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  • Mobile Content Bits: NCAA Football; Sprint Financial App; Bold On AT&T; Evite Dial Directions; 2ergo

    -- *AT&T* brings back college football SMS voting: AT&T ( NYSE: T ) is reminding college football fans that they can once again begin voting for their AT&T All-America Player of the Week via SMS. The carrier is also putting up video highlights and photos of each candidate on its mobile NCAA Football portal. Four finalists are selected each week by ESPN ( NYSE: DIS ) analysts and then revealed each Sunday morning on SportsCenter . Voting will open immediately after and close at midnight (ET) on Wednesday. This is the fifth-straight year that AT&T has done a content deal and SMS campaign for the college football season. ( Release ). -- Sprint taps Blue Systems for financial data app: Sprint ( NYSE: S ) will offer Blue Mobile, a real-time financial market data application, to customers thanks to a new deal with London-based Blue Systems . The company says it covers more than 100 global exchanges and delivers data in real-time for equities, fixed income, futures and options, currency, commodity, metals, energy and company news and financial information. ( Release ). -- Bold coming to AT&T Oct. 2: A "pretty high up source at AT&T" has told Boy Genius Report that the carrier plans to get the BlackBerry Bold in stores Oct. 2. -- Evite adds dial directions services: Evite guests will be able to access free voice-activated directions to their events through a deal with Dial Directions . The new service will be placed under Evite's send-to-phone text alerts with a phone number for guests to call, state their location and receive directions via SMS. ( Release ). -- UK mobile marketing firm 2ergo expands into U.S.: 2ergo , a mobile marketing business based in the UK, has made two separate deals to expand its business in the U.S. Simply Wireless , an AT&T and T-Mobile reseller based in Fairfax, VA, tapped the company to develop an integrated SMS campaign for the firm. An unnamed operator with "more than 60 million customers" (that...
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  • MediaFLO Replaces NBC News2Go With CNBC And MSNBC; Also Adds Fox News To Lineup

    MediaFLO USA beefed up its news programming slate over the weekend with the addition of three new permanent 24/7 cable news channels: CNBC, MSNBC and Fox News. NBC Universal's NBC News2Go channel, which pulled content from the network's various news properties, has been replaced by the two NBC news channels in the programming guide. By Sunday evening, MediaFLO's temporary NBC Olympics mobile channel, which was exclusive to AT&T, was no longer in the lineup and the news channels began cropping up. The new channels are available on Verizon ( NYSE: VZ ) and AT&T ( NYSE: T ). The channels come just in time for the US political party conventions. ( Release ). Social Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of VC and M&A deal in social media from 2007 through 2008. Visit the ContentNext Reports page
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  • Mobile Content Bits: LG Invision; AIM On Windows; DVD Extras; Qwest-Verizon; Mobile Flash Awards

    -- *AT&T and LG* launch Invision, latest MediaFLO handset : AT&T ( NYSE: T ) is refreshing its MediaFLO handset lineup with a new device from LG Electronics (SEO: 066570) that measures up as the smallest MediaFLO-capable handset yet for the carrier. Like the LG Vu and Samsung Access, which were released when AT&T launched its Mobile TV with FLO service earlier this summer, the LG Invision can access Qualcomm's broadcast-quality mobile TV network in 58 markets where the service is currently available. ( Release ). -- AOL ( NYSE: TWX ) launches AIM for Windows Mobile : AOL has launched AIM Express, a flash-based web version of its instant messaging service, and a new client for Windows Mobile ( http://mobile.aol.com/AIM4WinMo ). AIM for Windows Mobile gives users access to many of AIM's traditional features along with the ability to send text messages to contacts, the company said. AIM Express will include many of the same features, but through a browser instead of a dedicated client. The program will includes advertising from Third Screen Media. ( Release ). -- Universal Studios Home Entertainment brings DVD bonus material to mobile : Fans of The Office and Heroes can now preview DVD bonus material on mobile thanks to a new deal from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, according to the Hollywood Reporter . Extras from Heroes and The Office will be available on mobile via short code from Sprint ( NYSE: S ), T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless ( NYSE: VZ ) and AT&T phones. -- Qwest begins customers' transition to Verizon Wireless : Qwest Communications customers are now eligible to begin switching their wireless service to Verizon Wireless, the company announced today. Qwest said it will begin contacting its customers with specific device and calling plan recommendations this week. ( Release ). Qwest also launched a new cellphone recycling program called "Go Green for Schools," which promotes educational initiatives and protecting the environment...
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  • Low Turnout At Verizon Wireless-RealNetworks Event In Hollywood

