Mobileplay Advertises Outside the Box to Offer Free Content

Mobileplay Inc., a venture backed by Los Angeles-based Rustic Canyon Partners, announced Monday that it has launched a beta version of its ad-based service offering free access to downloadable multimedia content for many mobile device users.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mobileplay is available as a free software download, and offers a range of content including news, games, weather information, Weblogs and more, which users can access through smart mobile devices such as Palm OS, PocketPC/Windows Mobile and BlackBerries.
Mobileplay has launched its product as a beta test for smart handheld devices because they have larger screens that allow easier access to relevant content. Most applications will run a small banner ad within the content, as on a Web site, according to officials.
"Most users want content for free, the same way as on the Internet," said Sara Olsen, executive vice president for Mobileplay. "Mobileplay allows them to get that free content, formatted in a way that makes sense for their device."

New era heralded for mobile TV

While some have expressed doubts about whether people will want to watch TV on their mobiles, handset giant Nokia and leading independent TV producer Endemol are convinced it will be a winner.
Initial signs, both say, are that mobile TV will be a huge hit with consumers, a big money-spinner for content providers and mobile operators as well as a means of transforming TV as it currently exists.
The next 12 months looks set to be the year mobile TV takes off. While the buzz around it is similar to the hype for 3G services, there is much greater optimism that TV will live up to its promise.

Ringtone Market Exploding

While sales of new CD's remain bleak, the music industry is finding a small degree of consolation in the explosive growth of ringtones. This year alone, enough mobile phone users downloaded the tones to rack up retail sales of about $602 million in the United States, more than double the $277 million racked up in 2004, according to a Jupiter Research analysis. Ringtones aren't a large piece of the $12 billion American music industry, but the mobile sector is one of the few in which executives foresee growth.

Faith Mobile Launches in US, UK

FaithMobile, a mobile content service for Christians, has launched in the US and the UK. The service is run by by Good News Holdings and The Barna Group and plans to provide mobile content such as Bible verses, ringtones, andinspirational audio and video mobisodes. The partners who have already signed up include Promise Keepers, a Christian Men’s organization with over 5.5 million members; Extraordinary Women with 300,000 members, and Tyndale House Publishing which created popular “New Living Translation” of the Bible.