MyScreen gets a $10 million investment

MyScreen, a Canadian company which specializes in opt-in mobile advertising, just got richer by $10 million last week. Orascom Telecom, a leading telecom operator in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa, has invested $10 million in MyScreen and has also made a deal. According to the deal, MyScreen will create opt-in mobile advertising campaigns for the subscriber base of Orascom. Orascom, being a leading telecom operator, has a subscriber base of around 90 million people, which includes a whopping 70 million subscribers from Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East and around 20 million affiliate subscribers from Italy.

MyScreen, obviously, is excited and thinks it’s a great opportunity to reach such a huge user base through advertising. MyScreen specializes in targeted advertising and has earned the respect of a lot of industry insiders in a short time.

So many big names invest in mobile advertising companies, so many big names acquire mobile advertising companies, and so many mobile advertising startups get funds from VCs. Yet, some so-called experts say mobile advertising’s future is bleak. Guys; wake up and smell the coffee.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Apple and Google woo mobile application developers

Things have never been better for software developers. Both Google and Apple have announced mega buck contests for mobile software developers around the world and not surprisingly, the response has been great with scores of developers around the world working hard to come up with groundbreaking mobile software.

Google’s Android Developer Challenge promises $10 million in total prize money while Apple got Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) to invest a whopping $100 million in iFund to develop software for iPhone.

Though, on surface, it looks like an even competition, Apple has got the upper hand at the moment as developers are more interested in Apple. The reason is obvious. Apple iPhone has got a huge customer base. So, if you, the developer, come up with a useful mobile application, you’ve got millions of takers instantly. Also, you can sell your application in Apple mobile store. So, instant recognition, lots of money, and of course lots of fame are what you get at Apple.

Google, on the other hand, has got its own plans. It has already announced a $10 million dollar contest for developers and it might also set up an Android fund with similar VC backup. Also, experts feel Google might have the upper hand in the long run due to two reasons. First reason - KPCB announced Java fund during the dot-com boom but nothing fruitful came out of it. So, some developers think the $100 million dollar deal with Apple is more of an eye candy. Second reason – Though Apple dominates the market as of now, Google will surely overtake Apple and in future, Android will most likely be the most sought-after operating system for mobile phones.

If you are a developer, you better get started. For once, money is there for the taking, literally. So, which side are you on?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, Apple iPhone, All things mobile phones.

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