mBlox

mBlox teams with Valista on mobile billing

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:50:26 -0500

Digital commerce solutions and managed services provider Valista announced mobile transaction network mBlox will deploy its ValistaPlus Payments platform to support WAP billing. The ValistaPlus solution promises user-friendly and secure experiences via mBlox's PayforIt accredited mobile payments platform, bolstering both one-off payments and subscription services with a direct-to-bill charging service. The mBlox platform also offers cross-carrier adult verification, which checks a subscriber's age to block inappropriate content. "Operators are becoming more stringent regarding the delivery and billing of mobile content and services, requiring greater transparency and robust transaction processing," said Valista CTO Fran Heeran in a prepared statement. -Jason

New Visions merging with Cube80

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

Mobile marketing agency New Visions and mobile technology provider Cube80 announced plans to merge under the New Visions Mobile banner. Financial terms were not disclosed. The two firms trace their working relationship back five years, and cite business expansion and growth as the catalyst behind the merger, promising a broader range of advertising and marketing solutions. New Visions' clients include brands like EMI, Warner Bros., Universal Music, Harper Collins and Global Cool. Cube 80 CEO Chris Jackson will retain the same position with New Visions Mobile, while New Visions co-founders Caroline Walton and Julia McNally will remain on the board of the new company.

For more on the New Visions/Cube80 merger:
- read this release

Related article:
mBlox, New Visions launch off-portal mobile music

ALSO NOTED: Vlingo launches voice-powered mobile user interface; Nokia inks casual gaming deal with SNAP Mobile; and much more.

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 06:59:53 -0400

> Vlingo launches voice-powered mobile user interface. Release

> Nokia inks casual gaming deal with SNAP Mobile. Release

> mBlox, ACE*COMM team for mobile billing. Release

And finally … Who ya gonna call? Chicken Busters! Article

LaNetro Zed scores private equity investment

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:01:37 -0400

Spanish mobile content firm LaNetro Zed announced a new major shareholder: private equity group Veronis Suhler Stevenson. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. VSS joins Grupo Planeta and Torreal among the key shareholders in LaNetro Zed, although the founding Pérez family retains the largest stake in the firm.

"Veronis Suhler Stevenson is well known in the U.S. and Europe for its strong expertise in the media and communications industries and its successful track record of helping companies develop their full market potential," said LaNetro Zed founder, chairman and CEO Javier Pérez Dolset in a prepared statement. "We are very pleased to have VSS as a shareholder, who will help us grow our business in the American market, a key objective for the company at present."

For more on the LaNetro Zed investment:
- read this Cellular-News article

Related articles:
- LaNetro Zed assumes control of MonsterMob
- mBlox buys LaNetro Zed Asian unit

FEATURE: Five Questions with Jay Emmet, President, mBlox Americas

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:01:29 -0500

Five Questions with Jay Emmet, President, mBlox Americas

mBlox is a mobile transaction network specializing in international operator connectivity and mobile billing, delivering messages to more 500 mobile operators in 170 countries each month.

Messaging services are finally gaining traction among demographics outside of the core 18-to-24 market. What brought about the change?

I still believe "American Idol" is a big training class for people to try texting and get used to it. There is phenomenal loyalty to "American Idol"--it gets bigger numbers than when it first came out. They are taking a passive TV experience and making it interactive. The mobile element isn't exclusively responsible for the success of "Idol," but allowing an interactive experience whereby users feel they're contributing builds long-term loyalty. When people make an emotional commitment and take the time to vote, they feel like they've invested something in it.

But why is television such a lucrative opportunity for messaging services?

TV is powerful because of the number of eyeballs. TV folks are smart, and they see the value in using mobile--it's an additional revenue source, and they believe it builds loyalty and client retention. Now you can't put a TV program on the air that doesn't have a mobile element. Hollywood loves the interactive aspect because you know who's watching your shows and what they find interesting. They're getting near-realtime feedback from viewers in a very transparent mode.

What needs to happen in the U.S. market to push messaging to the next level?

It's an operational issue--all of us in this ecosystem have worked hard to stay up with consumer growth, and we're seeing a lot of operator development and better services for subscribers. I'm on the board of directors with the Mobile Marketing Association, and we've released a consumer best practices document that is basically trying to define and set standards for interacting with people over mobile channels. We're trying to promote transparency and consumer awareness.

What must advertisers do to better translate their brand appeal to the mobile platform?

Advertisers are dying to get on mobile phones, but it's taking some time. I used to call carriers "slow," but now I call them "prudent." They're finally launching banner ads on WAP sites, and that's a big step. You need to remember that people are used to ads, and carriers have demonstrated that advertisements done in a useful and thoughtful manner have benefits. The issue is that carriers still have a bias to the major brands--they see them sharing the same risks. Both of them are trying to protect the value of their brands. In carriers' opinions, smaller brands just don't share the same risks.

