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Al Jazeera launches mobile service in Jordan

Jordanian operators Fastlink and state-run MobileCom launches Al-Jazeera mobile services. Al Jazeera Mobile is planning to expand its services to other markets such as Palestine, Yemen and Mauritania. The technology is provided by Al Majaz Telecom.

Late last year, Qatar Telecom (QTel) was the first operator to offer Al-Jazeera SMS mobile services and most recently Palestinian operator - Jawwal launched mobile breaking news services to its subscribers.

Webcam on your mobile

Sprint introduces a Java based service - EarthCam Mobile to let subscribers view webcams from around the world, including their own on their camera phones. More:

They will also be able to watch videos from Webcams around the world and find local traffic and weather Webcams by simply typing in a ZIP code. Consumers could use the service to "check for upcoming road construction or view the beach at their next vacation spot," Jeff Hallock, Sprint's vice president of consumer marketing, said in a statement. The EarthCam Mobile service is available for $4.95 a month.

KTF exports wireless technology to Taiwan

KTF exports technology for its CDMA2000 1X EV-DO services, its multimedia platform Fimm and its marketing experience to Taiwan operator Vibo Telecom. More

KTF didn't disclose financial details of the deal, but the cost is estimated at about $15 million. Under the agreement with Vibo Telecom, which will begin offering a new mobile phone service based on code division multiple access (CDMA) technology in Taiwan, KTF will sell its high-speed mobile applications such as multimedia messaging and video-on-demand services. The Korean company will also provide a consulting service that will help Vibo Telecom build and market faster mobile applications, using a CDMA2000 1X EV-DO (evolution data optimized) standard.

This is a first major deal for KTF since previous deals mainly involved consulting or content providing. The company is currently offering marketing consulting services in China and recently sent consultant to India's CDMA operator Reliance Infocomm.

Korea's dominant operatoe SK Telecom has also exported its NATE platform to Kazakhstan, to APBW of Taiwan, Pelephone of Israel and TA Orange of Thailand (worth about 6.3 million dollars). More here.

Related:

: Korean operators eyeing export markets

: SK Telecom Exceeds Ten Millions US Dollars in Export Sales of Call Ring (so called Coloring) Service Solution. More

AirTel launches Himachal helpline

AirTel launches helpline service "AirTel HP Infoline" in Himachal Pradesh where subscribers can call 703 and get town-wise information on a wide gamut of services including names and locations of retail outlets, industry associations, clubs and cultural associations, hotels, schools and colleges, manufacturers of various products, etc. At Rs 3 per minute, the service would be available from 10 am to 6 pm daily.

Al-Jazeera mobile services in Palestine

Palestine Cellular Communications Company 'JAWWAL' will be offering Al-Jazeera mobile breaking news service to its subscibers. More.

Sega Distributing Mobile Content in Taiwan

From JCNN:

Japan's leading game developer Sega began offering August 18 a series of mobile content Sakura Taisen to users of FETi-mode, a mobile phone Internet service provided by FarEasTone of Taiwan.

The service features wallpapers, voice ringers and Java games based on Sakura Taisen, Sega's popular game title that has sold more than 3.5 million copies in Japan. iScreen, a Taiwanese company, has produced the local content site.

Far EasTone has positioned itself as the technological innovator in Taiwan and targets high data transmission customers. It was the first operator to introduce mobile fax/mail, mobile banking and logo downloads services and plans to launch 3G services in early 2005.

Recently the company merged with KG Telecom. The KG Telecom brand will be phased out, with the exception of its successful flat-rate, postpaid service, Hala and it's i-Mode service. NTT DoCoMo which owned 20% of KG Telecom has formed a joint initiative with Far EasTone to co-operate on i-Mode and 3G rollout in Taiwan. The partnership provides access to data-customised handsets and platforms. Technology may provide a differential advantage for Far EasTone in the future as data usage increases.

T-Mobile USA launches pre-loaded IM services

T-Mobile introduces pre-load instant messaging services from Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and ICQ with mobile messaging company Oz.

MTV Video Awards European sponsor – Comverse

Earlier Virgin Mobile USA clinched a deal to became the US sponsor of MTV’s Video Music Awards and now Comverse has signed a similar deal to become pan-European sponsor. The European deal includes on-air sponsorship and Converse branding will appear on billboards, TV trailers and promos produced in-house by MTV Productions US and all European MTV Video Music Awards microsites.

Is Comverse a strong brand name for the teens? I doubt. Thats why Virgin Mobile USA's promotion of the awards looks like more tighly integrated with their brand - which is to introduce compelling entertaining services to teens.

Universal Music becomes MVNO

French Telco Bouygues Telecom and Universal Music have launched a new mobile virtual network in France aimed at teenagers. The service will be marketed under the Universal Mobile brand and will allow owners to download tracks to use as ring tones, listen to the latest singles from Universal and dive into text-message forums with some of the artists.

Bouygues Telecom is to provides GSM and GPRS capacity, distribution and marketing assistance, whilst Universal Music provides the SIM-based service.

Universal Mobile is to target 14- to 20-year-olds, with three monthly contract tariffs, of €19.90, €24.90 and €34.90 for usage on voice calls, SIM and downloads. The SIM kit costs €15, and the vendor will reward new customers with a promotional introductory package of 100 free minutes and 150 free SMS. More here and here.

Channel 4 launching gambling services

Gambling is a huge business in the UK and no wonder companies are trying to come up with innovative, entertaining services for the mobile phone. Now Channel 4 is planning to launch and online betting service before Christmas and likely to partner with a betting exchange on the Web, than a regular bookmaker.

The broadcaster already offers interactive TV betting for horseracing, cricket and programmes like Big Brother, through a partnership with Sky Bet.

It now wants to reach beyond its normal audience of TV viewers and provide a service on all platforms, to capture punters at racecourses or work, although the new services will still be linked to programming. This is the latest sign of the willingness of mainstream brands to enter the gambling market, spurred on by forthcoming deregulation that should come by 2005. Already this year Virgin has launched an online gambling service, while Lastminute .com offers a casino on its site.

Channel 4's gambling moves mirror what BSkyB has done with its Sky Bet service, which it has developed since buying bookmaker Surrey Sports. However, Channel 4 is uneasy about applying for its own bookmaking licence, given its role as a public service broadcaster.

The UK is a very liberal society when it comes to gambling mobile operators have decided to include betting providers in their portals and on their SMS services. For example, Vodafone has revenue sharing deals with two betting firms: Total Bet and Blue Square. So far, Orange is only offering horse racing. O2 and T-Mobile offer sport betting over WAP and SMS through different providers. O2 also has a specific application running on its XDA smartphone, which is run by Cantor Index. High-street chain Ladbrokes has launched a service with the mobile operator 3.

There are many gambling operations that are extending their presence to mobile. The National Lottery operator, Camelot, has announced plans to offer a mobile version by September 2004. Established betting chains Ladbrokes and William Hill offer mobile betting over WAP and SMS.

Also the Labour Party is organizing a discussion on the 28th Sept about "Gambling, regeneration, and social responsibility: can everyone be a winner?", sponsored by casino operator Sun International. Attended by the Minister for Media and Heritage.