—Hipcricket: The company has hired Doug Stovall as SVP of sales. Most recently he worked with Acuty Mobile’s sales and business development teams and was part of the exec team that sold the company to NAVTEQ (NYSE: NVT) in 2009.
—GoldSpot Media: Bruce Braun is joining as SVP of sales and marketing. The former Hyperfactory CEO will now be responsible for growing relationships with publishers, app developers and carriers.
» Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps updates its Droid app to allow pinch-to-zoom. [Engadget]
» Ever wish your iPhone could be your personal assistant? There’s an app for that. And it works. [VentureBeat]
» NYC names winners of its BigApps contest, some of which include transportation and public school info apps. [Bits]
» AT&T (NYSE: T) launches FamilyMap app with interactive maps, scheduling checks and messaging features. [Release]
6 Feb
At last week’s iPad event, you could hear the audience let out a collective sigh after Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) confirmed the 3G version of the tablet would be running on AT&T’s network.
Now, it is starting to appear that AT&T (NYSE: T) will keep its hold on the iPhone for the next 12 to 18 months, rather than it ending in mid-2010—as previously assumed, GigaOm reports. The new timeline was outlined in a note issued by Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst with Credit Suisse. He writes: “We believe there is a 75 percent probability that AT&T keeps exclusivity in 2010.”
Chaplin said he arrived at this conclusion based on two things: There’s no compelling evidence that it does end in 2010, and if it did, AT&T can continue to pay generous incentives to maintain the exclusivity.
While those don’t reasons don’t offer hard evidence either, Chaplin also surmises that if AT&T is granted the additional exclusivity period, it will have enough time to solve its network problems, so that when it does expire, there won’t be a mass exodus of consumers.
But there’s other reasons why their won’t be a mass exodus. Future carriers that will offer the phone may charge higher data rates, and consumers won’t necessarily be able to take their iPhone from one network to another. For example, if you look at the UK, where nearly all of the carriers are now selling the iPhone, not a lot has changed since O2’s exclusivity expired in November.
As I wrote previously, once the iPhone became widely available in the UK, there were two noticeable trends: First, increased competition did not translate into lower prices. In fact, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), which will start offering the iPhone next year, is charging more over the life of a contract than any other UK operator. And, second, the competition has not led to better network coverage. Similar to AT&T, O2’s iPhone users have suffered from many network meltdowns, including one as recently as this weekend in which users had absolutely no data service.
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A company that has built—and is already publicizing—a BBC iPlayer app for the iPhone may get stalled at the gates by the BBC, we have learned.
If it goes live, the Rewat.ch app, from Manchester-based developers Camiloo, would be the first iPlayer app for iPhones on the market, according to the BBC. But the BBC may have none of it: “Camiloo is not a licensed distributor of BBC content online or on mobile. The BBC routinely looks for unauthorised usage of our brand across all platforms and when we encounter it we work to resolve the issue,” a spokesperson told paidContent:UK. She would not comment further on whether this means it would bar the app. Rewat.ch would sell for £1.19 but would otherwise be free to use.
Rewat.ch, which is in Apple’s approval stage as Camiloo waits for the BBC to give the go-ahead, points to wider questions on BBC content syndication. Mark Newby, Camiloo’s MD, tells us that it is using publicly accessed RSS feeds of iPlayer content, taken from the BBC’s mobile site, and therefore is not doing anything illicit in its app. But last year, IP Vision got banned from putting its own implementation of the iPlayer into its set-top boxes for its Fetch TV IPTV service.The BBC “provided reasonable arguments as to why implementing a self-build iPlayer for IP Vision could have jeopardised both value for money and the BBC’s brand,” the BBC Trust concluded at the time.
Yet there are already apps in the iTunes store that are sourcing BBC content, but are not official BBC apps. This would argue for Re.wind making its way to the store, too.
