Dutch Courage

There’s a new name on the UK mobile agency scene. David Murphy caught up with Geert Kolthof, Managing Director of Service2Media, to find out more

DM: So give us the background to the company if you would please Geert.

GK: Sure. The founders of the company, including myself, originally worked for Logica CMG, where we created SMS switches, MMS systems and mobile Internet gateways for network operators. In 2004, a few of us decided to leave, because we believed that the future of mobile applications does not lie with the operators, but with major consumer brands; mobile is a fantastic tool to connect brands to their customers.
The only issue was that there were not many companies focused on that in 2005. There were a lot doing SMS and ringtones, but not many doing relevant applications for big brands. So three of us formed the company in 2005, and we are now 42 people and cash-flow positive.

DM: So where have you been operating up until now?

GK: We started in Holland because it’s a very innovative market, the most advanced market for the mobile Internet and mobile applications in Europe, in fact.

DM: Really? That might surprise some people to hear that.

iDrum Dances to the iPhone Beat

Ministry of Sound and iZotope have announced that the ‘iDrum: Ministry of Sound Anthems’ album is now available from the iTunes Store, together with a companion application from the Apple App Store that lets people create original music.
iDrum: Ministry of Sound Anthems lets iPhone and iPod Touch owners recreate their favourite club tracks. Starting with professionally produced iDrum kits that emulate classic clubbing anthems, users can customize the included beats any way they like or mix and match over 300 original samples to make their own tracks.
iDrum’s simple interface lets users build beats layer by layer by tapping the touch screen, or create music with simple shapes and colour combinations to visualize the rhythm. The application includes over 300 original classic and old school dance samples and 20 unique kits with dozens of pre-made patterns
“This is a truly unique experience where some of the best known dance music sounds of the last two decades are now available to be recreated on iPhone at the touch of a button,” says Ministry of Sound Licensing Account Manager, Van Uong.

Nimbuzz Launches iPhone App

Nimbuzz, which provides mobile Instant Messaging (IM), (geo) presence and VoIP services, has launched a free iPhone application that lets users call, chat and message, for free, with their friends on virtually all major IM communities and social networks, including Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, Facebook, MySpace, AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ and Jabber.
Nimbuzz says that application will be the first complete messaging product available with landscape mode chat, IM buddy calling (including Yahoo!), and regional social network support. Furthermore, says Nimbuzz it is the first product to offer IM buddy calling over wi-fi to Yahoo! Messenger, as well as Google Talk, Skype, and Windows Live Messenger.
Nimbuzz also supports chat for local social networks, such as StudiVZ, the biggest German speaking social network, Hyves for The Netherlands, and Gadu-Gadu in Poland.
Nimbuzz is a lifestyle application, designed to meet any communication need. The centralized contact list aggregates contacts of the most popular social and IM networks. Other key features include Personal Message, which enables users to broadcast real-time status updates to all contacts; presence information to see who is online and where; and emoticons for additional expression. Nimbuzz currently has over 10 million logins per day, and is adding over 10,000 new users per day.

GetJar Launches Visual Bookmarks to Boost WAP Traffic

Mobile application portal GetJar has announced the launch of a Visual Bookmark service for WAP publishers. Visual Bookmarks are tiny applications that sit on the phone’s home screen and, when launched, open a specific mobile web page using the phone’s built-in browser. Through a free, self-service system available to any WAP-site owner, GetJar automatically creates Visual Bookmarks for all major platforms, including Java, Symbian Series 60, UIQ, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry.
GetJar says it has launched the solution because mobile Internet sites do not have the same sort of visibility on a phone as a downloaded application. Applications appear as icons on the phone’s home screen, prompting use. But mobile Internet sites, says GetJar, are left out in the cold because they do not involve an application download, so there is nothing on the phone’s home screen to prompt the user to revisit the site. GetJar says Visual Bookmarks will give mobile Internet sites the same visibility as phone apps, and at no cost. WAP publishers need only specify their site’s URL and upload a graphic.
Consumers can download the Visual Bookmarks from GetJar, instantly adding a handy shortcut to a favourite mobile website. For mobile site publishers, a Visual Bookmark can ensure that their site reserves a prominent spot on a consumer’s handset in the form of a familiar icon, driving adoption and usage. Research conducted by GetJar shows that visitors who have discovered mobile sites through a Visual Bookmark are four to eight times more likely to return to these sites, compared to those who discovered sites via conventional online references such as search engines, SMS messages, ad banners, or WAP text links.
One mobile web portal currently using GetJar’s free Visual Bookmark service with great success is Vuclip, a mobile video search and delivery service.
“We want to reduce barriers to entry for consumers using the mobile web, and bring video content to as many mobile devices as possible,” says Vuclip VP of Business Development & Marketing, Ashwin Puri. “The GetJar Visual Bookmark service enables us to drive distribution globally across the more than 2,500 devices we currently support. We have found that consumers using the GetJar Visual Bookmark come back to Vuclip almost eight times more frequently than an average mobile web user.”
Ilja Laurs, Founder and CEO of GetJar, adds:
“Our goal with our free Visual Bookmark service is to boost downloads and usage for mobile web publishers and application developers. A Visual Bookmark drives far more traffic to a mobile site than sending URLs in SMS or relying on the user to bookmark the URL. It bridges the technical gap between entering the URL and going to the site, something that's easy on a PC, but hard on a mobile phone. A Visual Bookmark makes mobile sites stickier, and Vuclip’s experience proves that it works.”

The Weather on Your Mobile - That's Handy

Paragon Software Group, which develops software for mobile devices and PCs, has released its ‘Handy Weather’ application for Java-based mobiles. The program enables mobile users to access wireless weather forecasts from anywhere in the world on their mobile device, subject to network connection and carrier capabilities. Wireless Internet compatibility is the only requirement needed for users to get real-time weather information.
Handy Weather can be set to automatically update weather forecasts every two, four, eight, 12 or 24 hours, or at a time preset by the user. Each city forecast is a 2.5Kb download, and there are 40,000 preset cities worldwide. Features include Celsius and Fahrenheit options for high and low day temperature; a temperature graph for up to seven consecutive days; simultaneous forecast information for several locations of the user's choice. Handy Weather also includes animated graphics, including traditional weather icons and text; wind direction and speed in mph, km/h or m/s; and current pressure and humidity.
Handy Weather costs $5.95 (£4) for a three-month subscription, or $14.95 for a one-year subscription service from www.penreader.com. The program is compatible with all mobile phones supporting Java MIDP 2.0, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung and LG. Handy Weather is available in different editions for devices with 240x320, 176x220 and 128x160 resolution screens.

