YOC has spun its mobile advertising product group off into an independent unit, YOC Mobile Advertising GmbH.

According to YOC, the main reasons for the spin off are not only the high growth of the mobile advertising operations within the YOC Group but also the general increase in the importance of mobile advertising. By spinning off the Mobile Advertising Unit, YOC says it can in future respond even more purposefully to its customers' requirements and clearly demonstrate the independence of the mobile advertising operations. Dirk Kraus, CEO of YOC AG, is assuming the position of director of YOC Mobile Advertising GmbH, which is based in Berlin.

"Only two years after the mobile advertising product group was launched, its sales and staff have already grown to such an extent to take this step," said YOC CEO Dirk Kraus. "Establishment of the first independent mobile marketing company distinguishes us clearly from other market players, while we are at the same time making a definite distinction between classic mobile marketing and YOC AG's marketing business."

With mobile advertising operations growing, YOC says it possesses the largest independent marketing network in the European arena. In the last few months, YOC has added well-known companies to its Publisher-Portfolio. In Germany, YOC markets a total of 72 exclusive partners, including the ProSieben Group, the Handelsblatt publishing group, wetter.com and MTV. The number at the European level is said to be around 140, including well-known Austrian publishers like krone.at or news.at, British publishers like The Sun, The Independent and Haymarket Media Group and now Spanish publications such as ELPAÌS.COM, SPORT.es, TELVA and elmundo.es, following last week's takeover of Mobile Interactive Advertising Media, S.L.

Shipments of open source Symbian handsets are expected to more than double over the next five years, a new report from Juniper Research has found.   However, Juniper says that the platform faces strong competition in a smartphone marketplace which is increasingly targeting consumers and "prosumers" as well as corporate customers, with the result that its overall market share will remain virtually unchanged over that period.

The Open Source OS report found that Symbian handset shipments were likely to reach 180 million by 2014, up from 87 milion: this, allied to a steady increase in Android and LiMo shipments, will push the total open source handset market beyond 220 million by that time. 

The Juniper Research report is said to have observed that while the developments by the LiMo Foundation, OHA and the Symbian foundation may suggest that the entire market is migrating towards open-source OS, Apple's hugely popular iPhone product is in fact based on a proprietary operating system. RIM (Research in Motion) Microsoft and Palm also utilise proprietary operating systems in their respective smartphone products.  However, with over 60% of the smartphone market now using an open-source OS, there has still been a significant a shift in position from proprietary to open-source.

The report found that the move to open source OS has encouraged developers to design new and attractive applications, providing a massive opportunity for innovation in the mobile telecoms industry.  However, with a sharp growth in handset shipments over the next five years together with somewhat more modest increases of handsets shipped with Windows Mobile and Blackberry platforms, the race is on for a growing share of the future smartphones OS market.

Other findings in the Open Source OS report include:

• Smartphones shipped with open source OS will increase from 106 million this year to 223 million by 2014
• Choice of OS is now critical and market share will, to a large extent, follow application development

Volantis Systems has announced that mobile operator, Telenor, has deployed Volantis Mobile Content Storefront, a platform for mobile operators and global brands, to consolidate its content delivery portals across Norway and Denmark.

Using Volantis Mobile Content Storefront, Telenor centralized its portal services infrastructure and deployed a single portal to deliver support for the launch of new products and promotions. By combining its fragmented infrastructure from three portals into one, Volantis says that Telenor was able to increase business agility and drive higher data usage. With a single, consolidated platform, Telenor can lower its cost of operations, launch new services more rapidly, consolidate subscriber behavior data, improve market analysis and plan campaigns more efficiently, in order to drive higher revenue, claims Volantis.
 
Telenor had already been using Volantis Mobile Content Framework for a number of years. Through the addition of Volantis Storefront, Telenor plans to deliver a full range of media content that is tailored to subscribers' individual interests, and which adapts automatically to the ever-increasing variety of mobile handsets available today. Storefront allows Telenor to integrate new third party content services more efficiently; consumers will be able to quickly and easily find and purchase new data services using personalization features and social media. At the same time, business users will gain greater control over portal operations, which will help speed new offerings to market while reinforcing the Telenor brand. In future, Telenor will also be using Volantis Storefront to consolidate its portal infrastructure in other regions.
 
