Archive for January, 2006

Cellphone Jammers: The Anti-Gadget Gadget

Tuesday, January 31st, 2006

End a call gracefully or simply prevent any calls within your immediate area (3 meters). New from Japan is the CX 200 Portable Cell Phone Jammer. Lets see the FCC keep this off our shores. Link: RedFerret (via Cellphone Jammers on the Way? - Gizmodo) $5,000 credit loan badhome loans ...

College Acceptance via SMS

Monday, January 30th, 2006

If this isn't a sign of the times IDK what is. A welcome alternative for High school students waiting to hear if they've been accepted at Creighton University, checking their cell phone instead of their mailbox. Now if you can only apply via SMS. Link: textually.org

01/30/06 Top 10 Ringtone Roundup

Monday, January 30th, 2006

North America somewhat static. UK always on the move. They really have different music consumers on the other side of the pond. Billboard (Issue date 02/04/06) My Humps, Black Eyed Peas Super Mario Brothers Theme, Koji Kando Gold Digger, Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx ...

Cingular Patents the Emoticon :(

Friday, January 27th, 2006

R U Kidding Me! Yes, it's true. "While the aim of the patent is to enable the displaying of MSN style graphics on handsets, they also managed to patent the delivery of text based emoticon - so presumably sending :) via an SMS - if selected via a dedicated or softkey, would ...

Endtones and Hang-up Tones

Thursday, January 26th, 2006

Because you need to know when you end your call... Endtone disconnect tones are marketed and sold like ring tones. Whereas ring tones signify incoming calls, endtone notify wireless device users that voice and data connections are terminated. Endtone disconnect tones include "hang-up tones" and "drop tones." For $2.99 it may be ...

Keeping it Real: Ringtone Nomenclature made Official

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

Ringtone, polyphonic, monophonic, real tones, true tones: is it tech-speak, marketing-speak or both? Until recently (last 5 years) ringtones for your phone were strictly mono- or polyphonic. For arguments sake, this meant digital, midi, or synthesized versions of popular music adapted as a ringtone. There were no voices, a sort of ...

Mobile Signups Up, Revenue Down

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

Some interesting 2005 mobile carrier stats from a story at Investors Business Daily. Cingular signed up 1.8m customers - up 5.9% Verizon signed up 2m customers - up 20.5% Cingular ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) - $48.86 - down 2.2% Verizon ARPU - $49 - down 3% The article also speaks of Sprint's increasing number ...

Opera Mini - Officially Free

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

Originally a silent release, they have made their Opera Mini browser official for all to download. "It’s the real web and the full Internet, with Opera Mini moving beyond WAP," said Michelle Valdivia, marketing communications manager for Opera Software in the Americas. "Today users can download Mini to their phones themselves ...

Mobile Content for Adults (not Porn)

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

Ringtones and wallpapers rule the schools; it's no secret that the average ringtone consumer is aged 13-24. What about the rest of the population? Sure there are puzzle games like Tetris and music which appeals to all ages. Strictly speaking for adults, porn is sticky, so alcohol must be too!? eRobertParker.com ...

$2.5 B in 2005: New Gaming Report from Research and Markets

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

For all you high-level people who need to be clued in on mobile gaming, Research and Markets has introduced their Mobile Gaming Report Three key characteristics define the US mobile game audience: 1. Women download more puzzle games (the genre driving the most mobile gaming revenue) than men. 2. ...