The BBC has developed a number of mobile-friendly websites for its services, and it provides an iPlayer widget for selected Nokia devices. And there are niche sites on the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) store for certain products such as its Good Food magazine and site, and Lonely Planet travel guides. These are produced by the BBC’s commercial division, BBC Worldwide. But it has not launched any Apple apps for the bulk of its content.
It’s not quite clear why BBC hasn’t done more on iPhones: some believe that the BBC’s delay on apps is down to Apple’s own T&C’s; others believe it is because of the BBC’s own license terms. The BBC will not comment on the speculation but tells us this: “We are always keen to make our content available to as many people on as many platforms as possible. We are in continuous discussions with a number of manufacturers with the hope of making our services available via their platforms in the future.”
Newby says that Rewat.ch offers a better experience over the iPlayer site that users can access via iPhones. The app works on a combination of 3G and WiFi, and caches content on the phone for when a person is offline. The BBC’s web version of the iPlayer requires 3G bandwidth to run its service, but this can prove to be a bandwidth hog—3UK says iPlayer can use up to 1600kbps (compared to YouTube at 300kbps) on the network. Newby says that, in fact, some mobile operators restrict usage of iPlayer as a result.
The plan would be to enhance Rewat.ch with content from the online edition of iPlayer eventually. The PC site contains more video and audio than the mobile edition, including more local affiliate coverage as well as subtitles for the hearing impaired. Newby says that this would allow Re.wind to be used on the larger iPad format as well.
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6 Feb
FLO TV is willing to spend some serious cash to make sure people are aware of mobile TV.
On Sunday, roughly 100 million people will gather in front of TVs to not only watch the Saints vs. the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, but also the commercials. This year’s line-up includes three from the Qualcomm-backed entity, featuring talent such pop singer will.i.am from the Black-Eyed Peas and CBS (NYSE: CBS) Sports Commentators Jim Nantz and James Brown.
FLO’s plan is to raise awareness for its newly launched direct-to-consumer brand, which includes selling live mobile TV to portable devices and to screens in automobiles. The three slots will last for a total of two minutes. With Super Bowl ads estimated to cost roughly $2.5 million for 30 seconds, that could be an investment of nearly $10 million. It’s a pretty bold move for a company that only launched its first consumer product late last year. Jayne Hancock, FLO’s VP of Marketing told mocoNews: “Certainly over the last four months, consumer awareness has been elevated significantly, but it is still low for the whole category and our brand. We will be doing some heavy lifting to meet both of those challenges.”
The first ad will run about an hour before kick-off. Called “Driven Crazy,” it focuses on the in-car TV systems. It features CBS Sports Commentator James Brown, who introduces a family on a road trip to the service, when things just seem to be at the breaking point.
The second commercial, called “Injury report,” features CBS Commentator Jim Nantz, who offers a play-by-play of a man and woman on a shopping spree, where the guy is being forced to miss a game to shop for bras. The irony in this case is that FLO TV could not help because it doesn’t have the rights to the Super Bowl. Despite FLO’s close ties to CBS, it did not obtain the rights to the game. Hancock acknowledged that although they don’t have the rights to the Super Bowl, FLO does have access to more than 3,000 hours of sports. “We are selling a product like everyone else and are getting in front of 100 million viewers,” she added.
The third commercial, Hancock said, is more emotional. Will.i.am will be remaking the Who’s hit song “My Generation.” The song is accompanied by images of some of the biggest news events in people’s lives that are typically watched on TV, Hancock said. The idea is that with FLO TV, you won’t ever have to miss the big moments in life again. In this case, the commercial has an additional tie to the Super Bowl because the Who is performing at half-time.
While advertising during the Super Bowl has been a mixed bag, and many brands have never being heard from again, Hancock says it will be just the beginning for FLO in 2010. “This is the first time there’s been a commercial from the mobile TV category during the Super Bowl…There is the responsibility to sustain that.” She said the 2010 media plan will include support from their content partners, service providers, and retailers, like Best Buy, Radio Shack and soon Target.
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