AT&T to Offer Webalo’s Mobile Dashboard Service to Retail Sector

Easy Access to Real-Time Business Information on Mobile Devices Will Prove Critical to Retailers
Webalo, Inc. announced that AT&T plans to offer Webalo’s unique Mobile Dashboard service to the retail sector. The service enables mobile professionals to have easy, real-time access to business intelligence, and other corporate information, on their mobile, handheld devices.
“Retail is a real-time business – where knowing the status of sales figures and inventories on a moment-to-moment basis can mean the difference between profit and loss,” said Peter Price, president and CEO of Webalo. “Our Mobile Dashboard Service puts such information right into the hands – or smart phones – of retailers in the field or on the floor. With AT&T’s support and promotion of the service to retail, we are looking forward to a positive response, and a healthy adoption rate.”
Price said that there are a large number of ways in which retail professionals can use the Mobile Dashboard on their mobile devices. For example,
Managers can get immediate access to store/region/division/company key performance indicators;
Buyers and other executives can instantly access sales information for consumer package goods and other fast-moving products that can inform their competitive response; and
Retail executives can gauge the effectiveness point of sales promotions in real time.
The availability of the Mobile Dashboard service to AT&T’s retail-sector customers follows Webalo’s receipt in 2007 of AT&T’s Enterprise Solution Certification and inclusion of the service in the AT&T devCentral program.
Webalo also recently announced that the service is now available on an in-house server “appliance” that is valuable to large corporations, including retail chains, that prefer to install the Mobile Dashboard inside their own data centers.

Ifbyphone Unleashes the Power of `Phone Mashups’

Ifbyphone, the Chicago-area voice application platform company, announced it is offering up to 1 million minutes in free phone time per month and a new Facebook phone application to demonstrate to developers the power of phone mashups to connect the Web to voice applications.
“We’re funding this initiative because we believe so strongly in helping small businesses turn Web traffic into ringing telephones via mashups,” said Ifbyphone founder and CEO Irv Shapiro. “Interactive Voice Response systems and phone mashups should not be limited to large enterprises. By partnering with hundreds of independent developers this initiative will deliver this exciting new technology to businesses of any size.”
“Phone mashups” are Web applications that combine data from more than one source into a single integrated tool accessed from any phone.
Speaking at the eComm2008 Conference being held at the Computer History Museum here this week, Shapiro said: “Phone mashups unleash the power of all phones, from your mobile phone to your landline to your VOIP phone, even old-fashioned rotary-dial phones. That means owners of small- and medium-sized businesses with no knowledge of computers can have their phones ring from the Web. Ifbyphone launches conversation starters that lead to sales.”
There are three ways to take advantage of Ifbyphone’s offer:

Phone-Me-Now

This calling technology makes it possible to dial phones from a wide variety of locations, including Web sites, e-mail messages, Microsoft Word documents, PDF documents, PowerPoint presentations and more. Free Phone-Me-Now accounts are limited to 100 minutes of U.S. phone calls per month and expire in six months. At the end of six months, the subscriber may upgrade to a traditional Ifbyphone subscription beginning at $14.95 per month. Free

Ifbyphone Facebook Widget

Facebook users will be able to make anonymous phone calls to people on their Friends list. A friend visiting your Facebook profile enters a phone number and rings your phone. The first 1,000 Facebook users who sign up will receive free Ifbyphone’s Facebook Phone-Me-Now accounts. Users receive up to 100 minutes calling time per month for six months and then can upgrade to a traditional Ifbyphone account for $14.95. This widget was developed using the standard Ifbyphone Phone Mashup API. The widget is available under Applications at Facebook.com.

Developments for developers.

Ifbyphone has established www.phonemashup.com to encourage developers to build phone mashups. It includes discussion forums and blogs to get developers talking, along with the tools to create mashups and a repository for distribution of phone mashups. Ifbyphone also is offering developers free phone mashup accounts with full access to the Ifbyphone Phone Mashup API, including Interactive Voice Response capabilities typically only available to major corporations. Free Phone Mashup accounts are limited to 100 minutes of U.S. phone calls per month and expire in 6 months. At the end of six months, subscribers may upgrade to a traditional Ifbyphone subscription beginning at $39.95 per month. All Ifbyphone services also include complete Interactive Voice Response (IVR) capabilities traditionally only available to major corporations. These IVR capabilities include interactive voice dialogs (Voice Forms), automated speech recognition and text to speech capabilities.

