Xellular Identity - All About Mobile Content & Marketing

Carnival of Mobilists at Golden Swamp

Judy Breck is hosting this week's Carnival of Mobilists. Let me tell you, this is one of the Best Carnivals we've had! So go ahead, check it out. Also you're invited to comment and share your thoughts and opinions.

“Shooting People is Fine. Showing Bloody Brain Matter Splattering the Wall is Not.”

Hi everyone,

Let me introduce you to my second guest at my little "Klonies Bloggind Idol" effort to look for blogging talents in our group and get them blogging. Welcome Avner Ronen, the man who brought the Klonies to the world and he's also known as our "spiritual father" at the Avatars Group. Well, now let the genius man speak for himself :)
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the wsj had a story yesterday (subscription needed, sorry) of a preemptive move by Cingular and Verizon Wireless to prevent the FCC from starting to regulate mobile content. so in order to stop the regulator from getting involved, they came up with their own set of rules, which seem much more restrictive than what is applied to network television and broadcast radio.

Both carriers have draft policies that go into what types of content is decent enough to be accessible to their subscribers. they also list words/phrases that can not be used in ringtones. for example, according to Cingular’s new policy a ringtone can not include the following words (partial list…):

Ass - Balls - BJ - Breasts

Condom - Corn-hole - Fart - Fornicate

Fudge packing - Insemination - Laid - Lesbian

Masturbate - Naked - Nipples - Nutsack

Orgasm - Pee pee - Penis - Piss

Porn - Puberty - Ruby red bag - Scrotum

Semen - Sex - Shit - Sit on my face

Sixty-nine - Smegma - Teabagging - Testicles

Uncircumcised - Uterus

Verizon Wireless had an even more exhaustive list (with many terms i did not understand..)

it must have been interesting sitting in these meetings and debating whether to allow users to hear a ringtone that has words like “camel jockey” or “spank the monkey”. there must have been heated debates on the merits of each phrase.. now that’s the type of brainstorming i’d like to take part in. they probably brought in teenagers as experts on the subject matter, to make sure something like “poontang” does not escape their blacklist.

they go into further detail, defining what type of images may be displayed (”no nipple, no nipple covers, no nipple shadow…” - it seems they really investigated the nipple issue in this post wardrobe-malfunction world), what could be included in the name of the images (no “Bootylicious”), what names for ringtones (no “Grandma pregnant with uncle” ??), what type of video content (i thought the quote from the title of the post is great).

it seems like a very tough task, keeping up with all the indecencies around us. and how to cast a wide enough web to catch them all. Verizon Wireless tried to address the challenge by dividing the problematic content into categories such as “Lingerie - Female” and “Medium Short Rear Nude - Female”. For example, in the definition of “Medium Short Rear Nude - Female” it says that the image “can include a full rear view, but not with legs up or apart”.

i think this is INSANE and troubling. probably the best example you can get of why the carriers should not have such a level of control over the network. just to be clear, this is not talking about the content that the carrier publishes, but rather rules that will apply to ANY content provider that wants to offer content to the subscribers of the carrier.

it is also a good example why the most affective form of censorship is self-censorship fueled by fear (e.g. China..). the carriers are taking an ultra conservative approach, just to keep the FCC off their backs.

i think a much more reasonable approach would be to require content providers to notify subscribers accessing their site that it includes explicit content, so they can choose to go somewhere else. that’s it. without going into the details of defining what is decent and what is not, and censoring free speech in the process.

If you want to take a look at the guidlines - here they are: Download wireless_guidlines.pdf

Technorati Tags: avner ronen, cingular, verizon,mobile content, policy, self censorship

Another Step into Self-Expression

Noted: another step into self-expression - Skype's Ringtones. Express yourselves!

Technorati Tags: Skype, ringtones, personalization

Good Old Consumer Marketing

Hi everyone,
As you probably know, these days we’re working on our upcoming Klonies Blog. Part of this effort was to look for blogging talents in our group and get them blogging.

Let me introduce you to my first guest, which I hope you’ll get to read more at the Klonies’ Blog. Welcome to Tal Dagan, the General Manager of the Avatars Group. Well, enough talkin’, rock on Tal!

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One of the recent success stories in the device market was Motorola's success with its sleek RAZR devices. Motorola guys were lately quoted saying that in some regions, close to 40% of their total sold devices last year were of this particular model. Now that's an amazingly high number for a company that produces over 50 models a year.

Indeed, everywhere you’ve seen a Motorola phone in the last year, most chances it was a RAZR device. I have seen this taken to the next level in 3GSM in Barcelona; after wandering around the conference, the RAZR effect was evidently seen not only in the Motorola stand. Every single one of the large handset vendors showed at least 1-2 devices which were very nice replicas of the sleek RAZR design. No shame in the industry...

This is all very nice, but what's so special about it? Just a successful handset model?