"As one of the world's largest mobile operators, Telenor is well known for its leadership in data services and innovative research and development," said Mark Watson, CEO of Volantis Systems. "With Volantis Storefront, Telenor can manage and improve the mobile user experience across multiple channels, while making it easier for subscribers to find new services, both of which are key factors in mobile service adoption."

The Mobile Marketing Association today published the latest version of its Global Mobile Advertising Guidelines. The updated guidelines, produced by MMA member companies and participants in the MMA Mobile Advertising Committee globally, are said to focus on 'new advertising units and specifications as innovation continues throughout the industry'.

The MMA's Global Mobile Advertising Guidelines are said to provide the global formats, guidelines and best practices necessary to implement mobile advertising initiatives in a variety of mobile media channels, including web, messaging, downloadable applications and video. The guidelines are designed to encourage the uptake of mobile advertising and marketing worldwide by creating a simplified framework for brands and agencies to deliver mobile advertising in a consistent way.

Key revisions of the Guidelines include:

– Global requirements for Mobile Application ad units
– New advertising units and definitions across channels
– New length requirements for Mobile Video & TV ad units
– Recommended future mobile web banner ad requirements

Released every 6 months, the guidelines process ensures that the recommendations are continually updated and reflective of global best practices and industry feedback. The MMA has published regional ad guidelines since 2005, globalising them in April 2008. 

"The updated guidelines reinforce the MMA's longstanding pledge to provide its members and the wider industry with reliable standards and increased awareness of mobile advertising globally. MMA's Global Mobile Advertising Guidelines will serve to simplify the deployment of mobile advertising campaigns whilst increasing their effectiveness," said Mike Wehrs, MMA President and CEO. "The globalization of the mobile applications specifications in the latest edition of the guidelines is particularly important for the constantly growing and evolving mobile marketing industry to address."

Hutchison 3G Austria is modernizing its radio access network to be ready for HSPA+ and LTE. At the same time, says the company, the move will allow the operator to halve the energy consumption of its base stations. Nokia Siemens Networks will undertake this upgrade starting in autumn 2009.

"The demand for increased mobile broadband capacity and throughput in Austria is reflected in the increasing usage of data cards and mobile services like Mobile TV, video download or video sharing," said Berthold Thoma, CEO of Hutchison 3G Austria. "Mobile broadband is also one of the most pragmatic solutions to bridging the digital gap between cities and rural areas. For rural areas, mobile broadband coverage is simply less expensive and faster to deploy than "fiber to the home" solutions. We hope that with our nationwide coverage we will contribute significantly to this end."

Hutchison 3G Austria has a clear rollout plan for upgrading its network – already covering 94% of the Austrian population with HSDPA – to the latest technologies and hence delivering new multimedia services to its subscribers. With Nokia Siemens Networks as its services and technology partner, the operator's network will be ready for download data rates of 21 Mbps (High-Speed Packet Access, HSPA+) in early 2010. As of 2011 the network can be upgraded to Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, offering 'theoretical' data rates as high as 100Mbps or more.

Under the scope of the deal, Nokia Siemens Networks will upgrade the network which will bring the benefits of HSPA+ and later LTE including high speeds and lower latency, by means of 'simple' software upgrades. Nokia Siemens Networks will also enhance mobile backhaul for Hutchison 3G, and provide it with NetAct network management system for efficient operation of the network. With the upgrade it is claimed that Hutchison 3G will also enjoy significant cost savings, as the network will consume 50% less energy than traditional networks.

"Together with Hutchison 3G Austria, we will bring the latest mobile broadband technology to the country. With this, we hope to usher in a new era in connectivity," said Dietmar Appeltauer, Head of Central East Europe at Nokia Siemens Networks. "We have shared a strong working relationship with Hutchison 3G Austria since 2002 and with this deal we are glad to bring the new HSPA+ and LTE technologies to Austria."

Huawei has today announced that it has successfully completed the largest-ever live network upgrade in Germany for Telefónica O2 Germany.  

Under the agreement, Huawei will also deliver an additional 3,000 base stations to O2 in Germany as part of its network expansion. The operator has chosen to deploy Huawei's SingleRAN solution for a GSM/UMTS converged network in the southern region of Germany, covering major cities such as Munich and Stuttgart.

"It's a great achievement. 494 days after signing the contract we reached the most important milestone with the biggest swap project in the O2 history," said Mr. Manfred Kickartz, vice president of Network Region South of Telefónica O2 Germany.  "That was fantastic teamwork. Thank you all for that absolutely extraordinary performance."