What else can carriers do to encourage and develop premium content services?

Carriers are focusing on educating people around texting--we're seeing initiatives to improve search capabilities to enable people to discover content. You know, it's one thing to promote a product with a billboard--it's another thing if consumers don't see that billboard. But now carriers are developing on-deck and off-deck search capabilities. It's much easier if I type in a search and they respond to me with a list of vendors that have the particular ringtone I'm looking for. Most people know what they want when they look for a ringtone--as carriers develop more sophisticated search services, you will see a much greater uptake. There's no more wandering through a store, looking for that one thing you're trying to find.

Bango announces tracking platform, forecasts loss

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:01:38 -0500

Mobile content platform developer Bango announced Bango Vision, a new consumer tracking and analytics service that promises brands and content providers deeper insight into the behaviors and buying habits of visitors to their mobile websites. Targeted to measure the effectiveness of mobile advertising and marketing initiatives, Bango Vision assigns each website visitor a "digital fingerprint," i.e. a mobile user profile comprising data on spending behavior and user history as well as country of origin, handset model and carrier affiliation.

Bango Vision was developed largely for ad-funded mobile sites and brands formulating mobile strategies that aren't reliant on premium content. "We produced Bango Vision because we have a lot of big, non-traditional brands that want to start including mobile in their advertising campaigns, but they don't need the payment stuff," said Bango VP of product marketing Andy Bovington in an interview with FierceMobileContent. "Bango Vision has all of our traditional traffic and information pieces, but very simple payment pieces. It is a manifest tool for big brands as they move into the mobile space."

According to Bovington, the ultimate goal of Bango Vision is to personalize the mobile web user experience. "It lets brands see what people visiting their mobile site are doing, and enables them to strike up a much more loyal relationship with their consumers," he told FMC.

Not all of the news coming out of Bango is positive, however: the company anticipates FY2007 losses of about $5.5 million. Shares of Bango nevertheless jumped 20 percent on word the firm anticipates total revenues for the year will come in at close to $20 million.

For more on Bango Vision:
- read this release

Related articles:
- WWE unveils slate of mobile content with Bango
- mBlox and Bango forge partnership

C&L: MBlox appoints Steve Livingston chief marketing officer

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:01:30 -0500

MBlox appoints Steve Livingston chief marketing officer.

Crisp Wireless names Debra Bluman VP of product marketing.

Appear Networks appoints Yad Jaura VP of global marketing.

FierceMarkets' Oasis event a success!

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:16:49 -0400

Thanks to everyone who attended last night's Oasis cocktail reception sponsored by MobiTV and mBlox. FierceMarkets' events are always well received but this one set records! Nearly 1,300 people filed into the downtown L.A. Marriott to network and relax in a fun atmosphere. Hope to see you all next year!

Learn more about FierceMarkets' other events.

Editor's Corner

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 20:01:40 -0400

Well the FierceMobileContent Oasis reception was quite the popular watering hole Tuesday night, if I may say so myself. The official head count was just over 1,200; a record for us. In attendance were representatives from carriers like Sprint, Cingular and Verizon; content companies like Disney Mobile, Fox Interactive Media, Spike TV, AOL, MusicNet and more. For those of you who missed the event, you can check out some photos from the party here.

A big thanks to our sponsors MobiTV and mBlox, who proved popular with their drink tickets. The lines at the bar were long, and a bit slow, so I apologize, but for a networking event I suppose that a critical mass of people is a nice problem to have.

In the "you asked for it" category, I was pleased that a few readers in attendance actually did show up and take me to task for some of my past rants. In particular, a good friend of mine close to the music publishing world attending Oasis presented quite a good counter-argument to my stance on the pending compulsory licensing measure now in consideration before the U.S. Copyright Office. While I still believe that there needs to be a streamlined and easier approach to selling ringtones without the need to strike individual deals each time, there are a few caveats to consider:

1) Some artists may not want to sell their work as ringtones. Truth be told, I hadn't thought of that. If Bruce Springsteen feels a ringtone diminishes the artistic value of his songs, so be it. I won't argue for forcing artists to sell derivative versions of their creations no matter what the cost.

2) Do we really want the government dictating the terms of business? Well, no. Once old Uncle Sam sticks his big nose in, the situation can easily be worsened.

Yet I stand by my original opinion that some reckoning is required between music labels and music publishers to monetize and sell mobile music. The old licensing model needs a serious tweak to address the digital/mobile future, and all involved need to be prepared to experiment with new practices.

