Tag Archives: Mobile

NEW BOOK OUTLINE APP HELPS WRITERS PLAN, WRITE BOOKS ON MOBILE DEVICES

A new application now on the market will simplify the writing process for authors, helping them plan and compose their books on mobile devices.

WritePlan (http://www.writeplan.net) is a clean, zen app writers can use to plan and write their books on iPads.

Writers know that outlining and planning a book is key to successful completion of a masterpiece. The flexible, clean WritePlan app makes life easier for aspiring and published authors during the process of planning, outlining and writing a book. More than a simple word processing document, the app was designed with the complex, recursive writing process in mind, helping authors organize ideas, chapters and subchapters as they go. As ideas evolve and writers wish to rearrange chapters and subchapters, the app allows writers to easily click and drag section “cards” to reorder them as desired.

The biggest forces working against successful completion of a book are demotivation and distraction. The WritePlan app serves as a motivating force in a writer’s life, helping battle writer’s block and keeping the writer focused with word count challenges to encourage and motivate daily writing. The clean, simple interface offers writers a screen without distractions that often lure them away from creation.

WritePlan app includes a number of useful and cutting-edge features, including integration with iCloud and DropBox, printing through Air Printer, the ability to export a file to TXT, PDF and HTML, password protection, an integrated e-Book reader and more. The internationally-minded app supports writing in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

“Finally, writers have a way to organize, outline and plan their books using a clean interface,” said Eldes Saullo, Co-Founder of WritePlan. “It’s easy to write a chapter, drag and drop it over another one to swap them, allowing writers the flexibility they need during the creative process. We know writers are going to love using WritePlan.”

Learn more about the WritePlan app at www.writeplan.net. Download the app from the iTunes store at http://bit.ly/1l3smab.

Contact Details: Eldes Saullo
+55.11.4063.6475
esaullo@writeplan.net

Via EPR Network

Dude – The iPhone App That Features Dozens Of Hilarious “Dude” Recordings

“Seriously Dude? An APP about Dude? Cool.” The iTunes store today began distributing Dude and Dude Deluxe, the first Dude Apps to be released for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The Dude Apps feature dozens of hilarious “Dude” recordings. Get ready to laugh along with our pop culture’s greatest living word “Dude” and try to figure out what each “Dude” recording really means.

“Dude is one of the most entertaining and interesting words in any language, it means so many different things. In fact, it can mean everything. People can even converse saying nothing else but Dude,” professes Jason Moskowitz, a partner at The APP Company, the developer of Dude. “Dude is a way to say, ‘Hey read my mind right now’ and so it can mean anything.”

Dude is very famous as well, appearing in Bud Light commercials, headlining major motion pictures like “Dude, Where’s my car,” helping launch the career of Keanu Reeves and that other guy in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and appearing as the title character “The Dude” inThe Big Lebowski.

“Our goal with Dude and Dude Deluxe is to laugh out loud with one of our pop culture’s greatest living words, Dude. We want to give it the special place it deserves, with its own iPhone App dedicated to nothing but the glory of Dude,” says Scot Robinson, a partner at The APP Company and now a fan of Dude. “Early on I thought it was a stupid idea, but when I started researching and listening to people, I was amazed at how common the word really is spoken.”

The APP Company has created a website and employed researchers to create a repository for all things Dude. Moskowitz explains, “It is set up like a super interactive and fun Wikipedia listing dedicated exclusively to the hilarious and interesting uses and meanings of the wordDude;”

The Dude Lexicon:

Dude is one of the most versatile words in any language. John Swansberg of Slate identifies “at least six distinct usages of Dude:”

The admonitory Dude: the dude deployed when your buddy won’t stop humming “Umbrella” on a long car ride. As in, “Dude, enough.”

The interrogative Dude: useful for ascertaining whether you’ve dropped a call. “Dude? Are you still there?”

The deflated Dude: the dude of bad news. “Dude. Tom Brady’s wearing a boot.”

The exclamatory Dude: the dude of good news. “Dude! Tom Brady is no longer wearing a boot!”

The sotto voce (under one’s breath) Dude: for classified briefings. “Dude: Here comes that tall drink of water from accounting.”

The blissed-out Dude: more accurately rendered as duhuhude. The dude issued upon rediscovering a long-lost (Grateful) Dead tape.

 

 

Dude and Dude Deluxe

Both Dude and Dude Deluxe have been launched simultaneously. Dude is a free App and contains most of the features of Dude Deluxe. For 99 cents, users of Dude Deluxe receive additional Dude recordings, have the ability to set any Dude recording as a ringtone, can send recordings via email as MP3 files, and can prank their friends with Dude Alarms and Dude Bombs.