AdMob Celebrates 'Knots' Success

Mobile ad network AdMob has released the results of a recent case study with its homegrown iPhone application, 'Knots'. The game is a simple ‘touch and release’ game created by AdMob employee and developer, Josh Snyder. AdMob used the Knots application as a controlled case study to learn how developers could drive downloads of their iPhone apps with an advertising campaign through AdMob’s Advertising Marketplace.
The application was admitted to the App Store on 11 September, 2008 and in the first three days, did not have a single download and was not ranked in the top 100 free applications in the Apple Apps store. Starting on 17 September, Knots began running ads within AdMob’s iPhone Network,  driving consumers to download the game for free. It also started to serve ads within the application in order to monetize itself.
The Knots campaign delivered strong results. As soon as the campaign started, consumers began to download the Knots application and it began to rise in the rankings in the Apple Apps store, eventually reaching the top 10 free apps. Knots also began to generate a significant daily profit through in-application advertising as part of AdMob’s iPhone Network.
At peak, the game had more than 7,000 downloads a day. In addition to being ranked in the ‘Top 10 Free Apps’ in the Apple Apps store, Knots was also included in the ‘Featured Apps’ section on 7 October. The average cost-per-click for the campaign was $0.50, and by the end of the campaign, Knots had earned an average of $600-$700 a day in advertising.
AdMob says the Knots campaign clearly demonstrates the value of advertising a mobile application, as well as the ability to generate ad revenue from free iPhone applications.
AdMob launched its iPhone Advertising Network in August 2008. It designed the iPhone ad formats to take advantage of the unique context and capabilities of the device to blend graphical display ads with one of eight iPhone-specific actions, such as one-touch access to the Apple Apps Store; maps to view relevant locations; audio to listen to content; or the ability to view video. The ads were designed to function in either the browser environment or native applications built for the iPhone and come in both brand and performance formats.
Following the launch of its iPhone Ad Network, AdMob launched a $1 million developer program to fuel growth of a new wave of mobile publishers. In September, AdMob announced the first members of the developer program: Loopt, Stitcher, Tapulous, Pandora, iRovr, Avantar, Trism, Wixi, AppCubby, and TinyPictures. Each developer received $5,000 in AdMob advertising credit to acquire traffic for their mobile website or application.
Developers who wish to apply to be included in the program should click here.

Movial Releases Browser D-Bus Code

Movial has released its Browser D-Bus (Desktop Bus) Bridge open source code into the Mobile Linux community. Movial says that Browser D-Bus Bridge removes the complexity of Linux User Interface (UI) development and empowers web developers and designers, operators and device manufacturers to easily create extremely capable UIs for open handsets. The technology, says Movial, helps transform web widgets into seamless, user-driven mobile applications providing new, value-added and differentiated services and superior user experiences. The code is available here, and runs on WebKit and Mozilla engines.
Movial committed to contributing and delivering Browser D-Bus Bridge at this year’s LinuxWorld in August, where it also revealed that it had joined the LiMo Foundation, the global consortium of mobile comapnies delivering an open handset platform for the mobile industry.
Browser D-Bus Bridge translates Javascript commands to D-Bus commands. The D-Bus is used by the LiMo Foundation for inter-process communication (IPC) between applications and services. Movial’s Browser D-Bus Bridge makes it possible for web developers and designers, operators and device manufacturers to add browser-based UIs for the LiMo stack and for applications to easily initiate platform services, like media engines and instant messaging engines on mobile devices.
Using the Browser D-Bus Bridge, developers or designers can create a UI to control NetworkManager using HTML, CSS and Javascript, or easily create a browser extension to send URLs to a music player using its D-Bus API. New and innovative UIs can be built on-the-fly that are not only web widgets, but rich and usable main applications.The applications that can be built using the Bridge blur the lines between local and external services, creating innovative, customized on-device mashups.
Movial designs personalised mobile user experiences, from device concept and interface design, to systems integration, third-party application integration, and product maintenance and support. The company’s Internet Experience Suite, Movial IXS, is available as a white-label product to device manufacturers and operators worldwide.

Gideon Celebrates mobiEXPLORE Success

Gideon Multimedia has revealed that its free mobile travel guide, mobiEXPLORE UK, has been downloaded over 22,000 times in the two weeks since it was released. The application uses search listings as a platform to advertise, enabling companies to take advantage of users actively seeking out specific services. Take for example a hungry family in London looking for a restaurant. The mobile application will present results, complete with a telephone number for bookings. For the user, the searching and booking process is made seamless, while the advertiser gets to cash-in on targeted conversions. There is also scope to use the application for promotions, discounts and special offers. 
Vedran Prazen, European MD of Gideon Multimedia urges UK companies to embrace mobile advertising. He says:
“The current economic climate means now is the time for businesses to be sure of return on investment. Not only is mobiEXPLORE UK highly targeted but we have implemented a ‘try before you buy’ policy which means companies can place their advert for free, only parting with money if they want to bid for a higher position on the search listing. In addition, our pay-per-click model means companies only pay for successful conversion – with clicks costing as little as 1p.”
Gideon also offers branded versions of the mobiEXPLORE UK application for companies looking for a new and innovative way of engaging with their customer base.

Steape Launches Talking Phrasebooks

Mobile travel application developer Steape has partnered with travel publisher Lonely Planet to develop audio phrasebooks for Java-enabled mobile phones. Steape has worked with Lonely Planet to develop mobile phrasebooks in 10 languages, with translations from English into Mandarin, Vietnamese, Cantonese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Thai, Czech and Spanish. Each contains around 200 phrases with both text and audio translations, recorded by native speakers. Other languages are in development.
The phrasebooks, which play audio through the phone’s loudspeaker, are available for hundreds of mobile phones running the Java MIDP 2.0 platform, with versions also available for Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices.
“Our phrasebooks are extremely popular and an essential travel tool,” says Lonely Planet Director of Global Business Development, Chris Boden. “It is a natural progression for us to make this content available on mobile phones. The applications will be made available through handset manufacturers and mobile network operators worldwide.”

Amobee to Serve Ads on Plaza Widgets

Qualcomm, which develops advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, and Amobee Media Systems, which provides advertising solutions for mobile operators, have revealed that they are working together to offer mobile advertising on Qualcomm’s ‘Plaza’ solution. The two companies have completed an integration of Amobee’s ad-serving platform with Plaza that means that advertising can be fed into Plaza’s ecosystem of widgets. They say that operators worldwide will be able to use the combined offering to take advantage of “unique mobile Internet opportunities” while generating significant mobile advertising revenues.
Qualcomm Internet Services announced Plaza in May 2008. It’s a platform-agnostic service that provides a framework for the development of mobile widgets - web-based applications for mobile devices. This new framework will feature catalogues of mobile widgets that will be made available to mobile operators worldwide, allowing them to deliver quick and personalized Internet services to their end-users across all devices. The Amobee Media System will enable operators to monetize the use of these widgets.
“This collaboration between Amobee and Qualcomm gives operators an easy-to-deploy and trusted solution that creates a new revenue stream and the opportunity to boost mobile Internet usage,” says Ziv Eliraz, Amobee’s Vice President of Alliances. “It will also allow developers and media companies to get closer to the promise of the new mobile media.”
With Amobee’s implementation on Plaza, operators can create and sell new advertising inventory to brands and agencies that want to deploy and monitor campaigns across all mobile entertainment and communication channels. Amobee will dynamically insert relevant ads into appropriate widgets and will measure and optimize these campaigns to yield the highest results.
“Amobee’s mobile ad-serving solution has been deployed by more operators than any other solution to date,” says Noam Raffaelli, Managing Director of Plaza for Qualcomm Internet Services. “Their proven technology is serving the mobile needs of global operators, as well as top brands that are reaching out to mobile users with targeted advertising. The goal of Plaza is to let operators provide their users with the platform to personalize their mobile Internet experience and in return drive additional revenue streams. Mobile advertising is a key ingredient to make this happen.”