New Report Says 87 Million Mobile Users in Europe Will Be Using Their Mobile Devices for Mobile Ticketing Purposes by 2010

Revenues from mobile ticketing and mobile retail services will assist the global mobile commerce market by generating over $63bn worth of revenue by 2010, according to a new report from www.telecomsmarketresearch.com.
The report notes that by 2010, 32% of Japanese mobile users will be buying tickets using a mobile phone. It suggests that adoption rates in current mobile ticketing implementations is as high as 30% of the total tickets issued within the scheme.
By 2010, 87 million European mobile users (15% of the total) will be using their mobile devices for mobile ticketing purposes. The use of mobile barcodes is revolutionising the way we purchase and store tickets.
The bullish economies of India and China are fuelling the five-fold increase in annual m-retail transactions for the Rest of Asia Pacific forecast for 2008. The report predicts that there will be sufficient consumer demand, adequate payment schemes available and enough retailers supporting these schemes to see worldwide mobile payment revenues reach over US $10 billion by 2010.
The report reveals that innovative use of technology such as mobile barcodes and integrating RFID into a mobile device coupled with consumer demand for easy to use applications is driving up the adoption of mobile ticketing and mobile retail services.
Alan Goode, author of the report, noted: “The modern mobile phone and mobile network provides unparalleled levels of commercial potential. We are now beginning to enter the mCommerce era – and this era will see all of its expectations met.”

PhindMe(R) Makes Its Debut With a Cost-Effective Mobile-Marketing Solution for Local Businesses

PhindMe announced the availability of its low-cost mobile-marketing service, designed to help local businesses better compete against national brands.

With a focus on mobile-marketing solutions, PhindMe has created an Internet-based platform so that local businesses can improve consumer discovery, loyalty, and community. These services extend to consumers' mobile devices, helping businesses combine the power of online-marketing with the increasing use of cell phones and other wireless devices as tools to find business information.
"PhindMe's goal is to support small and mid-sized businesses by improving how they reach and directly interact with consumers to drive revenues," said Chuck Sacco, co-founder and CEO of PhindMe. "PhindMe is here to help the local business person better compete against national brands which are already deploying mobile-marketing to get and retain more customers."
PhindMe's low-cost platform makes mobile-marketing easier and more effective than traditional advertising methods such as print advertising. Current and planned features include a unique content management system which dynamically formats business information for any PC or mobile phone, an instant marketing system so businesses can interact with consumers via text messaging, and a mobile commerce solution that helps businesses increase revenues and decrease transaction costs. All features are accessible through a simple online tool.

AT&T Connects Business Customers With New Wi-Fi-Enabled BlackBerry Pearl 8120

New Handset Provides Simultaneous Voice and Wi-Fi Data Coverage Across Industry's Leading Domestic and International Footprint

AT&T and Research In Motion have announced the availability of the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 for business customers, a global handset with built-in Wi-Fi that combines business-grade communications and multimedia functionality in a small and stylish design.

"The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 from AT&T delivers the full power of the BlackBerry platform in a sleek and stylish handset that is ideal for both business and personal use," said Mark Guibert, vice president, Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion. "With a range of hardware and software enhancements, including built-in Wi-Fi, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is an ideal choice for customers who want a new phone with powerful communications and multimedia features in an incredibly small candy bar design."

Ajax Ad Solution for iPhone

Relevantis Releases First AJAX Ad Solution for Mobile

Hot on the heels of Apple's recently announced iPhone SDK, Relevantis, Inc. today released its Dynamic Ads solution for iPhone. The platform is the first to enable highly interactive AJAX advertisements on mobile phones, allowing advertisers to interact with customers in a personalized and engaging manner.

The company's Dynamic Ads platform allows the creative content of an advertisement to change depending on the personal tastes of the end user. These rich media, animated ads are also instantly expandable to display more information, enabling a better customer experience and, ultimately, higher advertising revenues for publishers. Developers of iPhone applications and iPhone-optimized web sites are able to use the solution to monetize their content, offering consumers a free, ad-supported experience.

A first for mobile phones, users interact with ads without leaving the publisher's web site. For example, users viewing an automobile advertisement are able to touch the ad and instantly see more details in an animated fashion. Additionally, users can perform meaningful actions within the expanded ad, such as calling to schedule a test drive of the car.

"Animation and rich media are all enabled in an ultra-fast manner," said Relevantis CEO Scott Searle. "We believe mobile advertising shouldn't slow down the user experience. Our Dynamic Ads are lightning fast and fun to use. The result is a great dialog between customers and advertisers that wasn't previously possible on a mobile phone."

Offered as a stand-alone component or as part of the company's Universal Ad Platform, the Dynamic Ads solution is optimized for iPhone and other next-generation mobile devices such as Nokia N-Series and Microsoft Windows Mobile phones. The solution delivers a powerful toolkit for publishers and advertisers: Publishers are able to charge for impressions as well as actions, such as clicking to call the advertiser; advertisers are able to offer engaging ad content that was not previously possible on mobile phones.

Focus on the China Mobile Phone Industry, 2007-2008

Acording to Reportlinker.com, in 2007, China mobile phone output reached approximately 594.4 million units, among which, 548 million units were legal products from official mobile phone producers and 46.4 million units were illegal products from official mobile phone producers. In 2007, sales volume reached 180.7 million units, amounting to 16% of the world total. In the same year, the global mobile phone output reached 1.141 billion units, of which 52 percent was from the Mainland China, exceeding 50% for the first time.