    Verizon Wireless ( NYSE: VZ ) and RealNetworks ( NSDQ: RNWK ) put on a lunch-time event in West Hollywood today, but hardly anyone showed up – making the intimate affair seem even smaller than planned. The five journalists that did make it to the event were handily outnumbered by the Verizon and RealNetworks employees who were on hand to discuss the Music Without Limits service that launched earlier this summer. Ed Ruth, director of music for Verizon Wireless, said the concept and value of mobile music has always been "amazing," but the connectivity piece with multiple devices and platforms has been missing. He and many others working on the new service believe this turns the corner on that bottleneck for many consumers. Ruth added that Music Without Limits has taken down the "one-to-many paradigm that exists in music today… In this model it's brought to you. It's more of a push than a pull." All in all, you could sense a little unease in the room considering the low turnout. The companies have been putting some marketing dollars behind the new initiative and this was clearly an attempt at keeping the chatter going. The room that was booked for the event was small so neither company was planning a big show, but only about half of those that were invited showed up. You'd think a free LG (SEO: 066570) Chocolate 3, a Jabra stereo Bluetooth headset and three months of Verizon Wireless and Rhapsody service would be enough to get people's attention, but that didn't pan out. The companies are planning a similar event in New York City Thursday. I get the sense they're holding out hope for a larger audience. I'll be checking out the Music Without Limits service over the next few days. Be sure to check back here soon for a detailed review. Related RealNetworks Encouraged By Early Music Without Limits Numbers Verizon Wireless Discusses VCast Music Deal With Rhapsody Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent...
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  • RealNetworks Encouraged By Early Music Without Limits Numbers

    RealNetworks ( NSDQ: RNWK ) CEO Rob Glaser used a few minutes during yesterday afternoon's earnings call to paint a rosy picture of Music Without Limits and alluded to some promising early results from the new service. "Delivering a great mobile music experience has been one of our industry's holy grails for the past few years… The challenge has been seamless integration, both inside the purchase process and in terms of the consumer experience once they leave the store. With VCast music with Rhapsody, we think we've crossed the threshold. Still, company stock is taking some hits following the company's $1.3 million loss on the quarter, which Glaser described as the "most turbulent macro-economic scene we have seen since our company was founded 14 years ago." Music Without Limits integrates with Rhapsody, Verizon ( NYSE: VZ ) Wireless's VCast music service, a new DRM-free MP3 store the company launched, and numerous music discovery sites, Glaser said during the call. "Sign-ups for the first month have been very encouraging, exceeding our expectations. We'll know a lot more in a few months about this as we learn more about the lifecycle behavior of these customers." Rhapsody has an exclusive deal with Verizon Wireless to provide full track music to its customers. "We just started backing all this up with $15 million of TV advertising on MTV and other Viacom channels as part of our $230 million marketing program with Viacom ( NYSE: VIA ). No other DRM free MP3 store has this kind of marketing muscle behind it… Suffice it to say that we are both optimistic about our growth prospects and sober about the challenges of taking on iTunes. " Release | Transcript Related RealNetworks Earnings Call: Glaser: Most Turbulent Environment Since We Started Our Business Earnings: RealNetworks's Q2 Revenues Up, In Losses; Music Revenues Increase Still Slow Social Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and...
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  • Mobile Content Bits: Verizon On Qwest; Mobile Web Guidelines; Criss Angel; Telegent; Moblyng

    -- Qwest Begins Selling Wireless Services Under Verizon Wireless Brand: Qwest has begun offering Verizon Wireless services to all of its new residential and business customers in its service area. Under the new five-year agreement that came after Qwest dropped its MVNO business arrangement with Sprint ( NYSE: S ), Qwest can sell its customers a suite of products and services from Verizon Wireless ( NYSE: VZ ). Current Qwest Wireless customers will soon be notified of the change, the company said, but won't be required to do anything for some time to come. When those customers are eventually required to switch to Verizon Wireless, Qwest will waive contract termination fees and provide special offers. Billing systems between both companies are expected to be integrated this fall. ( Release .) -- W3C Releases Mobile Web Best Practices: A new group of best practices for the mobile web has been released by W3C, short for the World Wide Web Consortium. The guidelines are aimed at helping content creators develop content that works on the widest array of mobile devices possible. Other issues such as user experience, data input and page scrolling are tackled in the document as well. The organization also launched a mobile OK checker that works alongside its validator . -- Criss Angel Mindfreak Adds Text-In Component To Latest Stunt: A&E has added a text-in component to the latest special from Criss Angel Mindreak that airs tonight. For his latest stunt, Angel will be shackled inside a six-story former hotel in Florida where he'll attempt to escape before the building is imploded. Viewers will be able to send supportive text messages to him during the event, which will appear at AETV.com and a JumboTron located at the site. The network's also offering a subscription to a text blog that will send live updates every 10 minutes from the event to their mobile phones. -- Telegent Systems Gets Mobile TV Chipset Into ZTE Devices: Telegent Systems inked a deal with ZTE...
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  • AT&T Grabs Exclusive 24/7 NBC Olympics Channel For MediaFLO

