into mobile than any other magazine brand. Stuart’s unit has launched nine mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan and Esquire. Rosemary Tan Director of Mobile, Sony Pictures TV Currently driving SPTI’s Asian operations from Hong Kong. Tan has
an impeccable 10-year music industry background having worked with Universal and BMG. Anne Thomas Head of Business Development, Wapple From its original and modest UK base, Wapple has made a global impact by making it easy to create and manage mobile internet sites. Thomas is one half of the partnership behind the company. Geraldine Wilson VP, Yahoo Europe Connected Life Wilson’s remit is to grow Yahoo! business in broadband, mobile and TV in Europe. She joined from Vodafone, where she was MD of UK content services among other roles. Midori Yuasa President, Capcom Mobile Appointed in 2005 to head up Capcom's mobile and interactive division. Previously with Sony Pictures Digital in a similar role. Fiamma Zarife Director of Value Added Services, Claro With 28 million entertainment-mad subscribers Claro is sitting on one of the most exciting content opportunities in the world. Zarife is directing the strategy.
AND A FEW MORE... “You’ll be lucky to get 30” said a few people when we dreamed up this feature. But the mailbag bulged when we asked for suggestions, so here are a few more we didn’t have room for: Marci Weisler, VP of Business Development, Vindigo Deborah Tonroe, Head of Procurement, Mobile TV and Video, Orange UK Lotta Lautsuo, Director of Business Development, Starcut Natalie Farsi, SVP of Content, Fox Julia McNally, Director, New Visions Rita Bereski, VP of Global Accounts, Wmode Lauren Berkowitz, SVP of Mobile and Digital, EMI North America
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Commercial
break? F OR a sector said to suffer from a lack of metrics, mobile advertising doesn’t half have a lot of metrics. Confused? Well, the lack of data refers to the relative inability of the networks to let advertisers specify which consumers they want to target. The corresponding surplus relates to the dizzying number of statistical predictions made about how much cash the market could generate. It seems as if every research company on the planet has made a projection. We shouldn’t be surprised. If ads are about anything, they’re about hype. Yet mobile market watchers will know to be wary of these numbers. Nobody really knows, do they? And anyway far more interesting is the complexion of mobile ads themselves. It’s probably the case that most observers think of WAP banners when they think of mobile advertising, but this plays into the perception that mobile is the internet
www.mobile-ent.biz
Advertising is the great hope of the mobile business, subsidising content purchases and compensating for falling voice and text revenues. So why does it feel like brands still don’t get it? Tim Green reports…
Openwave’s Pitamber (left), IMIMobile’s Alluri (middle) and Yahoo! Mobile’s Wilson (right) are all flying the mobile ad flag
on a small screen. It’s not. Broadly speaking the options can be grouped into five basic types – WAP banners, messaging tags (SMS and MMS), embedded ads in content products, sponsored search listings and idle screen/tickers. Without doubt the most democratic
and widely understood medium is text – which is why the ad-funded MVNO Blyk has so far eschewed richer media to focus on delivering ads that everyone can read. But whatever the form, the wider issue is targeting. What agencies want to know is this: how can mobile help me
specify the consumers I want to hit? They’re entitled to ask as mobile is usually promoted as the most personal of all channels. The received wisdom, thus far, is that many operators have been unwilling or unable to mine their systems for targeted ad campaigns.
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This issue is being addressed by companies like Bango, whose Bango Analytics platform can identify, track and build a profile of each unique visitor to a mobile site, rather than simply measure the number of visits. Its unique user ID creates an accurate picture of visitors, enabling mobile advertisers to create a clear picture of buying patterns and trends. Meanwhile off-portal ad broker Admob regularly delivers stats that illuminate its network traffic. And what a network it is. In March alone its total impressions were up 10 per cent to 2,553,018,899. Working with operators on metrics is Openwave. It currently offers a ‘contextual advertising module’ that can establish when and where a user is browsing and add rules to define it even further. Meanwhile its ‘personalisation module’ collects and manipulates data to create segments and match offers to those customers. Mayur Pitamber, product management strategist for Openwave, says some operators are enthusiastic but admits others are still unsure. “Operators do have this data but it’s in silos – with browsing
history in WAP gateways for example, and demographic info somewhere else. Sometimes we can identify the data in a day or two, other times in many weeks. It really depends. Generally, the tier one carriers are still investigating the space whereas some tier twos have rate cards and whole teams dedicated to the sector.” A case in point might be the MVNO Tesco Mobile, which published a media pack for brands through its agency partner 4th Screen Advertising following successful ad trials. These trials showed that the average consumer was aged 36, with 60 per cent female and 60 per cent visiting the portal at least once a month. Of course one of the reasons for residual nervousness about ads among operators is the dilemma of letting perceived competitors advertise on their portals. In these early days for the sector, most advertisers are content vendors. Indeed companies such as France’s abphone have emerged to specialise solely in directing users to content products. It’s now working with Ad
Infuse and 4th Screen to drive advertising to its off portal site. But for a network selling its own content the question is: do we take the cheque? As ME observed in its front page last month, this is a highly pressing issue. The arrival of the search box on the deck presents a similar dilemma, offering consumers another route away from the goodies
search will become increasingly important.” Of course, many would argue that this should be seen as an opportunity, not a threat. It’s no accident that operator-friendly search specialists like Jumptap and Medio are now recognised as much for their ability to serve relevant ads as provide answers. Openwave goes one further,
What agencies want to know is this: how can I use mobile advertising to specify which users I want to target? hoarded by the carrier. Geraldine Wilson, VP of Connected Life at Yahoo! Europe, says: “Mobile search is evolving much in the same way as it did on the PC, with display advertising creating bigger revenues than search. This is because consumers who are just beginning to discover the mobile internet stick to the operator portal. But as they go outside the walled garden, mobile
offering a ‘broker module’ that gives the operator a chance to present ads based on agreements with numerous search networks. This way, the user gets the best results and the carrier gets a rev share. This is also the basis of the ‘federated search’ offering developed by MCN (see box). Another mobile advertising option attracting lots of interest is the idle screen ticker. Why? Because it is
Talking heads talking about ads Mobile social networking specialist Miyowa convened a roundtable of experts to discuss mobile advertising. Mobile Entertainment chaired… ME: Mobile advertising is certainly here. But is it over-hyped? Neil Holroyd: We’ve got research which shows that of 1,000 users that clicked through 23 per cent either bought or were likely to purchase – and 50 per cent recalled. That’s pretty encouraging. Jim Brooks: Coca Cola says 50 per cent of its spend will go on mobile – that’s $11bn at current rates. That’s great, but we know they won’t do it without ethics and metrics. Simon Liss: The agencies still don’t get it. They don’t see the results. Jim Brooks: I think they are looking at mobile, but discreetly. Brands are already using mobile in their coordinated campaigns effectively, putting shortcodes on posters etc. But I accept this is limited as ‘text back’ is hardly immediate, which is 16
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the whole point of mobile. The issue is how to make mobile a proper media channel. There is data you can retrieve such as handset type, time of day, operator. You can itemise them and take them to an agency and make a good case. Pascal Lorne: But look at Japan, probably the world’s most advanced mobile market. Its ad space is worth $200m and most of it comes from two social networking sites. That’s nothing. Even the people clicking on banners are doing it because it gets them more points for their community apps. Advertisers aren’t stupid. They know what’s going on. ME: So what’s going to bring the brands in? Ana Tavares: Brands want to specify the target group, which is why the GSM launched its initiative earlier this year. The aim is to standardise
measurement, targeting, code of conduct and so on. The industry really does want to take this on. Jim Brooks: If we can’t yet give advertisers ‘who’, we can at least given them ‘where’ by creating communities around products and serve banners there. Tom Knapp: So why aren’t brands creating WAP sites? Let’s face it, the destinations aren’t there. ME: Does it all come back to data tariffs and walled gardens? Ray de Silva: We have to move on from talking about flat rate data. Most consumers still don’t know why they need it. Also, we operate in markets like Italy, where 80 per cent of users are pre-pay so flat rate is irrelevant. Overall, the mobile business has to move at internet speed, not telco speed. We need to
go to brands as service enablers offering sponsorship of texts, tickers, banners – every angle needs to be covered. Jim Brooks: The mobile internet still suffers because there’s nowhere to go to find BMW’s mobile site. That’s why BMW would rather just put a shortcode on a poster. Simon Liss: What about Google? Jim Brooks: The screen’s too small for the online approach. Mobile needs something different. There are geniuses at Google HQ but I’d argue they haven’t come close to solving mobile yet. Julien Thys: Handset fragmentation doesn’t help does it? You know – Sony Ericsson has a back button, Nokia doesn’t. It’s hard to make a great mobile search experience if every phone is different. www.mobile-ent.biz
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non-intrusive and provides good targeting opportunities. Tickers roll along the bottom of the mobile screen showing info and ad links. They can be left to scroll until the user sees something worth clicking on. Vishwanath Alluri, CEO of IMIMobile, whose Ad Ring platform is launched in India, says: “You can only have one banner on a mobile page. However, with a scroller you can have multiple sponsored ads.” Arguably, the leader in this space is Celltick, which offers the LiveScreen service. It claims an addressable user base of 226m across 15 operators mostly in the Far East. It says 80 per cent of users keep their tickers on and 35 per cent regularly click through. Stephen Dunford, CEO of Celltick, says advertisers like the system because they get access to the management system from where they can choose to send ads out based on handset type, location and so on. He says: “The ticker is like a broadcast medium that gives advertisers the chance to build pyscographic profiles. It’s really effective. In one case we worked with Honda and generated 110,000 leads in two days.”
Federate to accelerate Stephen Burke, senior VP of marketing at MCN, believes ‘federated’ search can simplify discovery for users and deliver revenue for the entire value chain… Mobile Search is broken. Why? Because users don’t buy what they can’t find, and content providers won’t waste marketing budgets on costly, imprecise mass media promotions to reach consumer targets. It’s a problem, but I believe help is on the way in the form of federated search, and with it content merchandising programmes that reach users the instant they want cool stuff, eliminate click fatigue and drive content revenue.