iPhone Gets London Travel Guide

UK iPhone applications developer Coolgorilla has launched a London Travel Guide for the iPhone. The guide includes ground and aerial video footage, embedded maps and touch-to-dial telephone links, together with a 200-page travel guide in one, easy-to-use download, available from Apple’s iTunes and App Store portals.
One downloaded to the phone, the guide does not require a data connection, which means that users can access the guide while on the underground system. There are also options for the user to make use of the iPhone’s connectivity, with hundreds of Google Map and web links all of which are optional and clearly marked out. 
Editorially, the London Travel Guide covers over 50 of London’s major attractions along with restaurant reviews, event listings and transport information. There’s even a section on cockney rhyming slang.
The London Travel Guide is available to download from iTunes for $1.99 (£1.27) and Coolgorilla says it is already working on similar travel guides for a number of other destinations due for release later this year and in 2009.
To open iTunes and download the London Travel Guide, click here.

Synchronica Launches SimpleMail Push Email Solution

Synchronica Plc, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, has unveiled Synchronica SimpleMail, a consumer push email solution that it says brings mobile email to almost 100% of handsets in use today. Based on technology from the recent acquisition of former competitor AxisMobile and available immediately, Synchronica SimpleMail extends the addressable market for push email to even the most basic handsets, making it an ideal service for mobile operators in emerging markets.
Synchronica has already signed license agreements for the new technology with two mobile operators in emerging markets and has received an expansion order from a mobile operator in Russia/CIS for additional licences.
Forecasts point to emerging markets as a breakthrough area for mass market mobile email. Informa predicts that there will be 4.81 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012, with the next billion subscribers coming predominantly from emerging markets, where PC and fixed-line penetration is low.
Synchronica SimpleMail includes email-to-SMS and email-to-MMS gateways and a clientless solution for WAP/XHTML browser access. It also features the patented Optimizer transcoding gateway which reduces the size of pictures and allows a large variety of attachments, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents to be displayed on feature phones that would otherwise be unable to support this functionality. Users can register for the service from their mobile handset, rather than having to register via a PC. Synchronica says this is a key benefit in emerging markets, where broadband connectivity is rare.
Synchronica SimpleMail offers support for DOC, ZIP, PDF, MPEG, MP3, and HTML attachments, and supports Gmail, Yahoo Mail, MSN Hotmail Plus, and any POP3 or IMAP4 mailbox. Other features include real-time device auto-detection; multi-lingual support (English, Cyrillic, Chinese, Arabic and Kanji); and support for multiple email accounts on one device.
“There are more than 3.5 billion mobile users and more than 2 billion mailboxes in use worldwide,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “Our mission is to bring mobile email to the mass market on the widest range of devices. Synchronica SimpleMail…extends our reach from Smartphones and feature phones right down to even the most basic of handsets. This is a key proposition for emerging markets.”
For a free trial of Sunchronica SimpleMail, click here.

Mobile Distillery and Twinlinx Combine for NFC Solution

Mobile Distillery, which provides mobile application production tools and testing services, has revealed that it has played an integral part in the development of a solution that has the potential to turn Bluetooth-enabled handsets into fully-featured Near Field Communication (NFC) devices. As the lead of the project, Twinlinx, a developer of dedicated hardware for NFC mobile phones, selected Mobile Distillery for its technology leadership in helping the industry develop successful mobile applications.
Around the world, the companies note, many services are already using NFC to enable quick and simple transactions where users can simply swipe a card to pay for a train ticket or coffee. In countries like Japan, mobile phones equipped with NFC have become commonplace, with plenty of services emerging, which take advantage of the speed and convenience of NFC. Until now, the lack of NFC handsets has prevented these services becoming a worldwide phenomenon. According to the two companies, this new solution developed jointly by them, removes this barrier, allowing any Bluetooth-capable handset (approximately 60% of current devices) to also use NFC.
Using the existing ability of virtually any mobile handset to run software written in Java ME (J2ME), Mobile Distillery has worked with Twinlinx to create a Java ME layer which can access Twinlinx’s  Bluetooth NFC module named My-Max. This module – which takes the form of a small sticker that fits on the back of the handset – combines a Bluetooth receiver and NFC transmitter, as well as a chip which adds a layer of encryption, to ensure that any data sent using the module is totally secure.
The combination of Mobile Distillery’s software layer and Twinlinx’s hardware and firmware means that any developer who wishes to create applications and services which make use of NFC’s unique benefits will soon be able to do so for almost any handset on the market, the companies say; all it requires is Bluetooth.
Taking advantage of Mobile Distillery’s automated porting suite, Celsius, developers of NFC content and services can ensure automatic porting of their applications across all compatible NFC mobile handsets listed in Mobile Distillery’s ‘Celsius’ database of around 1,000 handsets, from one Java ME source code. These NFC applications will also be automatically ported to enable Bluetooth handsets.
Celsius’ automatic backfilling also means that the applications will be automatically compatible with all new NFC and Bluetooth handsets as they come to market. The platform means that all developers, not just NFC or Bluetooth experts, can easily develop NFC and Bluetooth applications using Celsius because it self-manages high level APIs.
“A lot has been said about the potential for NFC technology to transform the way we use our mobile phones, but while the technology is out there, the lack of handsets has been the problem,” says Twinlinx Founder and CEO, Jacek Kowalski. “Coupled with this, fragmentation of NFC technology further hinders the deployment of mobile NFC. The solution we have created with the Mobile Distillery’s expertise in mobile technologies means that, overnight, there are more than a billion handsets out there that can use NFC, rather than just tens of millions. This is a game-changer for NFC technology.”
The first My-Max prototypes will be demonstrated at the 'CARTES + IDentifications' trade show in Paris, France, from 4-6 November on the Twinlinx stand - 4M 111.

ROK Launches iPhone Comics App

ROK Comics, a subsidiary of ROK Entertainment Group, has announced the launch of the ROK Comics  application for the iPhone.The application, the first of a planned series of applications currently in development by ROK for the iPhone, enables iPhone-owners to read a selection of strips from the ROK Comics portfolio, including ‘ Anomaly’ by Kennedy Rose, ‘Crumb’ by David Fletcher, ‘Reddickulous’ by David Reddick, and many more.
“The iPhone is having a far-reaching effect in transforming access to, and use of, mobile entertainment,” says ROK Creative Director, Graham Baines. “And we at ROK are focused on deploying ever-more interesting, engaging and easy-to-use content services and applications into this fast-growing channel."
Last week, the New York Times reported that Apple sold 6.9 million iPhones in the last quarter in the US alone, and according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the company has already surpassed its goal of selling 10 million iPhones during 2008.
ROK Comics enables comic publishers and creators to reach a worldwide audience by delivering comics to mobile phones, either by WAP subscription of Pay Per Download via MMS, with content creators receiving up to 50% of the available revenue on every sale.

