www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Digitel, the Venezuelan mobile operator has reportedly introduced new applications via its i-móvil online contents portal. Named as Mercantil Movil Internet, is one the two new applications and offer access to mobile banking services, developed in partnership with financial services provider Mercantil Banco Universal. Mrcantil debit cardholders can use the m-banking application to carry out balance enquiries, mobile payments for utilities, pay their credit card balances and also can perform transfers between their own accounts or to third-party bank accounts.
The second application is dubbed as Panísimas and provides a social networking portal developed expressly for mobile devices, enabling users to share pictures, audio and video files with friends connected to the same network.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Cellular South, the USA mobile operator, has introduced the RIM’s BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 smartphone. It features a SureType Qwerty keyboard, trackball navigation, built-in GPS with BlackBerry Maps preloaded and a 2 megapixel camera. It also features full HTML browsing, a rich media player with the ability to sync music from iTunes or Windows Media Player, an expandable memory card slot (microSD/SDHC up to 16GB) and stereo Bluetooth support. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 supports BlackBerry App World, which provides access to applications such as entertainment, games, social networking and sharing, music and video, productivity and utilities, and travel. It also supports Cellular South’s high-speed wireless broadband data network.
The handset will be available in black and pink colours for a price tag of USD 99.99 after a USD 100 mail-in rebate and with a new two-year customer agreement and two-year data contract. The handset is presently available at Cellular South retail stores or online. The smartphone also comes with full support from Cellular South’s online and in-store discover centre. Cellular South’s smartphone plan is available for a USD 49.99 monthly access fee.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vodafone New Zealand has inked an agreement with Twitter to enable subscriber to send updates and receive TXT notifications from the messaging network. Vodafone subscribers will be able to receive TXT messages from people they choose to follow via TXT on Twitter and send messages to a short code for their “tweets”, @replies, or to follow someone on the go.
Regular TXT charges will applicable to subscribers ending tweets via TXT and all TXT message updates sent from Twitter will be free of charge. While receiving a text message from Twitter with a URL, subscribers will be have to click on the link and access the publicised webpage directly from their mobiles. The service will launch in few weeks.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Twitter, the social networking site is looking for partnerships with Iraqi telcos to have more people ‘tweet’ in country. Twitter’s head Jack Dorsey has met the local mobile operators of the country to discuss the partnership opportunities and ensure micro-blogging service is available on local mobile phones.
Apart from meeting the representatives from Zain and Asiacell, Twitter is also looking at working with four other carriers in Iraq.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vip, mobile operator based in Macedonia, has introduce the Facebook Mobile service. The service enables subscribers to edit their Facebook profiles directly from their mobile phones via SMS and they can receive notification as well. The subscribers who activate this new service will be able to receive comments, messages and invitations from their Facebook profile, as well as change their status or answer comments via SMS. Moreover the subscribers can upload photos on their personal Facebook profile via MMS. Prepaid and postpaid subscribers both can avail his service. Until 6th June, received face book messages will be free of cost. The subscribers have to pay MKD 5.9 (VAT included) per SMS and MKD 17.7 per sent MMS.
Mobily, Saudi Arabia launches all new social networking site named Khod w khal (Chit-Chat), before Ramadan. Khod w khal is an advanced mobile social networking service with picture uploads, chat rooms and friend finder features amongst others. The mobile social networking site is available in English and Arabic, based on Small Planet’s proprietary technology and service concept.
Mobily being Saudi Arabia’s leading mobile operator was chosen by Future Mobile Technologies as partner to come up with the innovative mobiel social networking site.
The British mobile operator, 3, along with GetJar will offer its subscribers a huge range of free applications, in order to raise its data revenues. The 3 subscribers, can download free application according to their choice, using GetJar. The operator aims to broaden its service offering for consumers and encourage uptake of mobile applications.
“What we are discovering is that mobile operators used to sell content but are slowly realizing that free applications will drive data usage and revenues,” said Bill Scott vice president of business development and sales at GetJar in Lithuania.
“Free apps will help drive people to use mobile Internet and mobile data,” he said. “We believe that if you are going to get a new technology adopted you have to give some critical part of it for free.”
3’s applications are ad-supported, brands still remain unrevealed. Free applications in social networking, video, messaging, navigation, games, etc. boost a carrier’s mobile data plan adoption and mobile Internet use.
“GetJar’s goal is to provide a community where developers can upload their content for free testing, access a broad group of users to download it and get advice from the community about how to improve their application,” Mr. Scott said.
The British mobile operator, 3, along with GetJar will offer its subscribers a huge range of free applications, in order to raise its data revenues. The 3 subscribers, can download free application according to their choice, using GetJar. The operator aims to broaden its service offering for consumers and encourage uptake of mobile applications.
“What we are discovering is that mobile operators used to sell content but are slowly realizing that free applications will drive data usage and revenues,” said Bill Scott vice president of business development and sales at GetJar in Lithuania.
“Free apps will help drive people to use mobile Internet and mobile data,” he said. “We believe that if you are going to get a new technology adopted you have to give some critical part of it for free.”
3’s applications are ad-supported, brands still remain unrevealed. Free applications in social networking, video, messaging, navigation, games, etc. boost a carrier’s mobile data plan adoption and mobile Internet use.
“GetJar’s goal is to provide a community where developers can upload their content for free testing, access a broad group of users to download it and get advice from the community about how to improve their application,” Mr. Scott said.
AT&T and Verizon Wireless, USA’s leading carriers, introduce brand new applications whch will make it easier for their subscribers to access social networking on their handsets.
AT&T’s ‘My Communities’ service will costs $2.99/month, and Verizon’s ‘SocialLife’ application will costing just $1.49/month.
These services will allow the subscribers to access various social networks via single source. Both applications are developed by Intercasting Corp., a social networking and mobile media company that works with wireless carriers to offer web services on mobile devices.
The list of social networks accessible through both services include MySpace, AsiaAve, BlackPlanet, MiGente, FaithBase and GLEE.
The service will make it convenient for the subscribers to pst comments or upload photos all from one place.
“The problem with launching all this stuff is that it smacks a little of the walled garden,” commented Sanford C. Bernstein analyst, Craig Moffett. “Once you have a Web-enabled phone, and more people are getting those, you don’t need to have your wireless carrier manage this.”
Adding to which, neither of the services offers access to Facebook, which is second only to MySpace in the U.S. social networking market.
AT&T’s director of premium wireless content, Rob Hyatt, says that a service like My Communities will be very helpful to novice subscribers who are not familiar with the mobile internet.
“There are a lot of ways to get to a community, some easy, some not,” Hyatt explained. “This is organized for you and in one place.”
Hi5 proclaimed the release of their mobile site is already ahead of its competitors. This new mobile version has been launched with traslations available in all of the 26 different languages already offered on the main site. “No other social network offers mobile support in as many languages as hi5. This extensive in-language support represents a significant market opportunity for the company,” the release swanks. CEO Ramu Yalamanchi is looking more at the advertising potential. “As we see the number of users accessing hi5 via their mobile phones increase, it will open up the opportunity to roll out hyper-localized advertising,” he says. This is all part of the latest effort by all of the networks to expand worldwide as growth in the U.S. wanes, added Yalamanchi.