Mereja

Author: Tricia Duryee

  • AT&T Rolls Out ‘Cloud’ Services For Low-End Phones


    Samsung Strive on AT&T

    AT&T (NYSE: T) has rolled out a trio of new services that brings smart-phone like features to low-cost phones. Users can now easily sync their address books from a personal e-mail account to their phone and send photos to the cloud on devices that cost between $20 and $40.

    AT&T announced the three new services along with four new devices today. While syncing address books and cloud-services have not be exclusive to smartphones, AT&T is training consumers to spend more on monthly data plans and to become more dependent on using their phone for more than calling.

    The three services:

    —AT&T Address Book — Syncs contacts from an online address book to the phone and vice versa. There is no additional charge for this service.
    —Next Generation Messaging: Allows users to send text message to up to 10 contacts at a time. Conversations are also threaded in a consolidated inbox.
    —AT&T Mobile Share: Customers can transfer photos and videos from the phone to their home computer, social networking sites, other to an AT&T storage locker. The service costs $10 a month for 50 transfers, or 35 cents a transfer. Users get 250MB of storage at no charge, and an additional 10GB of storage costs $5 a month. Users will also be charged standard rates when browsing the online media locker from the phone.

    The four phones: AT&T calls this category of devices “quick messaging,” which is their most popular and fastest category of devices:

    —Samsung Strive: Arriving March 21, it will be the first phone with AT&T’s new services. It has a 2.0-megapixel camera and a vertical slide that reveals a full keyboard. It costs $20 for a limited time with a two-year agreement and after $50 mail-in rebate.
    —Samsung Sunburst: Loaded with GPS, it will be available March 21 for $40 after a two-year agreement and $50 mail-in-rebate.
    —Pantech Link and Pantach Pursuit: The Link will come in a few weeks, while the Pursuit will come later this summer. The Link has a number of social networking and navigation features, while the Pursuit features face recognition software and geotagging.


  • Nokia Predicts 10 Percent Growth For Mobile Phones In 2010


    Nokia 6700 Slide

    Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has improved the way it measures the global device market, including coming up with a better way to calculate the number of unlicensed and counterfeit products being sold in the market. Given that, Nokia went back and recalculated the industry’s overall performance last year and how it did comparatively.

    Using the new methodologies, Nokia said 1.26 billion phones shipped in 2009, up from its original estimate of 1.14 billion. Because the market grew, and Nokia’s sales stayed constant, the handset maker’s share sank to 34 percent from a previous estimate of 38 percent. Nokia has also revised its expectations for 2010. It expects volumes to grow by a healthy 10 percent, which should be a welcome sign compared to a relatively flat 2009, but said it expects its market share to stay flat.


  • Free Maps From Google and Nokia Drive Vodafone To Shut Down Wayfinder


    Droid Google Maps

    The first victim of the free navigation wars: Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is shutting down Wayfinder, the Swedish mapmaker it purchased for $30 million in late 2008.

    It was the carrier’s goal to use Wayfinder to provide directions to both drivers and pedestrians, while overlaying location-based advertising to alert users to nearby restaurants or shops. The carrier planned to start embedding mapping applications on devices this summer with a location-based advertising trial coming soon after. But according to a report in a Swedish publication, Vodafone has decided to close down the whole operation, Engadget reports.

    Clearly, the market has gotten a lot more complicated since Vodafone’s acquisition. Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) both started offering free maps with turn-by-turn navigtation services on phones, and much more entrenched competitors, like TomTom and Garmin, are struggling because of it. Vodafone’s Anna Cloke tells Engadget: “We could not charge for something that others gave away for free.”

    Related


  • Nokia Aims New Smartphones At U.S.


    Nokia shows off Symbian 3 OS

    It’s long been known that Nokia’s had a hard time selling its popular devices in the U.S.

    But its latest smartphones coming have a series of enhancements that it hopes will make it more competitive. The phones will run the latest version of the open source operating system, “Symbian^3,” which was demonstrated yesterday to reporters in San Francisco. David Rivas, Nokia’s VP of Technology Management, said the new version includes significant usability and performance improvements that may drum up more interest in its products in the U.S., reports The New York Times.

    The software, which was first on display at Mobile World Congress last month in Spain, won’t be ready for prime time until the end of March, and it could be another four to six months until there’s actual devices for sale.