Content providers know their customers best. If we can make the path to content consumption shorter and more profitable – without marginalising operators and their ability to monetise search – the entire mobile value chain can prosper. We call it ‘search merchandising’ and it has two
pieces: operator-branded connections to content providers and a network that lets publishers buy all keywords in a category with one purchase. This simplifies promotion and increases ROI because it eliminates costly and complex keyword bidding. Essentially, if their database has a piece of content that’s relevant to the query, users will find it in two to three clicks. We call the network ‘allwords.’ It’s already live as part of MCN’s search solution in Japan, and is driving 20 per cent plus click-throughs and the industry’s highest conversion rates for those participating in Yahoo! Mobile Japan’s multi-category Digital Content Search services and NTT DoCoMo’s FM Radio Music Search. We plan to launch allwords federated search merchandising in Europe later this year.
PARTICIPANTS Jim Brooks, Principle Associate Consultant, CapGemini Simon Liss, MD, welovemobile Neil Holroyd, Head of Games & Gambling, Orange UK Ray De Silvia, Principal Product Manager, Consumer Internet Services & Platforms, Vodafone Group Ana Tavares, Strategy Director, GSMA Tom Knapp, Mobile Product Manager, Europe Jon Smith, Director Product & Services, Sharpcards Julien Thys, Analyst, Screen Digest Pascal Lorne, CEO, Miyowa
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DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER
Live and direct D2C companies launched the mobile content market when everyone else was looking the other way. Now, they’re diversifying into social networks, marketing and B2B services. Tim Green investigates… t the height of Frog fever, Jamba spent more on advertising in the UK than retail giant Marks & Spencer. Even in the midst of such hysteria it was clear that knickers were a better long-term bet than amphibious ringtones; Jamba is no longer outspending Marks. But it is still advertising prodigiously. The company recently confirmed it would spend $100 million on ads this year. A staggering amount, if you believe the ringtone market is dead. Clearly it’s not. Indeed, when outgoing Jamba COO Lee Fenton revealed the total, he also stressed that core products such as ringtones, although declining as a proportion of Jamba’s sales, are still on the up in absolute terms. Realtones alone comprise 40 per cent of downloads in an average month on Jamster.
A
Clearly, the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market did not die, it merely changed. And the signs are that it’s on the rise again. However, there’s no doubt that personalisation products have, at best, flatlined in mature markets and that emerging markets are driving this growth. This is certainly the experience of Ron Czerny, CEO of US firm PlayPhone. He says: “The D2C market has gone global. We’re seeing 100 per cent growth in subs every month in Brazil, for example. And there is even potential in less obvious targets like Canada, which only has one serious player in it at the moment.” The desire to plant flags in the fertile soil of the developing world inspired much M&A activity since the heady days of the mid-noughties.
And the fact that so many participants came badly unstuck back then meant there were plenty of targets to be had. The UK’s Monstermob is one obvious example. It expanded fast into Asia Pac only to fall foul of changing regulations in China. Result? Purchased by Zed, which is now reaping the dividends of Monstermob’s earlier adventures. Zed, of course, also bought 9Squared (US) while Buongiorno snapped up another major UK player, iTouch.
Interestingly these acquisitions reshaped D2C into a space dominated by Mediterranean companies – specifically Spain’s Zed and Italy’s Buongiorno, Dada.net and Flycell. These four, along with Germany’s Jamba (now owned by News Corp) now dominate the global picture. Zed, for example, now counts operations in 53 countries across five continents and employs 1,400 people. If this quartet faces competition from anywhere it’s arguably the US. From being itself a ‘developing market’ just two years ago, the US D2C scene has exploded into life and thrown up a number of players that appear ready to expand into Europe. PlayPhone served notice of its intent with the purchase of UK-
These guys know how to party, and it’s all down to D2C mobile content
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Smile for the camera: (Left-Right) Thumbplay’s CEO Are Traasdahl, Zed CEO Javier Perez Dolset, Buongiorno UK MD Luca Pagano and PlayPhone CEO Ron Czerny
based Pitch in May, with the emergence of a new converged digital landscape the clear driver. Czerny says: “Digital entertainment is going to blend the web and the mobile. So, if you take music, for example, the ringtone will just be a component of a broader music destination. We’re still two years from that, but we’re building towards it. I think the top five players in the space will need to be global.” The desire of D2C companies to move away from purely selling personalisation products is welladvanced. Take Dada.net, already pushing ahead with the aforementioned drive towards new music services. The company, which began as an email alerts specialist, recently added DRM-free MP3s from Sony BMG to a music-oriented community called The Music Movement that also offers ringtones and wallpapers. The Music Movement has helped Dada to become a genuine force in digital music in the US. It’s available from nine operators including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Alltel. Dada is not alone in exploiting its D2C expertise to power services for third parties. For operators looking to outsource their content operations, these firms make the ideal partners. Javier Perez Dolset, CEO of Zed, says: “In five years between 40 and 50 per cent of people will access the net from a mobile device. So companies like Zed will have an advantage. Remember, we have agreements with more than 130 operators and we know how to make portals or apps work across hundreds of devices.” Zed’s close rival Buongiorno has embarked on the same strategy, and 20
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says revenue from B2B and its D2C brand Blinko are now roughly even. Luca Pagano, the firm’s UK MD, believes there are many underdeveloped possibilities in the B2B space. He says: “We’re looking at ideas like using content downloads as a reward for topping up. This sees content as a means to reduce churn rather than make money, and it works. We’ve seen ARPU rise and churn fall by up to 40 per cent with one operator.” Of course, it’s not just operators that the D2C players have in their sights. Zed made eye-catching deals to power content services for AOL, Metacafe and other new media brands earlier this year, while Infomedia is working with third parties like Tesco and NME. In the US, PlayPhone pulled off a coup by bagging the contract to run WalMart’s mobile content store. Such moves reflect the sector’s giants desire to diversify and position themselves for the next industry phase. Recent recidivism in the pure D2C space suggests they’re right to seek some distance. Last month a class action settlement against AT&T over unauthorised charges from ringtone vendors showed that the malpractice of 2005/6 is not over. This was a few weeks after UK regulator PhoneplayPlus said it received 4,500 complaints in 1Q08 – a 40 per cent year-on-year increase. You have to wonder whether there’s a scorched earth policy at work here. It’s as if the industry is thinking ‘with so many new territories to exploit, why worry about long term damage?’ It’s a worry, and many of the bigger players are privately concerned about it. Let’s hope the good guys win.
A brief guide to the D2C leaders Zed
Dada
The Spanish firm is surely the biggest of the lot, with fiscal 2007 revenues at $545 million and $870 million projected for the coming year. This success has been built on the twin pillars of original content development and diversification into community services. Zed has also inked strategic alliances with operators and key internet/digital media companies like AOL and Metacafe.
Another Italian company, Dada offers 12 million people in over 40 countries D2C content and community services. The specialism is definitely music. Indeed, Dada now runs a joint venture with Sony BMG. It claims 40,000 new users become part of the Dada.net community every day.
Buongiorno The Italian firm has acquired prodigiously in recent years, buying iTouch, Rocket, Freever and Flytxt among others. It’s now well into its second phase of offering B2B marketing and content services alongside community applications and good old D2C offerings (under the Blinko brand). Buongiorno’s revenues grew by 86.3 per cent to 79 million euros in 1Q 2008.
Jamba The best known name in D2C services has had a bumpy 18 months since being bought by News Corp. Its ‘Yellow Plan’ around The Simpsons Movie was not successful and it lost virtually all of its senior exec team. But intriguing plans are afoot, not least in the merging of Jamba content offerings with MySpace Music.
Flycell And another Italian one. Flycell is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Acotel Group, and is wellestablished in the US.
Thumbplay Founded by a Norwegian, New York-based Thumbplay was first into the US market. It has more than 80,000 pieces of mobile entertainment content under licence, which it offers via its own storefront and the mobile portals of AOL, MSN Mobile and others.
PlayPhone Expansionist US company that offers content products via PlayPhone.com and also brands including Wal-Mart, Cartoon Network, Sega and others. In May the firm made waves when it bought UK-based Pitch Entertainment and thus positioned itself for a European push.
www.mobile-ent.biz
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Big it up for games The mobile games industry is in a bullish mood as the latest research ranks it as the ‘daddy’ of mobile content. Stuart O’Brien crunches some numbers…
E
1.6 billion. That’s how much the global mobile games market was worth in 2007, according to the latest research from market watcher Screen Digest. It’s an awful lot of money. In fact, it’s 45.6 per cent of global mobile content revenues last year (E3.5 billion for games, video, music combined) and enough for the research firm to proclaim that mobile gaming is now the ‘daddy’ of the content industry. And it’s going to get much bigger. Screen Digest reckons that in four years’ time mobile games revenues will have grown 62 per cent to E2.6 billion (see chart). Looking at the stats more closely, North America is the largest territory in terms of revenue at E536 million,
EA has forecast that its own mobile revenues will increase 20 per cent in its fiscal year ending March 31st to reach $185 million. Meanwhile, Glu Mobile says it expects full-year 2008 revenues in the range of $96.5-100 million (compared to $66.9 million in 2007). Gameloft is targeting 2008 sales growth of 25-30 per cent, which would put it in the region of $175$182 million. As we’ve pointed out before in these pages, there appears to be genuine optimism in the market, brought about by the new platforms suddenly available to mobile developers and publishers. “This looks to be the year when native gaming comes into its own,” says Tim Closs, chief technical officer at developer Ideaworks3D. “Nokia’s
Meet the players: EA’s Ferreira (above); THQ’s Scalpello (below, left) and End2End’s Helling (below, right).