In the first half of 2007, the mobile phone output in the Mainland China totaled 266.8 million units, up 33.4% year on year and its combined sales revenue stood at CNY161.08 billion, up 29.6% year on year. Among the total output, 32.8 million were for CDMA mode, 234 million for GSM mode. Domestic sales volume reached 83 million units and exports arrived at 183.8 million. In the later half of 2007, mobile phone production reached 327.6 million units, of which 230.2 million units were for exports, and 97.4 million for domestic sales.

Sprint Delivers First EV-DO Rev. A-Capable Handset with Enhancements for the Mogul by HTC

Newly available software update enables faster data speeds of EV-DO Rev. A technology and enhanced GPS functionality

Sprint announced that it is offering the industry’s first EV-DO Rev. A-capable handset as part of a software upgrade available for the Mogul by HTC. Introduced in June 2007, the Mogul is a Windows Mobile device operating on the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network and is packed with advanced wireless capabilities to keep users productive and connected for personal and professional reasons – all at SprintSpeed™.

EV-DO Rev. A technology supports faster data rates and higher system capacity enabling users to send and receive large amounts of data at broadband speeds (speeds comparable to basic DSL). Wherever EV-DO Rev. A coverage is available, average download speeds will increase from 400-700 Kbps to 600 Kbps-1.4 Mbps and average upload speeds will increase from 50-70 Kbps to 350-500 Kbps. These increased data speeds provide customers the instant gratification of quickly downloading large e-mail files on their phone while in a taxi cab, finishing and sending the sales report before their plane takes off and wirelessly downloading music to listen to directly from a Sprint handset. Because Sprint embraces an open approach to mobile Web access, customers may access the Web sites of their choice and download third party applications to enjoy anytime, anywhere. The Sprint Mobile Broadband Network (inclusive of data roaming) reaches more than 234 million people, 13,453 cities and 1,321 airports, with the vast majority upgraded to the faster EV-DO Rev. A technology.

Besides enabling increased data speeds for e-mail, Web, document management and other tasks, the free software download also provides advanced GPS functionality allowing support of popular applications such as Sprint Navigation. Sprint Navigation provides audio and visual turn-by-turn directions, more than 10 million local listings, and one-click traffic rerouting on compatible phones, similar to an in-vehicle GPS system.

“The Mogul by HTC now delivers the full power of the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network from the convenience of a handset, giving our customers a speed and capacity advantage unavailable anywhere else in the marketplace,” said Danny Bowman, vice president of customer equipment for Sprint. “Besides accessing core capabilities like calendar management, contact lists, personal and corporate email, and viewing documents, customers can use the benefits of SprintSpeed to stay connected, informed and entertained at anytime.”

Gameloft Confirms Plans to Develop For iPhone With Over 15 Titles in 2008

As referenced during the company's keynote speech at the recent Game Developers' Conference, Gameloft, a leading developer and publisher of games for mobile phones, today confirmed its intention to develop over 15 mobile games built upon Apple's iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK).

Though the SDK was recently released, games will only be available to purchase once the App Store, featuring third party applications that can be downloaded to your device via WiFi or EDGE, launches in June 2008.

Utilizing the SDK package, Gameloft development teams have started to create a strong line-up for 2008. As expected, iPhone proves to be a revolutionary gaming device, thanks in part to a 3.5-inch widescreen, the touch screen feature, a strong 3D processor and other exciting features such as the accelerometer.

"The iPhone gaming environment opens a new era in mobile gaming and is exactly what we've been waiting for" said Michel Guillemot, President of Gameloft. "The Apple iPhone has changed the way consumers perceive and interact with their mobile phones, and the release of the SDK is a tremendous opportunity for Gameloft to apply its creative and innovative approach to mobile gaming," said Guillemot. "Due to our investment in creating one of the most advanced and creative development studios to date, we are ideally positioned today to seamlessly integrate new opportunities and quickly produce games that are as evolutionary as they are enjoyable."

Gameloft has already proven successful in their recent relationship with Apple by developing mobile games that are uniquely adapted to the iPod, one of the most widely accepted technological devices in the mass market.

Motorola Ventures Announces Investment in Quantum SPA, a leading provider of portable media mobility players

Motorola, through Motorola Ventures, its strategic venture capital arm today announced a strategic investment in Quantum SPA, a leading provider of portable media mobility players. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.Quantum is a developer of DVB-H mobile TV media players and a robust mobile TV Software Engine which meets emerging mobile TV standards and DRM content protection solutions. These products allow consumers anytime access to media experiences such as live TV, on-demand clips and programs saved on a DVR.

"As the Mobile TV market continues to grow significantly, Motorola is committed to supporting innovative companies, such as Quantum, that strive to seamlessly deliver multimedia digital content to consumers on the go," said John O'Donohue, managing director, Motorola Ventures. "Motorola will leverage its relationship with Quantum to enable Pay TV Broadcasters and Mobile Network Operators to offer their subscribers compelling services leveraging the convergence of Mobile TV."

"We are honored to be associated with a forward-looking organization and leader in the mobility world such as Motorola," said Stefano Martini, chief executive officer, Quantum SPA. "Motorola's investment will allow Quantum to expand and accelerate the development of our product lines and create the conditions for a successful rollout of mobile TV worldwide."