    But the review in The New York Times sounds promising. It said the home screen is cordoned off into different customizable segments. The segments may include a calendar block that shows appointments, a Facebook block, or a contact block that has pictures from people in your address book. In essence, the user interface moves away from being a series of icons, which is found on BlackBerry devices and iPhones, and makes it more interactive.

    It also becomes way more finger friendly, by integrating multi-touch and larger areas that can be tapped with a finger rather than a stylus. There’s also multi-tasking capabilities, meaning that it can run more than one application at the same time (a feature not present on the iPhone). In videos demonstrating the phones, it looks a bit like how Microsoft made the Windows Mobile operating system a lot more finger-friendly and graphics-rich in the 6.5 update. However, it still ended up having to ditch that and start over from scratch for Windows Phone 7. The big question is whether Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Symbian can make a good enough experience that can go head-to-head with feature-rich devices being released by Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Palm (NSDQ: PALM) and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT). Although to be clear, Nokia’s entire strategy does not rest on Symbian, but also a Linux-based operating system called MeeGo (a combination of its own Maemo OS and Intel’s Moblin).

    Perhaps, that’s why Rivas promised that Symbian^4 phones, due out at the end of this year, will “raise the bar” even higher.

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  • Let The iPad Sales Begin


    A look at photo capabilities in the iPad

    Early adopters take note: Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is taking pre-orders for the iPad at 5:30 a.m. Pacific on Friday.

    Last week, Apple announced that March 12 was the magical day for per-orders, but never specified a time. Now, it has been confirmed that electronic ordering will begin bright and early, according to The Unofficial Apple Weblog, which says its readers have been asking in droves exactly what hour the tablet will go on sale.

    Remember, the WiFi-only device won’t ship until April 3, and the 3G version will come sometime later that month. No release date has been announced for other countries.

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  • FCC Releases Apps To Independently Test The Speed Of Wireless Networks


    FCC releases iPhone App to measure mobile broadband speeds

    Looking for real-time data of its own, the FCC (yes, the regulatory body in Washington, D.C.) has released a mobile app for iPhone and Android. Don’t worry, the feds aren’t interested in listening to your phone conversations, rather they say the purpose of the app is to provide “Americans with additional information about heir mobile data connection and to create awareness about the importance of mobile broadband connection quality.”

    Essentially, the app clocks how long it takes to download and upload data to the phone. The release of the two apps come just days before the Commission is set to release its new national broadband plan on March 16, which will heavily stress the need for mobile data networks.

    The FCC says it may use the data collected from the apps to “analyze coverage and quality on a geographic basis in the U.S.” That means, it may start to have its own information to fact-check the data that carriers give them. While the random tests conducted by random citizens probably can not be considered scientific, it may do just what the Commission intends—make citizens more aware of the speeds they are getting.

    When conducting the test on a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Nexus One on T-Mobile’s network in Seattle, results indicated that the 3G network performance was .29 mbps down and .35 mbps up. Tests by an iPhone in Los Angeles and a Verizon Wireless Droid in Seattle blew those results away. The iPhone registered 3G speeds of 1.35 mbps down and .21 mbps up. Verizon’s Droid clocked in at 1.71 mbps down and .82 mbps up.

    The tools are also available at Broadband.gov for measuring fixed broadband connections, although to test mine, I just turned WiFi on in my phone. In the future, Digiphile.com reports that the FCC says it will make additional broadband testing apps available for consumer use.


  • Verizon Wireless Bringing First 4G Phones To Market In Mid-2011


    Verizon Wireless Network

    If you are holding out for a 4G phone for your next purchase, don’t bother. Verizon Wireless will not have its very first 4G handset until mid-2011.

    While that’s about six months earlier than the company had said before, that’s still far enough away to burn through another contract, especially since the chance of you wanting the very first 4G phone is mighty slim. The time line was confirmed by Anthony Melone, Verizon’s CTO, who told the WSJ in an interview that the carrier could have a 4G phone three to six months after it launches the service. Verizon has committed itself to an aggressive LTE roll-out, which will launch in some markets by the end of the year.

    Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR), which is building another 4G network based on WiMax technology, will likely beat Verizon to the punch. It has said previously that it could support a phone as early as mid-2010. In that case, its partners could roll-out a phone too, which includes Sprint (NYSE: S) and its cable partners, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) and Bright House.

    Initially, both of these networks will first be used for connecting laptops and other data devices since they don’t have the traditional voice-calling capabilities. Both LTE or WiMax phones will have to have an additional chipset, so that consumers can make calls over 3G networks.