There’s a genuine optimism in the market brought about by the new platforms available. followed by Western Europe (E450 million) and Japan (E399 million). China, India and Eastern Europe chip in with E51 million, E25.6 million and E23.3 million, respectively. All this after a 12-month period in which the mood in the mobile games biz has been gloomy at best. Javier Ferreira, VP of European publishing at EA Mobile, argues it’s time for the sector to start feeling good about itself again. He says: “There seems to be a lot of anxiety in mobile games but the fact is we’re a really successful industry – we’re the second largest content category in terms of usage behind ringtones and Europe alone saw 100 million paid downloads in 2007. For me that’s taken the industry beyond niche and into the mass market.” www.mobile-ent.biz
N-Gage and Apple’s iPhone, combined with Qualcomm’s BREW are now compelling distribution opportunities. We are seeing publishers looking to make their mark in this space and overlaps with native handheld and console development are becoming evident.” In particular, Closs says iPhone is generating considerable interest from specialist native gaming developers that have previously shunned mobile as too either limited or too fragmented. Apparently some games publishers are even seeing competition between their handheld and mobile groups over who will ‘own’ iPhone development. That excitement is shared by the likes of EA, THQ Wireless and Gameloft, who have all confirmed support for Apple’s device. And
Mobile Games Consumer Revenues (€m)
2007
2012
North America Western Europe Japan South Korea China India Eastern Europe Total Games Total global mobile content revenue* Total mobile data revenue**
536.0 449.7 398.6 123.3 51.4 25.6 23.3 1,607.9 3,520.0 39,000.0
1,119.5 636.4 453.4 176.6 112.9 83.5 36.6 2,619.0 10,990.0 91,630.0
Source: Screen Digest 2008 *Games, video, music **Includes data charges, IM, browsing, social networking, excludes msg
July 2008 23
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Gameloft is one of a growing number of previously specialist mobile publishers who are actively transferring their mobile IP to handheld, consoles and the web. Glu CEO Greg Ballard says the explosion of target platforms (he adds Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Danger to the list) will have three effects: “First, we expect that these phones will generate more revenue per phone than current and past devices have. Second, we believe these devices offer even better and more engaging game experiences and
before they buy. So we must use ideas like bundling and subscription to reduce perceived risk.” For example, EA Mobile says it has operator support for bundled offerings that would give users access to five games for a monthly subscription roughly equivalent to a one-off download. Sven Halling, VP of games services at End2End, backs up this sentiment and argues that current models are effectively pricing many punters out of the market. He says: “The fact is, in many markets we still primarily reach
We still primarily reach higher earning customers... to be blunt games cost too much for the kids. Sven Halling, End2End they will provide a better and more seamless user experience. Finally, these new handset platforms will have a positive ripple effect on other companies and the value chain in the mobile market.” But for all this positivity, EA insists the sector needs to move away from the one-off transactions that comprise 99 per cent of the market today. Ferreira says: “Casual gamers are very risk averse and won’t spend time researching what’s on offer
higher earning consumers, slightly older than one would expect for mobile games, usually post-pay, and often business users. Younger players are effectively shut out. To be more direct, the games cost too much for the kids.” Halling says there’s no silver bullet to the pricing issue, however. Instead, he argues that developers, publishers and operators should adopt a holistic approach combining ‘smart pricing’ with segmentation, try-before-youbuy and viral marketing schemes.
Just the Jobs for gaming? Frugal portable games fans will be able to breathe a sigh of relief – Apple has given the official price of its iPhone games and it's much less than previously touted. Despite comments from iPhone developers suggesting games would cost as much as $25, Apple CEO Steve Jobs used the launch of iPhone 3G to confirm that some games sold via the App Store would be free, and others would cost no more than $9.99. Publishers receive a 70 per cent cut of sales. The new iPhone version of Sega's Super Monkey Ball was among the
24
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first iPhone new apps to be demonstrated at the launch. The game will be made available from the iPhone App Store for $9.99, with more to come from the Japanese publisher, according to the company's associate producer Ethan Einhorn. Meanwhile, Spanish game developer Digital Legends showed off 3D action adventure Krull, which is due for a September release. Finally, developer Pangea displayed Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally, a racing game that used iPhone’s accelerometer like a steering wheel.
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BREW 2008
What’s Brewing
at Qualcomm? Qualcomm outlined a vision for an open, cross-platform mobile future at its BREW 2008 developer conference in San Diego last month. Stuart O’Brien filed this report… UALCOMM is unique in the world of multi-billion dollar telecoms conglomerates – for starters it remains essentially a family-run business, with the Jacobs clan holding down the chairman, CEO and CMO roles. Perhaps even more uniquely in corporate America, the last 12 months have seen a Brit, Andrew Gilbert, blaze a trail through the company to become its guiding light in the world of mobile multimedia. A big part of this year’s BREW 2008 shindig was about introducing Gilbert as the face of Qualcomm’s multimedia strategy and ramming home the message that the company is ready to embrace ‘openness’. With a few qualifiers, mind you. You see, despite being called BREW 2008, this year’s show was about almost everything but Qualcomm’s Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, an essentially proprietary development
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platform associated primarily with mobile games. There were two stories being told in San Diego: firstly, how Qualcomm is going to leverage the content delivery expertise it has built up through the BREW ecosystem and MediaFLO in the wider operator
an ‘operator friendly’ service provider. Gilbert says: “There are clearly other mobile content delivery providers out there, but Qualcomm has a lot to offer operators who wish to take a different path.” This approach is probably most evidenced in Qualcomm’s new Plaza
Qualcomm’s content offering will focus on sitting behind operators rather than competing with them. world (especially Europe) and, secondly, the company’s vision for content beyond cellular devices. Qualcomm says the extension of its mobile content services offering will be focused on ‘sitting behind’ mobile operators, rather than competing with them, a la Nokia Ovi. Gilbert himself stressed that his company was
‘widgets’ solution. In simple terms, a mobile widget enables quick access to internet services and web content without forcing the user to fire up their browser and enter URLs. Content is often displayed in a tilebased GUI. Qualcomm is certainly not the first company to offer a mobile widgets
solution (Nokia’s Widsets has been around for a while now). However, it claims Plaza’s USP is that it reinforces the existing mobile value chain in the face of increasing competition operators face from web service providers like Google. But it’s not just operators that Qualcomm has in its sights. It’s probably no coincidence that directto-consumer giant Zed was invited to speak and announce that it had notched up 76 million on-deck downloads through the BREW ecosystem. Because now Qualcomm is applying that expertise in the D2C space through two offerings: BrandXtend and BREW Zones. The latter will begin a full roll-out in 1Q09 and will allow content providers to directly target devices embedded with BREW technology. To date, the only route to these devices was through BREW-powered operator portals, like Verizon Wireless’s Get It Now. Verizon is now expected to be one of the first www.mobile-ent.biz
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BREW 2008
Qualcomm is on a roll, and to ram home the metaphor it hired a bunch of rollerbladers to entertain delegates at its welcoming party.
On the boil Qualcomm has a lot of fingers in a lot of different mobile pies. Here are a few of them… BREW Mobile Platform – Qualcomm says its deal with Adobe to integrate Flash into BREW will enable developers to create iPhone-rivalling user experiences. The deal means developers can take anything they've created using Flash and drop it into a BREW app. BREW Zones – The initiative is part of a wider move towards making its BREW client/server system a more 'open' platform for content delivery, reflecting developments in the market such as Google's Android. Plaza – A mobile widgets solution designed to work across any device, not just BREW-based. Aimed squarely at operators that want to maintain some control over how their customers access the internet from their device. BrandXtend – Managed service solution based on the BREW ecosystem driving off-deck mobile content transactions. Universal Music and Major League Baseball
are using the platform to power their content offerings. Again, the solution works across all devices. GOBI – Laptops will soon be on the market based on Qualcomm’s Gobi technology, which essentially embeds all 3G technologies (WCDMA/EV-DO etc) on a single chip. To get connected all a user would have to do is buy airtime from a partner service provider in the same way wi-fi hotspots work today. Dell, Lenovo and HP are among Gobi's partners. Firethorn – Qualcomm bought Firethorn last year as a way into the mobile commerce space, initially offering bank account access via mobile. Later this year, however, it will start rolling out mobile loyalty cards and coupons that retailers and credit card companies will be able to use in store. Qualcomm’s long-term goal is to enable phone-based payments using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology in its chip sets.
Mobile TV FLOs into Europe
Qualcomm is a family affair, with Paul Jacobs (right) – of the Jacobs clan – in command. But the man in charge of Qualcomm’s mobile content drive is Brit Andrew Gilbert (left)
Qualcomm used BREW 2008 to brush aside suggestions that the European Commission’s decision to endorse DVB-H for broadcast mobile TV will have a negative impact on its own ambitions. MediaFLO’s senior director of business development Omar Javaid said its technology was neither proprietary nor barred from launching in Europe. “The EC has ‘recommended’ DVB-H, but that does not preclude other technologies and does not
service space and it will be interesting to see how Qualcomm asserts itself, particularly as partners like Zed will be among its competitors there. So, clearly there’s a lot of change going on at Qualcomm. But there’s more. The company believes it’s now laying the groundwork for a time when it can bring wireless connectivity and content to a whole swathe of consumer electronic products, not just phones.
The project is manifest in several areas, including the Gobi wireless laptop programme and the evolution of the MediaFLO and BREW. The most high-profile example of this thinking to date is Amazon's Kindle eBook reader, which uses a 3G network and the BREW content management platform to allow people to download books over-the-air. All that back-end is kept out of sight of the user, with the cost of data, etc, included in the price of the book.
