Mobile Phone News

IGT Drives Cloud Computing Transformation in Gaming Industry

2011-12-13T04:23:00.001-08:00

Profiles

IGT Gaming iGaming Las Vegas United States Online Gaming

LAS VEGAS, Dec. 7, 2011 - Unveiling the next revolution in the gaming industry, International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) announced today the premiere of the IGT Cloud solution at the Company's Investor Conference in New York. The initiative marks IGT's move towards empowering operators to provide seamless gaming experiences across land-based, mobile and online devices.

'IGT is leading the cloud computing transformation in gaming by offering operators innovative solutions to optimize their operations and casino floors,' said Chris Satchell, IGT chief technology officer. 'Utilizing the IGT Cloud will let casino operators focus on what is important to them: players, games and performance.'

The IGT Cloud delivers efficiency and value to casino operators utilizing Software as a Service (SaaS). These initial private, secure IGT Cloud services will enable casinos to manage game content using IGT Floor Manager to access the largest game library in the industry. sbX(r) Analytics will empower casino operators to increase marketing productivity and maximize floor-wide performance with a variety of reporting tools.

The IGT Cloud solution is the result of a powerful collaboration between IGT and CA Technologies to continue innovating how casino games, systems and experiences are delivered.

'CA Technologies is excited to be IGT's technology partner as they debut the IGT Cloud to investors and casinos alike,' said Roger Pilc, general manager, Virtualization and Automation, CA Technologies. 'Our turnkey CA AppLogic(r) cloud platform will be instrumental in helping IGT to quickly move its advanced casino software to cloud-based delivery.'

'Cloud computing continues to revolutionize the global Software and IT industries, driving significant business value. Over time, the new IGT Cloud initiative will allow the gaming industry to realize similar benefits in operations, customer experience and innovation. This will deliver new opportunities for IGT and our customers,' said Satchell.

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Facebook Gamblers Taking Bigger Risks Than They Know, by Greg Tingle - 1st December 2011

2011-12-01T04:32:00.001-08:00

Profiles

Games Gaming Casinos Poker Facebook Casino Legal Social Media Sydney Australia News Financial News Casino News Poker News Entertainment News

A massive loophole in Australian - federal gambling legislation is allowing an online casino to receive funds from Facebook punters but not pay out winnings in cold hard cash, leaving punters in the lurch, out of moolah, and angry - and there's not much they can do about it at present.

Only recently have media companies such as Media Man and Fairfax Media been able to warn punters of the dangers of betting - especially on some Facebook affiliated websites.

Media and gaming commentators are advising gamblers to only bet with websites they can trust, and to avoid Facebook gambling websites until loopholes have been fixed up. Big name gambling brands which are considered ethical and trustworthy by most media and igaming experts include Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Virgin Games (not available in Australia), Betfair, Centrebet and PKR.

The DoubleDown casino on Facebook is one brand in question. They "give" players "free" chips - but once they are used up, punters are required to purchase credits to continue to play online casino games such as poker, blackjack, slots and roulette (not Russian Roulette) - even more dangerous then the website in question.

As they say - always read the fine print! The terms and conditions explicitly say "regardless of the terminology used, Virtual Currency and Virtual Goods may never be redeemed for "real world" money, goods or other items of monetary value from the Site or any other party."

A wave of complaints has hit independent senator Nick "Mr X" (satire) Xenophon. A Facebook page condemning the site and warning others has also been established by anger players. A constituent contacted Senator Xenophon after he attempted to withdraw the chips, made a complaint, but was subsequently blocked from the site by administrators. So much for ethics and consumer confidence.

Senator Xenophon wrote to the Australian Communications and Media Authority complaining that the US-based website was misleading and was in breach of online gaming laws.

ACMA told Senator Xenophon the website's content is not prohibited because it was not possible to win 'money or anything else of value' from playing the games provided, so it does not in fact constitute a gambling website.

The Senator yesterday wrote to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy requesting an urgent meeting to discuss "a loophole in the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 which has allowed hundreds of Australians to lose money".

"People are paying real money to gamble on these sites," Senator Xenophon advised. "But because these gamblers are forbidden by the sites from converting that virtual money back into real money, the sites aren't technically breaking any laws. This needs to change."

A review of igaming - online gambling laws commenced earlier this year and Senator Conroy's spokesman advised online casino games were prohibited and could not be provided to Australians.

"Consumers participating in games purporting to be such things should think carefully as they are not regulated by Australian law," he said.

A spokesman for DoubleDown Casino said it took great pride in having established the world's largest virtual casino game on Facebook.

"We couldn't have done that without the millions of customers who return every day to enjoy free chips and our entertaining game. Casual gamers can play every day for free and it is entirely up to the user to decide if they wish to purchase virtual chips to play longer," he said.

"There are hundreds if not thousands of games on Facebook which accept virtual currency in the form of Facebook credits and we're proud to be one of Facebook's top 12 game partners."

Established gaming companies such as Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, PKR, Virgin Games, Betfair and Centrebet offer both play for free and play for money options, and have not received complaints like the ones directed towards DoubleDown.

Those who enjoy a punt are advised to bet with their head, not over it, and to have fun. If gambling stops being fun, its a strong sign to stop playing and seek help.

Websites

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Facebook

Media Man Facebook

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Media Man Entertainment

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Mobile Games At Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment; Casino Las Vegas

2011-11-30T05:36:00.000-08:00

Profiles

Mobile Games Mobile Casino Casino Las Vegas Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment

Media Man Website Network Updated

2011-04-28T18:15:00.001-07:00

News

News

Casino News

Poker News

Gambling News

Entertainment News

Property News

Technology News

Financial News

Website Network

Media Man International

Media Man

Media Man Australia

Media Man Canada

Media Man Games

Media Man Brand

Media Man Network

Casino News Media

Poker News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Crown Casino Citizen Paparazzi Shifts Into Top Gear, by Greg Tingle - 14th March 2011

2011-03-14T20:29:00.003-07:00

G'day punters, gambling and casino millionaires and billionaires, photogs and rev heads. Rev heads. WTF? An amateur photographer snapped his not so smartphone - iphone at Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson at a Crown Casino restaurant Saturday with alarming results, bringing minds back to Russell Crowe's and Naomi Campbell's bad phone days.
Media Man and Gambling911 get you on pole position with this juiced up report...

Amateur Photographer Puts Jeremy Clarkson's Anger Into Top Gear At Crown Casino...

Folks, its been a while since we had a bit of odd news from Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, but wait no longer.

Readers will recall the 'Ferrari Thief Man', the 'Casino Battle Royal' and 'Grease Trap Man', but now we have 'Crown's Amateur Pap Man Angers Clarkson Into Top Gear'.

Melbourne racing car enthusiast Michael Garner claims the British TV star shirt-fronted him during a heated Crown Casino restaurant stand-off on Saturday night.

Clarkson's engine overheated when Garner used his smartphone to take some pictures of the star having a bite at a Melbourne restaurant located in James Packer's Crown Casino.

The otherwise popular, but ever controversial Clarkson was dining with colleagues including co-star James May and new Top Gear Australia host Shane 'Kenny' Jacobson at Crown's Guiseppe Arnaldo & Sons.

Super fan Garner, sitting nearby, advised he took one happy snap, which didn't work, and then snapped a second.

"We weren't intrusive. I didn't walk up to him. He was 8ft away, he wasn't close by," Garner told 3AW yesterday.

"He's got out of his seat, stormed over and shirt-fronted me."

A heated up Clarkson snatched the iphone and threw it to a colleague and Garner said he thought the TV star might king hit him.

"In some ways, yes, I thought it could be on," he said.

Jacobson stepped in to calm the situation, apologising to Garner and saying that Clarkson had had a bad day.

"(Clarkson) didn't apologise at all, which I thought was pretty unfair," Garner said.

A Top Gear spokeswoman said the crew had been having a private dinner and their privacy was invaded, but she said the situation had been amicably resolved.

It's understood that Clarkson, Jacobsen nor Garner gambled on the evening in question.

Readers may remember other motorsport and rev head matters tied into casinos such as the 'Crown Casino Ferrari Theif', PartyGaming's 'Drive The Dream' promotion and PKR Poker's Porsche promotion from a few years back. Roughly a year ago Richard Branson's Virgin Racing picked up Full Tilt Poker as a sponsor, but since that time Full Tilt has been hit with a bush tucker bag of bad publicity including poker bot scandals and affiliates across the globe saying they are owned large sums of money. Over a year ago PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com sponsored a number of F1 racing starts with their PartyPoker brand including Jaime Alguersuari and Giancarlo Fisichella.

A few weeks ago Packer's Crown Casino sponsored embattled NRL team, The Melbourne Storm, and you can bet that Crown nor The Storm are looking for any more trouble. Just last week AFL living legend Brendan "Punter" Fevola was ejected by Crown when he was found to be playing poker by himself!

Crown Casino will once again play host to the annual TV Week Logie Awards on Sunday 1st May 2011. The 'Underbelly' show, TV movies and some actors in in the running for a number of awards, but last year got a 'golden donut' - nothing, so don't get too excited. On logies night security will be at an all time high, but the world awaits to see if we get another Twitter-Gate, or more dramas with unwanted and unwelcome photo opportunities, along with the often unfunny jokes.

It's understood Australian paparazzi Jamie Fawcett has been spotted at Crown Casino a number of times in the past few months. It was Fawcett who stalked out Australian cricket legend and celebrity businessman, Shane Warne, when he was 'hanging and banging' with UK babe Liz 'Hurley' Burley, who he lured down under to Australia after a well publicized kiss (pash) a few months ago. Fawcett has gone on record many times that his style of photography is about 'The Money Shot', but one can be forgiven for confusing the styles of photography money shots between himself and the Sydney based Eva Rinaldi, who hasn't photographed poker or casino stars yet, but is in line for the Royal's Price William. She was also recently spotted at the Future Music Festival where the Mazda2 Flamingo stage had a casino theme even sporting a likeness from the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas.

Crown Limited management and staff take the safety and happiness of patrons and investors seriously, and that's no joke.

Readers... er, punters, how did you like our report? Tell us in the forum.

If you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over it, and for God's sake, have fun.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a dozen sectors covered

Online Casinos, Online Poker and Sports Betting...

Ok readers, we hear you... you also want to know some of the best places to play online (that accept Aussies) if your in or around the Asia Pacific - Australia (including Tassie) and New Zealand, so here it is...

PartyCasino.com (Many of the world's best slot games. Aussies and Kiwi's welcome).

Captain Cooks Casino

Betfair (sports betting only)

PKR.com (poker, slots including Marvel slot games and sports betting)

PartyPoker.com (online poker at one of the world's most respected poker rooms and gaming brands)

Profiles

Australian Casinos

World Casino Directory

Global Gaming Directory

Casino Travel

Casinos

Australia

Media Man and Gambling911 remind our readers to keep the following in mind:

Take the time to research and learn games before placing down money

Media Man, Casino News Media and Gambling911 are website portals. Not casinos as such, however are recognised as world leading websites that cover the sector and act as central points to games, news, reviews and more.

If you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over it, and for God's sake, have fun.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a dozen sectors covered

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

Website Network

Media Man International

Media Man

Media Man Australia

Media Man Canada

Media Man Games

Media Man Brand

Media Man Network

Casino News Media

Poker News Media

Australian Casino News

Casino News Australia

Global Gaming Directory

Surfing aerial at Bondi Beach sho, by Greg Tingle - 12th March 2011

2011-03-12T18:18:00.001-08:00

Bondi Beach is set for aerial assault from the world's best aerial surfers when the Boost Mobile Surfsho makes a splash its final comp day, and what great weather it is. Shame about the small waves, but that's surfing.

About 50,000 people are expected, up about 10,000 from last year.

ASP world tour competitors include Julian Wilson, Jordy Smith, Owen Wright, Josh Kerr and Taj Burrow. The are competing from bragging rights at $25,000 worth of prizes.

Other surfers ripping it up for the fans are Craig Anderson, Mitch Crew, Mitch Coleborn and Jack Freestone, and freestyle is the order of the day for this pool of thrashers.

Yesterday's open qualifying round saw a two-foot swell with Ben Godwin and Beau Foster qualifying to join two-time champ Wright. Waves expected to get to a metre with a slight south-westerly.

The cool and hip event, now in its second year, is the biggest professional contest held at Bondi Beach, say the organisers.

Aerial surfing is the theme, so even when the surf isn't exactly huge, its still great entertainment for news media, fans, hardcores or beach babes.