  • Former RealNetwork’s CEO Rob Glaser Says For Now Apple Has Won


    RealNetworks' Rob Glaser

    In Rob Glaser’s first public appearance since stepping down as CEO of RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK), he implored that it is incumbent upon companies to work together in order for the wireless sector to continue its break-neck pace of innovation.

    Glaser did not hint at what he might do next, but instead, he stuck to his usual routine of talking fast and making as many points as possible in his time allotted. One theme in particular was exceedingly clear: he believes closed operating systems are a threat to the mobile industry. In the words of Ben Franklin, he said: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

    Glaser, who remains the chairman of Real Networks, said the digital media and wireless industries are at an inflection point, and the greatest opportunity is still in front of us. By 2013, he said the install base of smartphones and so-called “superphones” is expected to exceed the install base of PCs. He provided eight ways a superphone is different than a smartphone, but essentially what you need to know is this: superphones run applications. (His slides are here.)

    He said with those “super” abilities, mobile has a great potential, but if Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) gets its way, the wireless industry could end up like the MP3 industry. The other option is for things to go the way of the PC, which he considers more horizontal. “As of today, Apple is the clear winner. It’s incredible what they’ve been able to do in a vertical paradigm,” he said. “But if that’s the way the industry pans out, we’ll have a much slower pace of innovation, and there will be a tremendous loss in value creation. It’s incumbent for those who don’t want that—carriers, handset-makers, etc.—to work together. Otherwise verticals will stand.”

    Of course, there’s plenty of challenges in making horizontal work. Verticals, where one company is responsible for making sure that all the services work on the phone, is easier. As an example, Glaser mentioned Google’s Nexus One, which the company is marketing and selling on its own without a ton of help from the handset-maker and no help from the carrier. Glaser said he couldn’t get the phone to work until he realized he was putting the SIM card in backwards. While that’s human error, he said: “The Nexus One Google (NSDQ: GOOG) experiment is a proof point of that….It’s a lot harder to make horizontal easier.”

    In light of that, you see a lot of verticals developing in mobile. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 will integrate Xbox, Bing and Outlook. Google’s Android does a better job of integrating Gmail, Maps and Search, and Apple is the ultimate example. So, what is the solution to getting horizontal to work in mobile? Glaser suggests that the carriers might be able to play a role, but “it’s not preordained. The PC went horizontal and the MP3 player went vertical. It’s an open question.”

    The Next Mobile Revolution


  • FCC Former Chairman Says Agency Lacks Control Over Handset Makers


    FCC Former Chairman Kevin Martin

    In an appearance this morning at a Seattle breakfast event, former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, now a partner at Patton Boggs, was careful not to offer any jabs at the current administration.

    Instead, he focused on the current administration’s plans for rolling out a new national broadband plan, scheduled to be unveiled Tuesday. One subject that came up was the fight for open access to wireless networks, a key platform issue of his. In particular, he noted how the government is now more concerned about the obstructionist role that handset makers like Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) or Google (NSDQ: GOOG) play, than it is about the behavior of the wireless networks. But regulators have less control over the former.

    Open access is a term Martin knows all about. During his stint as FCC Chairman, he helped push through rules in a spectrum auction that would require the winner—in this case, Verizon Wireless—to ensure open access to its network. While vague, it means that Verizon won’t be able to limit users, devices or applications on the network. However, Verizon has just started to build-out its 4G network, so it’s still unclear how that will be practiced. Martin said.

    Martin: “I think what the commission did with the open access piece was an important step…Prior to 2007, there was resistance from the carriers to any kind of open architecture, including the inclusion of WiFi chips in devices, even though today that’s perceived as a helpful thing….But I think we haven’t been able to see the ultimate impact because they [Verizon] are still deploying it, I think it did contribute to the shift of the wireless industry, in general, and ultimately will benefit consumers.”

    In one example of how the power over open access has shifted to the handset makers, the FCC opened an inquiry when Google’s voice-over-IP application was blocked from the iPhone. The blocking was initially blamed on AT&T (NYSE: T), but as it turned out, Apple was the one that vetoed it.

    The FCC’s “direct authority is less and less the more it gets pushed out from the carriers. It has ways, but I think it’s more difficult…This was an issue when I was there, and there’s a balance between protecting a consumer’s rights and having access to the internet, and recognizing that carriers have to manage their networks…I think that you do need to find the appropriate balances and it gets more difficult the further outside the carrier you get.”