But there's much more to it.
Although at the beginning of the RAZR, over two plus years ago, it started as just another cool device, its incredible success actually caused Motorola to shift its strategic marketing focus. No more focus on winning the technology/spec battle but rather having "just as good features", and puting the entire weight on design design and design; giving the users a new and exciting form factor, a unique design which is targeted at precise segments of the market. We all know that the handsets have become a user's "statement about themselves" a tool to express one's self... let’s give the user just that.

This may sound trivial, but remember that these industry players have been focusing, and throwing away, billions of $$$ on a technological battle, fighting vigorously on who will be the first to come out with 5,6,7,8...mega pixels cameras, first with double, triple or quadruple packet bandwidth, XHTML and not HTML and so on.

Not only that, but notice another small but significant shift...think about the 'device name': no longer Motorola A900, A1000, V980 or E550 but...RAZR! This makes so much sense. Why should a user remember, or care, if his phone is N-90, or P990 or E750??? I bet 99% of users do not remember the device’s name one month after they bought it. However, go check this with RAZR owners...The opposite will be true. Now that's creating brand attachment.

Following the worldwide RAZR success, Motorola has gone out with its PEBL, ROKR and SLVR models. All follow the same path of the RAZR - a new exciting form factor, no focus on technical firsts, and a cool self expressive name (guess what the PEBL looks like...).

This, in my mind, is good old marketing genius.

 

Technorati Tags: tal dagan, motorola, razr, mobile device, consumer marketing

A Virtual Face Lift

Just saw this one on Yahoo Answers:

Q: Why do you like avatars?

A: “To tell you the truth, I'm just not that great to look at. I'm not the ugliest, but I am getting older and I would rather avoid the signs of aging. An avatar suits me for this purpose.” (Brigid_01)

Avatars - cheaper than a face lift and a lot more effective in our digital era...

Technorati Tags: avatars, yahoo + avatars, virtual identity

The Raise and Fall of Medias - A Note to Dave

Well, I don’t want to burst the bubble BUT - thinking that having the internet would free us from the need of having the media as “the middlemen” is daydreaming…

Dave Winer of THE great Scripting News forecasts that:

“In the future we won't need middlemen.
Why?
Because the Internet disinter mediates.
Which is a fancy word for "gets rid of the middlemen."
Or, if you prefer, "gets rid of the media."
All that's left when we go through 2.0 and 3.0 and 4.0 is nothing but information and people and lots of more efficient ways of connecting them.”

I’m sorry to let you down Dave, but the internet is another media(!) [Maybe even a mass media, but that’s another discussion]. Meaning, different means of communication rise and fall (Bonfires, the railroad, post, Morse, newspapers, landline phones…) but the media itself never falls. We always have some kind of mediation between ourselves and the endless amount of information.

These Medias organize (professional term would be “frame”) the information so we could better understand and utilize it in our daily lives. We need that framing since we can’t know it all (what’s going on in the other side of the world, how to forecast the weather, how wanted-ads are ordered, etc…).

But being the “pipeline of information” and having the “framing position” gives the media a lot of power in hand: what gets in-or-out and how it would be presented (in the news, in the headline, in the encyclopedia…). For example, the term “gay” (referring to a homosexual man) can’t be found in the dictionary which is practically a consequence of an editor’s decision and his\her (social) power. The “pipelines of information” which control the flaw and give it its form, generate the big money and obviously hold the greatest power.

I agree that the internet has brought many changes to the world of information, to our accessibility and to our part in the process of producing information (web 2.0 blah blah…). But don’t be too naïve thinking it’s not a media (a.k.a. "a middleman") and thinking that internet itself(!) would help in getting rid of that unwanted mediation…

I couldn’t resist the temptation to end this post with Marshall Mcluhan’s most famous quote - "the medium is the message”... :)

Technorati Tags: dave winer,scripting news, media,

Carnival of Mobilists at Feet Up!

This week's Carnival of Mobilists is hosted at Jim Hughes' Feet Up! Bring with you your water guns, whistles and beers for the BEST posts on mobile of this week.

Relaxation, Technology and Getting Back in Town

Hi everyone,

I'm back from the greatest vacation ever…! No mobiles, no connectivity, no web… just a lot of people that I love (in person, not mediated through ANY kind of technology) and a lot of resting. Hehe, there are no modern technologies for getting a good ol' relaxation, ha? ;-)

Carnival of Mobilists at Wireless Data News Blog

This week's Carnival of Mobilists is hosted at the Wireless Data News Blog. Head over for the BEST posts on mobile of this week.

Spring is Coming :)

Hello friends,

Just wanted to wish you HAPPY HOLIDAYS. We got Passover and Easter just around the corner, bringing the spring with them... So take your coats off and enjoy the greatest season of all! :)

Enjoy!

Virtual and Mobile Satisfaction (**careful with kiddies around)

More things you can do with your avatar: get satisfacion. Run a romantic virtual/real life. More specifically, you can flirt, court, go on date, cuddle and even have sex.

-Crazy? -Maybe. But it’s real:

IMVU integrated their IM avatars to allow their users to push further their chats into virtual social interactions. Instead of just having a verbal interaction, IMVU enable users to take the “traditional” chat and run it over a cup of coffee on the virtual “Starbucks” or smooch under the moonlight sky.