The event is yet another shot in the arm for the Bondi Beach business community who suffered poor crowds and weather for much of last year, but this year things have certainly picked up.

The comp runs from March 11 to 13. Surfs up enough for a fun day at the world's most famous beach.

Websites

www.boostsurfsho.com.au

Bondi Beach Directory

Website Network

Media Man International

Media Man

Media Man Australia

Media Man Canada

Media Man Brand

Media Man Network

Media Man Mobile Website Network Updated

2011-01-10T02:55:00.001-08:00

Website Network

Media Man International

Media Man

Media Man Australia

Media Man Asia

Media Man Canada

Media Man Games

Media Man Brand

Media Man Network

Casino News Media

Poker News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Media Man Website Network Updated

2010-11-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

Australian Comms Minister To Force Big Brother Internet Connection, by Greg Tingle - 21st October 2010

2010-10-20T18:15:00.001-07:00

Australia's communications minister Stephen Conroy and Australian government law are under the microscope today as changes are afoot to force Australians onto the Government NBN high speed network in a move that has raised the ire of journalists, human rights advocates, technology / media entrepreneurs and mums and dads across the great nation of Australia. This news follows the ministers constant attempts to push through internet censorship and filters, despite the Australian Liberal Party and Greens party saying they will stop it. Media Man and Gambling911 probe the matter which has Australians of all walks of life up in arms, some ready to riot in the streets...

The most unpopular Communications Minister in Australian history, Stephen Conroy, says he will use federal law as a tool to force people on to the national broadband network (NBN) if the states and territories don't come to the party making connections mandatory.

The minister is known to try to make his agenda items "mandatory", and this is a major reason Australian mums and dads, entrepreneurs, journalists and human rights activists are ready to take to the streets and protest. Australians do no like to be forces to do things against their will, as the internet censorship debate also proved.

"We are working our way through the issues with the states and ... we ultimately would consider if we can’t reach settlement, mandating it through the federal parliament. But we prefer to be engaged with the states," Senator Conroy said yesterday.

He noted that the federal government hadn’t "exhausted those conversations yet". He also pointed out that the matter of a connection being mandated was "not a new issue".

"We’ve been having a conversation with the states for over twelve months on this very issue," he said. "This is not a new issue. Malcolm Turnbull might have discovered it recently but it has actually been on the agenda. And we’ve actually been saying for quite some considerable time: as we disconnect the copper we’ll be connecting the fibre.".

Malcolm "No Bull" Turnbull is expected to rigorously attack "Cunning" Conroy's latest spray on the Australian population.

It's widely understood it will cost $300 to connect to the NBN if a house or business didn’t consent to connecting to it as it was rolled out initially.

Senator Conroy went on record yesterday that a cost would be involved down the track if you didn’t consent to connect to the network when it was optional and free to connect to initially.

"If it remains optional and people ... sell the house and someone else moves in, then it's like any other business where they say 'Hey, come and connect me to this'... then there’s a connection fee to get it connected," he said.

But if the network were to be mandatory to connect to then there would be no charge at a later date. "The question of what happens if someone decides not to take it up now and then we come back to do them and it becomes mandated then I don’t believe there would be a charge," he said.

"But the key is to get it attached to the side of the house so the costs are reduced for everybody involved."

Via ABC TV's Lateline program last night, Tony Jones also raised News Limited's report that it would cost up to $300 to connect if you didn't connect initially. Jones said to Conroy: "You might think your old fixed-line telephone is good enough and you don't think you want an NBN computer access".

Senator Conroy said "some" had suggested that it could be $300, "but that has not been a final decision made".

"Now, in the case of where it becomes mandatory to make your phone call on the fibre because the copper's been disconnected, I can't imagine there's a case where you could say you should have to pay now to come and make the connection. The purpose of the rollout is to ensure that people, if they have to make a phone call and its only got the fibre available, I can't imagine there is any case to be made for there being that charge."

Now we learn that state governments will have to change trespass or property laws to ensure households are not left without fixed telephone connections, following the Tasmanian government's latest move to introduce legislation for property owners to "opt-out" of the government's fibre network.

New South Wales and Victoria have said they have no plans to introduce opt-out laws. "NSW currently has no plans to legislate an opt-out model for the NBN and will determine a final position following discussions with other jurisdictions," said a spokesman for the NSW Commerce Minister, Paul Lynch.

One things is for sure, Australians are not happy at all with the government's latest big brother approach with "a number" of Aussies ready to protest in the streets according to a Media Man insiders.

A Media Man spokesperson said "Australians are pissed off at the governments latest Big Brother tactics. It is yet to be determined if the protests will turn to riots, but the mood in most newsrooms and suburbs about the issue is very angry".

Australia's are some of the most passionate human rights advocates on the planet, but also are some of the world's fastest adopters of new technology, gadgets and all matter of bells and whistles, so its a case of stay tuned to internet news for updates. As Australian media and gambling tycoon James Packer says "Internet is like electricity"!

Media Man Profiles

Australia

Broadband

Censorship

Wrap Up...

Readers... er, punters, what's your view on the latest madness from down under? Keep checking daily for updates. If you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over it, and for God's sake, have fun.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They cover a dozen industry sectors including gaming and offer political commentary and analysis.

Website Network

Media Man International

Media Man

Media Man Australia

Media Man Asia

Media Man Canada

Media Man Games

Media Man Brand

Media Man Network

Casino News Media

Poker News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Spider-Man Swings Into The iPad With New Marvel Comics App - April 2010

2010-04-03T03:22:00.000-07:00

Iron Man, Thor and Captain America aren't just coming to the big screen — they're also coming to the iPad courtesy of a new Marvel Comics application.

In a press release, Marvel Entertainment announced the launch of the Marvel Comics App for the iPad, which will be available to download for free on the App Store. Marvel is launching the App with over 500 comic book titles both classic and contemporary, with each digital title priced at $1.99 and new content planned every week.

Launch titles include Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's "Astonishing X-Men," Jonathan Hickman's ongoing "Fantastic Four" run and Jeph Loeb's introduction of the Red Hulk.

"We're excited to introduce an unparalleled digital comic experience to our fans with the Marvel Comics App for iPad," Marvel's Dan Buckley said in a statement. "The iPad is the first device that offers us a chance to present digital comics that are even close to replicating the experience of reading a print comic. This new world of digital comics distribution provides us great opportunities to reach new readers, allow consumers to sample our diverse stories and characters, and we believe it will drive these new fans into the App Store and local comic shops each week to find even more."

According to the press release, the Marvel Comics App was created in conjunction with digital distributor ComiXology. Readers can preview up to three pages for each available comic book before purchasing. Additionally, the Marvel Comics App includes a comic shop locator, allowing fans to track down local comic book retail outlets.

In a hands-on review of the Marvel Comics App on Boing Boing, Xeni Jardin wrote: "I like it. Scrolling is intuitive, brisk, and elegant. I'm amazed at how smooth. The store interface makes sense to anyone familiar with iTunes and App store. Flipping and reading, one luminous full-color page at a time, I do not miss paper."

Marvel's move towards the iPad comes just a few short months after the publisher started offering content on the iPhone via ComiXology, iVerse and Panelfly.

Media Man International Profiles

Marvel Comics

Marvel Entertainment

Mobile Telephones

Apple

News

Mobile News

Marvel Entertainment News

Technology News

Global Gaming News

Poker Babes: Maxim Men's Magazine Top 20 For 2010

2010-03-11T14:26:00.001-08:00

Men's magazine Maxim have released their 20 hottest poker babes.

The list mainly consists of Hollywood celebs who have had minor poker involvement such as charity tournaments, however there are a handful of poker babes who can also play well, and even a couple of champions!

Vanessa Rousso enjoyed a win at the EPT Grand Final High Rollers and was runner-up at the NBC National HU Championship and has made 11 final table appearances. Her total tournament cashes are 2.5 million dollars.

Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth are two celebrities known also as passionate players. Jenn has a WSOP bracelet and both have made the semifinals at the NBC National HU Championship.

Tiffany Michelle's biggest brag is 17th place and $334,000 at the World Series of Poker 2008 Main Event.

Us, we like Kara Scott from PartyPoker.com and remain very high on Paris Hilton, Jenny McCarthy and Pam Anderson.

Cameron Diaz
Heather Graham
Jenna Fischer
Jennie Garth
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Tilly
Jenny McCarthy
Joanna Krupa
Lacey Chabert
Laura Prepon
Mena Suvari
Odette Yustman
Pamela Anderson
Rosario Dawson
Sarah Silverman
Serinda Swan
Shannon Elizabeth
Tiffany Michelle
Traci Bingham
Vanessa Rousso

Profiles

Poker Babes

Casino Babes

Babes

Poker

Website Network

Poker News Media

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Australian Sports Entertainment

Sports Entertainment News

Media Man

Media Man International

New iPhone Casino by Casino Las Vegas Mobile

2009-12-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

Casino Las Vegas Mobile, the cellular platform of www.casinolasvegas.com, has launched a new iPhone and android version of its WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) site, which was introduced earlier this year in the UK.

The new site is compatible for both iPhone and android applications and offers three popular casino games – Blackjack (card table game), Jacks or Better (video poker), and Gold Rally (progressive jackpot slots game). Additional games will be available in the mobile casino client in the near future.

Casino Las Vegas Mobile holds an EU gaming license, is Game Care protected, and offers all the security of the downloadable version of Online Casino Las Vegas. The mobile casino cashier offers several base currency options and accepts major credit cards and popular alternative payment methods.

The new WAP site will be marketed through various leading UK cellular providers, including O2 and Vodafone, who will each feature Casino Las Vegas Mobile on their portals.

Existing Casino Las Vegas subscribers may access their regular accounts through their mobile device, and new subscribers can register new accounts through their mobile phones. The mobile Welcome Bonus is identical to the casino’s computer-based offer – a multi-currency £400 deposit bonus given on the first four deposits; this Welcome Bonus follows a special £7 Signup Bonus (no deposit necessary), given to new players who register a new Casino Las Vegas account via their mobile phone. In addition, mobile players will enjoy automatic deposit bonuses every Monday and Thursday.

Casino Las Vegas is managed by the Global Gaming Net casino group and is one of nine leading online casino brands managed by GGN over the past seven years. GGN is owned by PartyGaming Plc, which is traded on the London Stock exchange and runs the leading online Poker Room www.partypoker.com.

Media Man International Profiles

Casino Las Vegas

PartyPoker.com

PartyCasino.com

PartyGaming

Mobile Casino

Mobile Gaming

Playtech

News

Casino News

Mobile News

Website

Casino Las Vegas Mobile

WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN WITH “CLEOPATRA® 2.0″ UPDATE, AVAILABLE NOW ON iPHONETM AND iPOD® TOUCH

2009-11-11T02:58:00.001-08:00

New Fan-requested Features Abound In This Update to IGT’s Definitive iPhone Slot Experience

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – November 9, 2009 – Million-2-1 and International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT – News), the world’s premier slot games provider, announced today the Cleopatra® 2.0 update is available now for your iPhone and iPod Touch on the Apple App Store!

Based on the direct feedback of fans, now mobile slot mavens can enjoy the critically-acclaimed original Cleopatra® with all new features like new leaderboards for Tournament Play mode, adjustable reel speed, and the ability to save and resume in Instant Play mode.

“We received a great response with the launch of the original Cleo, along with a ton of great feedback, all of which we’ve done our best to include in this 2.0 update,” said Eric Vetter, Vice President of New Business Development.

What’s New in This Version?

THREE GLOBAL LEADERBOARDS!
Can’t seem to get a score high enough to be in the Top 10 of all time? Don’t worry we’ve made it a little easier for you. You can now post your score to the newly added Weekly and Monthly Leaderboards. The weekly tournament will reset each Sunday and the monthly will reset on the first day of the month.

ADJUST THE SPEED!
Want to play even faster than before? You can now adjust the reel spin speed for both regular play and bonus play. Under the options menu select slow, medium, or fast.

Other improvements
- Better sound quality
- 1st Gen iPod Touch compatible
- Save your progress in Instant Play mode
- Email a friend

More distinctive features of Cleopatra®:
• 3 or more Sphinx appearing anywhere on the reels starts the Cleopatra Bonus™. Not only do you earn 15 free spins but all wins are 3 times their normal value! If during a free spin, Sphinx symbols appear on three or more reels, an additional 15 free spins will be added to your current free spin bonus!
• Line wins completed with the Wild Cleopatra™ double the award value!
• Experience exotic sounds plus the voice of Cleopatra herself!
• Have fun by shaking the device to spin the reels!
• Competitive gamers can apply a winning strategy by changing the number of lines and credit stake on each spin!