 

About The APP Company

The APP Company is a leading iPhone applications development company. The APP Company has two divisions, one that develops iPhone applications internally, and the second, APP Last Mile™ which partners with entrepreneurs to invest, develop and provide marketing and management services for their app ideas. The APP company’s core purpose is to provide iPhone owners with interesting, exciting and useful applications by investing in the most creative and selective ideas.

Via EPR Network

New Site Helps iPhone And iPod Touch App Developers And Publishers Generate More Publicity

Mobile app Developers and Publishers looking for exposure can now do so with a new website that allows them to giveaway their iPhone/iPod Touch apps by way of a promotional giveaway. App Giveaway (www.appgiveaway.com), allows Publishers and Developers to feature their apps on the website in return for promo codes which they receive from the Apple Store – and maximise potential revenue. The website has been created as a way of helping both mobile Developers/Publishers promote their apps whilst at the same time giving something back to the users of the iPhone/iPod Touch devices.

App Giveaway, (www.appgiveaway.com) went live this week and does exactly what it says on the tin – it features iPhone and iPod Touch apps that are ready to be distributed to the online community. What makes the site unique is that it’s free for all to participate and all we ask for in return are promo codes which we can distribute to our online users, thereby maximising exposure and potential revenue in the future from direct links and referrals.

Application Developers and Publishers that are already receiving exposure on the App Giveaway website include Game Systems with their iPhone application “T.A.N.K. Arena Battle” and an app called “Earth Quake Watch” developed by an aspiring 11 year old.

The idea developed after Apple agreed to provide developers 50 promo codes each: “I heard Apple was providing Developers upto 50 iPhone promo codes for new apps and/or updated apps featured in the Apple Store. I thought, ‘That’s it, why don’t I provide Developers and Publishers a central platform where they can giveaway their promo codes whilst promoting their app much more effectively?’ Then I thought I might as well include categories, too, as this will give visitors a much more convenient way of looking for apps.”Al says.

George Sutty of G.A.M.E.S. says “I am very excited to work with AppGiveaway to help me promote my game. After talking to other iPhone developers, it’s very clear, that without the right exposure, the odds of getting noticed among the other 40,000+ iPhone applications are pretty slim. It is hard enough to get a review noticed, and that’s assuming you can get the review written in the first place. The giveaway is such an easy way for a developer to get noticed”.

The site also maximizes exposure by serving as a useful app directory, because all iPhone and iPod Touch apps are categorized in a sidebar. Categories include Books, Business, Entertainment, Finance, Games, and many more.

Al has big plans for the site: “I want the www.appgiveaway.com website to be the biggest promoter of iPhone and iPod Touch applications. I also want to provide a service for people to feature and visit useful apps. I believe the app giveaway website will have a profound effect on the way we find, download and forward useful apps in the future. We also have plans to launch an iPhone app version of the app giveaway website very soon”

App Giveaway also features articles. Al says: “I’m a big fan of writing, so I would like to write a few words related to mobile applications on the website.”

Via EPR Network

Mobile Web 2.0 to reach $22.4B by 2013, says Juniper Research

The global market for Mobile Web 2.0 will be worth $22.4bn in 2013, up from $5.5bn currently, according to a new report by Juniper Research.  Embracing social networking & User Generated Content (UGC), mobile search and mobile IM (Instant Messaging), Mobile Web 2.0 provides a framework for delivery of collaborative applications, further enhanced and contextualized via LBS (Location Based Services).

In its latest report – ‘Mobile Web 2.0: Leveraging ‘Location, IM, Social Web & Search’ – Juniper examines how a fundamental shift in Internet usage patterns is shaping Mobile Web development, driving subscriber adoption and forcing structural changes within the industry. At the core of this evolution is the user as a creator and consumer of content (i.e. the prosumer), and the ‘social web’ – which describes a wide variety of social computing tools enabling users to develop detailed Web identities, create online communities and communicate with like-minded individuals.

“Combining the power of the social network map – namely: ‘who I know, how I know and where I know’ – with that of mobility, presents the greatest opportunity for revenue generation of any of the applications as defined within Juniper’s Mobile Web 2.0 framework,” states Ian Chard, Juniper Research Analyst and author of the new report. “The phone is carried with us most of the time and contains a huge amount of personal data, making it a logical extension for the social network and a host of other collaborative Web 2.0 applications being mobilised.”