BREW Zones operator partners. BrandXtend, meanwhile, is Qualcomm’s first step into the highly competitive managed service sector. Major League Baseball started using the system 12 months ago and Universal has just jumped on board. Both are using BrandXtend to deliver D2C content to any kind of handset (not just BREW) over any kind of network (not just CDMA). There are already a million and one companies in the D2C managed www.mobile-ent.biz
exclude MediaFLO,” said Javaid. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is confident it will find European operator and content provider partners for MediaFLO. Andrew Gilbert, EVP and president of Qualcomm Internet Services, said: “MediaFLO meets all the preconditions for a successful quality of service – all I need to launch MediaFLO in Europe is the spectrum, operator partners and content partners. I hope I’ll find all three in Europe soon.” Now Qualcomm wants to extend the model to all kinds of consumer electronics products, putting stuff like MediaFLO broadcast technology in everything from media players and cameras to laptops and cars. Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs says: “Our vision goes beyond phones and modems. All kinds of devices can have networking capabilities. When you think of DVD players or TVs some really interesting possibilities open up.” July 2008 27
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MOBILE INTERNET DEVICES
The pocket
internet It’s not just phones in the mobile content arena these days. Helen French investigates... ortable computing hasn’t been so fashionable since the rise and fall of the PDA. The iPod Touch is used as much to access the web wirelessly while out and about as to listen to music. Smartphones are used to check email almost as frequently as they’re used to make calls. The EeePC – a subnotebook from Asus – has seen students sling a laptop into their bags as casually as a pad of paper. And naturally this increase in mobile computing has implications for mobile content, too. It’s difficult to chart the path of such devices – internet-enabled handheld computers have been around for a while (I look back at the HP Jornada 720 I had in 2000 with fondness). Nevertheless, what was once niche is becoming more widespread. Manufacturers such as Nokia and Intel are getting in on the act with their Internet Tablets and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDS), respectively. Other names for this type of product include the UltraMobile PC (UMPC) and the netbook.
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These devices have become more popular in part because of the growing availability of wireless access globally. McDonalds, for example, has free wi-fi in 15,000 of its restaurants around the world, according to its website. Intel and other companies are backing WiMax, a 4G broadband wireless service for the US.
different demands on mobile devices as opposed to desktop hardware. For a start, they need smaller parts that use less power. Intel intends to push its Atom family of processors for Mobile Internet Devices, while Nvidia is aiming its recently announced Tegra chips at exectly the same market.
Mobile content providers have to decide whether to get involved or watch from the sidelines. Price is also a factor – these new devices are often aimed squarely at consumers, with a lower price point than the slimline laptops intended for business professionals. While technologies are converging, i.e. the computers we take out and about with us are becoming more and more powerful, in line with desktop computers – there will always be
Content is a big part of this mobile future. This begins with the operating system – Windows and Linux are battling it out at the moment, with the latter possibly slightly ahead. Users of these devices will be able to access most of the internet as they would do on a desktop computer, except perhaps for image or dataheavy pages. In those instances,
mobile versions of those sites will still prove useful. And of course when it comes to software there will still be opportunities for content providers, whether through selling content direct to manufacturers, direct to consumers, or through portals such as Apple’s AppStore. Netbook manufacturers may now seek to enter the mobile phone arena – many of them likely inspired by Apple's successful entry. Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini recently told the Financial Times: “If you accept that the value proposition of the high-end of the mobile phone market is full internet access that happens to have voice, my view is that it’s easier to add voice to a small computer than vice-versa.” Perhaps all phones will become mobile internet devices. Most can connect to the internet already, even if it’s not necessarily through wi-fi. Perhaps all portable internet devices will become phones, too. Mobile content providers now have to decide whether to get involved or simply watch from the sidelines to see how it all unfolds. www.mobile-ent.biz
develop mobile single page (jul)
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29 JULY 2008
Mobile ONE COMMUNITY
• ONE VOICE • ONE PLACE
Look and Learn The Develop in Brighton Mobile Conference just got bigger and better. With added sessions and networking opportunities, there are now more reasons than ever to learn something new. Offering insights into everything from cross platform casual game design to case studies of successful games & business models, and from proven technologies for launching new IP to the latest 3D technologies, Brighton is where some of the hottest minds in mobile and casual gaming will be this July. Come and join them. Sessions include: Score! The making of UEFA Euro 2008 and EA Sports FIFA 08 on Mobile Adrian Blunt, EA Sports Constrained Creativity: Using the Limitations to your Advantage Jeferson Valadares, EA Mobile State of the Mobile Gaming Market Alistair Hill, M:Metrics Transforming the Market: Lessons Learned from Marketing Transformers and other Big Branded Titles Patrick Mork, Glu Gazing into the Crystal Ball - Divining the Future for Mobile Games Moderator: Kristian Segerstråle , Playfish; Paul Marshall, Playerx; Alex Cacia, Ideaworks3D Copy right: If you're Short of Ideas for your Next Mobile Game, Nick These Stuart Dredge, Pocket Gamer Global Opportunities for Native Mobile Games Tim Closs, Ideaworks3D Nokia • T-Mobile • Sony Studios • Orange • Intel • Glu Mobile • O2 • EA Mobile • Sega Europe • THQ Wireless • Climax • AMD • IOMO • Vivendi Games Mobile • Player X • Eidos Mobile • Exit Games • Rockpool Games • Autodesk • Ideaworks3D • M:Metrics are just some of the companies that were there in 2007.
To find out more please visit:
www.develop-mobile.com Gold Sponsor
International Media Sponsor
Mobile Media Sponsor
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Member Discounts
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FEATURES
Coming Up... The definitive guide to what Mobile Entertainment magazine has in store for the next few months...
AUGUST2008
OCTOBER2008
DECEMBER2008
The future of content billing Recruitment special Content testing/QA/localisation
Mobile video special Movie studios in mobile South Africa focus
Asia Pacific market focus Top 50 content execs Portable media players
Editorial deadline: July 17th Advertising deadline: July 17th
Editorial deadline: Sept 18th Advertising deadline: Sept 18th
Editorial deadline: Nov 13th Advertising deadline: Nov 13th
NOVEMBER2008
JANUARY2009
Managed service provision Ringback tones Content for niche groups
Mobile game development 2008: A year in review Annual salary survey
Editorial deadline: Oct 16th Advertising deadline: Oct 16th
Editorial deadline: Nov 14th Advertising deadline: Nov 14th
SEPTEMBER2008 CTIA Show Issue US market focus Top 30 US content execs ME is proud to be a CTIA media partner, with a massive show issue and extra 5,000 copy circulation Editorial deadline: Aug 21st Advertising deadline: Aug 21st
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www.mobile-ent.biz
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CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2008
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is the largest wireless data event in the internet, wireless and telecommunications industries. With a focus on wireless data applications, software development, network architecture and solutions, CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2008 is where professionals across various industries see first-hand how wireless data technology is applied to a multitude of business solutions. It’s more than just the next generation of wireless data… it’s how you use it that makes it powerful.
The Next Generation of Wireless Data
September 10-12, 2008
Moscone West San Francisco, CA www.ctia.org/wirelessIT
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RECRUITMENT
Sponsored by
Ben’s Big MIG gig
Recruitment Specialists www.aspire-mobile.com +44(0)207 297 2060
MIG gets a new creative director, and it’s all change at Vodafone Germany BEN CUSACK is the new group creative director of Mobile Interactive Group. He will lead creative strategy within MIG, which comprises a mobile services unit, mobile advertising agency (4th Screen) and digital agency (Jigsaw). SANDRA FRÜNDT has departed as Vodafone’s head of mobile TV in Germany to join Google. JOHANNA WINIARSKI has taken over her role.
Oberon’s DON RYAN has been made COO after his stint as VP of publishing. He will now oversee all operations across mobile and online platforms.
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Sega has hired TAMMY ROBINSON as senior director of mobile sales. She will manage relationships with carriers and OEMs and take the mobile portfolio to emerging platforms. All change as Jamba, with COO LEE FENTON leaving to be be succeeded by KAJ HAGROS, from
Airwide Solutions. Fenton is the third big name to leave Jamba after LUCY HOOD and MARKUS BERGER-DE LEON. Jamba also confirmed WILLIAM LINDERS is its new EVP of content. DOUGLAS EDWARDS, co-founder of Handmark, has left to join comics and video specialist uclick as CEO. LAURA MARRIOTT will step down as president of the Mobile Marketing Association later this year after three years. She will become the President Emeritus of the MMA Global Board of Advisors. AARON JOHNSTON is leaving Arvato mobile UK, where he was head of content, to join Vodafone UK as head of games.
ARUN SARIN has stepped down as CEO of Vodafone after five years in the job. He presided over a big geographical expansion – especially into developing markets. Content wise he was famous for his big claims about mobile advertising.
www.mobile-ent.biz
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RECRUITMENT
The recruitment GDP indicator Downturn or Upturn? Recruiters hold the key Can the City of London ride the economic storm?
THE UK faces its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;most difficult economic challenge for two decadesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, according to Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England. The warning signs are already there: property prices on the decline, inflation moving towards four per cent, consumer confidence falling, retail sales on the decline and GDP forecast to slowdown to two per cent in 2008 and 1.7 per cent in 2009. A multitude of recruitment companies are shedding staff and battling for a diminishing market share. Surely all the ingredients are here for a cataclysmic downturn in the employment market. But wait. ARN Consulting have never been busier. Like-for-like demand against 2007 has never been greater. There is a plethora of jobs available for highly-skilled, ambitious and industrious individuals within the mobile content industry and wider digital media space. Relationships and commercial and technical know-how are the keys to your success. The more people you are connected with, the greater the demand there is for you. www.mobile-ent.biz
ARN Consulting has a proven track record of introducing people to people and businesses to businesses. We are growing; recruiting more high calibre consultants into our business to fulfil the ever-increasing demand we are faced with. With plans for both organic and acquisitive growth in 2009/2010, and international expansion over the same period, we expect the mobile and digital space to remain active and expansive. According to one well-known corporate finance house, the mobile and digital industry has been picked as one of the top two growth sectors to ride the economic storm. Downturn? What downturn? So what exactly are ARN Consulting doing to help candidates during this challenging economic period? Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re inviting anyone in the digital sector to contact us to discuss how you can gain leverage from your current position, whether you are a business looking to recruit or an individual looking to move. To take advantage of this simply call us on 0207 404 6633 to book an appointment. www.arnconsulting.com July 2008 35
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SOURCE Stuck for a stat or just looking to expand your mind? Find everything you need right here...