One of the most popular ‘real life’ slot games ever enjoyed in casinos around the world, this 5-reel, 20-line game replicates the original slot game authentically, making Cleopatra® 2.0 the definitive slot experience on the iPhone and iPod Touch platform.

This game is for amusement only and does not replicate the odds of winning or the payouts of similar IGT casino games.

You must be 21 to gamble.

For more information on responsible gambling go to www.ncpgambling.org

“Cleopatra” and “IGT” are trademarks owned and/or registered by IGT in the U.S. and/or other countries.

ABOUT IGT:
International Game Technology (www.IGT.com) is a global company specializing in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and sales of computerized gaming machines and systems products.

Global Gaming Directory Profiles

Cleopatra

IGT

Apple

Mobile Phones

Google Gets New Mobile Gizmos - 9th November 2009

2009-11-09T13:18:00.001-08:00

The Internet giant picks up two young companies that develop technology for the mobile handset space.

BURLINGAME, Calif. -- Google continues to grow its mobile portfolio with the acquisition of two young companies. The first, AdMob, runs an advertising network for mobile devices. The other, Gizmo5, does VoIP telephony from Internet browsers and mobile phones.

Of the two acquisitions, AdMob is likely to receive the lion's share of attention. Google ( GOOG - news - people ) picked up the San Mateo, Calif.-based company for $750 million in stock. That's compared to an estimated $30 million price tag for San Diego-based Gizmo5, according to TechCrunch's Michael Arrington. (Credit: Google News, Techcrunch, AP, Forbes)

Media Man Profiles

Google

Mobile Phones

Search Engines

News

Mobile Phone News

Technology News

Search Engine News

Global Gaming Expo - Wagerworks - Las Vegas

2009-10-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

Is WagerWorks anticipating a regulated market in the United States?

The latest press material from the UK-based online gambling software provider Wagerworks - a subsidiary of American gambling equipment giant IGT - provokes speculation that the company is optimistic about the chances of a more liberal and progressive Internet gambling policy evolving in the United States.

The material is an advisory that the company will showcase its products at this year's Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas...and that the emphasis in its exhibit will be remote gaming.

The theme will be "Taking Gaming to the Next Level", and WagerWorks will have on show products and brands migrated and adapted for online use from its parent IGT and sister company, Barcrest Group.

During G2E 2009, WagerWorks will present its latest online games incorporating unique game play and new levels of player excitement including Dungeons and Dragons: Crystal Caverns, Super Hoot Loot, Rainbow Riches Win Big Shindig, Transformers: Ultimate Payback and a full suite of mobile games including the recently launched Rainbow Riches Pots of Gold and Cleopatra.

Continued delivery of top tier partner agreements over the past year is testament to the reputation WagerWorks has gained in the marketplace as a game provider, offering streams of game content in interactive digital television, mobile gaming and internet gaming markets, the material claims.

Newly signed online partners include St Minver, Jenningsbet, Talarius and Entergaming with additional distribution agreements established with Finsoft and GTS. Existing online customers, Sky and Rank, have also recently integrated mobile content, making WagerWorks games available to an even greater numbers of online and mobile players across multiple platforms.

Commenting on the prospects for Wagerworks at G2E 2009, Oliver Lofthouse, Director and General Manager at WagerWorks said, "Our presence at G2E reinforces the reputation of IGT as a leading provider of innovative and technology-driven solutions in the gaming market. "WagerWorks will have the opportunity to demonstrate its ability to offer great game content across multiple remote gaming channels. This is an exciting time for both companies as the remote gaming market evolves, and we look forward to meeting new and existing customers at this year's show."

Global Gaming Directory Profiles

WagerWorks

IGT

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Casino

Events

Las Vegas

News

Casino News

Online Casino News

Mobile News

Las Vegas News

Global Gaming News

WagerWorks Launches Cleopatra Slot On Mobile Platform

2009-10-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

28th October 2009

LONDON, England - (PRESS RELEASE) - WagerWorks, the UK's leading provider of online, mobile and idTV game content, launches highly successful Cleopatra® on its mobile casino platform.

WagerWorks is thrilled to announce the release of Cleopatra® which will join other leading titles ported for mobile including Rainbow Riches®, Ooh Aah Dracula R.I.Peater, Elvis Top 20 and Hi-5.

Cleopatra® on mobile runs true to its land-based roots boasting unparalleled graphics, high quality audio and an unbeatable range of unique features. Now fans on a wide range of mobile handsets can enjoy the action including 5-reels, 20-paylines, Wild Cleopatra® symbols and the legendary Free Spins Cleopatra® Bonus!

Offering the captivating game play of the original game, Wild Cleopatra® symbols on a win line doubles the award whilst three Sphinx symbols transport players to the Free Spins Cleopatra® Bonus! The Cleopatra® Bonus rewards players with not only 15 free spins but a 3x multiplier for all wins during the free spin period.

Oliver Lofthouse, Director and General Manager at WagerWorks commented, "The release of Cleopatra® on mobile is an important milestone for WagerWorks as the premier provider of game content across multiple casino platforms. This highly popular title is available in the land based casino market and now online and on mobile through WagerWorks, which is a major development for the IGT Group as a whole. This launch allows us to reach a much wider audience and paves the way for developing further top performing casino titles on mobile."

Global Gaming Directory Profiles

WagerWorks

Cleopatra

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Casino

News

Casino News

Online Casino News

Global Gaming News

Mobile News

Mobile Gaming Is Profitable At Casino Tropez

2009-10-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

26th October 2009

LONDON, England - (PRESS RELEASE) - One lucky member of Casino Tropez Mobile, Manuela K of Austria, scooped a whopping EUR 27,105 playing the popular slot machine, Desert Treasure. Manuela had been a member of Casino Tropez Mobile for less than two months when she made her exciting win on October 5th. A big Slots fan, Manuela also enjoys playing A Night Out, Captain's Treasure, Goblin's Cave, as well as Blackjack on her Sony Ericson. She has participated in several of Tropez Mobile's slots tournaments, but this is her biggest win to date.

Casino Tropez Mobile is the pioneering platform of Playtech's mobile technology and is one of the most advanced mobile casinos available. Tropez Mobile offers Blackjack, Roulette, Video Poker, Baccarat and a range of Slots games including two progressive Slot Machines. Uniquely to Casino Tropez Mobile, players are able to download each game separately. This is hugely beneficial in terms of download time as well as quality of graphics and makes Tropez Mobile stand out from its competitors, which require a player to download the entire casino at once.

Members can deposit and withdraw funds, receive bonuses and enjoy fantastic graphics all straight through their mobile. Members of the online version of Casino Tropez can use an existing account on their mobile phone, allowing them to switch between playing on their mobiles and online, at their convenience.

Casino Tropez Mobile supports more handsets than any other mobile casino operator. This number is constantly increasing as more handsets are introduced to the market. Best of all, upon download, the new and smart Tropez Mobile system identifies the phone model, and immediately sends the right application for your device.

Global Gaming Directory

Casino Tropez

Playtech

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Casino

News

Mobile News

Casino News

Online Casino News

Global Gaming News

Sky expands offering with a WagerWorks mobile solution

2009-10-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

11th September 2009

WagerWorks, the UK's leading provider of online, mobile and idTV game content announces the implementation of a mobile solution for Sky Vegas Casino.

As part of an ongoing strategy of expansion, Sky will now offer WagerWorks games online, via interactive television and now mobile.

By utilising its Orbis back end system, Sky can offer players the ease of a single wallet solution, enabling players to use funds deposited online to play games on their mobile handsets.

The WagerWorks mobile solution provides Sky customers with the chance to play top titles such as Rainbow Riches®, Ooh Aah Dracula R.I.Peater, Elvis Top 20 and Hi-5. Customers will also relish the excitement of future mobile game releases from WagerWorks including the legendary IGT title, Cleopatra®, and top brands such as Cluedo and Monopoly.

Simon Murphy, Head of Business Development at WagerWorks said, "This contract with Sky supports the similar strategies of both IGT and Sky to provide a fully integrated multi-channel package for players. Through integrating the WagerWorks mobile solution Sky now operates one of the most comprehensive interactive gaming options in the market, allowing their players to experience the same great games online, via interactive television and now mobile."

Speaking for Sky, John Parsonage said, "We are delighted to offer Sky players the ability to play their favourite games where they want and when they want. With the addition of mobile gaming, WagerWorks has proved itself to be very forward thinking with its content and technology and it is a development which not only enhances the Sky package available, but works in line with our strategy."

To see and experience what makes WagerWorks the number one choice visit WagerWorks on Stand 361 at EiG 2009, 15 - 17 September in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Global Gaming Directory Profiles

WagerWorks

Sky Vegas Casino

IGT

Mobile Casino

Mobile Gaming

News

Casino News

Online Casino News

Global Gaming News

Mobile News

Pure Convert launches mobile marketing campaign with iGlobal for PartyGaming - 29th September 2009

2009-09-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Pure Convert (http://www.pureconvert.com), an online & mobile advertising agency, is launching a first phase mobile gambling marketing campaign in cooperation with the Global Gaming Net casino group (GGN), managed by iGlobal Media. The campaign uses novel online and mobile-based marketing techniques and is to target mobile gambling users via GGN’s brand, Casino Las Vegas (http://www.casinolasvegas.com).

Pure Convert, which is headed by a group of online and mobile marketing experts, acts as a full-service digital marketing agency, and operates various proprietary mobile gambling directories such as Casinos4mobile (http://www.casinos4mobile.com and Mob21 (http://www.mob21.com).

Global Gaming Directory Profiles

Casino Las Vegas

Global Gaming

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Casino

Mobile Phones

PartyGaming

News

Mobile News

Casino News

Online Casino News

Global Gaming News

Website

Casino Las Vegas

Take a Trip Down the Nile With "Cleopatra", Available Now on iPhone and iPod Touch

2009-08-23T16:13:00.001-07:00

IGT brings definitive slot experience to iPhone with videogame inspired by popular "Cleopatra" slot machine.

US, August 14, 2009 - LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Million-2-1 and International Game Technology , the world's premier slot games provider, announced today Cleopatra is available now for your iPhone and iPod Touch on the Apple App Store!

Now fans everywhere can enjoy Cleopatra, one of the most popular 'real life' slot games ever, on the go. Enjoyed in casinos around the world, this 5-reel, 20-line game replicates the original slot game authentically making Cleopatra® the definitive slot experience on the iPhone and iTouch platform.

"After enjoying so many years of success with the Cleo slots in real casinos, we're thrilled to allow players to enjoy Cleo now on the iPhone and iPod Touch," said Chris Sheffield, Director and General Manager of Remote Gaming for Million-2-1, an IGT Company.

Developed by the original creators of the land-based version, Cleopatra® on iPhone and iPod Touch boasts unparalleled graphics and an unbeatable range of unique features that sets it apart from any other slot games out there.

The innovative and exciting 'Tournament' mode lets you challenge yourself and other Cleopatra® players around the world to achieve the best scores and earn a place on the global leader board! Competitive gamers can apply a winning strategy by changing the number of lines and credit stake on each spin!

Have fun by shaking your iPhone or iPod Touch to spin the reels! Remember, 3 or more Sphinx symbols appearing anywhere on the reels start the Cleopatra Bonus. Not only do you earn 15 free spins but all wins are 3 times their normal value!

This game is for amusement only and does not replicate the odds of winning or the payouts of similar IGT casino games.

You must be 21 to gamble.

For more information on responsible gambling click here www.ncpgambling.org

ABOUT IGT:
International Game Technology (www.IGT.com) is a global company specializing in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and sales of computerized gaming machines and systems products.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Cleopatra

International Game Technology

IGT

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Casino

Apple

Videogames

Mobile Phones

News

Casino News

Online Casino News

Global Gaming News

Mobile Phone News

Gaming News

Technology News

IGT-UK Restructures Online And Mobile Operations

2009-06-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

25th June 2009

American online casino software developer International Game Technology (IGT) has announced the restructuring of the mobile and Internet gaming operations for its IGT-UK subsidiary.

The reshuffle follows its recent acquisition of interactive gambling software developer Million-2-1 alongside the subsequent integration of the UK division of its WagerWorks division.