Another juicy tidbit… it seems that the management behind such hip-hop artists as DMX, Naz, Jagged Edge and a few others have aggregated the rights to develop a reality series on the everyday lives of these rap superstars--to be aired on mobile phones. Anthony Stonefield is out searching for either a buyer for the rights or, if no sale is finalized in the next month or so, a production company to come along and start developing the series. There's been some murmuring that mobile short-form reality shows may become one of the killer apps for mobile video.

All in all, it was a very informative and enjoyable evening. Thanks to all who showed up. I hope to engage with more of you in the coming months. -Antony

PS: Make sure to check out our FierceMobileContent Top App Awards online!

- Also our apologies to Groove Mobile for misidentifying them in our email earlier today. Groove Mobile, in parntership with Sprint, won our FierceMobileContent Top App Award for Music; it was not Boost Mobile as was originally written.

Mobile advertising still being defined

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:28:54 -0400

Mobile advertising is indeed all the buzz at the show, but not everybody is in agreement on exactly what that means. For instance:

--œAdvertising will have to subsidize a lot of content if this industry is going to go anywhere in the future. It may not seem like a lot to you and me, but $2.99 is a lot for a 13-year-old, and they're the ones who are open to advertising.-- --“ Chris Ruff, president UIEvolution

--œI wouldn't head in the direction of major price changes with mobile advertising.-- --“ John Harrobin, VP marketing and digital media, Verizon Wireless

--œEverybody at this show is just absolutely mad about mobile advertising, but it's a little early to get quite so excited about it.-- --“ Andrew Bud, CEO, mBlox

Sounds like the beginning of a lot of coverage in the next several months.
- Antony

Handango's $60 million windfall funding

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:01:37 -0400

More big money is getting thrown around in the mobile industry today, with Handango scoring a sweet $60 million from a group of venture capital firms, including Institutional Venture Partners and Advanced Technology Ventures. The company says it plans to use the funding to buy out much of early investor Q Investments's stake in the company, as well as to expand its operations beyond the U.S. market, where about 90 percent of its focus has been to date. Additionally, it wants to shift focus from just smartphones to the broader handset market, as devices grow in sophistication.

Get all the details of Handango's funding and future plans:
- in this Star Telegram article

Check our Web site for live coverage of CTIA IT, sponsored by mBlox.

Alltel launches JumpTap mobile content search

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:01:36 -0400

Alltel is getting increasingly aggressive in the mobile content game, today launching a mobile content search application from JumpTap. The JumpTap application allows users to find any piece of mobile content available via Alltel's service or from applicable off-deck providers, the idea being to make it easier to find the content you want without having to navigate multiple decks and sites. Additionally, the solution includes the ability to preview content before buying and provides recommendations based on purchase history and more.

There's also an advertising revenue stream for carriers. This is only the first carrier announcement since JumpTap launched its Mobile Search Index and Advertising Suite. Frankly, I'm surprised that it's taken carriers this long to implement such content search capabilities. At the MECCA conference yesterday, one of the prevailing themes I heard from both content providers and carriers is that both must find ways to make it easier for consumers to not just find content, but to find the content they want. This is a step in that direction. Meanwhile, analyst group BKI Media has pegged the mobile search market to hit $13 billion by 2011 and will be the biggest driver of mobile Internet by that time.

For more about the Alltel deal:
- check out the JumpTap site

Check our Web site for live coverage of CTIA IT, sponsored by mBlox.

UMG, MTV forge blanket mobile licensing deal

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:01:35 -0400

Universal Music Group has forged a blanket licensing deal with MTV Networks to bring its music, videos and additional content to mobile phones. Rather than striking individual deals for each song desired for use in a mobisode or mobile game, MTV can now access all of UMG's vast catalog at will. What's interesting is that the deal applies only to mobile devices, so MTV can only use its music under this blanket license for content developed specifically for mobile phones. Rio Caraeff says that since most content available on mobile devices is also available on other platforms for less cost, custom mobile content is necessary to drive sales and as such, was the motivating factor of the deal. He also says that similar deals with other content developers are pending and will be announced soon.

Read more about the deal and take a broader look at the state of mobile content:
- in this LA Times article

Check our Web site for live coverage of CTIA IT, sponsored by mBlox.

Nellymoser, Muze team for mobile commerce

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:01:38 -0400

Nellymoser has inked a deal with Muze to offer an "end-to-end" mobile content solution. The offering will be powered by Nellymoser's mobile service and delivery platform and Muze's media information and digital media and commerce platform. Muze brings its descriptive metadata that spans music, video, books, and games as well as its digital media platform solutions for online and mobile customers to the table. Muze's platform includes more than 2 million music tracks from both major and indie music labels as well as more than 5 million licensed streaming music samples and over 40,000 movie trailers.

For more on the Nellymoser, Muze tie-up:
- see this press release

- Check our Web site for live coverage of CTIA IT, sponsored by mBlox.