    As for the national broadband plan, the commission has hinted at what may be included, but the strategy won’t be fully unveiled until March 16. One of the key issues is providing more spectrum to carriers to provide the fastest mobile broadband services in the world. Martin said that while he was Chairman, they almost tripled the amount of spectrum available for mobile broadband. He said the current administration is looking to double it. Currently, he said that all the U.S. carriers use 450 megahertz of spectrum, and the commission is looking to add an additional 500 MHz.


  • News Corp. Mulling Sale Of Struggling Mobile Content Properties


    Fox Mobile Group

    News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) may shed the ailing Fox Mobile Group, including the Jamba and Jamster brands, to focus on digital properties, like MySpace, reports The Financial Times.

    A sale would not be a big surprise. After News Corp. acquired the company in two separate chunks from VeriSign (NSDQ: VRSN) for a total price tag of $381 million, it failed to do much with the asset. Last year, it created the Fox Mobile Group to roll out a new video service for smartphones, which was rumored to be akin to Hulu, but that project has been delayed several times. In addition, the group has been decimated over the past year, by layoffs and a mass executive exodus that led to the departure of the CEO, COO and CMO.

    Bankers say Zed, a Madrid-based mobile content company, is the most likely buyer, but others point to Italian mobile media company Buongiorno (BIT: BNG), Dada.net, and Flycell, or even carriers, like Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) and Telecom Italia, as possibilities. In this environment, a sale could be tough. The mobile content industry is not as strong as it once was, and has struggled as consumer tastes have shifted away from ringtones and wallpapers to more sophisticated devices that run applications.

    Revenues for News Corp’s ”Other” segment, which includes the Fox Mobile Entertainment, dropped 20 percent to $2.4 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, The Financial Times reports. At the same time, operating losses at News Corp’s ”Other” segment widened to $363 million from $84 million in the year-ago period.

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  • How One Mobile Developer Created Its Own Local Ad Network To Boost Fill Rates


    uLocate's hyperlocal ad network Where Ads

    Like many other developers, uLocate works closely with ad networks to monetize WHERE, its free mobile app that is available on a number of carrier networks and Android, iPhone and Palm (NSDQ: PALM).

    But WHERE often struggled to keep its fill rates high, and when campaigns ran out, it had to use less desirable banner ads pushing ringtones and wallpapers, said uLocate’s VP of Marketing Dan Gilmartin. Today, the Boston-based company is launching an ad network that it created internally to remedy the problem and has been using since December. The ad network, which it calls the WHERE Ads hyper-local advertising network, is now available outside the company, and is being used by various publishers, including Geocade, Jambase, MocoSpace and Superpages.com.

    The problem WHERE is solving is a common one that many mobile application developers and publishers are encountering as they generate audiences and millions of page views faster than brands adopt mobile as a potential advertising platform. Gilmartin said it continues to use Quattro Wireless, which was recently acquired by Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), but new sources of local ads dramatically increased click-through rates and CPMs.

    How is WHERE doing it?: Gilmartin was a bit reluctant to give away all of its secrets, but said they are working with about a half a dozen local ad providers that work in other mediums, such as directory services, coupons, event sources, and other aggregation services. They provide local offers and ads that can be matched to users who search in the WHERE app for activities or nearby restaurants.

    The reaction: Gilmartin said they were able to start replacing ringtone ads for ads that were relevant based on what a consumer was looking for…if they were searching for a nearby restaurant, an Italian restaurant may have popped up. Customers’ reactions were surprising and thanked WHERE ‘for removing the ads,’ Gilmartin said. “It’s contextually relevant to what the consumer is doing, and it’s locally relevant to where they are, and it’s designed to look good in the app, so it’s not an obnoxious banner.”

    How things have changed: He said now instead of getting paid per click, often the ads are paid for based on performance, a person may have to visit to website, a menu, or click to call. Then, when a user clicks, they are redirected to a mobile landing page that Where’s made, and can deliver local information to the consumer.

    How it is different: All mobile ad networks aspire to provide local ads in their network, but inventories are often low. Results can also vary based on how locally targeted the ad is—is it based on the person’s country, state, city, or neighborhood level? Obviously, the neighborhood ad will be more relevant, but often time is the hardest one to get.