N
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 returns this month. As usual, our Games Spotlight pages focus on the hot new titles coming out soon. We also have our games publisher release schedule, a round-up of all the latest research, a comprehensive show guide and a run down of best seller charts from across the market.
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There’s also the Product Focus, which picks out a selection of the content, hardware and services either just launched or coming to market. Events? We list them all. What’s more, every month Mobile Entertainment magazine publishes the Mobile Marketplace, a 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 PRODUCT FOCUS
P37
Best of this month’s content, hardware and services
GAME RELEASES
P38
Release schedules from key publishers
GAMES SPOTLIGHT
P39
Key upcoming mobile games
EVENTS
P40
Conferences, exhibitions, seminars and networking
DATABOX
P41
We loves stats, you love stats
CHARTS
P42
All the movers and shakers
NETWORK SUBS
P44
Key numbers from key operators
MARKETPLACE
P47
Mobile content product and service providers
www.mobile-ent.biz
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SOURCE: PRODUCT FOCUS
NEW STUFF A selection of new content, hardware and services...
QIX (Zi Corp) Available: Out Now Zi Corp’s Qix allows phone users to find any number, text, photo music track, etc, on their device intuitively, by typing in the letters on the keypad. The more letters are typed the fewer answers are displayed. It’s like predictive T9 text on steroids. Zi Corp says the solution overcomes barriers to revenue-producing features by removing the need for clicking through menus. Qix has been available for Windows and Symbian-based smartphones for a while. In February, Telus Canada confirmed it
will be the first operator in North America to offer Qix on selected handsets, while T-Mobile UK began offering it as a download in April having embedded it in all N70s since last year. The downloadable version is available to a selected number of T-Mobile UK subscribers for the N95, N73, 6120c and E51. The operator’s subscribers can download the software directly from T-Mobile’s Web 'n' Walk home page or from qix.zicorp.com/tmobile www.zicorp.com
IN A NUTSHELL: Takes everything that’s great about predictive text and then uses it to predict what you’re looking for.
End2End Content Services Available: Out Now End2End’s Content Retailing Solution is already live in 20 countries across Europe and Asia Pacific. The company’s recent acquisition of Terraplay strengthened its offering with the addition of in-game billing, crossoperator community and multiplayer. For example, the managed service solution that End2End provides Vodafone Turkey comprises an outsourced gaming service including sourcing, deployments, hosting, retail management and settlement. The arrangement gives Voda Turkey access to over 100 content providers, including games from local developers. Other customers include market leaders such as Microsoft, Motorola, Orange, O2, and Vodafone. www.end2end.com
www.mobile-ent.biz
IN A NUTSHELL: Helps you sell your stuff more efficiently.
July 2008 37
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SOURCE: GAME RELEASES
Game On!
Welcome to our games releases section. It’s pretty straightforward: you send us your game release schedules, we’ll print ‘em here...
RELEASES GAME/PUBLISHER
RELEASE
TERRITORY
GENRE
DEVELOPER
EA Mobie Monopoly Tycoon
Out Now
Global
Kung Fu Panda
Out Now
Cooking Mama
Out Now
Strategy
Pockent, IQ212
Global
Action
Iron Monkey
EU
Cooking Action
Taito
Jul-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Sep-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Oct-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Dec-08
US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN US/CAN
Adventure Racing Casino Arcade Action/adventure Trvia Trvia Puzzle Action/adventure Racing Trivia Sport Action/adventure Arcade
Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile Glu Mobile
Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08
Global Global Global
Puzzle Action n/a
HandyGames HandyGames HandyGames
Out Now Out Now Out Now Out Now June-08 June-08 July-08 July-08
Global Global EMEA EMEA Global EMEA EMEA EMEA
Action Action Puzzle Quiz Rhythm Racing Arcade Puzzle/Strategy
Octane Hands-On Mobile Cobra Finblade Machine Works Finblade Xendex Vivid
Jun-08 Jun-08 Aug-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Sep-08 Sep-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08
Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global
Action Action Action Racing/Action Action Action Puzzle Puzzle Sim Sports
Mnemonic (UK) Universomo -THQ Universomo -THQ G5, (Russia) Universomo -THQ Universomo - THQ Universomo -THQ Universomo - THQ Universomo - THQ Bight Interactive (Canada)
Jul-08 Jul-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Sep-08 Sep-08 Nov-08 Nov-08
Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global
Sports Strategy Board Game Racing Arcade Racing Strategy Board Game Strategy
LemonQuest LemonQuest LemonQuest LemonQuest LemonQuest LemonQuest LemonQuest LemonQuest LemonQuest
Glu Mobile Ice Age: Mammoth Mayhem Demolition Derby Vegas Hustler Hamster Mansion Transformers: G1 Awakening Brain Genius 2 Family Feud Concentration Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa DiRT The Price Is Right Deer Hunter 3 Superman/Batman Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Rescue
HandyGames Bridge Bloxx Aces Of The Luftwaffe Four In A Wheel
Hands-On Mobile Iron Man (Movie) The Incredible Hulk (Movie) Numba Total Film Quiz Guitar Hero III BMW Racing Icy Tower Shogun Legacy
THQ Wireless Worms 2008 Wall-E Playboy Games: Pool Party Saints Row 2 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (N-Gage) Star Wars The Force Unleashed (Java) De Blob Pass The Pigs Paws and Claws – Pet Vet WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
LemonQuest Ronaldinho Street Soccer 2008 Europa Universalis ProPinball Timeshock Dani Sordo Rally Mr. Color Scalextric 2 Europa Universalis II ProPinball Fantastic Journey Europa Universalis III
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SOURCE: GAMES SPOTLIGHT It’s a causal gaming delight this month as the market prepares itself for an invasion of Spanish cartoon pets and a desert island adventure...
Zed pumps up the volume Spanish D2C company unleashes a world of animal cuteness
TITLE: Pumpetland GENRE: Pet sim RELEASED: Out Now PUBLISHER: Zed FORMAT: Java
What’s a Pumpet? Well, it’s small, it’s agonisingly cute and it can now be found on mobile phones. What’s Pumpetland? It’s a land full of Pumpets, of course. It’s also a persistent online mobile world in which players choose a Pumpet, then a job and then meets other players within the Zed community. ‘Pumpeteers’ have to take care of their garden: if they do well they can have more fruits to harvest. They can then use the fruits to buy objects at the shop. Some of these objects will improve harvesting, the way the garden grows, etc.
The game compels players to interact: the only way to get different kinds of magic objects other than the ones produced in their own gardens is to farm and harvest other player’s gardens. So it’s sociable and horticultural at the same time. Nice. www.zed.com
Vivendi’s Village people VG Mobile has mobilised Big Fish Games’ madly addictive web simulation game Virtual Villagers is a ridiculously successful web game for the PC/Mac, originally developed by Last Day At Work and made available on the wired web by Big Fish Games. Now Vivendi Games Mobile has picked up the wireless rights, with the first instalment set to hit operator decks later this year. It’s got high hopes. In a nutshell, Virtual Villagers Mobile is a real-time simulation in which players guide their castaway www.mobile-ent.biz
TITLE: Virtual Villagers GENRE: Sim RELEASED: TBC PUBLISHER: VG Mobile FORMAT: Java
tribe to survival. Players must help their tribe solve puzzles and hidden mysteries on the island and manage resources through farming, building, science, parenting, etc, in order to thrive. And just like the PC version, when the player quits the game, life continues in their absence. The game has proved hugely popular with the growing army of casual gamers – and especially among women and younger players. www.vgmobile.com July 2008 39
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SOURCE: EVENTS
THIS MONTH’S HIGHLIGHTS July 15th E3 Summit 2008
July 29th Develop Conference and Expo
2008-2009 CALENDAR July 2008 July 15th E3 Summit 2008 Los Angeles, USA www.e3expo.com July 29th-31st Develop Conference and Expo Brighton, UK www.develop-conference.com August 2008 August 17th-28th Mobile Marketing & Entertainment Expo Atlanta, USA www.exponation.com August 18th GCDC Leipzig, Germany www.gcdc.eu The sister event of the Leipzig Game Convention, GCDC is a more developer-focused event taking place on the two days before its sibling.
The second, more entertainment-focused CTIA of 2008 takes up residence in San Francisco.
September 24th-25th GDC China Beijing, China www.gdcchina.cn
September 11th-16th IBC Amsterdam, Netherlands www.ibc.org
October 2008
The biggest technology event in the broadcasting industry calendar has developed a considerable mobile presence over the last two years. September 15th Austin Games Developer Conference Austin, USA www.austingdc.net This long-running event attracts more than 1,100 attendees and provides educational, networking and business opportunities for game development professionals.
August 20th-24th Leipzig Games Convention Leipzig, Germany www.gc-germany.com
September 10th-12th CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment San Francisco, USA www.wirelessit.com
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October 13th-17th MIPCOM Cannes, France www.mipcom.com MIPCOM 2007 drew 13,371 participants, a seven per cent increase on the 12,509 industry professionals present in 2006. October 16th Meet-Up London, UK www.mobile-ent.biz/meet-up
Develop Conference & Expo: Taking place in the beautiful seaside town of Brighton, the Develop Conference & Expo once again takes place across three days, starting July 29th with the first day dedicated to both the Develop Mobile track and Games:EDU, a unique networking and conference opportunity for educators and academics.
January 2009 onwards October 21st-22nd Symbian Smartphone Show London, UK www.smartphoneshow.com
This London show pretty much has everything to do with Symbian-based smartphones all under one roof, encompassing devices right through to content and applications.
August 21st Meet-Up London, UK www.mobile-ent.biz/meet-up
September 2008
The big event in the North American games industry calendar.
Our third Meet-Up networking event of the year.
Europe’s largest games industry show will boast a sizeable mobile presence.
Our second Meet-Up networking event of the summer.
