BusinessWeek’s got a puff piece on Xero Mobile, the second coming of Gizmondo I wrote about earlier this week. It repeats the company’s projections that it will 5 million users by the end of 2007, and will generate $1.5 billion in revenues “in its third year” (2008, I presume, but in any case, good luck [...]
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Selling Dollars For A Dime
I linked yesterday to an Om Malik post where he talked about a new report saying that MVNOs aren’t the licenses to print money that many people think they are. The report did note that “next-generation” MVNOs, which are eschewing the low-cost, barebones model of current virtual operators in favor of offering premium services at [...]
3 User Earns ¨£1300 SeeMeTV Jackpot
UK 3G operator, 3, launched SeeMeTV late last year, as a foray into User Generated Content (UGC – hot new TLA). The idea was that you took a short video on your 3 phone and uploaded it to 3′s servers at a cost to you of 50p (88 cents). Then whenever someone else downloaded it, [...]
FCC’s Privacy Fines Have Carriers Quaking In Their Boots
The FCC has proposed fining AT&T and Alltel the staggering amount of $100,000 for “failing to properly certify that they have safeguarded their customers’ personal call information”. Such a huge fine sends a clear message to other operators — that the FCC really couldn’t care less about how they treat customer records. I detailed last [...]
When Your Exclusive Deal Isn’t So Exclusive
3 UK is touting a deal with Warner Music that includes Madonna’s “Hung Up” single being “premiered exclusively on 3 to launch the partnership.” Astute readers will remember that Orange already had “exclusive access to this song in October, a week before its general release. I had questions then about the value of these exclusive [...]
Walt Mossberg Doesn’t Like The Sprint Store, Either
WSJ technology pundit Walt Mossberg’s verdict on the Sprint music store: looks nice, works well, too damn expensive and restricted. It’s a it more even than the pre-emptive obituary another Journal reporter gave last week, but again, not particularly positive. Mossberg says the service is easy to use and downloads are fast, but calls the [...]
Another Thumbs Down For Sprint’s Music Store
I found The Wall Street Journal’s implication that Sprint’s mobile download service was a failure a bit hasty, but, to be fair, the reviews haven’t been too positive, with most of them focusing on the aspect I highlighted when the carrier announced the service: its cost. Another review is in, and it, too, points out [...]
Vodafone, Universal Ink Download Deal
Vodafone’s gotten a deal to make 100,000 Universal tracks and videos available to its subscribers for download. A pretty run-of-the-mill deal, really, but as Techdirt wonders, what’s the story with these one-label deals? People’s tastes in music aren’t limited to one major label, and very few people probably know what labels their favorite bands are [...]
Cingular Launches 40 Streaming Channels
Following US rival Sprint’s earlier launch of streaming audio channels from Sirius and Music Choice, Cingular says its subscribers can now listen to 40 channels of streaming content for $7 a month plus traffic fees. While 40 channels is nothing to sniff at, the cost could be, unless subscribers stump up the $20 per month [...]
WSJ Implies Sprint’s Music Store A Failure
A full 10 days or so after its launch, The Wall Street Journal’s slamming Sprint’s music store: “Sprint Nextel declines to provide early sales figures for its music service, the first to allow consumers to download full songs to their cellphones over the air, but Internet message boards and forums have shown little enthusiasm since [...]
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