  • T-Mobile USA Says They Ditched Yahoo For Google Because Consumers Demanded It


    T-Mobile USA re-launches web2go with Google, stripping off Yahoo

    T-Mobile USA executives explained that it abruptly ended its year-old exclusive search deal with Yahoo, and replaced it with Google (NSDQ: GOOG), because it is what their subscribers wanted. “It was customer led; the Google brand is associated with Internet and search,” Ian McKerlich, T-Mobile’s director of mobile web and content, told mocoNews today.

    We were the first to report last week that T-Mobile dropped one search provider for the other, leading to to significant shift in control of the U.S. mobile search market away. Google now has deals with T-Mobile and Sprint; (NYSE: S) Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) works with AT&T (NYSE: T) and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has partnered with Verizon Wireless. Clearly, the space continues to be fragmented, but T-Mobile’s sudden change of heart raises an important question: Will carriers continue to be able to lock-in lucrative contracts with search providers with the promise of directing traffic their way when consumers are demanding to use other services?

    McKerlich said for other reasons, the switch made sense. T-Mobile was the first carrier to work closely with Google on rolling out its Android-based devices, so having a “single partner across our own portfolio,” allowed it to cut down on the number of messages T-Mobile had to deliver.

    T-Mobile said it started updating its web2go Web portal with Google search back in February. As part of the switch, it made other updates to the service, including making it more touch-friendly and easy to personalize. But it also changed the way it lumped together both mobile content results with web results into a single page. If a subscriber searched for “Beyonce,” both ringtones and general web results would be returned. McKerlich: “We believed in federated search being well suited for mobile devices, but federated results were confusing to the consumer. Now we have more of a pure play search.” Seattle-based Medio Systems continues to index and return content results in the Google deal, just as it did for T-Mobile with Yahoo, but they will only show up when someone searches the download store.

    The web2go portal is now available on 94 percent of all T-Mobile phones, including the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Cliq, BlackBerry devices, a majority of feature phones, and even the upcoming HTC HD2. T-Mobile said the changes, including the switch to Google, has led to a 300 percent increase in traffic per customer, and in the case of the Cliq, 25 percent of customers have customized their home page. Of course, users can still opt to open a web browser and go to any search provider it would like, such as Yahoo or Bing.

    McKerlich declined to discuss the financial arrangement between T-Mobile and either Google or T-Mobile. “In either relationship, both of them were attractive deals when we did them.” Is T-Mobile concerned that it is becoming to reliant on Google? McKerlich: “I don’t really think so. Certainly if the consumers say they like Google, we’ll give it to them.”

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  • Verizon Wireless Steals Play From Sprint: Signs $720 Million Deal With NFL


    NFL Redzone now on Verizon Wireless

    The NFL has signed a new four-year deal with Verizon Wireless, putting an end to a roughly five-year partnership with Sprint (NYSE: S).

    The deal is valued at $720 million, including a rights fee and advertising spending, according to the WSJ, which quotes people familiar with the negotiations. NFL fans on the Verizon Wireless network will have access to the popular NFL RedZone channel from the NFL Network, including access to live streaming games on Sunday and Thursday. Verizon will kick off things next month with coverage of the 2010 NFL Draft on April 22. Release.

    Sprint reportedly signed a five-year, $600 million deal in September 2005, so either it was not able to renew the deal or did not try to renew the deal. However, the deal has been sweet to Sprint, which packaged it together with its Simply Everything plans, or sold it separately for $15 a month. Sprint said that its NFL Mobile Live app reached 1 million downloads quicker than any other application in the company’s history during the 2008 season, and consistently drove more usage than any other application Sprint offered.

    Verizon is not currently saying what phones will be supported or how it will be priced until closer to the start of the NFL season in August.

    Other features of NFL Mobile on Verizon Wireless will include:

    —Video: Game highlights and a collection of on-demand video, featuring analysis and access to the NFL Network and NFL Films.
    —Audio: Live radio broadcasts of every regular season and playoff game from both home and away teams.
    —Fantasy: Access to fantasy information, news, and player and team statistics.
    —Customizable NFL alerts, ringtones and graphics.

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  • Motricity Updates IPO Filing: 2009 Revenues Up, Losses Improve


    Motricity

    Motricity increased revenues, narrowed its losses and even generated cash in 2009, according to new documents filed today as part of the company’s IPO ambitions.

