Mobimag - Print Medium Goes Mobile in the Middle East

Mobivision, a digital media solutions provider based in Dubai, has developed a first-of-its-kind mobile application called Mobimag, which allows people to read magazines and newspapers on their mobile phones.

Mobimag is an ad-funded platform, which means it is available free to customers. The developers call it an intuitive, effective, and interactive advertising platform. They say the adverts could be in the form of small applications, games, videos, or animations, which gives advertisers a variety of choices to reach their target customer base. The platform has a ‘click to call’ button which customers can use to respond to the adverts.

The USP of the application is that it displays magazines and newspapers exactly in the same format as their print versions. It allows users to open and view the content in a mobile friendly format. Accessing print material on mobile phones is a fairly new concept in the Middle East, so, understandably, the application has garnered a lot of attention quickly.

Prominent UAE publishers including Campaign Middle East, Gulf Business Magazine, and the 7DAYS newspaper are available on the platform. Mobivision plans to have at least 20 publishers onboard within the end of the year. It should not be a problem as the platform offers a solution to a problem that most publishers in the region face – lack of multiple revenue streams. So, publishers are most likely to use this platform to deliver their content to the fast-growing mobile phone user base in the region.

Mobimag is compatible with more than 240 mobile phones, including Windows Mobile and Symbian based smartphones and certain models of Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, and HTC. Surprisingly, it is not compatible with the Blackberry, Android, and the iPhone – three of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the Middle Eastern region today. The company, however, has stated that customized applications for the Blackberry, Android, and the iPhone will be released later this year. It has also mentioned that a very special application for the iPad will be released shortly.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile Applications.

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The Future of 3G and 4G Services - A Detailed Look

Wanna hear something really incredible? According to TeleGeography, by the year 2013, the addressable market for 3G and 4G mobile services will be, hold your breath, somewhere around 4.5 billion people. In other words, nearly one third of all mobile users in the world will have access to these high speed mobile networks. That is right folks. An unbelievably big number – 4.5 billion wireless subscribers.

It is expected that more than 95% of wireless subscribers in Western Europe will have access to 3G and 4G services in 2013, which is nothing short of amazing. Europe still continues to be the leader as far as mobile market is concerned. Nearly 90% of mobile users in the U.S. and Canada, more than 80% of users in Latin America and Eastern Europe, 70% of users in the Middle East and Africa, and 60% of users in the Asia Pacific region will have access to these next generation cellular services. While it could be said that this is a highly optimistic prediction, the possibility of such an occurrence definitely cannot be ruled out considering the rate at which mobile web and other mobile related services are growing.

I have often argued that India and China are the countries to look for when it comes to mobile services because of their huge population and rapidly developing economies. Now, looking at the numbers above, some of you might wonder why only 60% of users in Asia are expected to have access to 3G and 4G services. The reason is not hard to fathom. The population of China and India is so big that it is nearly impossible for mobile service providers to expand their networks to that extent in such a small period of time. So, even if only 60% of wireless users access 3G and 4G services, it is still a huge achievement.

The most important thing about this news is that it hints at the possibility of a global network of mobile phone users connected by the invisible web of 3G and 4G networks. This, in my opinion, could result in the explosive growth of mobile social networking. The ability to access social networking sites right from their mobile phone at the click of a button is something that every other mobile user, particularly teens and young adults, wants. While this news is certainly exciting, it is not that big of a surprise to me. After all, it is something that we all knew was going to happen sooner than later, isn’t it?

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Social Networking, Mobile Web.

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MobiAd - a new mobile advertising service in the Middle East

Zain, a very famous mobile phone service provider in the Middle East and Africa, has joined hands with Javna, a software and wireless solutions firm, to launch MobiAd – a one-of-a-kind mobile advertising service.

People behind this collaborative effort are very confident about their mobile marketing service. In MobiAd, customers can choose the ‘channel’ they are interested in. It could be sports, consumer electronics, marketing, or technology – you can choose the channel and you will get mobile ads accordingly. As a customer, you will also be rewarded with freebies like free local calls, free international calls, free text messages, and random gifts to appreciate your taking part in the mobile advertising service.

This news is very important for a reason. The Middle East market is considered one of the most lucrative markets for mobile advertising and this launch can have a great impact in future. In fact, the mobile advertising market share in this part of the world is estimated at around a whopping $7 billion annually.

This is great news for mobile advertisers in the Middle East. As we already know, Asia is a little ahead of other markets in terms of mobile advertising technologies and the revenue generated. But with efforts like this, other markets are catching up very fast, which is good for the mobile advertising industry as a whole.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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uVuMobile and GoGo Mobile Media to take on Southeast Asian and Middle East mobile segment

uVuMobile, a well known mobility software and services company, has formed a strategic alliance with GoGo Mobile Media, a famous video and audio content distribution company, in a move to grab a share of the rapidly burgeoning mobile advertising industry in Southeast Asia, particularly India, and the Middle East.

Now, this might have been yet another M&A news in the mobile advertising industry, had it not been for the fact that the parties involved are interested not in the western market, but in the eastern market. For those of you that don’t know, India is considered the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world with over 220 million users. And the number is increasing by the day rapidly. Similarly, other countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East are also fast catching up with the mobile phone revolution, thereby making it a ripe market for mobile content distributors and advertisers.

Also, Asians use premium services like SMS, MMS, mobile internet, mobile video, and mobile email features a lot more extensively than their western counterparts. So, it will be a hell lot easier for the advertisers to reach out to customers in say India, than the ones in the U.S., thanks to the different options of mobile advertising they have (read text messages, banner ads, video ads, mobile web ads) in the Asian market. One thing’s for sure. The U.S. needs to catch up a lot when it comes to mobile usage.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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