Other findings from the report:

  • Total global revenues for mobile social networking/UGC will rocket from $1.8bn in 2008, to $11.2bn in 2013, accounting for 50% of the market, while growth in mobile search and mobile IM will be more measured;
  • Service revenues will account for the lion’s-share of total Mobile Web 2.0 revenues, although mobile advertising represents a significant opportunity;
  • Far East & China, Western Europe and North America dominate the global market for Mobile Web 2.0, but will be surpassed by the developing regions over the forecast period.

Fresh Challenges

Despite the new opportunities for players across the value chain, Mobile Web 2.0 creates fresh challenges over and above those typically associated with mobilising Internet applications. MNOs must adjust to advertising-sponsored strategies and accommodate partnerships with Web-based players, while device manufacturers and technology vendors must somehow find the means to stitch together what is at present, a highly-fragmented market. Any player in Social Web is also subject to regulatory measures concerning privacy and data retention.

Juniper Research assesses the current and future status of the Mobile Web 2.0 market based on interviews, case studies and analysis from representatives of some of the organisations leading this growing market.

 Whitepapers and further details of the study ‘Mobile Web 2.0: Leveraging ‘Location, IM, Social Web & Search’ 2008-2013 can be freely downloaded from http://www.juniperresearch.com

Juniper Research is a telecoms analyst firm specialising in the mobile and wireless sector with particular emphasis on business models, applications, content and device strategies. Juniper is headquartered in the UK and has been operational for five years. Juniper Research provides market expertise and advice to organisations operating across the telecoms and related sectors. We publish regular off-the-shelf research reports and provide business modelling, market sizing, forecasting and competitive analysis to consultancy clients across the world.

More

http://www.juniperresearch.com/
http://www.juniperresearch.com/about-us.php
http://www.juniperresearch.com/shop/viewpressrelease.php?id=119&pr=91
http://www.juniperresearch.com/shop/viewauthor.php?id=119&author=84

InfoSpace has sold its mobile unit for $135M to Motricity, the second prepares to go public

One of the Internet’s oldest companies InfoSpace is probably not performing well since they are largely selling out their businesses. With its switchboard and local directory business having already been sold to Idearc for reportedly $225M, what’s left of InfoSpace was the mobile services division, which serves up managed services infrastructure for mobile carriers. This involves the technology needed for mobile search, storefronts, messaging services and portals. This sale appears to leave InfoSpace with only its Dogpile and other desktop search properties, which have a very small market share. One can’t help but think that CEO Jim Volker and his team are selling off the company piece by piece — because that’s literally what seems to be happening.

InfoSpace Inc. is publicly traded company on NASDAQ with $346M market capitalization where the 52 week high / low is $27.76 and $8.14 respectively. The revenues have dropped to $140.54M for 2007 from $153.80M in 2006. During the first weeks of the current year the InfoSpace’s shares have slightly grown up on 4Q results rise from year ago on the assets sale.

A couple of months ago Motricity, a mobile content solutions service, has acquired the mobile services business unit of InfoSpace for what is said to be $135M in an all cash transaction. From what we have found out it seems the acquisition is being funded largely by Carl Icahn and Advanced Equities since the company has then announced the completion of its $185M a round of funding, which was led by Advanced Equities, Inc., Carl Icahn and New Enterprise Associates, Inc.

Ryan Wuerch is said will stay on as Chairman and CEO of Motricity and Steve Selman, the current executive vice president of InfoSpace’s mobile services business unit, will be appointed as President, Chief Operating Officer of Motricity. With the deal, Motricity will gain access to InfoSpace’s clients, which already includes AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, Alltel, and more.

“Two of the best companies in the industry are now being integrated to create the premier provider of mobile platform infrastructure,” said Ryan Wuerch, chairman and CEO of Motricity. “We have unparalleled experience in mobile platform development, systems integration, innovation and building world class technology with a proven ability to scale – powering the mobile marketplace including the largest operators and media companies in North America and Europe.”

The acquisition expands Motricity’s customer base to include 11 of the top 13 carriers in North America including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, Bell Mobility, Tracfone and Alltel. Motricity’s managed service infrastructure powers storefronts and communities for 9 of the top 13 carriers in North America and has generated over $1 billion of gross content sales to date. Motricity now powers 5 of the top 6 carrier “start screens” with its mobile portal product which will support billions of page views this year alone. The transaction enhances Motricity’s FuelTM platform, which is a unified suite of solutions that includes content storefront, portal, search, community and messaging services. In addition, it expands Motricity’s international presence by adding offices in the U.K., Paris, and the Netherlands and leading customers throughout Europe including Virgin UK, KPN and Vodafone.