    When the company first filed paperwork in January, it reported results for the first nine months of the year. Today, in an updated registration statement filed with the SEC, Motricity reported complete results for 2009 that put the company’s performance into a more positive light.

    Still, the company’s net losses continue and its revenues going forward are uncertain given that contracts for its two largest customers—AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless—are up for renewal this year. The company is seeking $250 million to expand into international markets, to develop new technologies and to acquire companies.

    The company, which provides back-end infrastructure to carriers for managing portals and delivering mobile content, such as ringtones, said revenues in 2009 totaled $114 million, up 10.7 percent from the year-ago period, and the company’s net loss attributable to common shareholders was $40.3 million, shrinking from $100.5 million in 2008. The company’s cash flow from operations totaled $33 million—reversing two straight years of significant negative cash flows. At the end of December, the company’s cash balance grew to $35.9 million.

    The company explained that cash flows were positive despite a net loss of $16.3 million because of non-cash items included in the operating results that negatively affected earnings.

    Going forward, a loss of either AT&T or Verizon’s business would be devastating to the company. In 2009, it generated about 53 percent and 20 percent of its total revenue from contracts with AT&T and Verizon Wireless, respectively. Both of those contracts are up for renewal this year, it said.

    There were few other changes made since the original document was filed in January. Perhaps, most notably, the company appointed two new directors to the board in January 2010: Brett C. Icahn and Lady Barbara Judge. Icahn serves as an investment analyst for various investment funds on behalf of Carl Icahn, who has invested in Motricity. Judge is chairman of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, and previously was deputy chairman of the United Kingdom Financial Reporting Council in London. She was tapped for her corporate governance, compliance, disclosure and international business conduct experience, which includes a stint as a former commissioner of the SEC.

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  • Big In Japan Buys Barcode-Scanning Competitor Snappr


    Big in Japan's Shopsavvy QR Code

    Big In Japan, the company responsible for the popular ShopSavvy barcode-scanning app for Android and iPhone, has acquired Snappr. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    The acquisition revives Snappr after it shut down in late 2009, reports TechCrunch, which broke the news of the acquisition. Big in Japan has already been busy integrating Snappr’s 2D barcode scanning technology into its ShopSavvy app. Snappr’s Founder Philip Stehlik will join Big In Japan’s board of advisors, according to the Big in Japan blog. With the acquisition, Big In Japan will attempt to raise American’s awareness of QR Codes, which is based on the open standard Quick Response. It’s free to generate a two-dimensional QR Code. The QR code can point any smartphone, with an app like ShopSavvy installed, to a website.


  • CBS Adds Live 3G Streaming To March Madness App; Charges $9.99


    CBS Mobile March Madness on Demand 2010

    No need to duck out of work early, now you can watch March Madness games live over your iPhone, and for the first time—anywhere over AT&T’s 3G network.

    The application, which is expected to be available Monday on iTunes, will cost $9.99—twice as much as last year’s version that was limited WiFi networks. Rob Gelick, the SVP and GM of CBS (NYSE: CBS) Mobile, expects the demand to be there for live streaming video: “Last year, we were the first to do a live sporting event with the March Madness app, and since then the appetite for video and live video has grown massively for us…We one-upped ourselves. Now people can stay connected regardless of where they are.” [Note: The NBA streamed the All-Star Game live just prior to March Madness in February 2009.]

    A free ‘lite’ version, which is sponsored by Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), provides on-demand video highlights from every game, live scores, and news coverage. CBS will also launch a free version for BlackBerry, which will be sponsored by Mercedes Benz—but it won’t have live video, or on-demand clips. The only other live video will be available on AT&T’s FLO TV service, which will get all 63 games. AT&T (NYSE: T) is the Exclusive Wireless Partner of the NCAA , so Verizon Wireless’ FLO TV service will be limited to general coverage that’s available on CBS. The opening round game is March 16.

    The paid CBS iPhone app will also provide live radio broadcasts from Westwood One throughout the entire tournament, and push alerts to the phone to let you know if a particular game has gone into over time, or there’s a potential upset on the way. Gelick: “Part of the challenges we had last year, was that there’s all of these great games going on at the same time, which one should you watch?” Both the free and paid apps will have an interactive tournament bracket that updates with real-time scores, plus news and the ability to send comments to both Facebook and Twitter. 

    Interestingly, both apps were developed in partnership with MLB Advanced Media, which has built an extensive streaming video platform in-house.

