TPN - The Mobile Media Show

Mobile Media Show #22 (MP3 – 5MB – 12min) Today I am speaking with Monte Silver, from BambooMC who have recently released Mobipod, a service that delivers podcasts directly to your mobile phone. Monte explains how background downloads works, how the on-device client is initially loaded onto the phones, which handsets are suppported, memory management and what has been the response from telcos, users and podcasters. More info: Mobipod: http://mobipod.britcaster.com/ If you have tried a podcast to mobile service (like Mobipod or another system) please let us know how the experience has been.

Mobile Media Show #22 (MP3 – 5MB – 12min) [1] Today I am speaking with Monte Silver, from BambooMC who have recently released Mobipod [2], a service that delivers podcasts directly to your mobile phone. Monte explains how background downloads works, how the on-device client is initially loaded onto the phones, which handsets are suppported, memory management and what has been the response from telcos, users and podcasters. More info: Mobipod: http://mobipod.britcaster.com/ [3] If you have tried a podcast to mobile service (like Mobipod or another system) please let us know how the experience has been. [1] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mms_20061026_022.mp3 [2] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://mobipod.britcaster.com/ [3] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://mobipod.britcaster.com/

Mobile Media Show #21 (MP3 – 7.2MB – 21min) [1] My guest on the show is Ross Dawson [2], a consultant and commentator on the global network economy. He recently made comment on the suitability of mobile phones for social networking [3] and how Australia is lagging behind this trend due to high data charges imposed by the telcos, arguing it has been limiting the capacity for experimentation. Ross discusses proximity dating, mobile as a tool for social networking and how developments like video glasses [4] will change the way content is consumed on portable devices. I start this interview by asking Ross to fill us in on the history of mobile content in the USA and how their unlimited data deals have made them leap frog other countries to now be a leader. More info: Ross Dawson blog: Trends in the Living Network [5] [1] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mms_20060904_021.mp3 [2] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://www.rossdawsonblog.com [3] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://www.theage.com.au/news/mobiles--handhelds/social-networkers-get-mobilised/2006/08/21/1156012451538.html [4] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://www.myvu.com [5] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://www.rossdawsonblog.com

The success of Frank Chindamo, from Fun Little Movies, in convincing a major brand like Toyota to sponsor a comedy series for mobile phones - called The Pool - should give heart to creative people looking to make original content. This step demonstrates how brands can finance the production of content directly, by-passing the traditional (heritage) broadcasters and harnessing the power of digital, interactive and peer-to-peer distribution systems. Well done Frank. I look forward to seeing more of that.

Mobile Content World seemed to start with an air of excitement this year, as many familiar faces re-acquainted at Sydney s Star City Casino for 2 days of panels and presentations on mobile content in Australia. The enthusiasm may have been dampened by Gary Hayes in his keynote address saying that perhaps the industry has not grown up and might be likened to an adolescent. He cited interoperability as one of the biggest issues facing the industry. Better news was not forthcoming from Claudia Sagripanti, who said the latest report from AIMIA s MCIDG showed spending on mobile content is down from 2005 figures. Ira Rubeinstein, from Sony Pictures Digital, the keynote international speaker, painted a bleak picture of the challenges of maintaining a culture of legal transfers of digital entertainment citing his mother and daughter being part of the linked and liberated , engaged and entertained community. SPD strategy for mobile distribution includes the sale of movies on memory sticks. Jennifer Wilson, from HWW, extended upon this discussion by focussing on social networks and the construct of digital public and private spaces. She talked about the alpha user who is not always the early adopter in a group, but is the one who has the most influence amongst his/her group. She gave a demo of a mososo HWW has created (and yet to launch) called Tribz, which has a sophisticated feature set that is able to serve a cross-platform social network and serve them across SMS, IM and email. Olivia Hilton, the new CEO of Jumbuck, says that for people to be part of a mobile community they need critical mass, identity, ownership, usability and accessibility. She also says that people have changed, citing research that shows 15-25 year olds are 50% more extrovert than 20 years ago. There were several panels throughout this two day conference and they not only allowed for strong interaction from the audience but also meant speakers were not able to just give a sales pitch - which tends to happen at some of these events. The most interesting of the panels was one featuring a selection of real users who were not only interesting but very funny, including the one member who had five phones in total and carried two with her at all times. You could see the exascerbation on the faces of the telco representatives when the panel explained the lengths they go to avoid paying call and data costs - including timing limited free calls to hang up before incurring costs and sideloading music instead of buying ringtones. None of the panel of real users said they had viewed video content - apart from clips they or friends had made, and the 16 year old guy who had subscribed to Big Brother on 3. This is one of the issues faced by Frank Chindamo, from Fun Little Movies, who provided an entertaining presentation and showed some really cool stuff - like Random Acts of Kindness. Although he is selling content to portals around the world there still seems to be an issue about audience attraction to this type of content here in Australia. There was much discussion about the role the carriers are playing in educating the audience - and although they say they are doing this, the overwhelming evidence shows that their efforts are falling short of what is needed. Arun Gupta from India says that every new phone customer is invited to an after hours introduction session that provides them with a step by step explanation of what content is available and how they can access it. Could this happen in Australia? Most obviously missing from the forum were representatives from the major commercial networks. Particularly considering that Telstra came out with some fairly strong positioning (calling it a tectonic shift) in regard to its ambitions to dominate the mobile and broadband arenas which will put them in direct competition with the likes of the television channels and other multi-platform content providers like Fairfax and News Corp. Once again there was much discussion about the portal / off-portal issue. While it s understandable the telcos are attempting to control the user experience to maximise their revenue, the rhetoric that they are doing it to protect the user from a bad experience is now wearing thin. Particularly with companies like Bango at the conference who are offering a wap payment system that can be implemented by content providers within hours. This means that the massive amount of interactive and traditional media companies standing in the queue to talk with the telcos can now start working on a direct relationship with their audiences. Fear of high data charges (bill shock) may be preventing the Australian audiences from exploring these off-portal options and therefore, we are still seeing the most successful content vendors are those placed in the carrier portals.