Swanbay Launches S60 Video App

Mobile video services company Swanbay Mobile has launched a mobile video application for the Symbian platform. Swanbay says the application offers Symbian Smartphone users outstanding video quality, combined with a simplified user experience.
The application provides full screen video streaming over 3G or wi-fi networks. This is made possible through the use of a proprietary video codec that optimises data compression and video quality.
Swanbay spent two years developing the software, to provide a full media player with integrated browsing. This enables users to navigate the mobile Internet and view mobile video all within a single application. The application is a white-labeled product that supports customer branding.
Swanbay’s first implementation of the product is on the Symbian S60 3rd edition platform, which includes the recently launched Nokia N96 handset as well as the popular N95 and N95 8GB models.
“We set out to develop a world-class Smartphone video application, and I genuinely think we have achieved that,” says Swanbay Director of Product Development, Mike Kennett. “The application offers the user an amazing video experience on a 3G network through a simple user interface and fantastic video quality.”

Zeemote Launches Blackberry SDK

Zeemote, which makes intelligent wireless controllers for mobile devices, has announced the forthcoming availability of the Zeemote SDK (Software Development Kit) for the BlackBerry.
The Zeemote SDK will allow BlackBerry developers to create mobile games that are compatible with Zeemote’s award-winning JS1 Controller, a wireless, analogue joystick for mobile phones that connects via Bluetooth. Zeemote says that the JS1 Controller,  already launched in European markets, has proved that mobile game play is dramatically enhanced by the portable thumbstick. The JS1 has a thumbstick and four assignable trigger buttons, and weighs just 47g.
The new Zeemote SDK for BlackBerry includes a set of standards, simple testing procedures and support that make it easier for developers to bring games to market that function with the JS1 Controller. The SDK builds on the Zeemote Ready developer program, a design protocol that, says Zeemote, ensures an exciting and consistent consumer experience with the JS1 Controller.
“By adding RIM’s cutting-edge BlackBerry smartphones to the list of handsets that already work with the JS1 Controller, we are able to bring the Zeemote experience to even more people,” says Jim Adams, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Sales and Business Development for Zeemote.  “The JS1 Controller is truly game-changing, allowing customers to play mobile games like never before, and in the process creating countless new opportunities for manufacturers, developers and operators.”
Developers wishing to pre-register for Zeemote’s SDK for BlackBerry should send an email to: bizdev@zeemote.com

ARM Profile for Symbian Released

ARM and Symbian have released details of the ARM Profile for Symbian OS. As part of the recently-launched RealView Development Suite 4.0 Professional, the ARM Profiler enables developers of mobile phone applications running on Symbian OS to add enhanced features and reduce power consumption. Developers can quickly and accurately target their optimizations with immediate feedback on actual application performance and with the rapid identification of bottlenecks across a broad range of performance measurements, bringing their applications to market faster and with lower risk.
“Consumers expect mobile phone applications to deliver advanced features, with the best possible performance and minimal power consumption,” says Mike Whittingham, Vice President of Ecosystem Development at Symbian. “Developers of complex mobile applications have come to expect the level of power management and performance optimization found within Symbian OS. The new ARM Profiler provides an analysis environment that enables developers to maximize the performance and power efficiency of their applications, on ARM technology-based mobile phones.”
The capabilities of the ARM Profiler for Symbian OS build upon ARM’s trusted profiling technology which enables non-intrusive, long duration application profiling on hardware or system models; code coverage information, even when source code is unavailable; and the ability to profile fully optimized software. New benefits for developers using the ARM Profiler include the ability to profile applications running on Symbian OS; profile-driven compilation for automatic code optimization, based on runtime performance; instruction trace replay for a deeper understanding of application performance.
ARM notes that many profiling tools require code annotation or system instrumentation, which do not provide an accurate representation of application performance or allow profiling capabilities only for very short durations due to buffer limitations. ARM Profiler surpasses these limitations with the ability to analyze fully optimized images, analyze for unlimited durations using the streaming trace feature in RealView Trace 2, and profile the instructions executing on the real time system models from ARM. In addition, the company says, with the capacity to analyze the applications running on Symbian OS, engineers can now obtain deeper insight into how applications are affected by system resources and shared libraries for a better understanding of how applications perform as part of a complex system.
ARM Profiler for Symbian OS is available now as part of the ARM RealView Development Suite 4.0 Professional. There’s more information here.

Walking Miracle

I’m spending the afternoon at the Symbian Smartphone Show, where you’re usually guaranteed to see some cool mobile applications. So far, the coolest one I’ve found, by some distance, is TapRoot Systems’  Walking Hotspot.
The concept is simple. Take a wi-fi-enabled Windows Mobile or Symbian S60 Smartphone and a mobile data plan, download the Walking Hotspot application, then next time you need to get online with your laptop and you’re nowhere near a wi-fi hotspot, fire up the app on your phone and it creates your very own hotspot for you, and your friends, to connect to.
It’s really just the same principle as connecting your phone to your laptop via USB or Bluetooth and using it as a modem, but the idea of carrying your own wi-fi hotspot around in your pocket is, to my mind at least, genius. Sure, if you have a data card or USB dongle, you could argue it's unnecessary, but a one-off fee of £15 is a small price to pay for the peace of mind of knowing there's another way to get online when you're out of wi-fi coverage and your data card has no signal. Especially if your data card and your phone's data plan are with different networks. I often find I am unable to connect on my Vodafone data card, while my phone is pulling in a strong signal from 3.
The only flaw I can see is that some networks’ flat-rate data tariffs come with fair usage policies that expressly prohibit the use of the phone as a modem in conjunction with a laptop. Whether the network can tell the difference between surfing the web on the phone or using it as a means to surf on a laptop, for billing purposes, is, however, a moot point.
In any event, TapRoot’s VP, Business Development, Sean O’Leary, told me that when the company told mobile operators of its plans, none raised any objections. Initially, he explained, the company tried to sell the product as a white-label offering to mobile operators, pitching it as another way for them to sell mobile broadband data packages. When none of the operators went for it, the company changed tack and decided to market it direct to consumers. Who said mobile operators didn’t know a good idea when they saw one?
“The operators wanted us to validate the solution, and this is what we are now doing,” O’Leary told me.
Since the launch of the beta version in April this year, the company has signed up “thousands” of satisfied users in the US. Now, it is making Walking Hotspot available worldwide. One other change to the original business model is the introduction of a one-time purchase pricing option. Users can either pay a monthly subscription of $6.99 (£4), or a one-off fee of $24.99 (around £15) for the lifetime of the phone they are using it with.
O’Leary demoed the solution to me and it worked perfectly. After firing the application up on his phone, I selected it on my laptop as the wireless network I wanted to use. He then gave me permission to do so on the phone and as I surfed around the web, the amount of data I had consumed was displayed on the phone.
TapRoot plans to sell the application via online and bricks and mortar retailers. I’m already putting it on my Christmas list. If I can wait that long.

David Murphy
Editor

ps
I should also have said that up to five people can connect to the Walking Hotspot at the same time. Now that really is social networking.

