The infamous guys at the Late Night Players have done it again, combining the wonderful world of mobile technology with their zany comedy stylings, but this time, in conjunction with Mozes.com, I think they invented one of the most cleverest text messaging ideas to date, the idea of texting your own adventure. And they have launched the concept with an amazingly funny Spiderman video which can be seen bellow and here. It is, in my book, the first interactive video of its kind.
From a marketing perspective its a whole convergence of new media tools brining together web 2.0, mobile 2.0 and an extremely viral like humor and sensitivity. The people behind the marketing team for the new Spiderman movie can only wish they had the balls to think of this.
Watch it, make sure you check out all the endings and use the technology! (I like the “wins” ending the end of the “evil” ending).
MobiTV, a well known player in TV content on the go, boasts over 2 million subscribers and has recently extended its deal with NBC Universal to sell programs of its primetime shows as on-demand downloads, as well as launching some new channels.
There are a few things that make me hesitant with mobile TV:
1.While on the go, who has time to watch an entire episode? As Bruce Renny, marketing director of ROK, points out:
“The mobile viewer watches TV for three to four minutes at a time, and that is due largely to the lack of opportunity to watch for any more time than that,†he said.“They get distracted because they have to get on or off the bus or something, so it is massive hubris by the telcos to think that people will pay a subscription fee for full-length TV,†Mr. Renny added.
However, I do want to point out, I can see a use for this if you are traveling one day and have some time to kill in an airport… but the success of this concept cannot be contingent on bored travelers.
Do people have enough patience for the upload? We all know mobile downloads are painful in the US.
Are mobile users willing to pay for TV when it’s free through other mediums? And to follow that up, why use this over iTunes?
Finally, do we have the phones who can handle this? I know on my Q, watching a 30 minute episode would leave me with about 5 minutes of battery charge.
Paying $1.99, waiting 10 minutes for it to download, and running the risk of using up all of my battery life and having a dead phone for the rest of the day does not seem so appealing to me. Maybe when those thee things are adjusted I will drink the kool-aid.
MobileActive has a great article on a new mobile-to-Internet video communication service called Veeker and their debut of their mobile phone as a video capture and communication device during this year’s U.S. election.
Veekers “Veek The Vote” received over 750 mobile video messages from Americans using the video camera in a mobile phone to show the world where they stood on Election Day (thats a lot compared to Rock the Votes 24 submissions and Video the Votes 96). “Veek the Vote 2006†was the result of a partnership between Veeker and YouthNoise (www.youthnoise.com), the Internet’s first social network for youth dedicated to social change.
“I appreciate the work that activists from across the country, like those on VeekTheVote.com, have done to identify existing problems, and to help protect the rights that we all enjoy,” states recently re-elected U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) about Veek the Vote 2006.
Last week on the last day of CTIA I was lucky enough to get a tour of the MVNO Amp’d Mobile’s headquarters in Los Angeles and meet with some of their staff including one of Amp’d’s founders and VP of content and internet services Seth Cummings and director of content business development Brian Mullen.
The boys from Boost have come along way since leaving the company after it was sold to Nextel (and is now a part of Sprint). 2 years of direct media (sans aggregation) deals have made Ampd the test case of true mobile media.
At CTIA Amp’d had a little bit of a story to tell as well. First they announced a new 3G Hybrid pricing plan which blends the low monthly calling rates of a post-paid plan with the freedom of a pay-as-you-go plan. This is done by routing that part of the bill through a credit or debit card. This also exempts customers from the usual 18 month contract.
Amp’d also showed that they to are catching the mobile advertisement fever that Carlo talked about on Mobhappy by announcing that they will soon be working with Rhythm Media to start introducing 15-30 second non-intrusive advertisements into its widely used video content, Proctor and GamblesHerbal Essence products being the first (as well as their first wireless campaign). Thats a pretty big deal for Ampd and their 50,000 subscribers.
Ampd also announced that they are teaming up with Telis to create Amp’d Canada which will have unique programing that I guess caters to Canadians, like Moose watching… just kidding… I love Canada.
First off, I have to get out the way that their LA HQ’s was a real thrill to visit… especially for a fan of the hit TV series 24. You see, Ampd’s office space was at one time the set for CTU (Counter Terrorism Unit) for season one of 24. And they kept some of that fully intact, including the metallic staircases and Jack Bauer’s elevated glass office (which Amp’d now uses as a meeting room to plan their next line of mobile media attack). The exciting hustle and bustle atmosphere of CTU was still evident in the work day of Ampd employees. More pictures of Ampd (CTU season one) can be seen here.
You may ask how I was able to get a tour of Ampd’s CTU Headquarters. Well, Ampd Mobile got my attention only a few weeks before CTU when they sent me a pre-release teaser about a new show that they are showing on their Ampd networks called “Lil Bush” a satire cartoon which follows the misadventures of Lil’ George Bush and his precocious pals Lil’ Condi, Lil’ Rummy and the unintelligible, foulmouthed wisecracker Lil’ Cheney. Evidently, without knowing, they sent it to the right guy being that one of my main interests involving mobile technology is its relation and potential impact with politics. I blogged about it over at my blog on the Personal Democracy Forum almost immediately. Not having an Ampd phone I had to wait to see it on YouTube but it was the fact that this show was EXCLUSIVELY made for Ampd that stuck in my mind and got me thinking… “This is really good… and Ampd got this written for them… there is more to Ampd then I thought.”