October 3rd-5th E For All Expo Los Angeles, USA www.eforallexpo.com
September 25th ME Awards 2008 London, UK www.mobile-ent.biz/me-awards Mobile Entertainment magazine hosts the biggest night in the content industry calendar, with over 400 execs from all over the world arriving in London to celebrate industry excellence.
November 2008 November 18th-20th Mobile Asia Congress Macau www.mobilityworldcongress.com GSMA Mobile Asia Congress (formerly 3GSM World Congress Asia) is the sister event to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
January 8th-11th CES Las Vegas, USA www.cesweb.org What better way to shake off the post-holiday blues than by standing in a big huge sweaty convention centre? February 16th-19th Mobile World Congress Barcelona, Spain www.mobileworldcongress.com More than 55,000 visitors attended the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress in 2008. No doubt there’ll be a few thousand more in 2009. We’ll be there too as an official media partner.
March 23rd GDC 2009 San Francisco, USA The biggest developer event in the world returns for yet another stab at bringing the game development community together. April 2009 CTIA Wireless 2009 Las Vegas, USA www.ctiawireless.com The convergence of more than 1,200 exhibiting companies, dozens of industries, and over 40,000 professionals from 125 countries. Mobile Entertainment magazine will once again be a media partner for the foremost trade event in the North American calander.
www.mobile-ent.biz
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SOURCE: DATABOX
databox Kindling interest
Chaku can
Amazon says e-book sales contributed six per cent of all sales of titles that are available in both paper and Kindle versions. The news came as the e-tailer confirmed that 5,000 more books will be made available for its wireless Kindle e-reader device. This is thanks to a deal struck with publisher Simon & Schuster. Amazon already has 120,000 downloadable titles available. The Kindle was launched last November.
CDMA subs up The global CDMA customer base rose 17 per cent in the 12 months to March 31st to 451 million. The CDMA Development Group said Asia Pac and North America dominate. Subs in the former rose to 231 million (51 per cent of global total), while North America contributed 140 million CDMA subs (31 per cent of the global total).
Finns love Nokia Nokia’s market share in Finland is a whopping 86 per cent. How’s that for patriotism? This domination left Samsung with four per cent, Sony Ericsson with three per cent, Benq-Siemens with three per cent, and Motorola less than half a per cent. The research also revealed that the 56 most popular phones were all made by Nokia.
$12bn mobile ads The global mobile advertising market will hit $12.09 billion by 2013, up from $1.72 billion this year, said Informa. During the current embryonic phase of the market, Informa estimates that 80 per cent of mobile ads are generated by the mobile content providers.
www.mobile-ent.biz www.mobile-ent.biz
Japanese operator KDDI has shifted 200 million music tracks on its Chaku-Uta Full music service since it opened the store in November 2004. Over 120,000 songs from more than 50 record labels are currently available through the service. The first 100-million tracks were downloaded in May 2007.
Handsets look smart Smartphone sales hit 32.2 million units in 1Q 2008 – that’s a 29 per cent year-onyear rise, said Gartner. The total equates to 11 per cent of the global mobile device market, with Nokia grabbing a 14 per cent share and its own sales up a quarter thanks to its popular Nseries range. RIM followed with a 13.4 per cent share driven by more consumerfriendly devices such as the Curve and the Pearl.
European phones drop Phone sales in Western Europe fell by 16.4 per cent yearon-year during 1Q 2008. It’s the market's first decline for seven years. Market researcher Gartner cited a lack of new products, longer upgrade cycles and general economic pessimism as the main reasons for the drop. Worldwide sales during 1Q increased by 13.6 per cent to 294.3 million.
Ad-funded content to fly The US market for adfunded mobile content will grow to $336.35 million by 2013, says a MEF report. $262.7 million will come from brands subsidising content, with $73.7 million coming from premium content upsells. Mobile video and TV is predicted to account for 41.4 per cent.
July 2008 41
42 ME41_final:charts
19/6/08
16:46
Page 1
SOURCE: CHARTS
charts Check here every month for the best selling games, ringtones and mobile apps from across the market...
Tagging
Ringtones
Ringtones & games
Ringtones.com top Euro truetones, 15 May-15 June Song
Artist
Jamster UK games 13 May - 13 June
Jamster UK realtones, 13 May - 13 June
1
Singin’ In The Rain
Mint Royale
Song
Artist
Game
Publisher
2
Doctor Who
OST
1
Casino 12 Pack
Digital Chocolate 1
Singin' In The Rain
Mint Royale
3
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
OST
2
World Snooker 2008
I-play
2
Take A Bow (Chorus)
Rihanna
4
Sex And The City
OST
3
Playman Summer Games 3 Mr. Goodliving
3
Cry For You
September
5
Rockstar
Nickelback
4
Prehistoric Tribes
THQ Wireless
4
Low
Flo Rida ft. T-Pain
Ojom
6
Mercy
Duffy
5
Manager Pro Football Euro 08
5
That's Not My Name
The Ting Tings
7
Cops (Bad Boys)
OST
6
Indiana Jones Crystal Skull THQ Wireless
6
Black & Gold
Sam Sparro
8
Only Fools And Horses
OST
7
Zoopaloola
Redboss
7
4 Minutes
Madonna
9
Indiana Jones
OST
8
Simpsons M To M
EA Mobile
8
Wearing My Rolex
Wiley
Now You're Gone
Basshunter
10
9
2in1 Brain Teaser
Vivendi Games Mobile
9
American Boy
Estelle
Source: Mobile Streams
10
Race Driver Grid
Glu Mobile
10
Better In Time
Leona Lewis
Ringtones.com top Euro voicetones, 15 May-15 June
Source: Jamster
1
Who The Hell's Ringing? Peter Kay
2
Full Length Spider Pig
3
Bright Light, Bright Light Gremlins
Homer
4
Answer Your Phone Sweetie Sex and the City
5
Bom Chicka Wah Wah
Lynx Advert
6
My Name Is Maximus
Gladiator
7
Say Hello To My Little Friend Scarface
8
Can You Ear Me Now
9
Pick Up The Phone Crazy Fool Mr. T
10
You Want Some
Peter Kay
Music
John Cena
Source: Mobile Streams
Zed top truetones, 17 May - 17 June Song
Artist
1
American Boy
Estelle
2
Low
Flo Rida/T Pain
3
4 Minutes
Madonna
4
Like You’ll Never...
Alicia Keys
5
Love In This Club
6
Don’t Stop The Music
Usher Rihanna
7
Take A Bow
Rihanna
8
That’s Not My Name
Ting Tings
9
Wearing My Rolex
Wiley
10
Heartbreaker
Will I Am
Source: Clubzed Zed games, 17 May - 17 June
42
Game
Publisher
1
Brain Coach
Zed
2
Dr. Sex & U
Zed
3
Alexa Episode 2
Zed
4
Formula Racing 3D
Zed
5
Life Is A Fiesta
Zed
6
Neenya Ninja
Zed
7
Zed texas Hold ‘Em Online
Zed
8
Pumpetland
Zed
9
Terror’s Head
Zed
10
Bubble Boom 2
Zed
July 2008
USA realtone soundalikes, June
South Africa realtone soundalikes, June
Ringtones
Source: Clubzed
Source: Jamster
15 May - 15 June 1 Sweet About Me Gabriella Cilmi 2 Closer Ne-Yo 3 Cry For You September 4 Singin' In The Rain Mint Royale 5 Low Flo Rida 6 Stay With Me Ironik 7 Watch Out Alex Gaudino Ft. Shena 8 I Can Be Taio Cruz 9 Tell Me DJ NG 10 Wearing My Rolex Wiley Source: Shazam
1
Us Against The World
Westlife
1
Viva La Vida
Coldplay
2
All For One
High School Musical 2
2
Lollipop
Lil Wayne
3
4 Minutes
Madonna
3
Sex And The City
OST
4
Stop And Stare
One Republic
4
Bleeding Love
Leona Lewis
5
Gotta Go My Own Way
High School Musical 2
5
Love Song
Sarah Bareilles
6
Sex And The City
OST
6
Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd
7
Love Song
Sarah Bereilles
7
Take A Bow
Rihanna
8
With U
Chris Brown
8
See You Again
Miley Cyrus
9
Take You There
Sean Kingston
9
I Kissed A Girl
Katy Perry
10
Top Gear
OST
10
Because I Got High
Afroman
Source: Melodi Media
Source: Melodi Media
Video & wallpaper Fonestarz top videos, June
Fonestarz top wallpapers, June
1
Sexy Cam
1
2
Cheeky Little Devil
2
Spiderman
3
PMS Warnings
3
Flirty Pants
4
You Make My Heart Smile
4
I Love You Animated Love Msg
5
Kiss Me Kwick
5
This One Bites
6
Violent Veg – Banana v Blender
6
Say It In Style
7
Man Utd – Scholes Goal Barcelona
7
Liverpool Animations – Anfield Badge
8
Guinness World Records
8
3D Spinning Man Utd Logo
9
Very Hot Hayley
9
Animal (The Muppets)
10
Funny Office Messages
10
Emily Scott Looking Hot
Source: FoneStarz
Scrolls of Wisdom
Source: FoneStarz
www.mobile-ent.biz
US Charts July:Layout 1
17/6/08
17:59
Page 1
U.S. CHARTS Tones
Games
Wallpapers
Titles
Publisher
Titles
Artist
1
Metal Slug™ Mobile Impact
I-play
1
Thriller
Michael Jackson
1
Keep Hatin
Pink Frosty
2
Call of Duty 4
Glu
2
Suffocate
J. Holiday
2
Transtormers Autobot
Transformers
3
Crash Racing
Vivendi
3
Bleeding Love
Leona Lewis
3
Dirty Money
Pink Frosty
4
Foto Quest Fishing
Digital Chocolate
4
No Air duet with Chris Brown Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown
4
Spider-man Red Suit
Spider-Man 3
5
Fast & Furious: Fugitive
I-play
5
Hit The Dance Floor
5
Haters Make Us Famous
Pink Frosty
6
Slingo Quest
I-play
6
Talkin Out Da Side Of Ya Neck Dem Franchize Boyz
6
White Tiger
See This
7
Wheel of Fortune Deluxe
Sony Pictures
7
Kiss Kiss
Chris Brown ft. T-Pain
7
Naughty But Nice
Pink Frosty
8
Zuma
Glu
8
Tattoo
Jordin Sparks
8
Spring Tink What's More Fun Than Spring
Peter Pan
9
Jewel Quest® II
I-play
9
With You
Chris Brown
9
I LOVEU
XLR8
10
Deer Hunter 2
Glu
10
Spider Pig
The Simpsons
10
Praying Hands
Pink Frosty
11
Paparazzi Snapshot
I-play
11
Bodies
Drowning Pool
11
Hypnoteis Butterfly
Start Mobile
12
Cake Mania
Real Networks
12
No One
Alicia Keys
12
Single and Loving It
Pink Frosty
13
America's Next Top Model 10
Artificial Life
13
Take You Down
Chris Brown
13
Tattoo
Alternative Art
14
Project Gotham Racing
Glu
14
Girlfriend
Bow Wow & Omarion
14
Make That Money
Pink Frosty
15
Diner Dash
Glu
15
It's Not Over
Daughtry
15
This Is Why Im Hot
Pink Frosty
16
Monopoly Here & Now
Glu
16
My Sacrifice
Creed
16
Cheese Smile
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
17
World Championship Pool 2007
I-play
17
Going Under
Evanescence
17
3D Heart
Love
18
3D Pool Urban Hustle
I-play
18
I'm So Hood
DJ Khaled feat. T Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross
18
Squirt Swims Through the EAC Finding Nemo
19
Feeding Frenzy
Real Networks
19
Cyclone
Baby Bash
19
Muah
Real Networks
20 Honky Tonk Badonkadonk Trace Adkins
20 South Park 10: The Game
Unk feat. Baby D
Titles
20 Queen
Category
Pink Frosty Pink Frosty
The PlayPhone featured content listing is created and compiled utilizing download data results from strong sellers, fast movers and top-rated mobile content available across PlayPhone Web and WAP mobile destinations. (c) PlayPhone, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other phone images, trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners.