    AT&T ( NYSE: T ) has used its clout as an Olympics sponsor and official telecommunications provider to the U.S team to nail an exclusive 24/7 channel on its broadcast mobile TV service run by Qualcomm's ( NSDQ: QCOM ) MediaFLO, we have learned. That's how a Verizon Wireless ( NYSE: VZ ) spokesman explained it to us: "They are an Olympics sponsor and as such they use their weight to freeze out other mobile TV providers from offering Olympics coverage." NBC's coverage of the Olympics won't be limited to AT&T entirely, but for mobile the carrier did secure sole rights for live competition footage and commentary on the MediaFLO platform, which both carriers use for broadcast-like TV service. The new channel, NBC Olympics 2Go, is set to launch August 8 at the beginning of the games and marks the third channel for NBC on the permanent 10-channel deck in addition to the limited-time channels routinely offered for special events. AT&T will play NBC's coverage of the games on its mobile TV broadcast service and its Media Net deck while Verizon's mobile offering will be limited to streaming video only on its V Cast video deck that will include daily highlights, breaking news, scores and results and more. AT&T's U-verse customers and Verizon's FiOS TV customers will get on-demand access to events at the games, footage from past games and highlights. On the broadband side, the carriers' plans are near identical as well with both launching more than 20 live streaming feeds from the games when the games begin. Related NBC And AT&T Partner On An Exclusive Music Work-Out Mix For The Olympics
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  • Mobile Content Bits: New Sprint Treo; IBM Fits Web Into Mobile; Verizon Tours With Jonas Brothers

    -- Treo With Windows Mobile On Sprint: The new Treo 800w has launched with Sprint ( NYSE: S ), marking the first device to be shipped with Windows Mobile 6.1, according to Microsoft ( NSDQ: MSFT ). The Treo 800w, which is geared toward the business user, comes with WiFi, GPS and 3G and has a touchscreen with stylus and a full Qwerty keyboard. -- Highlighting the Web: IBM researchers said they have developed software that allows mobile users to clip pages off the Web and slim them down for viewing on a mobile phone, reports TechWorld . IBM's Almaden Research Center built the service, which it calls "highlight," as a Firefox browser extension. It lets users record the steps required to perform a simple task on the web—like looking up a flight—on a website, and then clip and send the relevant section of the Web site to another server, which makes the pages viewable on a mobile device. Don't get too excited yet—the IBM researcher hasn't publicly released Highlight, but may if there's enough interest in the project. -- Verizon ( NYSE: VZ ) Partners with Jonas Brothers: The pop-singing Jonas Brothers is partnering with Verizon Wireless for its 41-city "Burning Up" tour, produced by Live Nation ( NYSE: LYV ). Customers of Verizon Wireless who download Jonas Brothers' songs, purchase ringtones or ringback tones from V CAST will be entered to win a pair of tickets to see the concert. What's interesting is that the tickets they can win are called "mobile tickets," which will be received on their phone with a unique barcode. The ticket is good for two seats and will be scanned at the door. Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.
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  • Verizon Wireless Discusses VCast Music Deal With Rhapsody

    Verizon Wireless ( NYSE: VZ ) hosted a conference call today to give some more details on its new partnership with Rhapsody America, a joint venture between RealNetworks ( NSDQ: RNWK ) and MTV. RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser was on the phone along with John Harrobin, svp of digital media and marketing for Verizon. Release. RealNetworks role: Glaser: This is a very big day for Rhapsody.....It's a long-held vision beyond the PC, but to make it a mobile reality. We announced today our music without limits strategy, and Verizon is at the center. By integrating Rhapsody on the PC and mobile, it allows people to get music where they want it and when they want it. Soon there will be millions of Rhapsody capable devices in the hands of consumers. Verizon has a strong history of providing innovative music to the consumers. They are a leader of ringback tones, which we've been providing them for years. -- The experience: Harrobin said that he's been using it over the weekend. "The first thing I did was search for music on my PC for and I had old files in a protected format, and the software automatically placed the subscription version in my library for every song and playlist I had. I linked my phone to my PC with a cable, and I was able to drag and drop my favorite playlists right to my phone. The basics: The service is available today, and for $14.99—the same price of a CD—you get unlimited music on PC and mobile phone. For the $14.99 a month, you can authorize up 3 PCs and three mobile devices. It can be home and work PCs or spouses or kid's laptop. I sideloaded my music to my phone, my wife's phone and my daughter's MP3 player. This is significant for us. Customers with VCAST music, full tracks for $1.99 over the air, they get two copies, one gets sent to the phone, and a second copy gets sent to their PC, the second copy on PC is DRM-free MP3. Or on the PC, they can download songs, and those are DRM free. Verizon customers today have three great...
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  • RealNetworks Launches MP3 Store; Unlimited Music in Verizon Wireless