Mobile Master Updated

Jumping Bytes, which specialises in mobile phone administration and SMS communication, has unveiled two new versions of its Mobile Master data synchronisation tool for different target groups: Mobile Master 7.3 und Mobile Master Forensic.
Originally conceived only for data alignment between Siemens mobile phones and Outlook, today, the Mobile Master software offers a complete solution for the synchronization of contact, scheduling and task data between all standard mobile phone models from BenQ Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, LG or Samsung, and the most frequently used email clients or contact management programs, like Outlook, Thunderbird, Lotus Notes, Palm Desktop, Tobit David, Novell Groupwise, and many others.
Mobile Master 7.3 includes support for the new Samsung SGH-F490, DECT phones from Siemens, and, on the email client side, Portable Thunderbird from Mozilla.
Among the many new functions, the Remote Control function gives users remote control functionality for PCs using their mobile via Bluetooth. Additionally, all birthdays stored in the phone contacts can be added to the phone calendar with one click. On Nokia models, the notepad in contacts is now also supported, as is the synchronization function for the Samsung SGH-D880 calendar.
Mobile Master Forensic is a new solution. Mobile phones are being used more and more to preserve evidence: the police use so-called IMSI catchers to determine the position, card number (IMSI) and device number of mobile phones. Once investigating agencies take possession of a potential perpetrator’s mobile phone, they can use forensic software to read and analyze data on the phone. An SMS with the corresponding content or an answered call shortly before the time a crime was committed could take investigators one step further.
“We had numerous requests from a variety of governmental agencies for a special version of Mobile Master which is not capable of modifying data on cell phones,” reports Christoph Güntner, Managing Director of Jumping Bytes. “In Mobile Master Forensic, we combine structured reports for rapid analysis with the software’s usual ease of use.”
When using Mobile Master Forensic, investigators have immediate access to everything done on the phone. The IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) and IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier) numbers let investigators precisely identify the phone’s owner and the phone itself. As soon as Mobile Master Forensic accesses the phone, the data on the phone can be read, but not manipulated.
For further evaluation, the phone data can be generated and exported as reports in Word, Excel, PDF, or text format. Templates are available for all formats, which can be adapted to meet user requirements or completely modified.
Mobile Master 7.3 can be downloaded here. The 30-day test version is a full version with one limitation: it can load a maximum of 20 phone book entries from PC to the phone. Mobile Master can be bought online in a light (€9.90/£7.65), standard (€19.90) or  professional (€29.90) version, or in a corporate edition, which costs €35.90. Updates are provided free-of-charge for a period of one year for registered customers.
A demo licence for Mobile Master Forensic can be requested at mmforensic@jumpingbytes.com
The 30-day test version is a fully-functional trial version that is limited only in the volume of readable data. Mobile Master Forensic is available for €299 (plus VAT) here.
You can see a complete feature list with integrated feature tour here. And a list of supported mobile phones for all editions here.

Mobile Distillery in NetBeans Partnership

Mobile Distillery, which provides software solutions for mobile application production and testing services, has formed a strategic partnership with NetBeans, the modular, open-source development platform, which is used around the world to create applications for a range of devices, from PCs to set-top boxes to mobile phones.
Mobile Distillery has worked with the NetBeans R&D team and developer community to create a software plug-in which allows developers to use the latest version of Celsius, Mobile Distillery’s award-winning mobile development and automated porting suite, directly from within the NetBeans environment. Mobile Distillery's Celsius is designed to help Java ME developers design and produce their mobile applications seamlessly across more than 1000 Java, BREW and Windows Mobile devices.
Celsius v5 takes full advantage of the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE) tools (including local compilation, profiler, debug, etc), enabling both Java ME experts and developers not familiar with J2ME to embrace large scale mobile development. One of the key advantages of using Celsius, says Mobile Distillery, is that it abstracts developers from the problem of device fragmentation, meaning they can create applications and services for hundreds of devices from a single set of source code and assets.
Within NetBeans, developers get direct access to the latest features of Celsius, including access to Alembic, Mobile Distillery’s advanced device database of over 1,000 fully tested characteristics, performances and behaviours of more than 1000 devices.
“Partnering with NetBeans means that a whole new audience of developers can now quickly and easily get to grips with the market potential offered by the mobile industry,” says Mobile Distillery CEO, Eric Lemaréchal. “For Java developers used to creating applications and services for the desktop, mobile fragmentation is a huge hurdle to overcome. By giving them access to Celsius, this market becomes truly accessible.”
Mobile Distillery is currently offering free introductory training on how to get the best out of its Celsius platform. There’s more information on the Mobile Distillery website.

Access Co Launches Widget Sites

Access Co, a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile and beyond-PC markets, has announced the official opening of its NetFront Browser Widgets Community site, which it describes as a comprehensive widget solution for mobile handsets and consumer electronics.
The NetFront Browser Widgets Community Site is available in both English and Japanese, and includes widgets, developer tools, widget players and news. A mobile version of the site has been launched in conjunction with the official opening.
Widgets are small applications displayed in small GUI windows on the screen of a handset or consumer electronic device. Widgets are appealing to users because they can be accessed without having to open the handset’s browser, automatically acquiring and displaying the latest information from the Web. The NetFront Browser Widgets Community Site provides a variety of widget applications, such as maps, weather forecasts and games.
“Opening the official NetFront Browser Widgets Community Site is another step forward in realising Access’ vision of connecting every device to the Internet,” says Access CEO, Toru Arakawa. “By stepping up the development of leading-edge technologies and solutions for new mobile and integrated device markets, Access will help to create fulfilling digital lifestyles for users around the world.”
A beta version of the NetFront Browser Widgets Community Site was launched in July 2008. The official site expands on the beta version with widget content development tools, new widget players, new widget content distributed by Access content providers, and a mobile version of widget download site.
Access says it has released its widget content development tools for the purpose of promoting an open widget community. The tools are available free of charge to all registered users, enabling people who develop widget content to distribute it to the world.
The new widget players include one for Windows Mobile 5.0 (Smartphone) and Windows Mobile 6 and 6.1 (Standard), plus one for S60 handsets. These joiin the existing players for Windows Mobile 5.0 (Pocket PC/Pocket PC Phone) and Windows Mobile 6, 6.1 (Classic/Professional), which were released in July and subsequently upgraded. All players now feature widget content update and harmful content filtering functions, enabling users to enjoy widgets in a secure environment.
On the content front, Access is collaborating with content providers,  including search engines, social networking services and e-commerce sites, to distribute new widget content.
Finally, the mobile version of the widget download site complements the official opening of the community site. The mobile site is available in English at www.access.co.jp/nfbwc/mobile/en/ and in  Japanese at: www.access.co.jp/nfbwc/mobile/jp/
The NetFront Browser Widgets community site is available on PCs in English here and in Japanese here.   

Devicescape in the Apple App Store

Devicescape has announced that its application of the same name is now available on Apple's App Store. iPhone and iPod Touch users can enjoy effortless connections to wi-fi hotspots without the hassle of using a browser and remembering usernames and passwords. Enter your login information once and Devicescape will automate future access, including roaming partners!
Devicescape supports thousands of wi-fi networks from big commercial providers down to small chains. The company also supports hundreds of university networks, and automatically give users access to free hotspots.
To find Devicescape, search for ‘Easy Wi-fi’ on the Apple App Store.