    When asked why CBS didn’t produce an Android or Palm (NSDQ: PALM) app, Gelick responded: “Not this year. I think that you try to make sure what you are delivering is world class, and we’ve expanded from last year’s base by almost 2x in terms of the number of touch points. It becomes a scale issue….This is the nicest product we’ve delivered to date.”

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  • Yahoo Disbands Mobile Group As Part Of Reorganization


    Yahoo

    Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) may have lost its exclusive search deal with T-Mobile USA, but it is banking on a major reorganization to help recharge the company’s mobile efforts.

    The changes, which involves breaking up the mobile group and redeploying those employees across the company’s individual product groups, is the result of a review by CEO Carol Bartz, who has been an advocate of having fewer silos in the company. The reorganization has led to the departures of a number of senior mobile executives, most recently Yahoo’s Mobile General Manager Mitch Lazar, who announced his resignation this week.

    Departures aside, integrating mobile into the company’s various properties makes a certain amount of sense, as mobile becomes a larger opportunity than the PC. In fact, rival Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has been making strategic shifts of its own to emphasize mobile in relation to the PC.

    Yahoo’s move underscores just how important mobile has become to large content and internet service providers. The company has one of the largest mobile audiences in the U.S.—more than 37 million unique users a month, according to comScore/m:metrics, which is second to Google. It’s no longer an experiment. General mangers for Yahoo’s top properties will be held accountable for not just web traffic, but also the growth in mobile.

    In addition to Lazar, other departures from Yahoo’s mobile division in the past few months include: Marco Boerries, Yahoo’s EVP of the Connected Life Division; Marc Davis, Chief Scientist; and Steve Boom, SVP of Connected Life. The reason for Lazar’s departure, and perhaps others, is now pretty clear: Most of his direct reports had been reassigned to other divisions, leaving him without many people to manage. Engineers and product managers that once worked within the mobile group have been reappointed to various teams, such as the home page, Mail, Messenger, News, Sports and Finance.

    The biggest signal that this transformation was taking place may have been when Yahoo Mobile’s Chief David Ko was promoted to Audience head in late November. In addition to monitoring the company’s mobile efforts, he is now in charge of all of Yahoo’s content sites in North America, including News, Sports and Finance.

    Cory Pforzheimer, Yahoo’s senior manager of corporate communications, who confirmed the group’s reorganization today, said: “We are infusing mobile throughout the organization, rather than having a specific team for mobile…The importance of mobile in Yahoo has increased and we are re-aligning the organization to do just that.” He said Yahoo will continue to have small regional teams that will manage the company’s more than 80 carrier partnerships worldwide. But now “mobile is top of mind for everyone, and it’s part of regional teams, business teams, product teams,” he added.

    Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt said last month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that there’s a fundamental shift in how we access information, as phones and wireless networks become faster. In fact, Schmidt says Google has instituted a new rule, called “Mobile First,” where engineers are encouraged to come up with ideas and projects for the mobile phone before the PC.

    Related


  • Yahoo Loses Exclusive T-Mobile USA Search Deal To Google


    Yahoo_Mobile_Search_Ad

    T-Mobile USA has ended its year-old exclusive search deal with Yahoo, and has replaced the company with its chief rival—Google (NSDQ: GOOG).

    The deal shifts the U.S. mobile search dominance away from Yahoo and in favor of Google, which now works with two of the top four carriers. The hand-off between Yahoo and Google was completed as recently as Wednesday, and when visiting the T-Mobile portal from a BlackBerry today, it showed Google as the prominent search provider at the top of the screen—not Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO).

    A Yahoo spokesperson confirmed it was no longer working with T-Mobile for search, and a T-Mobile USA spokesperson declined to comment.

    Sources say T-Mobile is also working with search provider Medio Systems, which typically indexes and returns results for content, including ringtones and wallpapers, unlike Google, which returns results for the web.

    While Yahoo is no longer providing mobile search, a spokesperson said it is still working with the fourth-largest U.S. carrier on other content services, such as Yahoo! Mail, Messenger, News, Sports, Finance and Flickr. Yahoo also continues to work for T-Mobile International in Europe, and more than 80 carrier partnerships around the globe. The shake-up follows the discovery earlier this week that AT&T (NYSE: T) replaced Google with Yahoo on the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) BackFlip, a Google Android device. At the time, we wondered if T-Mobile USA would do the same for Android-based devices, but now that seems highly unlikely.

