Mobile phones help target areas in need of disaster aid
A new study has revealed that scientists can map population movements based on location data from the mobile handsets. This information will allow organizations providing aid to channel relief supplies to the most affected areas.
This development was used to provide aid to victims of the 2010 Haitian earthquake. The impact of the earthquake caused many people to flee the capital, Port au Prince. Reports suggest that the data enables scientists and researchers to locate concentrations of displaced people on a map, which can then be forwarded to aid coordinators working in the field. This helps in verifying the number of evacuees as well as in arranging supplies for specific locations.
As per reports, since almost 86 per cent of the world uses mobile phones, this technology can be implemented almost everywhere, enabling quicker response to victims in the event of a crisis.
MobPartner Raises $3.5M from Alven Capital and Newfund
The leading mobile affiliate network MobPartner (http://web.mobpartner.com/) just closed a $3.5 million first round from Alven Capital and Newfund. This funding will enable MobPartner to accelerate its international growth.
Founded in 2008, MobPartner is a pioneer in mobile affiliate marketing. MobPartner’s platform allows advertisers to pay per a defined action such as sales (Cost per Sale), registration (Cost per Lead) or downloads (Cost per Download / Install). This is particularly pertinent for in app advertising (iOS, Android and soon WP7). Mobile site or App publishers (“affiliates”) are paid directly depending on their business performance.
To date, MobPartner deals with hundreds of advertisers and more than 100,000 affiliates worldwide, out of which the most successful earn tens of thousands of dollars per month. The platform has generated more than 2 million transactions since the launch , exclusively on mobile phones. These results establish MobPartner as a key player in the mobile marketing space.
For Vianney Settini, CEO of MobPartner, “the calibre of our investors shows that our initial decisions to create this new market were correct. This funding will allow us to accelerate on an international scale. On the one hand, we will consolidate our presence in Europe and North America and on the other hand, MobPartner will strengthen its presence in emerging markets:Asia, Africa, Latin America, where mobile phone is the main internet access mode.”
Jeremy Uzan, investor at Alven Capital says: “We have been impressed by MobPartner’s ambition and ability to roll-out its model across the five continents. The platform besides being robust in handling huge quantities of data is highly scalable and adaptable to the varied needs of both advertisers and affiliates. This has lead them to establish themselves as market leaders in this vibrant sector. This has established them as market leaders in this vibrant sector”.
Charles-Antoine Morand, of Newfund, added: “On the web, performance marketing now represents a lion’ share in advertising investments. Mobpartner’s expertise will attract major brands and advertising agencies, looking for performance-based solutions on mobile phones.”
Nokia CEO describes company as ‘a burning platform’- Report
World’s biggest maker of mobile phones, Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop, believes that Nokia Oyj is standing on ‘a burning platform’.
According to Elop’s internal memo, Nokia’s smartphone business lost its leadership to Apple Inc., which owns the high-end range and Google Inc., which has become a gravitational force, draws much of the industry’s innovation to its core.
Elop, 47, who took over as Nokia’s CEO on September 21, is set to unveil his strategy to investors in London on Feb. 11. The executive, the first non-Finn to head Nokia stated in the memo that the company had poured gasoline on their burning platform by being unprepared for the changes in the smartphone market.
Elop added that Espoo, Finland-based Company, had lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times.
Digital Camera still a hit
According to a new research report, while mobile phones continue to increase share of voice and share of image capture, the dedicated camera remains the image capture device of choice by most consumers.
The device with the largest percentage of all photos taken was the digital still camera, at 51%. Close behind, however, was the mobile phone, at 42%. Demographics play a factor in which device consumers choose for image capture. 13-17 year olds reported taking 54% of their photos with a mobile phone and 36% with a camera, while Moms reported taking 40% of their photos with a mobile phone and 55% with a camera.
As more devices are capable of both still and video capture, the usage pattern for video also tilts towards cameras. There was nearly an even split among amount of video captured on mobile phone versus camera, at 35% phone / 34% camera. Only 27% of video was reported being recorded on either a traditional or pocket camcorder.
When surveyed about the most important features in their next photo capture device (regardless of the actual device used), those favored by more than half of respondents included ease of use, long battery life and ease to carry.
These three attributes are easily satisfied by today’s smart phones, but other highly sought-after qualities for which a dedicated camera is best suited are
- High quality photos in low light environments
- Optical zoom capability
- Fast response time between pushing the button and capturing the image
Yahoo developing Personalized Mobile Web Service
Yahoo is reportedly developing a dynamic content portal specifically for mobile phones.
According to reports, the move is expected to boost mobile apps created by Yahoo as well as those developed by third-party content publishers on smartphones and tablets. The software includes many features that Yahoo already offers to its users via its website.
According to Yahoo, it already had agreements with 100 wireless carriers and handset makers to pre-install its applications on mobile devices. Yahoo! Mobile for the web is now available on more than 300 devices with HTML-enabled mobile browsers, while the Yahoo! Mobile iPhone app is available in the Apple iPhone App stores. Both are currently available in eight countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas, including the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, with additional localized versions expected to launch over the next few months.
British prison custody officer convicted for smuggling mobiles into prison (UK)
A British prison custody officer has been convicted for smuggling mobile phones and drugs into the prison and will now face three years on the other side of the cell doors.
Alan Redmond, 25, who worked for a private contractor as a security officer at the Brixton prison in South London, along with accomplice, Ronald Smiles, 54, was sentenced to three years at the Southwark Crown Court.
Four other people were also convicted of conspiring to smuggle contraband into the prisons.
Redmond, who was responsible for escorting defendants to court for their hearings, admitted to misconduct in a public office between 2006 and 2010 and conspiring to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and tobacco into the prisons during 2009.
In addition, a prisoner within the Brixton prison, Jonathan Lawlor, admitted to charges of conspiring to smuggle phones into the prison too and had his current sentence extended by twelve months. His girlfriend was jailed for eight months for the same offence.
Nokia launches affordable mobile phone (India)
Nokia has launched its affordable range of QWERTY mobile phones in Gujarat.
According to Head service marketing, Nokia India, Jasmeet Gandhi, the Nokia X2-01 is competitively priced with colorful design and optimized for messaging performance. Among mobile phones, QWERTY category of phones is the fastest growing segment where messaging and accessing emails could be faster. The X2-01 is targeted at the youngsters who want to be connected with the internet and social networking sites, and want information on the go.
He added that it has been kept in the affordable range looking at the spending capacity of college goers and teenagers. With the new 3G spectrum coming in place, Nokia is also planning to add more 3G enabled phones to its portfolio.
He further stated that in the past few years the company has seen more business coming from the rural market rather than the urban centres. The main reason behind this growth from rural areas was because the mobile operators had now started exploring the rural markets.
Egypt mobile phone ownership surpasses 80%
The latest figures by Egyptian officials reveals that more than 80% of Egyptians will start 2011 with mobile phones, it also showed that cell phone subscriptions grew by nearly a quarter during the year.
According to state website, subscriptions as of October were 65.488 million, a rise of more than 12.5 million, or 23.6% from a year earlier. Egypt is Arab world’s most populous country, with about 79 million people.
In October 2009, Egypt’s three mobile operators — Etisalat Egypt, Mobinil EMOB.CA and Vodafone Egypt — had 52.978 million subscribers.
According to the head of the telecoms regulator’s previous statements, Egypt was looking into options for a fourth mobile licence, including a virtual network.