    RealNetworks ( NSDQ: RNWK ), among the early proponents on DRM-free music, has finally been able to launch an MP3 store , joining the likes of Wal-Mart ( NYSE: WMT ), Amazon ( NSDQ: AMZN ), Napster ( NSDQ: NAPS ) and iTunes, who have started offering a range of MP3 options over the last year. Rhapsody's MP3 store offers music from all four major labels, with singles at the usual 99 cents price, and most albums priced at $9.99. The service is now a joint venture between RNWK and MTV Network, who joined together last year to form Rhapsody America. Along with this launch, Verizon Wireless ( NYSE: VZ ) is also introducing Rhapsody's on its mobiles, allowing users download unlimited music on their phones for $15 per month..this is a sideloading service, meaning users will have to download on PC and then sync to their Verizon phone. The dual delivery songs will have two forms: the online/PC one will be MP3, which can then be tranferred to the phone as is, but if a song is downloaded over-the-air on the phone directly, it will be be in a DRM-version, according to this APstory . Rhapsody is also finally being integrated within MTVN's ( NYSE: VIA ) sites: Rhapsody-powered music playback (full songs) and MP3 purchasing options will be available as widgets within MTV, CMT, and VH1's websites. A $50 million marketing campaign, in conjunction with MTV, will also begin immediately. News.com : While Rhapsody's MP3 pricing is competitive with the industry-leading iTunes music store, it's slightly more expensive than Amazon, and considerably more expensive than eMusic. As a competitive advantage, Rhapsody's new online music store allows users to preview entire songs prior to purchase--a stark contrast to the 30-second song previews shoppers have come to expect. Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.
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  • Is Verizon Wireless Buying Alltel For Its Assets Or For Its Culture Of Innovation?

    Verizon Wireless's ( NYSE: VZ ) $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel will create the largest U.S. wireless carrier, but at the same time, it will eliminate one of the most innovative carriers in the country, which begs the question: Is Verizon buying Alltel for its towers and subscribers, or also for its forward-looking approach to the market? As a regional carrier, Alltel may only serve 13 million subscribers in limited territories, but that gives the company a level of comfort and flexibility to quickly roll-out new services without the constraints larger carriers face. It doesn't worry that millions of users will start using a new service overnight that crash the network, and it doesn't have to train as many customer-service and retail representatives every time it launches a new phone or application. So, the concern is that once apart of Verizon this attitude will fade. Some of it probably will, but if the merger gains regulatory approval, will companies lose an important petri dish, or gain a larger one? As an example, Alltel was Seattle-based Ontela first customer. CEO Dan Shapiro said he heard about the potential merger yesterday while in a board meeting. Immediately, the topic of conversation focused on how it would affect the industry. "There's two different thoughts," he said. "There's the conventional wisdom that the big carrier eats smaller carriers, and all good things come to the end," he said. But they came up with a second scenario: "They are buying a hard asset with towers and subscribers—that's 80 percent of the truth. Another piece, is that Alltel has been a pioneer that experiments with the way to bring value to its subscribers, outside of text and voice services, and that's valuable. They have a full-time business development person in Seattle to make sure that everything gets back to Little Rock. I strongly suspect that Verizon sees that culture of innovation and that skill-set as a way to maximize...
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  • Mobile Content Bits: VZ's Corporate Email; Minyanville Mobile Videos; HTC-Sony Ericsson Rumors

    -- Verizon Wireless ( NYSE: VZ ) said it's offering a service for $10 a month called RemoSync, which syncs Microsoft ( NSDQ: MSFT ) Exchange Server features, such as email, calendar and contacts, to feature phones, so businesses don't have to buy their employees expensive smartphones. The service is available on select Get It Now-capable phones, and was developed by Remoba . Release. -- Minyanville Publishing and Multimedia announced a deal today with Rhythm NewMedia to distribute "Minyanville's World in Review" video content to mobile phones. Minyanville produces short original, animated videos that are subsidized by pre- or post-roll video ads provided by Rhythm. Content will include weekly episodes of Hoofy & Boo's, which features a Bull and a Bear that take a humorous look at the world of business and finance. -- Several rumors are surfacing that Sony ( NYSE: SNE ) Ericsson ( NSDQ: ERIC ) and HTC may be considering a merger. Cellular-News reports that the reports range from a short article in a Swedish newspaper, Elektronik Tidningen , to various reports of meetings with HTC being canceled at short notice without explanation. In an email, a spokesman responded to us about the rumors: "We don't comment on rumor or speculation which clearly this is." Our mobile application for Blackberry and other Smartphones brings you the latest headlines when you're on the go. Go here to download
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