MobiTV over WiMAX

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:01:37 -0400

Shortly after Sprint made its big WiMAX announcement, MobiTV made a point of issuing a press release extolling the virtues of the technology and pledging its support to and interoperability with it. This week at CTIA IT, MobiTV plans to demonstrate its mobile TV offerings over a pre-WiMAX network powered by Navini's technology. I'm excited to take a look at the high-definition video stream and set-up the company is set to showcase and will liveblog my findings at our dedicated show coverage channel here.

For more on MobiTV over WiMAX:
- see this company press release

- Check our Web site for live coverage of CTIA IT, sponsored by mBlox.

Skype SMS also powered by Mobile 365

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:01:36 -0400

A few days ago we mentioned that mBlox was enabling Skype's SMS service, which claims to reach well over 100 million subscribers in over 200 countries. Mobile 365 is also helping the VoIP pureplay power the ambitious service, which enables usually PC-based or WiFi handset-based Skype users send text messages to mobile phone users worldwide. The deal follows Mobile 365's global intercarrier MMS service launch last month. The company claims it facilitates 2 billion messages a month in the personal messaging space, including both MMS and SMS.

For more on Skype's SMS service:
- read this article from WirelessWeek

mBlox buys a LaNetro Zed Asian unit

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:01:39 -0400

mBlox has acquired LaNetro Zed's subsidiary technical center in Singapore for an undisclosed sum. The deal sees LaNetro Zed, which recently announced its intent to launch an IPO, maintaining ownership of all its content and marketing operations, but the company will use mBlox's mobile transaction network as its preferred mobile-billing infrastructure. The deal adds 11 Singaporean-based employees to mBlox's payroll, and the new unit will be called mBlox Asia Pacific.

Currently the deal only encompasses LaNetro Zed's direct premium SMS connections for carriers in Malaysia and the Philippines; however, mBlox's chairman Andrew Budd told me the deal marks the company's first foothold in Asia--they're looking to expand operations in the region. "It was a complex deal to negotiate," Budd said. " Which was inevitable because we are taking an important part of what was once an integrated operation and providing it as an outsourced operation for them."

For more on mBlox's acquisition of LaNetro Zed's Singaporean unit:
- take a look at this press release

SPOTLIGHT: mBlox powers Skype's SMS

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:01:34 -0400

mBlox announced yesterday that it's powering Skype's new SMS service, which lets Skype users send text messages from their computer to mobile phones across the world. mBlox and Skype have rolled out the offering to nearly 200 countries worldwide, covering most of Skype's reported 100 million registered users. Release

Motricity buys GoldPocket Wireless

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 20:01:39 -0400

Merger mania continues in the mobile content space, after a brief hiatus: Motricity has acquired GoldPocket Wireless for an undisclosed sum. GoldPocket Wireless specializes in interactive TV campaigns that make use of SMS and MMS. The merger strengthens Motricity's portfolio of media clients, messaging capabilities and their off-deck plans, which the company launched through partnerships with BET and Ask.com during the past six months. The combined company claims to power the largest mobile operator in the U.S., six of the top 10 carriers in North America and 20 of the top television networks. It also offers everything from storefronts, portals, content aggregation and community applications to messaging aggregation, interactive campaigns and a variety of other mobile marketing solutions.

During a quick interview with FierceMobileContent following the deal, Motricity's CEO Ryan Wuerch added that GoldPocket Wireless' "current media partners, have, no question, the strongest growth curve in the industry" when it comes to mobile content. The push into off-deck is the integral driver of the deal. "What off-deck enables us to do is better understand what a consumer is buying on Friday night from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.," and we can use that information "to better serve the consumer," Wuerch said. Wuerch also noted that since GoldPocket Wireless was partially owned by Tandberg Television (49 percent), "they have a better understanding of interactive TV than competitors like m-Qube, mBlox and others." GoldPocket investors also included Time Warner, Allen & Company and RRE Ventures.

For more on Motricity's acquisition of GoldPocket Wireless:
- see this press release

mBlox accredited for UK PayForIt

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 20:01:37 -0400

According to the company, mBlox is the first company gain accreditation to the new U.K. PayForIt scheme, a basis for future billing of the mobile Internet. mBlox will use Valista's PaymentsPlus solution for PayForIt--the company made a strategic investment in Valista last month. All U.K. carriers support the PayForIt scheme, which will enable consumers to buy content with their mobile phones just by clicking on a "Pay" button on a WAP page. The service looks to offer an easier, safer and more transparent buying process than premium SMS, which accounted for over £500 million worth of content purchases in the U.K. in 2005. Companies will no longer be allowed to process WAP or mobile Internet billing transactions if they are not accredited. The service launches this fall.

For more on mBlox and the PayForIt service:
- read this article from mobile europe