As a result of the restructure, the UK division of online gaming software supplier WagerWorks will take responsibility for the sale and distribution of game content from Barcrest Group for remote gaming markets. In addition, WagerWorks will also be responsible for providing IGT game content for mobile gaming markets developed utilising Million-2-1’s mobile gaming platform.

IGT stated that the games development strategy for WagerWorks has involved supplying a mixture of well-known consumer brands coupled with online versions of some of its most popular titles such as Cleopatra. The Reno-based firm revealed that WagerWorks would now also leverage online versions of successful titles from Barcrest Group to offer streams of content for the interactive digital television, mobile and Internet gaming markets.

It also declared that Million-2-1 would continue to focus on interactive services for media organisations and land-based retailers using mobile solutions in order to deliver new revenue streams. This will include prize competitions, mobile marketing campaigns and lotteries for the UK and international markets.

The reorganisation has also seen Simon Murphy from Million-2-1 appointed as the Head Of Business Development for WagerWorks. He will be responsible for developing commercial relationships with key clients across mobile and Internet gaming products alongside WagerWorks’ existing team.

”This restructure streamlines our current sales and distribution process and enables us to offer an integrated remote gaming solution to our partners through one business relationship,” said Robert White, Vice-President for IGT-UK.

“It is also consistent with our game development strategy of offering great game content across multiple channels including mobile and Internet. By developing new branded content and continuing to access the best games from land-based environments, I am confident we can further strengthen our games portfolio and our position as a leading content supplier.”

Media Man Australia Profiles

International Game Technology

WagerWorks

Mobile Phones

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Casino

Online Casino News

Casino News

Mobile Phone News

Playtech Releases a New Mobile Slots Game: Desert Treasure

2009-03-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Playtech (AIM:
PTEC), the leading designer, developer and licensor of software for the
gaming industry is happy to announce the release of another exciting mobile
slot. Desert Treasure, already a highly successful and popular online game,
is the latest addition to the growing compendium of games on its mobile
platform.

Desert Treasure, the enticing new mobile slots game from Playtech,
transports players to ancient Arabia, to a beautifully rendered world filled
with the seductive charms of Arabian princesses, hidden oases and golden
pyramids.

This thrilling 5-reel 20-line multi-spin slot game captures the player's
imagination with its vivid graphics and realistic sounds, with a top prize of
10000X bet per line! In the alluring bonus round, players enter a shimmering
desert oasis, and can pick from a selection of twelve vases and treasure
chests in search of riches.

Playtech has successfully brought the know-how accumulated from years of
experience in the field of online gaming to the mobile arena. The mobile
platform is part of the company's innovative unified platform, the
Information Management Solution, IMS, on which its online, land-based and
mobile platforms are fully inter-compatible. Accounts can be funded via one
user name - password combination, affording players the opportunity to keep
on playing their favorite Playtech casino games on their mobile phones.
Playtech's mobile product supports a vast range of handsets ranging from
entry-level mass market models to high-end smart-phones and can readily
facilitate support for future handset devices. The mobile product features
advanced technology that successfully replicates the feeling of computer
game-play, and includes an in-game wireless cashier. The player experience is
optimized through a user-friendly interface that utilizes the most up to date
audio and graphic technologies.

Playtech's fully branded mobile product, successfully recreates the look
and feel of the casino on the mobile handset, bringing a premium quality
gaming experience to players at the click of a dial.

About Playtech

Playtech develops unified software platforms for the gaming industry,
primarily targeting existing online operators wanting to upgrade their
system; sportsbooks looking to diversify and land-based operators making
their server based gaming and online debut. Playtech gaming applications -
online casino, poker, bingo, mobile gaming, live gaming, land-based kiosk
networks and fixed-odds games - are fully inter-compatible and can be freely
incorporated as stand-alone applications. All gaming platforms can be
accessed and funded by players through the same user account and managed by
the operator by means of a single powerful management interface through
Playtech's advanced cross-platform technology. Founded in 1999, Playtech has
over 700 personnel distributed globally, around eighty percent of whom are
engaged in research and development of current and future gaming technologies.

Website: http://www.playtech.com

Contact:
Mr. Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +44-1624-645999
info@playtech.com

Media Man Australia Profiles

Playtech

Playtech News

iPhones and Casino Blackjack Card Counting - Gambling911 - 17th February 2009

2009-02-17T21:28:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago who would have guessed we would be taking photographs with cell phones? Now it seems the iPhone is being used for something quite clever - casino Blackjack card counting.

The Australian press has caught onto this mighty fast.

Many of you have seen the film "21" about a group of Ivy League college students who learned the great art of Blackjack card counting. Back then the iPhone was yet to be invented but probably would have come in handy.

Gambling911.com's man on the scene - Greg Tingle - says it is something the Australian casinos are becoming more vigilante about.

"Blackjack Card Counter, developed by an Australian named Travis Yates, is among the most popular applications for iPhone," Tingle says. "And it can be purchased for under $10."

And it's not just Australian casinos that are keeping a close eye out for the latest iPhone app.. The State Gaming Control Board of Nevada has already warned about its usage.

This Blackjack Card Counting program can be utilized on either the Apple I-Phone or the Apple IPod touch (portable music player). Once this program is installed on the phone through the I-tunes website it can make counting cards easy. The program calculates the "True Count" and does it significantly more accurately. The card counting program uses a choice of four (4) card counting strategies. For each strategy the user presses the button that contains the face cards as they are drawn from the deck. Depending on the strategy and on the value of the card the button will either add or subtract 1 or 2 from the "Running Count". The program can utilize the following card counting methods including Hi-Low, Hi-Op I, Hi- Op II, and Omega II.

This program can be used in the "Stealth Mode". When the program is used in the "Stealth Mode" the screen of the phone will remain shut off, and as long as the user knows where the keys are located the program can be run effortlessly without detection.

Card counting involves keeping a running tally of the number of high cards compared with low cards.

When a higher balance of low cards have already been played, you have a probability advantage and so should place a bet.

Many casinos throw players out if they suspect them of counting cards but using a device to do the maths is strictly outlawed.

The iPhone application, which trains players using simulation blackjack hands, can operate in stealth mode while in a player's pocket. The gambler simply needs to know where to press the screen, depending on whether the card is valued at less than or higher than 10, and the phone will vibrate when it's time to place a bet.

Yates claims he would typically sell 10 copies of the application per day, but immediately following a profile on CNN, sales shot to 500 copies.

"I developed the app so people could practise card counting and use it with friends at home," he said. (Credit: Gambling911)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Blackjack

Poker News

Mobile Telephone News

Where we stand on in-flight mobile phone calls - ETN - 27th May 2008

2008-11-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

Air France

Currently testing OnAir mobile phone technology on one Airbus A318 aircraft, which flies within Europe. Air France claims to be the first airline to test in-flight mobile phone usage on international flights.

Tests started in mid December with text messages and emails only and was extended to voice calls from mid-April, and will run until June/July.

The trial includes questionnaires that are distributed among passengers to gauge reaction to the service. The results from this survey will influence whether the service is continued beyond this summer.

So far, more than 80 per cent of passengers have been in favour of the text and email services, according to the airline. Results of the reaction to the voice calls will be collated this summer.

Air Malta

No plans to allow mobile phone calls in-flight.

American Airlines

No plans to allow mobile phone calls inflight owing to current US Federal Communication Commission regulations that prohibit the use of mobile phones in-flight.

Currently testing technology on selected domestic US flights that allows customers to use data features of wi-fi enabled phones and PDA devices. This is for text data only, not spoken calls.

BA

Currently does not allow customers to use mobile phones onboard in case they interfere with the aircraft's avionics.

BA spokesman told Times Online: “Even if the CAA allowed the use of new mobile phone technology on British aircraft we would have to think very carefully about whether or not we want to allow customers to use them onboard as it could devalue the whole customer experience. We will be led by customer feedback in this matter.”

He added: “We have carried out some preliminary surveying of passengers from our Executive Club. One option which has been regarded favourably is texting rather than spoken conversations.”

BMI

Bmi will shortly begin testing mobile phone usage on one UK aircraft.

A spokesman told Times Online: “The important thing to bear in mind is that we will be trialling the system and the purpose of that trial is to establish what will and won’t work – nothing is set in stone.

"We will take a common-sense approach and customer feedback will be at the centre of if and how the system is eventually used.

“The technology we are using gives us the flexibility to turn off voice capability, so nobody should be making the assumption that voice calls will form part of the trial. We have identified that many customers would appreciate being able to use SMS messaging and PDA emails whilst onboard and this is where our main interest lies.”

He added: “Our policy on the etiquette of how devices are used is still being finalised, but our objective will be to minimise disruption or annoyance to customers who don’t want to use the service, whilst making it easy for those who do.”

Cathay Pacific

No current position on allowing mobile phone calls in-flight.

easyJet

No plans to allow mobile phone calls in-flight.

A spokeswoman added: “We have had detailed discussion about mobiles but we are not planning to introduce them onboard. It’s a combination of there not being enough money in it and we think there would be an adverse passenger experience. EasyJet will obviously still continue to monitor the market and the subsequent technological developments.”

Emirates

Launched mobile phone useage in-flight on March 20 on flights between Dubai and Casablanca. There are plans to roll out the service across the Emirates fleet.

According to Emirates, feedback from passengers has been positive.

A spokesman added: “However, as the service is still in its infancy, we don’t have any substantial market research as yet. We haven’t received any negative feedback, though – Emirates passengers are already well used to communicating whilst in the air, and make over 7,000 calls a month from the at-seat phone system.”

Flybe

No plans to allow mobile phone calls in-flight, and has seen little demand for it from passengers.

A spokesman added: “However, given Flybe’s strong popularity with business travellers and our keenness to innovate, we will continue to take mobile phone technology and customer opinion seriously. We will review its introduction for everything from basic onboard usage, SMS and mobile phone check in, SMS flight booking and flight updates.”

JAL

In-flight mobile phone use has not been approved by the Japanese government, so the carrier has no plans to trial the technology, but plans to gauge customers' views on the subject in the future.

Qatar Airways

Despite equipping its fleet of 62 aircraft with mobile-communications technology, the airline says it will ban in-flight mobile phone calls owing to a survey of passengers that showed 80% were against the service.

“We don’t want people to start speaking loudly in the cabin on a night flight,” said Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar al Baker. “I am sure other airlines will introduce it, but, in time, they will turn it off.”

Ryanair

Ryanair plans to introduce an in-flight calling service on 25 of its fleet from June.

SAS

SAS is currently running new tests in Norway on mobile phone useage but it is not widely available yet.

Virgin Atlantic

No plans to allow mobile phone calls onboard.

A spokeswoman told Times Online: “We will continue to monitor the developments in onboard mobile phone use and technology.

“We will look into how it is developing and how it is accepted with other carriers and if we do bring it in we will do it in the most socially acceptable way. We’re not convinced this is something that passengers want.”

Greg Tingle comment...

Next thing mobile gaming and mobile gambling will hit the airways via mobile phones and laptops. I wouldn't be surprised to see Virgin Enterprises Limited and Virgin Mobile do something very innovative again. Virgin also has Virgin Games and V*Points, so don't underestimate them. In addition the tourism, resort and casino sector would be interested to get in on the action I would think, so you can be that the likes of James Packer and Stanley Ho of Crown Casino, Steve Wynn of Las Vegas Sands and maybe even Donald Trump and Star City Casino, Sydney, are watching this space. Emirates are the major backer of The Melbourne Cup, so don't rule them out either. Jamster would do well to get a deal inked, given their choice of games and content, and Vodafone have a strong offering of international sports news. It's all a battle for the tourism and consumer dollar, and when you stuck on a plane at 33,000 feet, with no place to go, entertainment and spending are of interest.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Phones

Mobile Phone News

THUMB DOCTOR GAMES OFFERS FREE PROFILED MOBILE ADVERTISING

2008-11-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Press Release

Thumb Doctor Games, an independent ad-funded mobile gaming network, is giving advertisers the chance to try out their profiled mobile advertising service at no cost.

Sydney, Australia, November 12, 2008 – Thumb Doctor Games, a wholly owned independent mobile gaming network, has announced that for the remainder of 2008, it will be giving mobile advertisers the opportunity to advertise on its mobile gaming network for free.

Doctor Games is a fully ad funded mobile gaming network that includes live score boards and regular gaming tournaments pitting gamers up against each other for bragging rights and prizes. Thumb Doctor Games not only distributes games but also creates them, building the titles specifically for the network.