DIY Mobile Apps from Golden Gekko

Mobile applications developer Golden Gekko has upgraded its Mobile Media Engine to the growing appetite for useful and entertaining mobile applications. Golden Gecko says these iPhone-like apps, which can run on any kind of phone, are ideal for extending the reach of businesses of all sizes. The Mobile Media Engine enables the rapid, easy and cost efficient implementation of mobile applications across more than 1,000 different mobile devices, the company says. 
As a result of the technology upgrade, Golden Gekko is now able to offer its clients a Mobile Applications Wizard, giving them the opportunity to create their own mobile applications, at minimal cost. The Wizard is used primarily to create impactful mobile brochures, which are similar in functionality to a PDF optimised for the mobile phone.  Golden Gecko believes the service will be of particular interest to the SME market, owing to the relatively low costs involved. It says the service is easy to use and enables companies of all sizes to benefit from mobile marketing.
“We know that mobile brochures are a superior way of engaging with consumers, bringing brands to life and providing value-added services to customers that will meet their needs whilst providing entertainment,” says CEO Magnus Jern. “For time-pressured SMEs the ability to provide their customers with mobile content is a powerful differentiator in a crowded and competitive market.”

Talking iPhone

Paragon Software Group which develops software and content for mobile devices and PCs, has launched ‘The Talking English Dictionary’ for the iPhone and iPod touch.
The dictionary’s database contains more than 240,000 words, phrases and definitions in British English, and, says Paragon, is the most up-to-date dictionary of its kind available on the market. No Internet connection is required – simply download once and use it without incurring any additional expenses. The ‘History’ feature shows the last 15 translated words, while the ‘Cross-Lookup’ feature is an easy check of language comprehension. For users wishing to take advantage of the premium audio abilities of the iPhone, a native British sound module of 20,000 words is available as well. 
The Talking English Dictionary features rapid browsing through the SlovoEd engine, which compresses the dictionary content to a minimum of memory space while allowing the user to perform multiple learning, word reference and translation functions as quickly as possible.
Paragon Software Group offers a wide choice of more than 120 dictionaries for 30 languages, and the best dictionary content from world-famous publishers. The product is available for $24.99 (£14.99) from the Apple Store. The program is supported by iPhones with firmware 2.0, iPhone 3G and iPod touch with firmware 2.0.

mjelly Puts Mobile Sites on a Plate

mjelly, a London-based mobile Internet start-up, has launched a search and discovery directory service for “mobile 2.0” sites and downloadable applications at www.mjelly.com on the PC and m.mjelly.com on mobile.
The mjelly directory lists sites that are specially formatted for mobile. Mobile-optimized sites on mjelly include those from mobile 2.0 startups like Mippin, the mobile versions of major web players such as Facebook, and those created by media companies such as the BBC. Mjelly says it  is also working with mobile marketing agencies and brands to help promote and distribute branded mobile sites and applications. 
In addition to listings of mobile web sites, mjelly provides a free applications download service for mobile software, similar to the iPhone app store, but available for a wider range of phones from other manufacturers, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola. mjelly currently supports all of the major mobile software platforms, including Java, Symbian and Windows Mobile and says it will list applications running on the new Google Android operating system when they become available.
mjelly uses a number of approaches to make it easy to find and discover mobile sites and software. Users can rate and comment on sites and applications and build a profile of their favourites to make them easy to find again. All the sites and applications in the directory are tagged into different categories and users can use social filters such as ‘Popularity’ and ‘Comments’ to sort through them.
“The publicity around the iPhone Appstore would make you think that Apple invented the idea of downloadable applications for the mobile phone, but this simply isn't true,” says mjelly Founder James Coops. “There's arguably a better range of software and applications for other types of phones, but the problem is that it can be hard to find them. mjelly changes this by putting all the good apps in one place.”

Moderately Interesting

Lighter manufacturer Zippo, and Moderati, which develops on-portal content services and ringtone applications, have announced the launch of the Virtual Zippo Lighter, a free, branded application available in Apple’s iTunes App Store for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.
The Virtual Zippo Lighter brings the look and feel of the Zippo’s lighter to the iPhone. It opens with a flick of the wrist and lights with a turn of the flint wheel and the flame sways as the device is moved back and forth. The application is aimed at concert-goers.
While it looks fun, it’s not the first time that music-lovers have been offered a virtual flame on their phone. Last year, Mobstar created a virtual lighter for the Virgin V Festival, that included a virtual Mobile Flame for waving during longer and more emotional guitar solos.
Zippo manufactures an average of 12 million pocket lighters each year, and has made almost 450 million since the first lighter was created in 1932.

Oracle Launches CRM and Sales Apps for iPhone

Oracle has announced the launch of Oracle Mobile Sales Assistant and Oracle Mobile Sales Forecast for the iPhone. The applications will be available for download via the Apple App Store from November.
Oracle Mobile Sales Forecast provides sales representatives with easy access to their sales forecast on the iPhone, while Oracle Mobile Sales Assistant enables CRM system users to access and update contacts, users, accounts, new opportunities and leads. It brings the CRM Calendar, Task List and Message Center to the user in a familiar, iPhone user interface, and also integrates with the mapping, phone and email services native to the iPhone.
Oracle says the announcement supports its strategy of delivering complete, integrated and end-to-end product suites on an open, standards-based middleware and database architecture. The company says its approach helps customers to simplify computing environments, lower cost and risk, and provides greater choice and flexibility.
“Sales professionals rely heavily on mobility, and having access to strategic customer information is an important aspect to their ultimate success,” says Oracle Senior Vice President of CRM, Anthony Lye. “Oracle Mobile Sales Assistant and Oracle Mobile Forecast for the iPhone are important applications to add into their sales arsenal, allowing them to close deals more quickly and effectively than ever before.”

iPhone App a Hit, Says Shazam

Mobile music discovery service Shazam has revealed that its iPhone application has been downloaded by over 1.5 million people in the first six weeks of its availability on the Apple App Store. Collectively, those people have used the app to identify more than 20 million music tracks.
The application enables users to identify music tracks, watch related videos on YouTube, and buy identified tracks through iTunes for delivery straight to their iPhone. Users can also tag the identified tracks with photos to capture the moment and share these memories with friends.
“The Shazam iPhone application has had a phenomenal user response both in the number of downloads and the number of tracks being identified,” says Shazam CEO, Andrew Fisher. “The application taps into the user’s desire to discover, capture and share their music experiences, and the success confirms our belief that music recognition will become a ubiquitous feature for all mobile phones in the future.”
Shazam says it is focused on continuing to improve its iPhone application and will be launching a premium application, based on user feedback, with additional features and functionality in the coming months. It also plans to increase monetisation of the application through mobile advertising.
You can get Shazam for the iPhone here.

eBay Rolls iPhone App Out to Europe

eBay has announced the launch of  eBay Mobile, a free application for iPhone and iPod Touch users in Europe. The application will enable Apple users to bid, buy and pay for items directly from their mobile devices.
eBay says the application, which is currently available in the US, is among the most popular choice in its category in the iTunes App Store and averages thousands of downloads per day. As of today, eBay Mobile is also available to consumers in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, as well as Australia and Canada.
According to company data, eBay’s mobile shoppers spend more per person than the average eBay user, place the winning bid more often than other buyers, and, as a group, are purchasing hundreds of thousands of items each month through their mobile phones.
eBay Mobile offers immediate access to search and ‘My eBay at a glance’ so buyers and sellers can stay on top of their listings. Users cab also view activity on watched items, and search all eBay auction style and fixed-price listings. A ‘Refine’ button allows users to narrow a search by category, price or listing type, and there’s also a filmstrip viewer that makes use of multi-touch to view and zoom in on listing photos 
“The eBay application on iPhone has outstripped our expectations in terms of activity and enthusiasm from our US users,” says eBay Mobile’s Matt Priddle. “With the new international version, millions more iPhone and iPod Touch users can go anywhere and stay connected to eBay without a computer in sight.”

