IP Democracy: Cutting Through the Clutter: 3GSM News in a Nutshell
The annual 3GSM World Congress is kicking off today in Barcelona and as is the case with other giant industry trade shows, the event has become a massive venue for hundreds of new product, technology and product announcements. But this year’s 3GSM has a decidedly mobile content-oriented theme, in comparison to the VoIP-focused developments of the past two or three 3GSM shows.
Siphoning through the hundreds of press releases and articles, a few announcements, or groups of announcements, at 3GSM stand out as big news. Among these are:
—Microsoft Unleashes New Windows Mobile Platform:
The Redmond, WA-based software giant announced Windows Mobile 6, the newest
version of its mobile software platform. Mobile 6 adds support for
Microsoft features previously only available on PCs, such as Outlook, Word,
Excel and PowerPoint and supports multimedia functions such as HTML
formatted. The new mobile platform also includes Windows Live for Windows
Mobile, which provides users with the ability to send files or images,
record and send live voices and represent themselves in phone conversations
with animated images. Particularly compelling might be a new software
client application for Windows Mobile called Live Search. Live Search
provides customers with fast access to ad-supported local listings and maps,
and even allows for viewing of satellite imagery and GPS navigation. The
company has lined up most major wireless carriers around the globe to deploy
Windows Mobile 6, ioncluding Orange in Europe, SoftBank in Japan, T-Mobile,
AT&T Verizon and Verizon Wireless in the U.S.
—-AT&T Teams with Qualcomm’s MediaFLO for Mobile
Entertainment: The largest U.S. mobile carrier AT&T and broadband
mobile tech provider MediaFLO, an arm of Qualcomm, announced a new deal
under which AT&T will tap MediaFLO for mobile entertainment and information
services. Beginning in late-2007, AT&T plans to launch mobile TV services
using MediaFLO’s technology. Among the offerings the wireless phone company
has on the drawing board are a multicast video clip distribution service and
a datacasting applicatios for the realtime delivery of information and audio
services.
—Yahoo! Launches Gamma Version of Yahoo! Go for
Mobile 2.0: Things started looking up for troubled online service
provider Yahoo! last month when the company unveiled the beta version of its
Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0 application. At 3GSM today, Yahoo! unveiled what
it calls the gamma version of the technology, which includes intent-based
search surrounded by relevant content (as opposed to traditional search
results that feature merely links to sites) and personalized news, sports,
weather, entertainment and photo content from Yahoo! services. Yahoo!
claims that Go for Mobile 2.0 has generated more than 400,000 requests for
downloads since the company unveiled the beta version last month. Yahoo Go
for Mobile also got a boost by a deal with handset maker LG Electronics,
which has agreed to distribute Yahoo!’s mobile services on tens of millions
of LG mobile phones.
—Mobile Content Services and Handsets Are Ubiquitous:
Apple set the standard for mobile devices in January when it unveiled its
stylish and multi-faceted iPhone. Consumer electronics makers have been in
full tilt mode since then to debut their own iPhone-like services in advance
of Apple’s mid-2007 rollout of its genre-busting device.. British mobile
music company Omniphone unveiled in Barcelona a new service that aims not to
rival the iPhone but to swipe Apple’s iTunes business away. Called
MusicStation, the service will allow unlimited music downloads to mobile
devices for a price of approximately $3.99 per week. Omniphone has deals in
place today with 23 mobile network operators in 40 countries. Although the
service won’t initially launch in the U.S., Omniphone hopes to eventually
launch MusicStation here. Nokia unveiled a line of new devices in
Barcelona, each of which aims to improve mobile content connectivity. One
of the new handsets, the Nokia 6100 Navigator, features integrated GPS
functionality allowing customers to access 3D and audio-enhanced maps and
directions. The Nokia N77 is a mobile device, aimed at Europe, that
supports DVB-H TV channels. Nokia also launched the Nokia Video Center, an
application that aggregates all the sources of mobile video offered by the
cell phone maker, including two new sources of video: YouTube and Reuters.
—Video Content Makers Aim for the Third Screen:
The news at 3GSM today wasn’t all about gadgets and technology. Content
providers showed up in full force to pitch their wares to carriers and gear
makers alike. The Sundance Institute and GSM Association unveiled the five
original “made for mobile” short films they commissioned as part of the
Sundance Film Festival Global Short Film Project. Mobile carriers will
begin distributing the films starting February 15. Austin, TX-based
ExpertVillage.com, which provides Internet-based how-to videos, announced a
new service called Expert Village Mobile. The 117 videos offered provided
visual instruction on how to jump a car batter to how to deliver a baby in
the back seat of a taxi. Mobile media company ShoZu announced a
distribution deal with U.S. mobile entertainment company Amp’d Mobile for
its Share-It uploading service, which will allow Amp’d customers to transmit
photos and video clips to nearly two dozen media sharing sites on the
Internet. CBS launched three new sites aimed at mobile users, available at
online site “CBS Mobile Store” (www.cbsmobile.com).
One of the stores offers games, wallpapers and voicetones, including “live
wallpapers,” which feature scenes from CBS reality shows and other options
such as mobile video alerts from David Letterman, called “Dave TV.” Content
at this site is available for a one-time purchase charge or on an annual
subscription basis. The other two sites include a special mobile version of
CBS SportsLine (wap.CBSSportsLine.com) and a special version of CBS News (wap.CBSNews.com).
(Article reprinted from today’s issue of IP Media Monitor.)
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on February 12, 2007 5:43 PM to IP Democracy