    The pay-off for the often pricey alliances between carriers and search providers is still largely unknown. While carriers can make it easy for a consumer to use one search provider over another, they are still at liberty to visit the search provider of their choice from the mobile browser. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) reportedly paid about $500 million to be the exclusive search provider on Verizon-branded phones. Yahoo continues to work with AT&T, and T-Mobile and Sprint (NYSE: S) now work with Google.

    The deals can apparently also fall apart quickly, too. A year ago in November, T-Mobile USA and Yahoo made a big splash when their partnership was first unveiled. As part of it, T-Mobile revamped its entire portal strategy it calls web2go. Ironically, Yahoo first rolled out on T-Mobile in Europe, where it replaced Google. Since last year, Yahoo’s search was rolled out on most handsets, including feature phones, but not Android-based devices or Sidekicks.

    Related

  • Microsoft’s Dual Track Strategy for Mobile May Include Sidekick Refresh In 2010


    The rumored Project Pink phone may launch on Verizon as soon as Summer 2010

    When Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) unveiled Windows Phone 7 last month, we figured that was the extent of its comeback plans in mobile. But now, there’s evidence that the software giant has something else up its sleeve.

    Two reports released today from unnamed sources indicate that Microsoft’s “Project Pink” is alive and well. Reuters reports that a new phone could launch with Verizon Wireless as soon as late spring or early summer, beating Windows Phone 7 to market. Separately, Gizmodo reported that based on third-party marketing materials, the phone looks a lot like a Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre; is not based on Windows Phone 7; and is likely running on software that Microsoft acquired when it bought Danger, the maker of the T-Mobile Sidekick.

    Why Microsoft would choose a two-pronged mobile approach is not clear at this time, but perhaps it feels two platforms is necessary in order to satisfy the various different user bases in the market. Unfortunately, unless it’s done right, it will likely cause confusion and more fragmentation in the space.

    Things should become more clear in the upcoming months, perhaps as soon as the end of March when the industry will gather in Las Vegas at CTIA.

    For now, Gizmodo has some unconfirmed details about Project Pink (and more here):

    —It looks like a Palm Pre.
    —Verizon is a launch partner, but may not be the only launch partner.
    —The phones aren’t running Windows Phone 7, unless it’s really hidden.
    —It’s all about social networking.
    —It has apps, which are likely not compatible with Windows Phone 7, so that leaves the door open to another SDK, or maybe suggests that it will be a closed app environment.

    Regardless of how Project Pink turns out, it’s encouraging to see Microsoft moving quickly in mobile after taking a hiatus for the past year. At Microsoft’s financial meeting in July 2009, it said it was committed to mobile, and was ear-marking $1 billion in operating expenses for the division. For perspective, that that’s about a quarter of what it spends on PCs, and about half as much as it spends on search and advertising. In a statement, regarding its investments in mobile, a Microsoft spokesperson told us: “Mobility is one of Microsoft’s top investment areas and we are 100% committed to Windows Phones – now and in the future.”


  • The Apple Wrap: iPad Production Delays; Mobile Advertising Plans; Wi-Fi Apps Pulled


    The iPad from three angles

    —Apple’s iPad tablet is expected to hit store shelves sometime later this month, but now analysts are saying that recent checks with Taiwan indicate some slight production delays. Think Equity said iPad production was supposed to ramp up in February, but now volumes continue to be low in the first few days of March. Analysts at Canaccord Adams said the problems could limit initial availability to roughly 300,000 units this month (much lower than initial estimates of 1 million). [The WSJ]

    —It’s still unknown what Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) plans to do after acquiring Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising network, but a new job listing may shed some light on the matter. Apple is seeking a “Senior Interactive Web Developer” in Boston to develop a front-end Web user interface for the “development of compelling, interactive digital advertising experiences.” The developer will “be involved in client discussions, proof-of-concept coding, working with and adding to the existing framework, production deliverables and more.” The position will help the iPhone maker “redefine” ads on mobile devices. [Apple Insider]

    —Apple has pulled multiple applications that help consumers find nearby hotspots from the iTunes App Store. Developers of the WiFi-Where application, the WiFiFoFum and yFy have all reported that Apple notified them that their apps were banned for “using private frameworks to access wireless information.” Reportedly, apps that use GPS—and not Wi-Fi—to find local hotspots are still in the store. [Softpedia]