Mobile CRM Made Simple

Christian Wettre, President of CRM company W-Systems Corp, offers advice to businesses looking to choose a mobile CRM system for their field sales force 

Mobile CRM is rapidly becoming a must-have for field sales and service organisations as they realise the tangible ROI that can be achieved through reducing office-based administration and enabling personnel to manage routine tasks and real time reporting ‘in the field’. But with a growing number of mobile CRM solutions available, many organizations are in danger of choosing over-complex applications or irrelevant mobile extensions of existing CRM systems. My advice is as follows: Keep it simple, both for the mobile users, and for your IT administrators.
According to the Gartner Group, there are just under 60 million mobile workers who are away from their workstations for at least 20% of the working week. And with recent reports suggesting that mobile CRM will grow to 20% of total CRM revenues by 2010, many organisations are now revisiting their current CRM provision as the ‘virtualization’ of business processes and procedures draws ever closer.
The reality is that more and more mobile devices are able to access the Internet, and with an increasingly mobile workforce, flexible work patterns and a rise in ‘home office’ workers, it is clear that there is a demand even in small and medium sized companies for a new ‘virtual’ office hub, where information can be shared and analyzed across all channels of the organization in real time.

Sony Ericsson Calls for Content Awards Entries

Sony Ericsson is calling for submissions for its second annual Sony Ericsson Content Awards. Designed to honour outstanding achievements in mobile content development, the 2008 Awards are open to all mobile developers who have created content, applications or services for Sony Ericsson mobile phones. 2007 award winners included RealNetworks, Opera and Vringo.
Developers can submit entries between now and 30 November 2008 via the Awards website. This year, Sony Ericsson has broadened the award categories to inspire greater innovation from developers around the world. Finalists will be selected in December and the 2008 winners will be announced in an official online ceremony on 5 February, 2009. 
Award winners will be brought to Lund, Sweden, for a behind-the-scenes two-day mobile content workshop where they will have the opportunity to network and share resources with their peers and executives from Sony Ericsson.
“Sony Ericsson is very proud to unveil its 2008 Content Awards and celebrate bringing the best and most innovative content from mind to market,” says Björn Ahlberg, Head of Sony Ericsson Content & Services. “We highly value our relationships with content creators and developers, and as equal partners within the mobile ecosystem. Together, we can create unique propositions and experiences for consumers.”
There are seven award categories: Being Productive; Going Green; In-car Applications; Mobile Entertainment; Lifestyle Experiences; Themes & Graphics; and XPERIA X1 Panels, in which Sony Ericsson is challenging developers and content creators to develop XPERIA panels for its Sony Ericsson X1 phone, using new tools from Sony Ericsson Developer World.

Lufthansa Expands Mobile Boarding

Lufthansa has brought forward the expansion of its Mobile Boarding Card service to cover almost 400 routes. The service was developed and is managed by Deutsche Lufthansa AG and MindMatics AG., who say that the user numbers of around 7,000 passengers per continue to exceed expectations.
As a result, Lufthansa has moved forward the date of the third planned phase of the project, which covers international use, and has recently started to operate the system for all European routes departing from Germany, as well as on flights from Amsterdam and Vienna to Germany.
At the same time, Lufthansa and MindMatics are planning numerous developments to the mobile portal at mobile.lufthansa.com. The latest allows immediate mobile check in using the booking reference. With the new service, Lufthansa customers can carry out the entire check-in process, including seat choice and boarding card collection, via their mobile phone on several routes.
“As an airline, we want to be able to offer our frequent flyers and business customers optimal and efficient services using mobile technology,” says Günter Friedrich, Head of IT Management, Marketing and End Customer Processes at Lufthansa. 
The system is based around a 2D barcode, which is delivered to customers by e-mail or through an SMS link to their mobile phone. The code gives direct access to the boarding gate and contains all relevant information, which can be read directly from the mobile phone’s screen with a scanner at boarding. A printed boarding card is no longer necessary and there is no need to waiting at the check-in desk or at ticket machines.
“Along with Lufthansa, we are pleased with the present success regarding the technology, security and quality of the mobile boarding card and mobile portal, which are two challenging projects,” says MindMatics’ Vice President of Mobile Internet Services, Felix Heimbrecht. “The successful application in this challenging B2C area shows that the mobile phone can now also be used in an industry with particularly high security and service levels for the efficient and secure use of business processes.”

Second US Carrier Deal for blue mobile

Blue Systems, the London-based provider of global financial information software, has signed a deal with US operator AT&T to make its blue mobile market data application available to AT&T customers throughout North America.
blue mobile became the first financial services software application to win an AT&T Fast-Pitch Award at RIM’s WES show in May this year. As a result, it has been fast-tracked through AT&T’s Partner Program and into the US market. Blue Systems says that blue mobile is the only standalone mobile application offering real-time global market information and was commercially launched the week before the Fast-Pitch Contest.
blue mobile provides professional and retail investors with a way to analyze global stock market information in their offices, at home, or on the move, 24/7. The application runs on web-enabled phones and requires a data tariff. AT&T is the second US mobile operator to certify the application, after blue mobile launched on Sprint in August.

MMA Releases Mobile Apps Whitepaper

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has released a Whitepaper on mobile applications. Developed collaboratively by MMA members ScreenTonic, Unkasoft Advergaming, Vodafone Group Service and Yahoo!, within the MMA Mobile Advertising Committee, the paper provides an overview of the mobile applications available to advertisers and the key considerations for optimizing both campaign effectiveness and the overall user experience.
The paper also describes the major types of mobile applications in use today, including social networking, games, multimedia, maps and directory services – in terms of their technical features and requirements, and the opportunities that they create for advertisers, agencies, mobile operators and application developers.
aTopics covered by the Whitepaper include in-game advertising; ad unit types, including banners, tagged ads and full-page ads; application connectivity types, including intermittently and non-connected applications; ad serving, targeting and rendering; response options; and success drivers.
The Whitepaper is part of the MMA’s extensive library of information and resources, from specific topics such as Mobile Search to basics such as the Mobile Marketing Industry Overview and the more advanced MMA International Journal of Mobile Marketing. The MMA also publishes guidelines on Conduct, Consumer Best Practices and Mobile Advertising, due for re-release in October this year following a period of public comment. These are all available to download here.  The mobile applications Whitepaper is available to download here.