Mobile Media Show #20 (MP3 – 7.2MB – 21min) [1] [audio:http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mms_20060529_020.mp3] I'm pleased to be speaking with Russell Buckley, a pioneer in mobile marketing and one of the most experienced people working in mobile content. He talks about his new venture, AdMob, a system for providing advertising links on WAP sites. To benefit from Russell's wisdom and knowledge I highly recommend subscribing to his MobHappy blog (co-written with Carlo Longino). More info: http://www.admob.com/ [2] http://www.mobhappy.com/ [3] [1] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mms_20060529_020.mp3 [2] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://www.admob.com/ [3] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://www.mobhappy.com/

Mobile Media Show #19 (MP3 – 6.5MB – 18min) [1] My guest is Mike Hillsdon, from Barefoot Software, talking about their mComic reader. Hear about why they chose to develop for Symbian, how they are marketing the product and the deal they are offering to comic artists. Particularly interesting is the fact they have developed a tool that allows for rapid development of a mobile comic product - taking between 1-4 hours for a full comic. More info: http://www.s60comics.com [2] http://www.barefootsoft.com [3] [1] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mms_20060519_019.mp3 [2] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://www.s60comics.com [3] http://mobilemedia.thepodcastnetwork.comhttp://www.s60comics.com

Mobile Media Show #18 (MP3 – 6MB – 16min) Rudy is one of the key identities in the mobile content industry online. He maintains a blog called m-trends, where he has been posting a regular series on Women in Mobile. He is a member of the Carnival of Mobilists and talks about how this group keeps a check on the hype surrounding mobile content. As a mobile strategist, Rudy provides an insightful look at the future of mobile web, mobile tv and the trends in mobile content production and consumption. Correction: At one point in the interview I refer to Russell Buckley retiring from blogging and in fact I meant to say Russell Beattie. Sorry to both Russell s for my error. More info: http://www.m-trends.org/ Rudy De Waele

Mobile Media Show #17 (MP3 – 4MB – 12min) My guests are Simon Goodrich and Andrew Apostola, who are the directors of the inaugural International Portable Film Festival. They explain why they set-up the festival, how it s being run and why they are so passionate about the new portable platforms. More info: http://www.portablefilmfestival.com Keren Flavell, Simon Goodrich and Andrew Apasola The Mobile Media Show is presented by Keren Flavell, content development consultant and interactive media producer for online and mobile phones. She is convenor of Mobile Monday Melbourne. Keren can be contacted by email keren (at) omg.tv or Skype Keren_Flavell.

Mobile Media Show #16 (MP3 – 10.7MB – 30min) Today I m chatting with Dale Rankin, who has created a company that specializes in producing flash content for mobile phones. Moket, based in Brisbane, is creating games for the Asian market as well as exploring other useful apps and widgets using Adobe Flash Lite. Although the Australian marketplace has yet to have flash player enabled phones rolled out into the marketplace, Dale explains how they are gearing themselves up for when it does. More info: http://www.moket.com/ Keren Flavell and Dale Rankin The Mobile Media Show is presented by Keren Flavell, content development consultant and interactive media producer for online and mobile phones. She is convenor of Mobile Monday Melbourne. Keren can be contacted by email keren (at) omg.tv or Skype Keren_Flavell.