Advertisers are given pre and post game full screen advertisements and are able to target gamers based on their age, gender and location using its exclusive user profiling technology, enabling the live streaming of appropriate and contextual advertisements. William Bakhos, Managing Director of parent company Game Creative, says that this profiling is what sets them apart: “Using Thumb Doctor Games, an advertiser targeting WAP users no longer needs to assume demographic details of the user, as our players are profiled and targeted accordingly. The technology has been built with growth in mind, paving way for even more direct profiling. Anything from a user’s favourite drink to their favourite genre of music can be targeted”.

“The foundations and core technology is now available and it’s an exciting prospect given how mobile advertising is growing. Of course there is plenty more to do and we will be working hard to improve the service for both advertisers and our users with more games, iPhone and smart-phone applications, greater phone compatibility, plus further development of the advertiser user interface.” said Bakhos.

The previous 2 months have seen over 110,000 downloads of its titles topping 150,000 unique plays. Thumb Doctor Games works to increase the involvement of players resulting in not only a loyal gamer base, but also a field of knowledge about its gamers. The use of game tournaments, high score boards and playing incentives has lead to more repeat game plays and a higher association with the Thumb Doctor brand.

Thumb Doctor Games will, for the remainder of the year, be giving advertisers the chance to use the network free of charge to the value of $1000, with any paying advertisers retaining priority. Bakhos stated that “the aim is to increase awareness and position the network as an effective mobile advertising tool by encouraging advertisers to use the service. We can confidently guarantee a CTR of over 5% and so far many advertisers have consistently seen rates well above that”.

About Thumb Doctor Games
Launched in July 2008, Thumb Doctor Games is a fully ad funded mobile gaming network run and fully owned by independent in-game advertising company, Game Creative. Thumb Doctor Games specialises in the creation and distribution of fun and addictive mobile games, with live score boards and gaming tournaments part of the user experience. All games incorporate an exclusive profiled ad-serving technology enabling WAP advertisers to target their audience on both a demographic and geographic level. For more information visit www.thumbdoctorgames.com

About Game Creative
An independent in-game advertising company based in Sydney, Australia, Game Creative provides a rounded approach to in-game advertising with services varying from mobile and online advergame creation, dynamic and static core and casual in game advertising services as well as media planning and strategy. For more information visit www.gamecreative.com.au

CONTACT:
William Bakhos
Game Creative Pty Ltd
p: +61 2 9555 8071
f: +61 2 9555 6271
wbakhos@gamecreative.com.au

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Phones

Mobile Phone News

Sony Ericsson's Halloween-theme viral for W595 - Marketing Magazine - 3rd November 2008

2008-11-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

Sony Ericsson has launched a viral campaign and microsite in the UK to drive sales of the new Sony Ericsson Walkman W595 handset in the run-up to Halloween.

The viral aims to draw the viewer in using classic scary movie cues before a dramatic final climax to build buzz around the mobile phone.

Entitled ‘St Mary’s Ghost’, the browser window shows a split-screen of four night-time CCTV views of a hospital interior. In one streaming, a night watchman sits at a desk watching a computer screen but is startled when his mobile phone rings.

The screen switches to a close-up of the mobile’s caller display, which shows the viewer’s name and number. After a moment, the viewer’s own mobile phone rings and when they answer, they hear the eerie sounds of the scene they are watching in front of them. Ooooooooooh…

At the end of the viral, Sony Ericsson asks the viewer to ‘Share and Scare’ their friends by entering their friends’ details, giving the sender the opportunity to win a W595 handset.

The digital campaign will be supported by a DM drive of phone socks containing guides on features of the W595.

The campaign unsurprisingly targets 15 to 24-year-olds, who use their phone for entertainment, sharing files with friends and messaging each other via the internet.

It’s not bad for good scare and is an interesting way to get through to that particular ‘Blair Witch is so 90s, bring on Saw’ demographic, though it’s effectiveness may only go as far as this Halloween season.

Greg Tingle comment...

Nice work. A few questions raised, which I hope may secure answers. Is Sony Ericsson running with a different campaign to its James Bond 'Quantum of Solace' film product placement, or are they running two separate campaigns at the same time? With Bond's 'Buy Another Day' as it's known in ad and media circles, I would have thought that Bond would have been the focus and where the push would be coming from. Especially after the huge hit that 'Casino Royale' was. Sounds like Sony Ericsson know something that we don't, but then again, isn't the customer always right? I've analysed that and more clarity is required by Sony Ericsson. I would also suggest that Virgin, Aston Martin and Omega are watching this space, so let's get it right to clear it up early in the peace. Trick or treat? ... or I saw a See Saw on the Sea Shore!

(Credit: Marketing Magazine)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Phones

Mobile Phone News

Mobile Babes, Poker Babes, Casino Babes

2008-10-15T23:40:00.001-07:00

Profiles

Mobile Babes

Poker Babes

Casino Babes

Mobile Casino

ACMA set to allow mobile phones on flights, by Peter Jean - Herald Sun - 16th October 2008

2008-10-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

Not even by boarding an plane will people avoid annoying ring tones -- the ban on in-flight mobile calls and text messages is being lifted.

People wishing to preserve the sanctity of airspace have until November 17 to protest.

That is when the Australian Communications and Media Authority will make its decision.

Australia was first to test in-flight mobiles, ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said, and regulators were aware mobiles could be used without interfering with existing services.

But Australia's major airlines are in no rush to provide the service.

Qantas has ruled out allowing mobile calls on flights in the near future after research found most of its customers were not interested in the service.

But the airline plans to install technology on domestic flights enabling passengers to send or receive emails and SMS text messages via mobiles or personal electronic device.

Virgin Blue said it would assess customer demand.

"We're always looking at new technology and opportunities," spokeswoman Amanda Bolger said.

"But it would be dependent on our guest reaction and feedback from them in terms of if it was something they wanted."

Virgin's international airline V Australia is planning a new service on some flights that will allow passengers to send text messages.

The move to allow mobile use on planes came as a new report highlighted the continuing problems with telecommunications services faced by rural Australians.

The report commissioned by the Federal Government said hand-held mobile phone services were available only on 15 per cent of the Australian land mass.

Mobile phones with antennas work in about a quarter of the nation.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Phones

Richard Branson Launches Virgin Mobile Into India Hands On

2008-10-04T04:56:00.000-07:00

Richard Branson saunters into the room, looking famished and a tad tired. He helps himself to some sandwiches, before somebody reminds him that they are cold. Dressed in a plain white shirt and creamish trousers, he doesn’t look like your usual multi-billionaire. But then there’s nothing usual about Richard Branson—not any day. The day Business Today met him, Branson jumped off a 35-storey hotel building to launch Virgin’s mobile operations in India. Later in the evening, he would go on to twirl an unsuspecting Bollywood starlet like a WWE prizefighter. Branson was in India to announce the launch of the company’s mobile operations in India. Virgin has launched its Virgin Mobile brand in India targeted at Indian youth, in a franchisee agreement with Tata Teleservices. Virgin will launch its service in 50 cities, expanding to more than 1,000 cities by the end of the year. Virgin Mobile estimates that there are about 215 million urban youth mobile subscribers and an expected additional 50 million urban youth subscribers over the next three years. It expects revenue in this segment to be excess of Rs 35,000 crore by 2010. In a freewheeling chat with BT’s T.V. Mahalingam, 57-year-old Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group, spoke about capitalism, leaping off buildings, Bollywood, James Bond and, of course, the group’s plans for India. Excerpts:

What makes a 57-year-old jump off buildings? What makes you tick?

I am a great believer that capitalism has proven to be the only thing that works. Communism has been tried and failed. Socialism has been tried and failed. The problem with capitalism is that wealth comes only to a few people. If you are one of those fortunate people who has that wealth, it’s important to care to redistribute that wealth by investing in new areas, employ new people. It should be on a global basis. Over 50 per cent of my time is used to creating new business; the rest 50 per cent of my time is spent on using the money to tackle social issues that the world is facing. And if I have 250 people (in a country like India) creating a good quality new business, the least I can do is make sure the story appears on the front page of the newspaper instead of the back page. To be perfectly honest, I don’t feel any different from the way I used to feel when I was 20 years old. I don’t behave much differently than I did when I was 20 years old. And I enjoy myself and like people around me enjoying themselves. I like to make people smile. I think if you take yourself too seriously, life gets boring. If I come to India with my sherry and my English suit, I don’t think it would have captured the imagination of people. So, I like to throw myself into anything I do and sometimes I like to throw myself off anything I do.

As an entrepreneur how have you changed over the years, since the days you published Student Magazine?

I am sure that as I have become older—and it’s illogical—that I have become more cautious when it comes to personal risk taking, especially after one or two instances when I did not nearly survive. For instance, I am doing a Bollywood film tonight. So, I went to the sets at 2 a.m. this morning to do a run through and one of the things involved riding a motorcycle through a glass wall. There was something that said to me “there’s something that’s not quite right here”. So, I suggested that I shoot the glass wall down instead of running the motorbike through it. When I fired the bullets to shoot it down, the explosive that was meant to break the glass wall did not go off. So, if I had used the bike, I would have ended up with a big headache. Maybe with the experience of doing some of these things, I am a bit more cautious. But in business itself, I am pretty bold, I still hold on to the philosophy—nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am not too afraid of failure. I love to challenge people around me. I love challenging myself.

In the past, you have said that India has been unwelcoming to foreign investors. Has that changed at all?

I think India is still quite protectionist. I think it was justified in being protectionist, you know, 50 years ago. In the last 20-30 years, that’s held India back. I lobbied for 15 years to fly Virgin Atlantic to and from London. It took about six different aviation ministers before we got permission. In the past, people had to fly to Middle East to get to London. I think that our success in opening up the skies has done its bit in helping India to flourish because it also opened up the domestic aviation scene. But we cannot set up a domestic airline; we cannot set up financial services, we couldn’t set up a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in India in the mobile space… retail is still restricted. There are quite a lot of areas where India is still restricted. India is strong enough to say ‘let’s have an open society’… the consumer would benefit from that.

Why launch a telecom service for the youth alone?

You can never be an old brand and appeal to a younger group, (but) if you are a youth brand, you can always appeal to an older market later. We found that in other countries, where we aimed our offerings at the youth market, we had 45-, 65-year-old people buying our products. I think the youth market is still large with 400 million people in the age group that we are targeting. Expanding would be relatively easy as we move into GSM and post-paid, where we will get an older age group as well.

What are the sectors in India where you see an opportunity to, like you say, “shake up the market, challenge the norm”?

(Laughs) I promised not to talk about anything new today, (but) we have people looking at expanding our radio network into other cities. City hotels is a possibility. But it’s early days. Right now, we are going to concentrate to get the Virgin brand going with mobile, try to get the rights to run a domestic airline one day and if the financial industry opens up, that’s a scenario we would like to look at some day.

Low-cost products and price differentiation seem to be a major play in India in most sectors… be it aviation, retail or even telecom. How does Virgin plan to tailor its offerings in this market?

Pure low cost normally does not survive. If you look at Air Deccan, it did not survive. It was eaten up by Kingfisher. I think just low-cost companies in any sector do not survive long term. The companies that survive are the ones that offer the best quality in that sector. Virgin America or Virgin Blue in Australia are the two best companies flying their respective countries domestically—best entertainment systems, best cabin crews, best seating, lighting—but because they are so popular and so full, we can offer competitive rates as well. I think that’s the way to go about it.

Virgin Comics has a lot of Indian content with comics like Devi, Ramayan 3392 AD.

Is there a market for that kind of content globally? How’s the response been?

It’s been good. I think the breakthrough will come when features are made from some of those comics and I am sure that will happen in the not-so-distant future. We have comics made by directors of feature films, hopefully films will emerge from them.

Sony has made a venture into Indian film production. Do you see a venture into Indian entertainment in the future?

It’s certainly a possibility but we have no certain plans at the moment.

How do you balance the desire to be the best in the business without becoming big, bad business that you tend to challenge all the time?

“Even though the Virgin brand is strong on a global basis, we are still hungry. In India, we would like to be the big, bad wolf”

Though we have 300 companies, they are the underdog in every sector. So, we don’t dominate any sector. In each sector, we are biting at the heels of the big giants. And collectively even though the Virgin brand is strong on a global basis, we are still hungry and quick on the feet. In India, with our mobile venture, we would like to be the big, bad wolf, but we have many years of hard work to go.

I believe the next Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, has begun filming. Any plans to do a cameo in that like the last movie, Casino Royale?