"The successful completion of Germany's largest ever network upgrade reflects our strong capability in delivery," said Mr. Walter Haas, CTO Huawei Germany. "Our advanced SingleRAN solution enables the operator to simplify the radio access network unifying both GSM and UMTS functionalities. This state-of-the-art network will be significantly enhanced in coverage quality and able to meet the operator's demands for increased data traffic."

As part of its All-IP convergence strategy, Huawei's SingleRAN solution enables operators to achieve full convergence of multi-mode wireless networks, including base stations, base station controllers, sites and operation as well as maintenance management.

Accumulate UK, a company providing pricing solutions for mobile retailers, today announced its global licensing deal with Sony Ericsson for the use of its Flexion technology.

It is the first handset manufacturer to preload mobile games with Flexion on its new handsets following the success of operators such as Hutchison 3G UK.

Previously, preloaded games were considered a perk for users; now it is a necessity and part of any handset makeup. In the past, handset manufacturers paid publishers sizeable licence fees to preload full versions of the best games onto devices and Flexion is said to turn this cost into a tangible revenue stream.

In addition, preloaded games wrapped with Flexion technology promote similar games by the publishers, which encourage further trials that will eventually turn into new sales.  This is what Accumulate calls ‘on-device retailing.'

Accumulate's MD Jens Lauritzson adds: ‘We are delighted that Sony Ericsson has taken this step together with us. We have been preloading Flexion enabled games with operators for a while now with very good results. With the help of Sony Ericsson we will extend our reach significantly.'

The first Sony Ericsson device to be shipped with Flexion technology will be its Yari device expected later this year.

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), the UK integrated mobile and digital communications group, says it has continued to experience exceptional growth, with a revenue increase of 74%, from £39m to £68m in the year to 30th April 2009.

Barry Houlihan, CEO and Founder, MIG commented "Our unique corporate structure and service offering ensures we continue to see increased demand for our mobile and digital technology, products and services across the group companies. Despite the recession, MIG has significantly grown its customer base, year on year, along with several major new contract wins."

"In 2009, we expect to see continued growth from our core group businesses and will be making further new customer announcements in the very near future. In addition, we plan to announce the launch of numerous new products and technologies, as well as new businesses that will continue to position MIG at the forefront of mobile and digital technological advancement."

"MIG has traditionally been seen as a UK based business" continues Houlihan, "but 2009 will see our group companies expanding into new markets globally. We will continue to grow our business, as we always have done, organically, and by working with new and existing customers in these new territories."

Businesses within Mobile Interactive Group include M-commerce, Messaging Solutions and Interactive Platforms business, Mobile Interactive Technology; Mobile Internet Publishing business, Kilrush; Digital Technology Agency, Jigsaw; Mobile Advertising Agency 4th Screen Advertising and Live Experience Technology agency New Toy.

Examples of new MIG customers over the past 12 months include:

• O2: O2 contracted with Mobile Interactive Technology and its MIDAS platform to power O2 Alerts services to their 18million UK customer base
• Orange: For the bespoke build of an ‘Instant Win' platform to power Orange UK's ‘Bright Top Ups' programme aimed at the Pay As You Go market
• Vodafone: For utilising the Kilrush platform to enable customers using Vodafone Live to create a fully personalised and tailored mobile internet experience called Vodafone ‘My Page'
• ITV: For mobile internet platform Kilrush to provide proprietary publishing technology to enable ITV.com's production team to update their mobile internet sites on a daily basis
• Walkers: For delivering cross platform digital solutions encompassing online, SMS, WAP, email, social media such as Facebook, and bespoke app builds, to deliver a fully integrated offering for Walkers Do us a Flavour, Win a Packet campaign by our digital technology agency Jigsaw
• Barclaycard: For the first financial services brand to utilise 4th Screen Advertising's iSlide, an expandable new rich media advertising format built specifically to target the 40 million iPhone and iPod touch consumers globally
• COI: For creating a ground breaking viral mobile application for The Home Office's ‘It's Doesn't Have to Happen' anti-knife crime campaign called ‘Pocket Beatz'
• Comic Relief: To enable the UK population to make £1 and £5 donations directly to the charity via mobile, powered by Mobile Interactive Technology's MIDAS platform which delivered 4.75 million mobile interactions, generating £7.8million for Comic Relief and setting a new world record