It was then, by chance, that I bumped into the people promoting the Lil Bush cartoon for Ampd at a CTIA after party and my enthusiasm to learn more turned into an actual experience.
Ampd’s pricing plan is not the only thing thats hybrid. Amp’d is entirely about doing things in house and sports their own personalized studio, editing room and an Ampd Mobile Live van which can edit material live from events such as the SuperCross Series or comedy tours and broadcast them directly to people’s Ampd handsets. This brings up the phrase “Wanna see it live, get an Ampd phone,” which I heard used time and time again. Its really pretty sick. The Ampd’s broadcast vehicle even allows them to create unique and live voice-tones and wallpaper ON THE FLY. Allowing them to catch and market coolness wherever they are!
You really have to think of them less as an MVNO and more like a Mobile Media machine. They are a cell phone service and television studio all rolled up into one. “We like the fact that we can be entirely self sufficient when it comes exclusive Ampd content,” Mullen tells me. “It means something to us to have it in our own studio’s like this.” And it working… 27 percent of the mobile content viewed on Ampd is Ampd exclusive and that number is growing.
I was sat down and showed some of them and I have to say they are pretty damn cool. Besides the Lil Bush episodes shown to me, (especially a sneak peak of an upcoming one which knocked me off my chair laughing) I especially enjoyed another show entitled the Z List which follows Nevada’s “greatest” lounge lizard and casino performers (a great idea) and another show titled “Bush: Stinky or Sweet” in which people on the street where asked to talk to a cardboard cut-out of the President and allowed to “get it off there chest” as if they were really speaking with him. It was classic political viral video at its finest and I enjoyed every second of it, even the one dark moment (you know what I mean Brian).
What I find amazing is that writers and television producers are approaching Ampd and mobile video distribution as a sandbox to prove that the “concept” works enough to expose it later on the television or film level. As television studio’s are beginning to realize that the 27 minute entertainment with commercial standard is based on an ancient code of studio mumbo jumbo that has nothing to do with the multimedia world we live in, mobile media mediums like Ampd are becoming, in their eyes, legitimate testing grounds for this viral like content. But while these shows are being proven “worthy or not” thanks to the mobile medium, they are also at the same time proving that the mobile video medium itself is a viable entity all its own. A viable entity with a BIIIG future in its midst and Amp’d, it appears, is on the cusp of this and is taking both ends of this spectrum on with full force.
Lets just put it this way and I think you will get what I am saying. The Lil Bush Cartoon that was made exclusively for Ampd is now being pursued by 5 major television networks, which is amazing news. BUT the creators of the show have agreed that even if the show gets picked up by a network there will be story lines and extra content that continue only on Ampd’s networks and handsets. So what you are getting here is an ever spiraling circle of love for Ampd. The content they create gets put on television which in turn brings people to their phones. Not a bad deal and a pretty interesting media case study that I think says a lot about the future interoperability between mobile media and its “traditional” media counter parts. “While there are people out there that are saying mobile television is slow,” Cummings tells me, “our experience with Ampd subscribers has been very different.” The content is always specialized mobile content that is filtered or programed to work and be viewed with ease on a mobile phone. For a mobile carrier their “content team” is a pretty big deal. “Ampd’s mobile television,” Cummings continues, “gets used and watched 5x more than all all the MVNO’s.”
What I think is making Ampd a successful test case here is that, unlike their other MVNO counter parts, Ampd is coming from a wireless background that goes all they way back to the Boost days. Other MVNO’s, like ESPN and Disney come from entertainment background and Helio is coming from a broadband and internet wifi background. All these MVNO’s have been, of lately, showing their roots in their product line. Completely run by wireless veterans Ampd gets what it means to make content for the wireless space from the very beginning, proving my advice to those entering the mobile space once again: get to know it better, its not the Internet, its not television its got different rules and a different sociology behind it. You can’t slap old models on it and make it work. Ampd gets that.
And they have been very public about everything, including their numbers which are now approaching 50,000 subscribers. Peter Adderton, Amp’d CEO, is urging other MVNOs like Mobile ESPN and Helio to announce their numbers as well. This is a big move by Ampd in a world that is still a little wary over the legitimacy and success rate of MVNO’s. There has been a lot of skepticism of whether the niche market of an MVNO can really compete with the carriers and drive revenue. Ampds bold move in reporting their numbers shows signs of optimism and self esteem which are key and always a good sign in my book. Confidence is key.
When it comes to the future of mobile media Ampd is definitely someone we should be keeping our eye on, they really are the first ones diving into the niche all out mobile media scene head on. Their subscribers and content are signs of the future to come and based on what they have told me regarding some of their future plans, its safe to say that Ampd has a place in that future. Things like drilled down alert reminders, bookmarking, recommendation voice search and your only personal mobile avatar VJ to help you travel the world of your device are all things that Ampd has there eye on. Not to mention talk of some new cell phones on the way.