(Smiles) They are using a lot of Virgin in the movie. They are using the upper class lounge at Heathrow but I haven’t got a call yet to do a cameo… but I have moved to Bollywood. Tonight, I will do my first spot in a Bollywood movie… and I have a line in the movie. It’s “My name is Branson…Richard Branson” (laughs).

You’ve been a businessman, adventurer, fledgling actor, what’s next?

I suppose it has to be an astronaut, isn’t it? Obviously that with Virgin Galactic in 18 months time.

Do you see a demand for Virgin Galactic from countries like India? Or is it just from the developing countries?

Yes, I am sure everybody would like to go to space some day. I met an Indian who signed up yesterday, the demand will be enormous. The price will eventually come down… some day, thousands of Indians will hopefully travel to space.

Recently, Virgin flew Boeing 747 from London to Amsterdam with one of its four engines using a bio-fuel that was a mixture of oils from coconut and the babassu nut. You have been criticised and lampooned by several people, including environmentalists. How do you handle criticism?

If you are going to have technological breakthroughs, you are going to have to try things. What Boeing, Virgin and GE Engines wanted to prove was that biofuel could fly at 35,000 feet without freezing. In the past, it would freeze at 15,000 feet. Having proved that, all I would like to say to people who have criticised the idea is that ‘if you have a better idea, we would love to hear about it’. We think that the best way to deal with global warming is to develop a biofuel that’s clean.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Richard Branson

Virgin Mobile

Virgin Group Of Companies

Mobile Casino News

2008-09-29T20:05:00.001-07:00

Profiles

Mobile Casino

Mobile Phone News

Virgin Mobile closes $38M Helio acquisition - Business Week - 22nd August 2008

2008-08-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

Virgin Mobile USA Inc. said Friday it completed its acquisition of struggling cellular carrier Helio LLC for $38 million in stock.

Under the terms of the buyout, announced June 27, Helio owners EarthLink Inc. and SK Telecom, a South Korean carrier, received limited partnership units and shares equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA stock.

SK Telecom and British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group also will each invest $25 million in Virgin Mobile as part of the deal, giving SK Telecom a 17 percent stake in Virgin Mobile.

"This acquisition of Helio also comes with a number of financial benefits, including improved network rates from Sprint for Virgin Mobile USA, and strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group which improve our capital structure and increase liquidity," said Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile's chief executive.

The Helio deal brings about 170,000 new customers to Virgin Mobile, the company said.

Both Virgin Mobile and Helio use Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network, which makes the integration of the two businesses possible. Virgin Mobile said the better network rates will reduce effective cost per minute by 8 percent in 2009.

SK Telecom will be granted two seats on Virgin Mobile's board.

Helio was not a publicly traded company, so data on its financials have been scant, but it has contributed to losses at EarthLink.

Shares of Virgin Mobile dipped 3 cents to $2.69 in midday trading.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Mobile

Optus denies iPhone publicity stunt, by Asher Moses - The Age - 11th July 2008

2008-07-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

The first person in Australia to buy an iPhone 3G after lining up for 11 hours outside Optus's George Street store yesterday is an Optus employee.

Brett Howell, 36, started the queue around 1:15pm yesterday ahead of Optus's midnight iPhone launch, which attracted a crowd of over 250 people. He identified himself to journalists as a call centre roster manager and a business analyst but did not mention he was employed by Optus.

Contacted today via the Optus switch, Howell, a "forecast analyst"' at the telco, denied he was part of a publicity stunt orchestrated by Optus to entice people to begin lining up early.

"I had to go through everything every customer had to go through," he said.

"I had to apply for the deposit, I had to pay the deposit [and] when they announced it would be a midnight launch I had to line up."

The iPhone 3G went on sale today at Optus, Vodafone and Telstra shops around the country.

High demand, fuelled by blanket media coverage, has meant many stores have sold out and the Optus and Telstra networks are reportedly experiencing technical difficulties as a result of so many customers signing up at once.
"A hardware glitch behind the scenes is slowing down mobile orders as we handle peak volumes today,'' said Telstra spokesman Peter Taylor.

"Customers who have purchased new SIM cards will have a short wait for their new service to be connected and we will contact customers as soon as this is done.''

Optus corporate affairs manager Melissa Clare said Howell - an overnight celebrity after appearing in all of today's major newspapers and TV news segments - "was absolutely not a plant" and would be paying his own bill.

"All you had to do was to be an Optus customer and pay a deposit to be eligible to line up, so he met the criteria," she said.

"I think it's fantastic that a staff member put so much effort into lining up to get an iPhone."

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Phones

Mobile Phone News

Social gaming start-up Pikum closes - 2.6 million financing led by Virgin USA

2008-07-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

UK - Mar 5, 2008 (PRN): Pikum, an online social gaming start-up launching in the UK, has secured investment of 2.6 million from Virgin USA.

Pikum a new kind of game created and played between friends - is the brainchild of 28-year old entrepreneur, Sean Glass, who previously co-founded higher education-focused online financial services company, Higher One (Higher One was ranked number 85 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing U.S. private companies in 2007). Pikum's founding management team also includes Johannes Larcher, Pikum's CEO, who was a member of Overture's executive team until its sale to Yahoo! in 2003, and most recently was CEO of online education firm Academy123 (acquired by Discovery Communications in 2006).

The funding round included participation from leading early stage U.S. based venture fund, First Round Capital, who also led Pikum's seed financing in March 2007.

Sean Glass, founder and chairman, Pikum, says: "We're working hard to build a game and platform that is easy to use and provides great competitive entertainment for groups of friends online. Having the backing of a global brand that stands for entertainment, fun, and high levels of service is great validation for what we are building."

More details will be available later in Spring 2008.

About Virgin USA

Virgin USA oversees and is responsible for the expansion of the Virgin brand in North America. Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Group has started successful businesses in mobile telephony, transportation, travel, financial services, clean energy, leisure, music, health care, and publishing. Virgin has created more than 200 companies worldwide, employing over 50,000 people in 29 countries. Building on Virgins reputation as one of the world's most recognized and respected brands, Virgin USA continues to expand into markets in North America and offer consumers value for money, good quality, innovation, exceptional customer service, fun, and a sense of competitive challenge.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin

Virgin Mobile

Pikum

Mobiles

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Phone News

"Screw it, let's do it again," says Sir Richard Branson

2008-06-30T05:03:00.000-07:00

[ Johannesburg, 30 June 2008 ] - Virgin Mobile turned two years old on 24 June. The trendy mobile company celebrated this day in true Virgin style. Customers that responded to Sir Richard Branson's calling on the 24th June 2006 received the newly launched, state of the art HTC Touch Diamond mobile phone, distributed locally by Leaf International Communications, and a personalised, autographed book from the author and the Virgin Mobile founder.

"Thank you for your loyalty and for making every second count. Happy Birthday. Have a Diamond," said Sir Richard Branson. "Screw it, let's do it again."

"It's true that we do know our customers by name. We care about them and we know where they live. So it was quite possible for us to visit them at their homes and offices to surprise them with a gift from Sir Richard Branson who was here when they signed up for our services," said Peter Boyd, CEO of Virgin Mobile, after doing a couple of surprise deliveries to the loyal customers.

Celebrating two years in South Africa's telecoms industry is worthy of Diamond. And that's exactly what Virgin Mobile has done. Virgin Mobile customers across South Africa have this week been delighted by unexpected telephone calls to notify them of a gift delivery from Branson.

"When I got the phone call, I thought someone was playing a joke on me, but low and behold within minutes I was meeting with a Virgin Mobile CEO and a photographer, outside my office!" said Mrs Sonjia Fourie from Kempton Park.

"It's only fitting that Virgin Mobile celebrated two successful years in South Africa in style but more importantly, the exercise is about giving thanks to those who joined us on our first day in the country," concluded Boyd.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Mobile

Richard Branson

Mobile Phones

Mobile Phone News

Virgin Mobile Agrees to Buy Helio - The New York Times - 27th June 2008

2008-06-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Virgin Mobile USA said Friday that it has acquired fellow Helio, the U.S. cellphone service provider controlled by South Korea’s SK Telecom, for $39 million, in a widely expected move.

The complicated deal will see Virgin Mobile, a youth-oriented prepaid cellphone service provider, buy Helio for $39 million in stock. In turn, Virgin Group and SK Telecom will invest $50 million into the newly combined company, or about $8.50 a share, a staggering premium to Virgin Mobile’s Thursday closing price of $2.99. SK Telecom will also receive new shares that give it about a 17 percent stake in Virgin Mobile.

Shares in Virgin Mobile plunged nearly 7.4 percent in Friday afternoon trading.

Friday’s deal brings an end to Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink that was troubled nearly from the start. Pitching itself as a hipper alternative to the major cellphone service providers, Helio nonetheless managed to burn through about $600 million in investments over the past three years, according to mocoNews.

The sad fate of Helio was a testimonial to the difficulty facing so-called mobile virtual network operators, or cellphone service providers who lease space on one of the major carriers’ networks. Both Virgin Mobile and Helio rented space on Sprint’s network.

Virgin Mobile said that Helio will bring about 170,000 customers, worth about $80 in average monthly revenue each. Virgin Mobile already claims about 5 million customers.

As part of the deal, Virgin Mobile will add an additional $60 million to Helio’s revolving credit facility, and it will assume $10 million in debt and $15 million in network capital liabilities.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Mobile

Mobile News

Mobile Telephony

Nelson Mandela Charities Launch International SMS Campaign - Cellular News - 15th June 2008

2008-06-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, his charitable organisations have come together to launch an international premium SMS service, allowing millions to text their own birthday message to the former South African president.

A mixture of shared and dedicated PSMS codes have been set up in over 20 countries around the world including the U.S., U.K., South Africa, Australia, Spain and Germany as well as many African nations making this one of the biggest premium SMS fundraising initiatives to be staged. Well wishers text their own message to their specific short code in country, receive a return thank you message complete with unique PIN allowing them to view their message securely online at www.happybirthdaymandela.com. The specially created birthday site also contains a raft of celebrity messages both written and filmed from Mr Mandela’s supporters around the world.

The campaign runs through until the 18th of July, Mr Mandela’s actual 90th birthday, culminating in a card being presented to him in South Africa noting the number of messages received.

46664 International Director Tim Massey said, “We are delighted to be launching this campaign allowing so many people around the world the chance to wish this extraordinary man happy birthday. A text based service allows more people to feel part of the celebrations in a very simple way and we hope will raise significant revenues to support the ongoing work of the charities that bear Mr. Mandela’s name and 46664.”.

Managed by Nelson Mandela’s HIV/AIDS global awareness campaign 46664 and strategically live for 46,664 minutes all profits received from text charges will go to the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust and other charitable organisations supported by Mr Mandela. These include The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, The Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.

Specific telecoms advice has been given to the charity in setting up the complex international campaign by Telecoms consultant Tim Williams and Naqada. Running on a system built and managed by UK based Mediadeck the campaign has been enabled by SMS aggregators Sybase 365, mBlox and Digital Services Group in South Africa. 46664 concert sponsor Zain has also assisted in switching on the campaign across its African territories. A customer care service has been provided by Mediadeck with support from Elephant Talk, Mediatel and North West Nevada Telecom.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobiles

Mobile News

Mobile Phone News Updates

2008-06-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Media Man Australia Mobile Phone News

Profiles

Mobiles

Mobile Phone News

Technology News

Virgin Broadband - Virgin Mobile Australia

2008-06-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

Virgin Broadband

Virgin Mobile has been providing mobile phone services in Australia since 2000 to over 500,000 customers who enjoy the famous Virgin Mobile service and experience. In July 2007 Virgin Mobile launched Virgin Broadband offering 2 new innovations - Broadband At Home and Mobile Broadband. Both products are delivered over the Optus 3G/HSPA Network.

Virgin Broadband at Home:
Virgin Broadband At Home is a new and innovative service which provides a home phone and broadband service over the mobile network. For only $60 per month for 24 months (minimum total cost $1,440_ the Broadband At Home bundle is great value, simple to install and includes all your standard local and national calls and unlimited calls to Virgin Mobiles phones in Australia (Fair Use Policy applies). You also get 2GB download allowance and no additional download charges (Acceptable Use Policy applies). Line rental is also included as well as a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. On top of the amazing value you get from this Virgin Broadband plan, Virgin Broadband are offering an additional $5 off per month if you add a Virgin Mobile post-paid phone to the same account.

