Camera Phone Usage On the Rise

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Almost two-thirds of the adults in the 18-to-30 age group use their cell phones at least once a week for taking pictures, according to a survey conducted of more than 2,000 adults in May and June by online cellular retailer Wirefly.com.

“Camera phones are taking over, and it’s being driven by young adults” said Scott Ableman, Wirefly’s senior VP of marketing. “High-quality cell phone cameras haven’t been around that long, yet nearly one in five cellphone buyers tell us that their cellphone is their primary camera.”

“Sharing and social media are the drivers” of cameraphone use by young adults, he continued. “Fifty-eight percent of adults age 18-30 tell us they use their camera phones to document nightlife, and one in five say they’ve published cameraphone pictures to a social Website or blog. It’s a more spontaneous kind of photography that’s perfectly suited for the cellphone, and as more low-priced and free phones come with quality cameras and high-speed internet connections, all barriers have been removed.”

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2 Days Until 3G iPhone

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Friday morning the new 3G iPhone will be available. I know a number of people who are planning on getting one and I’m thinking about it myself, since my Nokia N75 recently died (more on that situation in a later post).

In any event, a few influential folks have provided reviews of the new device that you should read if you are considering a purchase.

1. Edward Baig of USA Today: “Apple’s new iPhone 3G: Still not perfect, but really close”

2. David Pogue of The New York Times: “For iPhone, the ‘New’ Is Relative”

3. Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal: “Newer, Faster, Cheaper iPhone 3G”

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MobileDeluxe Launches

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Mobile entertainment publisher GOSUB 60 announced the launch of MobileDeluxe.com, a website dedicated to premium mobile game content.

MobileDeluxe.com includes a free trial feature that allows players to demo certain games on their phone prior to purchase. An industry first, each game purchase is accompanied with the Mobi-D Guarantee - giving players a 100% refund up-to 23 days from game purchase if not fully satisfied with their GS60 mobile game.

“Each new venture and decision at GS60 aims to accelerate mass market adoption for mobile games,” said Josh Hartwell, CEO of GS60. “In developing a direct-to-consumer brand, we wanted a name that stemmed from our most successful properties - Solitaire Deluxe and Sudoku Deluxe. MobileDeluxe.com resonates with consumers familiar with our most popular game titles, fulfills our commitment to quality and provides a clear path to purchase, creating a positive experience that drives consumers back to make additional purchases.”

MobileDeluxe.com offers high quality GS60 games and supports downloads for most Java carriers in the U.S. including AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Consumers with BREW carriers such as Verizon and Alltel can also browse the growing catalog for details and features of GS60 games and make a purchase on the carrier deck. For a monthly subscription, games are priced at $2.99. For unlimited access, games are $6.99.

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iPhone App Store - Already Big Numbers

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Its July 10th, one day before the official release of iPhone 2.0 software, which includes the iPhone App Store. This allows all the rest of the world to build and sell applications for the iPhone. Anticipation is high for this iPhone junkie.

Big numbers already for games:
6 of the top 10 applications are games, and 10 of the top 20. Keep in mind, the only downloads so far are from application developers who got the early copy of the new iPhone software.

But there must be a lot of them: over 8,000 copies of the number one application, Super Monkey Ball, were downloaded by 4pm PST today. At $10 USD, that is $80,000 in revenue in one day for one game (again, only application developers downloading at this point, and still 8 hours left in the day). That is a great day for Sega (Sega Mobile recently signed on with Movaya to sell off-deck), congrats to them for jumping out of the gate here.

Off-Deck is here for games:
Certainly the iPhone store using iTunes as a distribution channel is unique, and no other OEM of phones (Nokia, Samsung, LG, Moto, Sony, etc…) has this type of connection to consumers. So, on the one hand you could look at this and say that Apple is a de facto carrier and this may not represent true off-deck selling. On the other you could say Apple has now proven unequivocally that there is appetite for content on phones sold thru a third-party, off-deck merchant, which Apple is, and that the carriers have nothing to do with this consumer behavior. Both are true, and we can add that as a case study of off-deck sales, this is not definitive. Throw in the fact that it only covers one carrier, iTunes has an established user base and the actual applications are side-loaded (loaded onto the iPhone only when tethered to the computer), and it truly represents a unique marketplace.

But, for those of us living and breathing on the emergence of an off-deck mobile gaming marketplace soon, there are some great signs of life here. For one, its obvious a segment of consumers WANT (not just need) applications on their hand held device, and not just any application, but GAMES. If Steve Jobs is correct, Apple will have top line revenue of 1 billion in the first year, and based on my loose math, 300-400 million of that will go towards games, if not more. And that is for one phone for one carrier. Those are some good numbers.

Most importantly, though, it perfectly illustrates that if you give the people a kick ass device and an easy way to download well developed games, they will download them. Now, lets see how the OEMs of the other 99.5% of the handheld market respond.

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BlackBerry 9500 Thunder - Media Player in Aktion

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

Wirklich sehr beeindruckend finde ich die neuen Bilder, die nun vom Media Player des BlackBerry 9500 aka. Thunder aufgetaucht sind. Während der MP3-Modus stark an den des iPhones erinnert, zeigt sich der Video-Player von einer anderen Seite. Diese sieht verdammt gut aus wie ich finde. Mal sehn was das neue BlackBerry OS 4.7 noch zu bieten hat.

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