44 ME40_final:networks
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SOURCE: OPERATORS
NETWORK SUBS Key operator subscriber numbers from around the world Country
Operator
Subscribers
Western Europe Belguim
Mobistar (Orange)
3,590,000
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland UK
Eastern Europe Czech Republic
44
July 2008
Country Poland Russia
Operator
Subscribers
Vodafone
8,808,000
Orange
14,158,000
BASE
2,600,000
Megafon
32,900,000
Belgacom Mobile
4,620,000
Mobile TeleSystems
77,970,000
3 (inc 3 Sweden)
945,000
VimpelCom
41,800,000
TDC
3,000,000
Kyivstar GSM
23,711,000
Ukrainian Mobile (MTS)
19,811,000
Sonofon
1,680,000
Orange
22,458,000
Ukraine Asia Pacific Australia
SFR
18,800,000
3
1,500,000
Bouygues
9,256,000
Optus
7,100,000
Vodafone
33,392,000
Telstra
2,400,000
T-Mobile
36,000,000
Vodafone
3,573,000
O2
12,472,000
China Mobile
332,000,000
E-Plus
13,600,000
China Unicom
162,491,000
Debitel
13,200,000
Tibet Telecom
957,000
Victorvox (Drillisch)
2,236,000
3
2,515,000
Vodafone
5,438,000
Cosmote
6,280,000
Wind
4,500,000
BSNL
40,790,000
Orange
10,354,000
Idea Cellular
24,002,000
Movistar
22,800,000
Tata Indicom
24,330,000
Vodafone
2,265,000
O2
1,646,000
3 (inc 3 UK)
4,445,000
Meteor
962,000
Cellcom Israel
3,073,000
Pelephone
2,400,000
Orange
15,700,000
Vodafone 3 Wind
15,600,000
China
Hong Kong India
Japan Philippines Thailand
Smart tone
1,108,000
Bharti Airtel
64,268,049
NTT DoCoMo
53,400,000
Globe Telecom
n/a
Smart
30,000,000
AIS
21,089,000
Dtac
12,000,000
True Move
11,200,000
Singtel
2,570,000
22,791,000
StarHub
1,750,000
8,184,000
MobileOne
1,554,000
Celcom
6,404,000
Singapore
Malaysia
TIM
35,000,000
Digi
6,409,000
Vodafone
4,038,000
Maxis
8,500,000
T-Mobile
4,889,000
KPN
8,800,000
Movistar
13,755,000
Telnor
2,856,000
Netcom
1,577,000
Tele2
441,000
Vodafone
5,111,000
TMN
6,004,000
Optimus
2,280,000
Movistar
23,008,000
Orange
11,091,000
Vodafone
15,473,000
3 (inc 3 Denmark)
945,000
Telnor
2,856,000
Tele 2
3,118,000
Djuice (Pannon)
3,401,000
Orange
Latin America Argentina Columbia Brazil Mexico
Venezuela North America Canada
USA
Movistar
8,755,000
Comcel
23,129,000
Vivo
34,323,000
Claro
31,182,000
Claro
11,695,000
Movistar
13,306,000
Telcel
51,540,000
Movistar
10,355,000
Bell
6,260,000
Rogers
6,200,000
Telus
5,656,000
Sprint
53,847,000
1,510,000
T- Mobile USA
30,800,000
Vodafone
18,447,000
Verizon Wireless
67,178,000
T-Mobile (inc Virgin)
17,300,000
Alltel
13,170,134
3 (inc 3 Ireland)
4,445,000
US Cellular
6,200,000
O2
18,382,000
AT&T
71,400,000
Orange
154,642,000
T-Mobile
5,271,000
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.mobile-ent.biz
mi pro house advert
20/6/08
10:12
Page 1
Now available on your mobile… Keep on top of breaking news and developments within the mobile content industry… …on your laptop
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mobile.mobile-ent.biz BOOKMARK US IN YOUR PHONE TODAY Call Tom Roberts for exciting new advertising opportunities on: +44 (0) 1992 535 647
Project3:Layout 1
18/6/08
12:30
Page 1
8
Expanding the Creative Culture of Games 10th - 12th August 2008
For more information visit
www.edinburghinteractivefestival.com
Media Partners
47-53 ME41_final:51-57ME40
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Page 1
MOBILE MARKETPLACE
MOBILE
TESTING AND LOCALISTION
MARKETPLACE
MARKETPLACE INDEX 26 CONTENT............................................+49 9547 870 120 www.26content.com ABSOLUTE QUALITY ...............................+44 141 220 5600 www.absolutequality.com BANGO...................................................+44 08700 340 365 www.bango.com CHERRY SAUCE .........................................+34 663 036 054 www.cherrysauce.com COMMUNIGATE .........................................+1 415 383 71 64 www.communigate.com DIALOGUE COMMUNICATIONS ..............08700 790 300 www.dialogue.net ELITE ........................................................+44 01543 268826 www.elite-systems.co.uk END2END.......................................................+45 7222 7222 www.end2endmobile.com FINBLADE....................................................+44 7773 351164 www.finblade.com FLUID PIXEL STUDIOS ...........................+44 01642 384336 www.fpstudios.com FROGGIE ...................................................+34 954 98 08 48 www.froggie-mm.com GAMELION ................................................+48 606 101 500 www.game-lion.com INLOGIC...................................................+421 904 628 889 www.inlogic.eu
CONTENT PROVIDER
METISMO ....................................................+44 7773 351164 www.metismo.com MOBIVENTION.....................................+49 2203 906 0210 www.mobivention.com NOSTROMO ............................................+420 222 592 655 wireless.nostromo.cz PARTNERTRANS ....................................+44 01480 210 621 info_UK@partnertrans.co.uk PICSEL ......................................................+44 0141 885 5588 www.picsel.com SELATRA .......................................................+353 21 483270 www.selatra.com SPLASH .......................................................+1 310 8212 666 www.splashnews.com TAG GAMES ..............................................+44 1382 220 925 www.tag-games.com
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
To get your company featured here contact tom.roberts@intentmedia.co.uk t: +44 (0) 1992 535647 www.mobile-ent.biz
July 2008 47
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MOBILE MARKETPLACE CREATIVE STUDIO
DEVELOPER
INTERACTIVE MOBILE SOLUTIONS
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
Need a mobile site? Dialogue’s Mobile Site Builder offers you the full end-to-end solution to publish your mobile site - all you need is the content. Mobile site builder allows you to: • • • • • • •
Promote & expose your business Sell content through a trusted payment service Run viral marketing campaigns Include marketing subscriptions Drive traffic to sites with text-to-browse campaigns Generate Revenue Monitor user behaviour
Visit: www.dialogue.net/mobilesitebuilder.pdf Email: info@dialogue.net Tel: 08700 790 300
48
July 2008
www.mobile-ent.biz
47-53 ME41_final:51-57ME40
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MOBILE MARKETPLACE LOCALISATION
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
GAMELION
MOBILE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
www.mobile-ent.biz
LAST MONTH, a new content powerhouse emerged in Eastern Europe when Poland-based Gamelion merged with Finland's BLStream to create a multiplatform business comprising 300 people working in Finland, Poland and Ukraine. The deal put the seal on a remarkable rise for both companies. At the start of 2007, Gamelion employed just 30 people. Gamelion’s rapid growth began when the company, which specialises in mobile and online games development, made the decision to fully diversify into post-production services such as QA and porting across J2ME, BREW, Symbian, N-Gage (NGI), UIQ, Windows Mobile, iPhone and DoJa. It was an astute move; by the end of 2007 Gamelion’s staff count has soared to100 such was the demand for its new services from major global publishers. Gamelion has worked on highprofile games including FIFA 08 for EA Mobile, Jewel Quest II 3D for I-play and Cafe Series for Digital Chocolate. Specifically, it offers three post-production services: Porting and QA for European, US, Latin America and Australian markets. Portability assessments. Back-fill services to manage product life-cycle cross-platform content ports.