Virgin Mobile Broadband:
The Mobile Broadband plan offers you the freedom to take the internet with you. For only $39 per month for 24 months (minimum total cost $936) you will receive a massive 5 GB data allowance and no excess usage charges. The plan comes with a free USB modem and there are no set up fees. Virgin Broadband’s Mobile Broadband plan offers great coverage on the Optus 3G/HSPA Network. So you can now access the internet where ever you are whether it’s at the park, café or on the bus. On top of the amazing value you get from a Virgin Broadband plan, Virgin Broadband are offering an additional $5 off per month if you add a Virgin Mobile post-paid phone to the same account.

Virgin Broadband is a wireless broadband service offered in Australia by the telecommunications company Virgin Mobile Australia.

It is provided over the mobile network of parent company Optus using HSDPA technology.

The service was launched in 2007, offering a package of 4GB of data at claimed speeds of up to 700Kbit/s, and unlimited phone calls to landlines Australia-wide as well as Virgin Mobile mobiles.

The service uses an Option Globesurfer 7.2 modem, which includes an RJ11 jack for the connection of a regular PSTN landline telephone, an Ethernet jack for connection of a computer, as well as inbuilt 802.11g WiFi for wireless access by multiple computers.

Each customer of Virgin Broadband is assigned a landline phone number on which they can receive incoming calls (with callers being charged rates as if they were calling a regular landline number).

Although the modem accesses the internet and places calls through Optus' mobile network, it must still only be used within a zone around the customer's registered address. According to Virgin Broadband, this is because of rules from the Australian Communications and Media Authority that prevent geographic landline numbers from being assigned to mobile services.

In late 2007, Virgin Mobile changed the Virgin Broadband offer for new customers, halving the data allowance to 2GB as well as comprehensively re-writting their accaptable use policy. (Wikipedia).

Press Releases

Virgin Broadband Arrives In Australia Virgin Mobile Challenges The Broadband Market With Their Biggest Launch To Date

Released July 25, 2007: Virgin Mobile Australia today announced details of an exciting and impactful marketing campaign rolling out this week to support the launch of Virgin Broadband. A new brand under the Virgin Mobile banner will offer incredibly innovative, simple and good value Broadband services to Australians.

This launch is supported by the biggest through-the-line investment since Virgin Mobile first launched. Driving innovation in the home phone and mobile Broadband markets, Virgin Mobile's offering brings an Australian first, due to the products' reliance on the mobile 3G network rather than fixed phone lines to provide Internet connectivity. This has allowed for the development of two truly unique and simple products, both priced and positioned to represent genuine value.

Rich Field, Brand GM, Virgin Mobile, shares his excitement at the arrival of Virgin Broadband: "As always we're delighted to be leading the way and bringing Virgin value to the Broadband market in Australia," said Field.

Virgin Broadband supplies great value phone packages, for either mobile or home phone customers, both of which include Broadband services as a FREE extra.

This 'FREE Broadband' message is used across the entire integrated marketing communications campaign. The approach is encapsulated in the creative lines being used alongside imagery in print and online executions. These include:
'Why is the only thing not free on the Internet, the Internet?'
'We don't own the Internet so why should we charge you for it?'
Pre-Launch Activity

Virgin Broadband will benefit from pre-launch marketing tactics designed to generate hype and drive intrigue around the new offering, alongside other non-traditional marketing techniques including ambient projections in metropolitan areas of Sydney.
Launch Campaign

An important aspect of the campaign is the need to educate consumers on how the product works. Educational executions will run across both print and TV. The executions are designed to talk consumers through the product offering and explain the simplicity of installation, billing and general operation. News Ltd daily metropolitan titles and consumer magazines and a targeted TV campaign will carry these educational pieces.

The brand TV campaign, runs for four weeks from August 1, 2007 across all major metropolitan markets, A supporting print campaign, using similar creative, rolls out in Sunday supplements and consumer magazines, again communicating the brand positioning that Broadband is something that should be enjoyed by all free of charge.

Matt Davey, CEO, Virgin Mobile explains the decision behind the chosen creative: "Virgin Broadband is once again championing the consumer, launching products designed to fulfil the differing Broadband needs of Australians, as well as offering simplicity, ease of use and truly good value, We believe that the internet should be available and accessible to all Australians, and that is why we have developed these products and this campaign" concluded Davey.
Online Support

To support the print, TV and PR campaign, Virgin Broadband will have a significant online presence across ninemsn and Yahoo!7 portals including video banner ads, and interstitials between certain pages on Yahoo!7. A 'making of the TVC' movie will also be available on the Virgin Broadband website.
Agencies Involved

Creative for the Virgin Broadband campaign comes from the existing agency for Virgin Mobile, HOST and their creative partners The Glue Society. Media planning and buying is handled by MPG, and One Green Bean is responsible for experiential and public relations activity. POS, packaging and other promotional merchandise is produced by Dynamix, whilst all online work is handled by Freestyle Media. Virgin Broadband at Home and Virgin Mobile Broadband are available at Virgin Mobile stores nationally from August 1, 2007. E-commerce and telesales are also available at virginbroadband.com.au and 13 43 00
About Virgin Mobile

Virgin Broadband is a part of Virgin Mobile Australia, a leading consumer focused mobile network with its headquarters in Sydney and stores in Sydney, Brisbane & Melbourne. Following a successful launch in October 2000, Virgin Mobile Australia has continued to achieve strong growth and was recently acquired by the Optus Group. Virgin Mobile now has over 500,000 customers and is one of the most recognised brands globally. Representing strong customer focus and good value for money Virgin Mobile is sold through more than 3,500 outlets across Australia.
Virgin Broadband Gives Its Competitors The V!

July 25, 2007: Today Virgin Mobile Australia, the same people who brought you simple, great mobile deals, are about to shake up the market again, with the launch of Virgin Broadband. Virgin Broadband is a suite of Home Phone and Mobile Broadband packages delivered over the Virgin Mobile 3G HSDPA enabled network (3G Network).

The Broadband market is complicated and confusing, and Australian consumers have been ripped off for way too long. In fact:

Over half of Australians live in a household with Broadband, yet 69% of these people are currently dissatisfied with some element of the service*

Virgin Broadband will meet the need of most of these people, providing two genuinely simple to understand, easy to setup and innovative Broadband and home phone solutions. Plus, because both Virgin Broadband products are wireless, you won't need an existing landline or a professional to install them!
Virgin Broadband at Home - a little more detail

Virgin Broadband is offering consumers free Broadband along with a fantastic home phone package. There are no hidden costs, only a simple and good value home phone and Broadband service. The package gives you a home phone service, high-speed Internet access with a generous monthly download allowance and the simplicity to plug it in at home wherever there is a power point and where there is Virgin Mobile 3G coverage. It really is as simple as that! For just $60 per month for 24 months, Virgin Broadband at Home gives consumers unlimited calls to standard local and national numbers as well as unlimited calls to any Virgin mobiles in Australia in addition to a great value Broadband package.

Here's the clever part - it only takes 5 simple steps to enjoy Virgin Broadband at Home:

1. Open the box
2. Plug the modem into the power
3. Plug your home phone handset into the modem
4. Plug your PC into the modem or configure your WiFi to connect to the modem
5. Complete the registration page and enjoy great Broadband and unlimited standard local and national calls!

Virgin Broadband at Home enables you to make calls and connect to the Internet at high speed without the need for any wiring. You still plug in a traditional looking home phone handset with its own local number**, however you will actually be making calls in the same way that mobiles do. Cool hey!

Virgin Broadband at Home requires no professional installation and can be used anywhere Virgin Mobile has 3G Network coverage. Download limits are set at 2GB or 4GB depending on your plan***. Five email inboxes and a free voicemail service top off this fantastic offering.

This use by Virgin Mobile of the high speed 3G network breaks the Broadband mould. Rich Field, Brand GM, Virgin Mobile, shares his excitement for the launch: "As always we're very excited to be leading the way and bringing some Virgin value to the Broadband market in Australia. The market has been too confusing and complicated for too long, and we believe it is time the Internet was free for everyone to enjoy," said Field.

Virgin Mobile Broadband

Virgin is also supplying a Broadband service for customers who want a traditional mobile cap plan, but with Broadband to their laptop or PC. For just $80 per month for 24 months, customers get a mobile phone, $520 worth of calling credit plus a USB modem and FREE Broadband to their laptop or home computer.
How does it work?

It's as simple as 'plug and go' thanks to a USB modem, which can be plugged into a laptop or desktop computer, allowing users to surf at high speed and download up to 1GB per month, wherever they may be.

Actually, it's just 5 simple steps to mobile freedom:

1. Open the box
2. Plug the USB modem into your laptop or PC
3. The software installs automatically
4. Click 'Connect'
5. Enjoy FREE Broadband on the go

This really is a versatile and simple way to enjoy Internet access on the move. Free text messaging (Virgin to Virgin) as well as free voicemail on your mobile phone complete this great value package.

Cutting through a confusing market and offering customers a choice of simple and great value broadband packages, Virgin has once again proved it really is determined to offer truly good value, designed to fulfil the differing Broadband needs of Australians. Virgin Broadband at Home and Virgin Mobile Broadband are available at Virgin Mobile stores nationally from August 1, 2007. Web sales and telesales are also available at virginbroadband.com.au and 13 43 00.
About Virgin Mobile

Virgin Broadband is part of Virgin Mobile Australia, a leading consumer focused mobile network with its headquarters in Sydney and stores in Sydney, Brisbane & Melbourne. Following a successful launch in October 2000, Virgin Mobile Australia has continued to achieve strong growth and was recently acquired by the Optus Group. Virgin Mobile now has over 500,000 customers and is one of the most recognised brands globally. Representing strong customer focus and good value for money Virgin Mobile is sold through more than 3,500 outlets across Australia.

* Please cite Virgin Mobile when referring to statistics. Further statistics are available on request. Study conducted by Galaxy Omnibus Research, July 07. Data was weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.
** Unless you choose to port your existing number (available from September 30 2007), you will need a new home phone number provided by us.
*** If you exceed, speed is limited to 128kbps. Peer to Peer speed limited to 64kbps at all times.
Virgin Mobile Revolutionalises The Australian Home Broadband Market With The Launch Of Virgin Broadband

July 25, 2007: Today Virgin Mobile Australia launched Virgin Broadband, an innovative suite of Home and Mobile Broadband packages delivered over the 3G HSDPA enabled network (3G Network). Providing Australians with the new communication packages, Virgin Broadband consists of two distinct products: Virgin Broadband at Home and Virgin Mobile Broadband. Both are sensational phone packages with broadband thrown in for FREE! The first offering of its kind in Australia, Virgin Broadband at Home is a home phone and Broadband package, giving consumers a home phone service with unlimited standard national and local calls, high-speed Internet access and a generous monthly download allowance.

The biggest appeal of Broadband at Home is its simplicity. Not only does the product virtually install itself, but its use of the Virgin Mobile 3G Network allows users to make calls and connect to the Internet at high speed without needing a fixed line. You simply make phone calls and surf the web by plugging in a PC and landline handset to the Broadband at Home modem. As long as you are in the Virgin Mobile 3G Network and have a power source users can surf and talk - even at the same time!

Matt Davey, CEO of Virgin Mobile Australia, welcomes the arrival of Virgin Broadband. "We recently asked Australian home broadband users if they were happy with their current Broadband plan. Alarmingly, 69%** are dissatisfied with some element of their broadband service. "Virgin Broadband is offering a true value proposition that delivers what Australian consumers want and need when it comes to Broadband - a fast, convenient and affordable home phone and broadband solution," concluded Matt.
More about Virgin Broadband at Home

A complete, top performance Fixed Mobile Convergence device, the Virgin Broadband at Home modem combines a circuit switched telephony service, Wi-Fi and Ethernet gateway into one device to deliver instant wireless broadband access for multiple users. Because it uses the Virgin Mobile 3G Network for Internet connectivity and is a completely wireless configuration, provided they are all in the 3G coverage area users can place the modem anywhere in the home to receive optimum coverage and therefore the best performance. In optimum coverage conditions Virgin Broadband at Home allows users to surf at typical speeds of up to 512kbps*** and will work on computers using Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Mac OSX. Download allowances are set at 2GB and 4GB depending on your plan**, with five email inboxes and a free voicemail service topping off this spectacular broadband offering.
Virgin Mobile Broadband

In addition to Broadband at Home, Virgin Mobile has released Mobile Broadband - a conventional capped mobile plan, but with the added bonus of FREE mobile Broadband. The Mobile Broadband plan comes with a mobile phone and USB modem, connecting your laptop or desktop to the Internet via the Virgin Mobile 3G Network.