Experts are saying the company is in preparation to go public at near future and such consolidation of their core business in terms of more mobile content, more carriers signed up, more revenues and the reach is perhaps the key towards that direction.

More about InfoSpace Inc.

InfoSpace, Inc. [NASDAQ:INSP] s a developer of tools and technologies that assist consumers with finding content and information on the Internet or mobile phone. The Company uses its technology, including metasearch, to power its own branded Websites and provide private-label online search and directory services to distribution partners. In addition, its mobile applications provide programming and sales opportunities to the Company’s mobile carrier partners, while providing consumers with relevant mobile functionality and mobile media content, including ringtones, graphics and games. The Company operates through two units: Online, which comprises the Company’s search and directory properties, as well as its private label distribution service, and Mobile services, including portal, storefront, messaging and mobile search. InfoSpace maintains facilities in the Los Angeles, California; Westborough, Massachusetts; Woking and Eastleigh, United Kingdom, and Papendrecht, The Netherlands.

Our mission is to make the discovery of information faster, easier, and more relevant. We’ve been doing it for over 10 years. Now, with more than 100 distribution partners and proven relationships with Google, Yahoo!, Ask, and Windows Live Search, InfoSpace is uniquely equipped to be a leader in the rapidly growing Internet search market. In fact, the recent sale of our Mobile and Directory divisions has solidified our focus and leadership solely in the online space.

Better Results with Metasearch Technology
By delivering best-of-the-best results from the Internet’s top search engines, our metasearch technology separates us from competitors and provides an experience that users prefer. Research backs it up.

For the second consecutive year, our leading metasearch site, Dogpile, has been awarded “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Internet Users with Primary Search Engines/Functions.” And when users are presented with more meaningful information, they’re more likely to click a result—which leads to increased revenue for advertisers and listings partners.

We have established offerings in two different areas:

Consumer Products
Our four branded search sites include our flagship metasearch engine, Dogpile, as well as MetaCrawler, WebCrawler, and WebFetch.

Our metasearch technology delivers end users the most relevant results on the Web by searching more than 12 of the top search engines, including Google, Yahoo!, Ask, Windows Live Search, and more.

Business Solutions
We provide customized metasearch solutions, downloadable toolbars, and portal services for destination sites, Internet service providers, and international news organizations.

Our private-label solutions help partners quickly and cost-effectively tap into the profit potential of search and online local advertising by providing search capabilities and services under their own brand.

More about Motricity

Motricity is a leading provider of mobile content services and solutions that enable consumers to receive the right content at the right time, every time. The company’s offerings span the content delivery chain, enabling compelling end user experiences and delivering profitable and reliable mobile content offerings for mobile operators, media and entertainment companies, mobile specialists and more. Motricity’s customers include 11 of the top 13 carriers in North America and 20 of the top television networks with marquee partners such as MTV, BET, Turner, AT&T, Alltel, Bell Mobility and others. Products and services range from mobile portals and storefronts to messaging aggregation with access to more than 200 million mobile subscribers.

Motricity now emerges as the only company with proven and scalable offerings across multiple key mobile content solution categories, including: storefronts, search, managed-web, portals, messaging, content aggregation, marketing campaign management and community solutions. By offering these world-class services, Motricity is able to create compelling user experiences and deliver profitable mobile content services to companies seeking to leverage the emerging mobile channel, interact with consumers and build brand loyalty.

In addition, Motricity operates a network of consumer Web sites that offer applications for mobile devices, including: eReader.com, PalmGear.com, Pocketgear.com, Smartphone.net, SymbianGear.com and Mobile2day.de, and powers similar web sites for customers such as the Sony Ericsson application shop, the Palm Software Connection and the PalmSource shop.

The company is headquartered in Durham, N.C., with offices in Bellevue, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Munich and the Netherlands.

Motricity was formed in 2001 by Ryan Wuerch and has since become a leading provider of mobile content services and solutions.

In 2001, Wuerch founded Nashville, Tennessee-based PowerByHand, which would soon become the leading global provider of information, entertainment and education content for handheld and mobile devices. PowerByHand acquired a number of leading commercial Internet sites, including PalmGear.com in October 2002, eReader.com in September 2003 and PocketGear.com and Smartphone.net in March 2004.