They key here is offering things that you could not get, say on V Cast. For me, thats what things like the Ampd Live Events van is for.
The world over at Ampd is getting very exciting and I for one can now say that “I get it.” Its cool, its fly, its entertaining, its funny and cool and it can work and I like it.
Simply put, Citizen Calling is an experiment being done by the British Parliaments Home Affairs Committee which is experimenting to see whether mobile phones are a good way for people (especially young people) and their governments to interact. UK Citizens can interact via txt, video, audio, or pictures.
Just in time for the holiday weekend! “Strategery”, “nucular”, “misunderestimate”, “compassionated” – Lil’ Bushisms will soon be appearing on a small screen near you! The MVNOAmp’d Mobile is launching, “Lil’ Bush: Resident of the United States” on Amp’d Mobile handsets, Friday Sept. 1 (today). (You can also check it out on Break.com & YouTube next week.)
Think of it as syndicated Jibjab political satire like content on your phone.
I was flipping through this months off-line Wired magazine on the train and came across this funny little article in the “Posts” section p.089. Filmmaker Dan Griffin of Garthwait & Griffin Films is working on a project for Boost Mobile and Nextel called Laugh Rocket which delivers joke-if-the-day video-clips for 6 bucks a month. The jokes, however, come from everyday people like you and me and Griffin collects them by walking around public places like, say, Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco with a video camera and asking people to tell there favorite jokes.
Despite a spate of partnerships that allow telecoms to deliver big-time TV shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives, consumers aren’t exactly clamoring to watch TV on their phones. Of 207 million cell phone owners in the US, barely 3 million ever use their handset as a television. Nobody knows what the blockbuster app might be, which creates an opportunity for entrepreneurs like Griffin. “Laugh Rocket is perfect for this medium,” he says. “This is for a guy who’s, say, waiting for a flight at the airport.”
TV Guide and 4INFO announced today that they have partnered to bring TV listings direct to cell phones. Resulting from this partnership and available immediately, cell phone users will now have the ability to quickly search for channel listings, specific television programming listings, and time-based programming from any mobile phone via SMS or WAP. The service is available to all mobile phone users regardless of carrier, and will allow TV fans to easily locate air dates, times, and channels for their favorite programming while out of town, or just on the go.
The TV Guide mobile product allows viewers to look up television channels and show times based on regional or local service providers. The reply to an initial query uses 4INFO’s menu-based system to help a user select from a list of television service providers generated by the initial stated location. This location is then used as a default for subsequent searches. Once a provider has been selected, program matches are returned with air date and channel. Specific programs can be searched further to locate future air dates. For channel searches, the local channel number is displayed for a given call sign and location.
TV Guide and 4INFO announced today that they have partnered to bring TV listings direct to cell phones. Resulting from this partnership and available immediately, cell phone users will now have the ability to quickly search for channel listings, specific television programming listings, and time-based programming from any mobile phone via SMS or WAP. The service is available to all mobile phone users regardless of carrier, and will allow TV fans to easily locate air dates, times, and channels for their favorite programming while out of town, or just on the go.
The TV Guide mobile product allows viewers to look up television channels and show times based on regional or local service providers. The reply to an initial query uses 4INFO’s menu-based system to help a user select from a list of television service providers generated by the initial stated location. This location is then used as a default for subsequent searches. Once a provider has been selected, program matches are returned with air date and channel. Specific programs can be searched further to locate future air dates. For channel searches, the local channel number is displayed for a given call sign and location.
Pick up your cell phone and start shooting—your video could make it on national TV! This summer Current TV, a U.S national cable and satellite channel dedicated to bringing the peoples voice to television (founded by former Vice-President Al Gore) has launched Current Mobile a new programming that showcases video from cell phones. As an innovative twist on Current’s ‘viewer created content,’ or VC 2, Current Mobile will become a regular feature airing on Current. This makes Current (and its sponsor Sony Ericsson) the first network to regularly showcase mobile video content.
Current’s viewer created content presently makes up over 30% of the network’s broadcast, an Current’s “viewer created ad messages” (or V-CAMs) allow viewers to create ads for the major brands that sponsor the network.
So, to jumpstart the program, Current TV will offer a summer promotion called MobileVision, sponsored by Sony Ericsson, where mobile videomakers can capture moments from summer festivals, hot street fashion, rants, and other topics that will be posted on Current’s web site. The public can vote, or “greenlight,” pieces on the website. Every Thursday at 5:00pm PST through August 31, a new winning video with the most greenlights will be selected, and the producer will receive $500 and be considered for television broadcast by Current TV’s programming department. Any other upload that goes on air will earn $100 each.
Of course, in the nature of mobile video making “Current Mobile†pieces will be shorter, and capture moments rather than full stories. They will be easier to produce, requiring less editing and technical skills. For those without a videocamera, it can be the first way to start contributing video to the network.