Sprint Customers Get blue mobile

Blue Systems the London-based provider of global financial information software, has entered an agreement with US carrier Sprint to offer its real-time financial market data application, blue mobile, to Sprint’s customers.
blue mobile provides professional and retail investors with a way to analyze global stock market information in their offices, at home, or on the move, 24/7. The application runs on the web-enabled phones and requires a data tariff. Blue Mobile says that Sprint, with its high speed network, is perfectly positioned to offer blue mobile to its customers and is the first US mobile operator to certify the application.
“This deal is a real endorsement of the benefits the application can bring to network operators and its ability to deliver real-time financial data to a wider audience,” says Blue Systems CEO, Sulim Malook. “Now that certification is complete we look forward to rolling out blue mobile™ to Sprint’s financial services and investor customers across the US.”
blue mobile offers network operators’ customers the opportunity to keep track of their investments anytime, anywhere. Additionally, the company notes, blue mobile promotes sales of operators’ business offerings by providing a compelling and sticky application with which to increase revenue from the adoption and upgrades to data tariffs and Smartphones.
With coverage of over 100 global exchanges, blue mobile delivers real-time, delayed and historic data across the equities, fixed income, futures and options, currency, commodity, metals, energy and OTC markets, plus company news and financial information. Users can also benefit from intuitive analytics and charting options for informed decision-making.

wMobile Version 1.8 Released

W-Systems Corp has announced the release of version 1.8 of its wMobile Mobile CRM product. wMobile is a mobile phone client for the GoldMine CRM system. The new version adds team-based graphical monthly, weekly and daily calendars to the application, displays equally well on any phone from BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, iPhone to Palm and, according to W-Systems President Christian Wettre, has “pushed the envelope of what is possible in mobile application”.
With the latest graphical team calendars, wMobile users can now interactively access any team member’s calendar via their mobile phone and with new dynamic time zone support, any user can specify the time zone they are operating in and have schedule activities translated on the fly to display in the context of their current location. There’s a short demo of wMobile’s group calendar functionality here.
“wMobile 1.8 illustrates a leap forward in the usability of mobile web applications,” says Wettre. “By offering a parity in user experience across all major phone operating systems, we are enabling our customers to freely choose the mobile phone device most suitable for their users, without concern for model and operating system obsolescence.”
wMobile recently completed its 200th customer installation last month. One of these customers, Kevin Reichley, Vice President of Sales for Ticomix Inc., says:
“With wMobile we have been able to fulfill a need for our small to mid-size customers to mobilize their CRM processes. The product sales cycle is very short because wMobile is inexpensive and provides great value, and implementation is quick and easy. I use wMobile to access my GoldMine daily, so it's a pleasure to endorse and sell a product that I really believe in.”
wMobile provides wireless mobile access to the popular GoldMine Corporation Edition and Premium Edition, and is compatible with Microsoft IIS Server 5.0 or higher, Microsoft .NET Framework and most mobile devices, including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm Treo, iPhone and Symbian based phones.
The application provides wireless interaction without synchronization, meaning that no data resides on the phone should it be lost or stolen. wMobile includes a number of innovative features such Proximity Contacts, which offers the ability to quickly identify all nearby contacts, such as customers and prospects. wMobile reduces the burden on organization IT resources by deploying mobile CRM as a server based web application with no application or data synchronization between server and mobile client.

Parlez Vous iPhone?

Paragon Software Group, which develops software and provides content for mobiles and desktop PCs, has teamed up with PONS, which supplies ‘green’ dictionaries and self-study materials, to launch a series of multilingual dictionaries for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
PONS’ linguistic dictionary content has been combined with Paragon’s ‘SlovoEd’ engine to bring dictionary content to iPhone users, beginning with the most popular titles: PONS Advanced English, PONS Advanced French and PONS Advanced Italian.
The dictionary database is powered by PONS under the SlovoEd application engine and contains 117,171 entries. No Internet connection is required to use the application. Simply download the dictionary once to use it on the iPhone or iPod Touch. Audio modules contain nearly 40,000 live voice pronunciations pre-recorded by native speakers. The ‘History’ feature shows the last 15 translated words, while the ‘Cross-Lookup’ feature offers an easy check of language comprehension.
The SlovoEd engine compresses the dictionary content to a minimum of memory space, while allowing the user to perform multiple learning, word reference and translation functions as quickly as possible. The SlovoEd dictionary offers users a wide choice of more than 120 dictionaries for 30 languages, and the best dictionary content from such world-famous publishers.
The multilingual PONS dictionary series is available now for $24.99 (£12.50) from the Apple Store. The programs are supported by iPhones with firmware 2.0, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch with firmware 2.0.

Phrasebook Downloads a Success in Anyone's Language

Mobile developer Coolgorilla has revealed that in the three weeks since the launch of the iPhone 3G, its   Talking Phrasebooks, sponsored by lastminute.com have received over 350,000 downloads, making them some of the most popular applications on the new device.
Currently available in French, German, Italian and Spanish, the Phrasebooks make embarrassing pronunciation attempts a thing of the past as the iPhone speaks selected foreign phrases, using recordings of real, native speakers.
Thanks to a sponsorship deal with Internet travel and leisure company lastminute.com, the applications are free to download, though Coolgorilla notes that with similar products selling for around $10 (£5), it has, in partnership with lastminute.com, effectively given away over $3.5 million worth of free software. The company is now preparing Portuguese and Greek versions of the phrasebooks, which will be ready by the end of August. It also plans versions in Dutch, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Hindi, Arabic, Korean, Polish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Turkish and is seeking sponsors for these language versions.
“Customer feedback has been immense,” says Coolgorilla Managing Director, Roy Forsdick. “We’ve had hundreds of emails from iPhone users thanking us for the phrasebooks and asking us for new languages, which will be available soon.”
The Talking Phrasebooks can also be downloaded on to Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets at www.coolgorilla.mobi on the mobile phone. For iPod users, meanwhile, all current versions of the phrasebooks can also be downloaded as a super-enhanced Podcast via iTunes. 

Esendex Launches Fitness by Text

SMS service provider Esendex has teamed up with event organiser Nova International to offer training packages for runners that work by text message. The first service of its kind in the UK safely prepares people for running events by giving them access to personalised training plans via SMS, email and the web.
Nova specialises in organising mass participation sporting events under the ‘Great Run’ banner, such as the Great North Run. Using Esendex’s two-way SMS Service, experts have compiled a minimum recommended 16-week training programme, which can work purely on communication directly to and from a mobile phone. 
Budding runners register for the service in the training room on the Great Run website, and, after completing a training session, the runner texts ‘Felt’, along with ‘Great’, ‘Bad’ or ‘OK’ to the shortcode 60066. On receiving the runner’s feedback, Nova then sends a confirmation text detailing the next stage of their programme. Each week the computer system analyses every plan and session to offer a new training schedule for the week ahead, depending on the feedback received.
Great Run worked with Olympic coaches to gain professional advice for the programme, which is available for 5k, 10k, 10 miles, half marathon, and marathon distances, and for general fitness. Each programme is targeted at beginners, and, the company says, can train someone from a non-runner into a race finisher.
“Esendex provides us with the easiest and simplest way to communicate to our audience,” says 
Nova International’s Chris Kewin. “The service works across all mobiles, which is great, as it means people are more inclined to sign up and also keep it up. We’ve had a fantastic response to the service so far…It’s all about showing people how easy fitness can be and showing them how to enter a competition safely.”