After the merger, casual-games focused Gamelion will retain its brand and continue studio activities for publisher partners unchanged. The company will also look towards new platforms such as Google Android, iPod and iPhone. Its founder Anton Gauffin believes these formats can help put some much-needed innovation back into what has become a pretty conservative mobile games sector: He says: “Mobile publishers can be very risk averse because they’re responding to operators that are more often looking for branded games than titles with some genuine product innovation. “But I think these platforms have the potential to make mobile interesting again.” Of course, Gamelion does produce some original games franchises. Over the next few months it will work particularly on its Global brand, which was originally developed for embedding in Nokia handsets. The range includes Global Cricket – quite an achievement for a Polish/Finnish studio with no experience of leather on willow. Gamelion was also recently made an official Nintendo DS developer, so the company is focusing on the handheld video game sector too. July 2008 49
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MOBILE MARKETPLACE GAMES AGGREGATOR
MOBILE PUBLISHING
LOCALISATION
MOBILE PUBLISHING
universally speaking localisation quality assurance audio services
localisation services • all languages • translations • voice over's • marketing services
quality assurance services • all platforms • localisation QA • functionality QA • compliance and standards QA
make contact tel: ++44 (0) 1480 210621 email: info_uk@partnertrans.co.uk www.partnertrans.co.uk Partnertrans UK Ltd., Priory Chambers, Priory Road, St Neots, Cambridgeshire, PE19 2BH, United Kingdom
50
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www.mobile-ent.biz
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MOBILE MARKETPLACE VIDEO/PICTURE AGGREGATION
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT Splash News is the worlds biggest paparazzi agency bringing the top showbiz news, photos and video to mobile media. We shoot the good, the bad and the ugly of Hollywood's A-list stars using our global network of 1000 photographers. Wherever your favourite celebrity is, we will be there. Whatever your mobile needs - entertainment programming, wallpaper, text alerts and mobile video - the largest paparazzi archive with more than 15000 videos, over a million images and a comprehensive daily text feed is at your disposal.
To discuss licensing our content or partnering with us on portals contact us : Phone: Jessica Townsend on +448709342666 Email: jtownsend@splashnews.com or mobile@splashnews.com Blog: www.splashnewsonline.com Web: www.splashnews.com Video: www.splash-video.com
GAMES DEVELOPER
SELATRA THE COMBINATION of growth in the off-portal space and operator outsourcing has helped Ireland’s Selatra to grow into a wellrespected global distributor of Java gaming since its foundation in 2002. The company, based in picturesque Cork (see nice pic of bridge, above) now offers an extensive portfolio of branded and non-branded games to both operators and mobile content retailers alike. It regularly updates its portfolio with new titles, as well as providing partners with plentiful support including market information, download facilities, marketing material and access to a wealth of industry experience. Selatra offers two basic business models depending on the partner’s level of infrastructure. They are: Selatra Hosted Model Many clients select Selatra’s platform to host their games because of the large numbers of handsets and the considerable administration requirements involved. With this option, Selatra www.mobile-ent.biz
hosts the JAD/JAR files and provides marketing material. Clients are given secure access to the Selatra server for tracking downloads in real time and accessing statistical reports. Additionally, time to market is reduced and the Selatra system is continually updated as new handsets are released. The end user does not see Selatra is involved, allowing clients to maintain full control of their consumer relationships. Client Hosted Model This is the preferred option of clients that have their own download platform and prefer to host all files on that system. For them, Selatra offers one contact point for obtaining thousands of games from hundreds of developers. It’s a pure publishing service, providing a large range of fully formatted files (JAD/JAR, marketing material, compatibility details, etc) and a constant flow of new games. All titles are tested on physical handsets by the QA team prior to release and made available to clients from a secure FTP access area. July 2008 51
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MOBILE MARKETPLACE MOBILE ANALYTICS
CARRIER/ISP SOLUTIONS
CONTENT SERVICES
ADULT CONTENT
On one side you can go through all the hassle and dazzle of content sourcing and deployment, hosting, retailmanagement, billing and settlements yourself...
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52
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MOBILE MARKETPLACE SALES AND MARKETING
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
BANGO
ADULT CONTENT
www.mobile-ent.biz
HARD TO believe UK-based Bango is coming up to its tenth birthday. The company launched in 1999 with a vision of making the mobile web as open and user-friendly as its wired equivalent. It remains wedded to the cause, although this commitment has led it into many new and interesting areas. Bango is still rightly regarded as a champion of the off-portal space, but is now deeply involved in processing payments, advising operators on off-deck strategy and even devising tools to track WAP advertising and traffic. The foundation of the Bango proposition remains its ability to establish a mobile presence for brands and even individuals quickly and affordably. It offers a range of options, varying in sophistication, with which to build sites and monetise digital content with all the payments processing handled in the background by Bango. Such expertise has made the company a pioneer of WAP billing, particularly the crossnetwork UK initiative PayforIt, which launched last September. Indeed, just weeks ago Bango processed its three millionth PayforIt transaction on behalf of content providers including The Sun, Gameloft and Sony BMG. Bango’s deep knowledge led it to launch a highly acclaimed service addressing network traffic earlier this year. Bango Analytics gathers information about users of WAP sites to help mobile marketers accurately identify,
track and build a profile of each unique visitor, rather than simply measure the number of visits. This in turn helps them assess which mobile advertising campaigns and traffic sources deliver the best conversion rates. Bango developed a persistent, reliable and unique user identification system – the digital fingerprint – which is invaluable in tracking visitors. The company uses this to capture mobile specific data about the users’ country, network and handset, whether they have visited before and, for example, if the last ten visits were from one individual or ten new visitors. The service is already building a loyal base of partners. Last month Bango signed with mobile ad network Admoda, which serves one billion ads per month globally, to offer its advertisers key metrics to on their mobile campaigns.
July 2008 53
54 ME41_final
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BACK PAGE
We take content extremely seriously in Mobile Entertainment. But not here... O’Brien
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Executive Editor: Tim Green Tim.Green@intentmedia.co.uk
Managing Editor: Lisa Foster Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk
WOMEN don’t play video games and can’t play metal guitar, right? Wrong. So very very wrong. Both myths were blown apart by Ali Archer of Beautiful Games Studio, who was the first to strap on the axe at the ME/Hands-On Guitar Hero Meet-Up last month. Her fingers moved like a blur across the frets, nailing every note and chord with Slash-like precision. Staggering. However, the rehabilitation of a woman’s right to be called a guitar monster was shortlived. Minutes later SCEE’s Bally Blugan, duetting with ME’s Tim Green, was booed off by the electronic crowd. They blamed creative differences… While the Meet-Up’s 200 mobile execs were drinking beer and punching the air with studded fists, MIG’s Emma Potter was ambling about on a bike. Her leisurely stroll took her over the Alps, pedalling the 450km from Geneva to Nice inside eight days. The course incorporated over 13,000 metres of climbing. Yikes. Sounds like hard work, but still easier than working for Barry Houlihan (joke, Barry!)… Speaking of endurance, has anyone attempted to say the job title of Qualcomm’s Andrew Gilbert without pausing for breath? C’mon kids, you try it: Executive vice president of Qualcomm
Internet Services, MediaFLO Technology and Qualcomm Europe. That’s 84 letters. We know of at least one exec who was hospitalised trying to say it. But Gilbert – tall, British, dapper – can carry it off. Indeed, when he was introduced at BREW 2008, it was with a twominute video of him driving around an Aston Martin as James Bond… mmm, not very environmental. Unlike Samsung, with its new phones made of corn. They have both hard and soft keys, depending on how long you cook them for... Finally well done Moto for launching its new ROKR music phone at the swanky Sketch venue in London. It had branded ROKR toilets shaped like pods. Great for downloading.
July 2008
Tom.Roberts@intentmedia.co.uk
Design: Rebecca Almond Rebecca.Almond@intentmedia.co.uk
Production Manager: Abigail Fanger Abigail.Fanger@intentmedia.co.uk
Subscriptions Manager: Hannah Short Hannah.Short@intentmedia.co.uk
Publisher/Managing Director: Stuart Dinsey Stuart.Dinsey@intentmedia.co.uk Mobile Entertainment is published 12 times a year by Intent Media ~ Saxon House, 6A St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Herts SG14 1JA, England
CONTACTS
UK: £50 Europe: £75 Rest of World: £90
James Sharpe, CEO, Digitania
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Advertising Sales Executive: Tom Roberts
SUBSCRIPTIONS
favourites What's your current handset? iPhone.
Bookmarked mobile internet sites? VI.nl, webmail access, google.com.
Which handset do you want next? Glitch free iPhone with more memory.
Next big thing in mobile content? Streaming video and TV because of the iPhone's increasing popularity and screen size.
Favourite mobile game My gaming is curently focused on the Nintendo Wii.
Chris.Buckley@intentmedia.co.uk
EDITORIAL: +44 (0)1992 535646 ADVERTISING: +44 (0)1992 535647 FAX: +44 (0)1992 535648
Ali Archer (top) has eveything to fret about; MIG’s Emma Potter (middle) at the peak of her powers; the name’s Gilbert, Andrew Gilbert (bottom).
Current ringtone? 24 theme.
Advertising Manager: Chris Buckley
What’s all hype and no substance? Most hype is based on viable concepts. Only timing makes the difference between hype and substance.
If you or one of your colleagues would like to request a subscription to Mobile Entertainment, please email mob.subscriptions@c-cms.com or call 01580 883848 Please note that this is a controlled circulation title and subscription criteria will be strictly adhered to.
Intent Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association.
Total average monthly net circulation per issue for January 1st 2007 to December 31st 2007 was 8,012. © Intent Media 2007. 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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More Media. More Mobile. More You. The MediaFLO system is real-time mobile media done right. A robust and open global standard that is purpose-built from the ground up to deliver live TV and other compelling media to mobile devices. All with super-smooth video and CD-quality sound on eye-friendly displays. It ’s mobile media without mobile compromise. ™
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