-Naive? -Maybe, but I’m sure you’ll agree that most people would choose this IM to flirt/ look-for-a-date/ have cyber-sex rather than just to chat with their best friend…

On the mobile sphere, Digital Chocolate apparently targets teenagers and their mobile phones with its new dating video game. According to its last announcement, with “The Hook Up: AvaFlirting” we could create a mobile avatar and flirt with other peoples’ cell phone avatars. No word on how this is going to work, so we’ll have to be patient…

The app that takes it to the verge is “Naughty America: The Game”, a multiplayer online dating game where “players can create their own character and explore an exciting, sexy, and vibrant world. Escape from your day-to-day life by creating a Naughty Persona and interact live with other players from around the world.”

What’s so special you’re asking? Well, while you can have some “ordinary” experiences of a virtual multiplayer world of chatting with people, shopping for clothes or having other outdoor activities, you can also try the “sex mode”! This mode allows you to try sex positions with your avatar partner, turn on the webcam, “or just visit the voyeur club and get a sneak peak at someone else's wild side”.

Very creative, kinky and daring. Really. What I don’t like in these apps is the potential to replace (to a certain extent) a normal social interaction. There’s no harm in meeting a potential date over an online dating service, over any IM jabber or flirt through SMS. There is no wrong in having a place to express ourselves and our fantasies more easily and freely either. But these apps exist in an evasive sphere, not totally real and not totally imaginary. They provide an alternative experience which is easier and safer to dating (in the real world) which many find as very stressing, intimidating and exhausting. By providing a detour, many just don’t need to cope with/ face their difficulties in order to get satisfaction.

Would next step be feeling embraced to initiate a small talk with people without having technology as a mediator? Will we (need to) hum/ scream out loud Rolling Stones' "I can't get no satisfaction"? ;-)

Carnival of Mobilists at Musings of a Mobile Marketer

This week's Carnival of Mobilists is hosted by Helen Keegan. Go for the BEST posts on mobile of this week.

Lack of Self-Expression

Most irritating, most annoying, most disturbing, most distressing thing on earth is… trying to catch a short nap on the train and having the latest ringtone buzzing everywhere around me! The guy with the cap, the lady with the big bag, the tired soldier, two students, a freckled red-headed girl, a grandpa with his grandchild…all having the same ringtone! People, be creative… express yourselves, don’t be like everyone else!

Technorati Tags: ringtones, self expression, mobile culture

MobParenting? - A No Go

Looking for some cool stuff from the CTIA, I’ve found that Walt Disney is launching a new mobile service designed for the proud but not so trusting parents of 10-15 year-olds. With Disney’s new service:

• "A parent is the designated "family manager," able to set monthly spending  limits (via the phone or a computer) on kids' voice and text message usage and on ringtone and other downloads. The manager is alerted when a kid bumps the limits and can raise them. When kids exhaust their allowances, they still can exchange calls with their parents and other designated numbers and can dial 911.
• Parents can set the times and days of the week when kids can use the phone.
• GPS technology will let parents map the location of the kids' handsets from their phone or PC.
• Families can exchange custom text alerts or pick from a menu, such as "Can U Get a Ride?"

[via USAToday]

This new service answers the most basic, most foundation and cross-cultural anxiety of parents, which is: “where are my kids?!!! Are they safe?? Have they eaten well?” and so and so…

I don’t want to underrate, I was a good-girly and *I’ve done* some naughty stuff as a kid (we'll save these story tales for a rainy day)… BUT controlling every breath we take and every move we make is a bit obsessive. Really, if you think about it for a minute (and read Police\ Sting’s lyrics), how kids will learn to be responsible if we don't let them the opportunity to behave so?

Getting back to the mobile world, -what’s wrong with the old fashion way of responsibility and freedom under some ground rules, like don’t go over x dollars a month or you’d pay it out of your allowance, or like get home by 7PM? -That it takes A LOT OF work. Parents want the easy way (who doesn’t? I can sympathize that, really). That technology will spare them the lesson needed to be taught: “isn’t there a button that makes them take a shower\ go to sleep?” -Nope. Unfortunately, there is no short cut... Technology can do so many great things for us, but it can’t teach our kids to be responsible, disciplined, and well mannered. Only we, the parents, can. Having 100% trust in someone is so much more obliging than monitoring every step (and eventually finding some mistakes, because we all make some). But it’s hard, weather it’s a child, a spouse, a family member, a lover, a friend…

Tracking devices? A no go!

Technorati Tags: Disney, CTIA, parenting, surveillance, mobile, GPS

New - GTalk's Lame Avatars

As you’ve probably heard, there’s a new version of Google Talk at a special setup URL. It seems to be a pre-release, since the official Google Talk homepage doesn’t have this link just yet. In this update is included the ability to display avatars. Apparently, Gtalk doesn’t have its own avatar brand but some lame cliparts that can be used to personalize your account. Nice move, but not good enough considering the very developed avatars on the IM sphere.
BTW, if we're talking about instant messengers, take a quick look on Weeworld's recent launch of WeeChat.