In April, 2004, PowerByHand merged with Pinpoint Networks, a provider of software and services for the management and delivery of mobile data services, based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The new company combined PowerByHand’s consumer reach and strong content and developer partnerships with Pinpoint’s carrier-grade technology and international wireless carrier experience, creating the market leader for integrated mobile content solutions.

In October, 2004, the company changed its name to Motricity and announced the acquisition of European mobile content portal Mobile2Day.de. The Mobile2Day.de acquisition complemented Motricity’s content base of more than 60,000 applications by adding an additional 6,000 Symbian applications and localized cross-platform content for the European market while expanding our network of online mobile content storefronts. Throughout 2005, Motricity generated tremendous momentum and excitement, announcing a number of major customer and financial wins while also expanding globally and successfully entering new markets. In October 2004, Motricity closed $27 million in venture funding led by Silicon Valley-based Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV).

In July, 2005, Motricity closed its second major private funding round by collecting $30 million from Chicago-based Advanced Equities Inc., as well as such existing investors as Technology Crossover Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Intel Capital.

In August, 2005, Motricity announced the acquisition of M7 Networks, the leading provider of advanced wireless services that connect wireless operators, content providers and end users around mobile content based communities, such as games and music. This acquisition strengthened Motricity’s mission to accelerate the adoption of mobile content worldwide.

In April, 2006, Motricity secured its third major round of funding of $40 million to fuel the company’s aggressive expansion in the mobile content industry. This third round was led by Advanced Equities Inc. with participation from other existing investors including New Enterprise Associates and Technology Crossover Ventures.

In July, 2006, Motricity announced the acquisition of GoldPocket Wireless, the leading provider of mobile technology solutions for media and entertainment companies. GoldPocket extended Motricity’s content distribution capabilities and enhances Motricity’s award-winning Fuel™ platform with a distribution gateway that connects more than 200 million subscribers and a mobile marketing campaign manager that has been chosen by over 20 television networks and 45 media companies to power large scale interactive campaigns with real-time requirements. The deal gave Motricity an unmatched customer footprint and positions the company as the leading provider of on-deck and off-deck solutions for mobile operators and media & entertainment companies.

In August, 2006, Motricity received an additional $32 million in funding, led by Advanced Equities Inc. with participation from other existing investors. In February 2007, Motricity received $50 million in equity funding from Carl Icahn. This brings the company’s total funding to over $200 million.

In December, 2007, the company acquired the Seattle-based mobile services business unit of InfoSpace, Inc. (NASDAQ: INSP), a leading developer of mobile technologies and infrastructure services and raised more than $180 million to complete the all cash transaction.

The acquisition expands Motricity’s customer base to include 11 of the top 13 carriers in North America including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, Bell Mobility, Tracfone and Alltel. Motricity’s managed service infrastructure powers storefronts and communities for 9 of the top 13 carriers in North America and has generated over $1 billion of gross content sales to date. Motricity powers 5 of the top 6 carrier “start screens” with its mobile portal product which will support billions of page views this year alone. The transaction enhances Motricity’s FuelTM platform, which is a unified suite of solutions that includes content storefront, portal, search, community and messaging services. In addition, it expands Motricity’s international presence by adding leading customers throughout Europe including Virgin UK, KPN and Vodafone.

Motricity has received numerous awards and constant recognition honoring the commitment and leadership that the company continues to exhibit, including:

  • 2007 North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) Private Company of the Year
  • 2006 GSM Association Award for Best Service Delivery Platform
  • 2006 Mobile Entertainment’s Award for Best Content Service Delivery Platform
  • 2005 Frost & Sullivan Award for Premium Mobile Content Platform of the Year
  • 2005 Red Herring 100 Private Companies of North America

Today, Motricity has the support of strong institutional and strategic investors and the industry’s leading customers, including CBS, Turner, CNN, Fox, the NBA, AT&T, Sprint, Alltel, Virgin Mobile, Leap, Mobilcom, BET, Palm and Sony Ericsson.

More

http://motricity.com/
http://www.motricity.com/press/releases.php?rID=07_1228_motricity
http://www.infospaceinc.com/
http://mashable.com/2007/10/15/motricity-infospace/
http://searchengineland.com/071015-132510.php
http://www.idearc.com/
http://searchengineland.com/070917-073055.php
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:INSP
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/02/06/afx4622765.html
http://moneycentral.msn.com/inc/news/providerredir.asp?feed=AP&date=20080206&id=8148999
http://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/fullDescription.asp?rpc=66&symbol=INSP.O
http://www.advancedequities.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Icahn