For just $80 per month, customers can select a product that incorporates a mobile phone, $520 worth of calling credit plus BONUS broadband to their laptop or computer. Thanks to the wireless USB modem, users can surf at high speed and download up to 1GB per month, provided they are in the Virgin Mobile 3G coverage area. With automatic installation, users simply plug in the Mobile Broadband USB modem and get online. Even in areas where 3G coverage is poor, Mobile Broadband uses Advanced Receiver Technology to ensure optimum coverage. This pocket sized USB modem is sleek and stylish in design and compatible with nearly all modern desktops and laptop PCs equipped with Windows 2000, XP, Vista and MAC OS X. Free text messaging (Virgin to Virgin) as well as free voicemail, plus personal email complete this great value package.

Virgin Broadband at Home and Virgin Mobile Broadband are available at Virgin Mobile stores nationally from August 1, 2007. Web sales and telesales are also available at virginbroadband.com.au and 13 43 00.

* If you exceed, speed is limited to 128kbps.
** Please cite Virgin Mobile when referring to statistics. Further statistics are available on request. Study conducted by Galaxy Omnibus Research, July 07. Data was weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.
*** This speed is throttled down to 128kbps (twice the speed of most others in these cases) if you exceed the monthly data usage allwoance.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Broadband

Virgin Mobile

Mobile

Mobile Casino

Broadband

One of the First Mobile Election Polls by Virgin Mobile USA Predicts Final Primary Outcome, Choosing Obama for Country's Top Spot this November

2008-06-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

News Release Issued: June 6, 2008 5:30 AM EDT

One of the First Mobile Election Polls by Virgin Mobile USA Predicts Final
Primary Outcome, Choosing Obama for Country's Top Spot this November

Respondents to Text-Based Survey Cite Economy and War as Most Important
Election Issues; Also Cite Willingness to Vote via Text Message

WARREN, N.J., June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In advance of the final
states taking to the polls this week, more than 20,000 Virgin Mobile USA
customers from across the U.S. let their fingers do the talking about this
year's most important race -- the one that ends at the White House. Tapping
into one of the fastest-growing mediums of mobile communications -- text
messaging -- Virgin Mobile USA today announced results of the first "Virgin
Mobile USA Election Issues Poll," a national SMS-based mobile survey that
asked about the key contenders and issues in the run-up to November. Not
surprisingly, considering Virgin Mobile USA's historical focus on the
youth-oriented market, over half of the respondents were under the age of 25
and female -- and favored Democratic candidates over the lone Republican.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070613/VIRGINMOBILE )

Obama Clear Favorite

When asked whom they expect to vote for through the national poll, conducted
in late May, a plurality of respondents (40 percent) selected Barack Obama as
their top choice. Fellow Democratic contender Hillary Rodham Clinton took
second place, at 18 percent and John McCain came in a distant third at 8
percent. Fewer than 5 percent reported themselves to be undecided.

Running Mate Not Much of a Factor

Mobile voters were lukewarm on how much a candidate's choice of vice
presidential candidate impacts their vote. Over 51 percent said the choice
was "somewhat important" -- with an even split at the extreme ends of the
spectrum (18 percent said the choice of a VP will be "extremely important;"
15 percent said the VP choice is "not important").

Economy & War Top Election Issues

The economy was cited by respondents as the election's most critical issue
(25 percent). The war in Iraq followed closely behind (20 percent). These
two issues registered significantly above others, including:

Health 6% Energy 4%
Abortion 5% Immigration 3%
Crime 5% Race 3%
Education 4% Environment 2%

"As texting continues to grow into a primary form of personal communication,
it's critical to tap into this channel for insights on the major issues of
our day," said Bob Stohrer, Chief Marketing Officer for Virgin Mobile USA.
"The tremendous response we received from over 20,000 of our customers is a
sign that people will make their voices heard when they are reached, through
the right channels, with questions that have substance and meaning. Our
ongoing commitment to give a voice to our customers is aligned with our
overall goal of gaining real-time insights and continuing to grow our
relationship with wireless consumers."

Votes By Text Could Increase Turn Out

Respondents eagerly embraced making technology an even greater part of the
political process. More than half (57 percent) said they would be willing to
vote for the next president by cell phone, while about the same amount (55
percent) also indicated that being able to cast a vote via text message would
make them more likely to participate in an election.

Approximately 46 percent of respondents said that they would be open to
receiving text messages from their candidate or party of choice -- another
sign of how political outreach must keep up with the changing nature of
personal communication. More than half (54 percent) are registered members of
one of the two major political parties (Democratic or Republican). An
additional 9.5% said that they were registered to vote as independents.

The survey, conducted by Vibes Media on behalf of Virgin Mobile USA, allowed
Virgin Mobile customers to opt-in by texting "PREZ" free of charge to a
mobile short code, and then answering questions via text message.
Participants earned five free minutes of airtime from Virgin Mobile USA for
sharing their opinions.

Full results of election issues poll can be found at
http://virginmobileusa.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=23

About Virgin Mobile USA

Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM), through its operating company, Virgin Mobile
USA, L.P., offers more than five million customers control, flexibility and
choice in wireless service, rich data content and innovative products without
annual contracts. Voice pricing plans range from monthly options with
unlimited nights and weekends to by-the-minute offers, allowing consumers to
adjust how and what they pay according to their needs. Virgin Mobile USA's
smart, stylish and affordable handsets, including the Wild Card, Slash and
Flare, are available in more than 40,000 retailers nationwide and online at
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/, with Top-Up cards available at more than
140,000 locations.

J.D. Power and Associates ranked Virgin Mobile USA highest in customer
satisfaction among wireless prepaid services in both 2006 and 2007, and its
customers report a 90% satisfaction rate. Virgin Mobile USA contributes a
portion of profits from downloadable content to The RE*Generation, its
pro-social initiative to help homeless youth; and provides postage-paid
return envelopes in every new phone package for customers to recycle old
phones. Virgin Mobile USA's national coverage is powered by the nationwide
Sprint PCS network.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070613/VIRGINMOBILE
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

SOURCE: Virgin Mobile USA

CONTACT: Corinne Nosal, Virgin Mobile USA, +1-908-607-4235,
Corinne.nosal@virginmobileusa.com; or Alysa McKenna, CooperKatz & Company,
+1-917-595-3048, amckenna@cooperkatz.com

Web site: http://www.virginmobileusa.com/
http://virginmobileusa.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=23

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Mobile

Mobiles

Message stick, by Nick Galvin - The Sydney Morning Herald - 2nd June 2008

2008-06-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

SMS services can add hundreds of dollars to your mobile bill, warns Nick Galvin.

For nearly two years, Julie Robertson received two mysterious SMS messages each week. They made no sense to her and, being a busy person, she deleted them, thinking no more about it.

As with many of us, she also gave scant attention to her mobile phone bill when it arrived, simply paying it without examining it too closely.

"I thought if I didn't answer the messages they would slowly go away and leave me alone," Robertson says.

But they didn't go away. Far from it. And it was only when she spoke to an Optus representative on an unrelated matter that she found out that as well as being a minor irritation these curious messages - which it turns out were related to a trivia game - were costing her a lot of money. They had eaten up more than $250 of her phone bill since they started arriving.

Robertson - who says to her knowledge she had never signed up to such a service - was outraged.

Several phone calls to Optus and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman finally put an end to the unwanted messages and earned her a refund of $250.

Her experience is far from isolated.

These so-called "premium SMS services" generate thousands of complaints each year from furious consumers complaining about bloated phone charges for services they say they either didn't order or which they signed up to without being aware of the implications.

According to its 2007 annual report, the ombudsman received more than 7000 complaints about premium SMS services in just seven months.

Overall figures have yet to be published but a spokesman confirmed that the number of complaints was continuing to rise. In preliminary figures for the first quarter of this year, the ombudsman had already received nearly 6000 complaints about premium SMS services. Most involved customers disputing charges on their bills, including one complainant, who unknowingly ran up a bill of $2600 with an SMS dating service before turning to the office for help.

After pressure from the ombudsman, the service provider agreed to reduce the charges to a more reasonable $800, to which the complainant agreed.

Premium SMS services come in a variety of forms and guises. They might be offers of phone ringtones or images, competitions, horoscope messages or chatlines. Typically, they are advertised via TV advertisements, often late at night, through websites or through print ads.

But regardless of the "hook" used to persuade people to sign up, one characteristic shared by almost all premium SMS services is that they are expensive - often extremely expensive. They also invariably operate on a subscription basis, which means you will be hit with continuing fees until you opt out of the service.

For example, if you were to sign up to Head2Head SMS Trivia Club, a general knowledge game promoted by Brisbane's Top Shelf Promotions, you would be billed more than $17 a week, or about $900 a year. Alternatively, you might consider $12 a bargain price for four horoscope messages each week. That's what it costs to sign up at myhoroscope.com.au, a service promoted by Canberra "adult goods" retailer AdultShop.

Many premium SMS companies are members of a voluntary code of practice called the Mobile Premium Services Industry scheme, which governs matters including advertising, how customers can cancel services and complaint resolution.

The code is particularly insistent that potential customers should know what they are getting themselves into before signing up: "Content service providers shall implement appropriate mechanisms to inform customers, in a clear and unambiguous manner, before accessing a mobile premium service, of the nature and terms and conditions of use of each premium service."

However, the most common complaint about premium services is that the customers were unaware they were signing up to a subscription service with continuing fees.

"One of the biggest problems is that the terms and conditions are not always as clear as they could be - especially for younger kids," says Sarah Wilson, a policy adviser with lobby group the Consumer Telecommunications Network.

"The issue just does not go away and the industry will swear blind that they are doing the right thing but customers are continuing to have problems."

Australian Consumers Association policy manager Gordon Renouf agrees that consumers often do not realise what they are signing up to.

"It's not about return business," he says. "It's about catching as many people as you can and skimming a bit off each one."

Kashif Amjad is chief executive officer of mobile service provider Slimtel. He says his company often has to deal with angry customers unwittingly signed up to services from third-party content providers.

"People generally just put in to receive the content once without knowing they are subscribing even though it is written in the terms and conditions," he says.

"The problem for me is the resolution of it. From the perspective of a service provider, it's an absolute nightmare to deal with. If I had my way, I would make it an opt-in service, like global roaming."

Customers unhappy about premium charges on their phone bills who contact the ombudsman will typically be redirected to their service provider, such as Optus, Telstra or AAPT.

The service providers are generally unwilling to make specific comment but it appears they will often cancel customers' premium SMS charges, particularly where the customer insists they did not request the service.

Michael Ungerboeck, chief executive of Mobile Messenger, a company that specialises in content delivery and billing for premium SMS providers, is quick to defend the industry and says complaints are generally without foundation.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the time we find that the services were set up quite legitimately," he says.

Often, it turns out to be a child who has signed up for a service using a parent's phone, technically leaving the adult responsible.

"We are 110 per cent confident that we comply with all standards," says Ungerboeck, adding that a small number of cowboys give the industry a bad name.

"We have a team pretty much full time dealing with regulatory matters."

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Phones

Mobile News

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Casino

MVNO

Mobile Babes

M Commerce

MIA selected to build and manage new games portal for Virgin Mobile in Australia

2008-04-19T03:13:00.000-07:00

MIA, the global provider of mobile technology and content services, has been awarded the contract to build, manage and host Virgin Mobile’s new games portal in Australia. The portal, which launched at the end of April, will run on 2g & 3g networks and offer customers a wide selection of standard and premium Java games, plus a range of online games.

MIA’s Media Village Platform (MVP) content management system will be at the heart of the games portal, providing Virgin Mobile with advanced personalisation and CRM services enabling it to maximise sales and increase repeat visits. The Media Village Platform works behind the scenes profiling the habits of visitors, automatically registering the kind of handset the visitor has and recommending the content that best matches their preferences. In addition, all content recommendations will feature reviews left by other Vibe users, helping customers to select the most suitable games. MIA will also be hosting VIP Member, a reward scheme for regular Games visitors which offers free games and content, enabling Virgin Mobile to engage directly with their customer.

Richard Mergler, CEO, MIA, commented: "The mobile screen is the smallest shop window in the world and if customers can’t find what they’re looking for, quickly, then you’ve got a problem. We’ve invested a lot of time and resources developing our Media Village Platform so that brands and operators, like Virgin Mobile, can rapidly rollout services and generate revenues in a single territory or globally." Fi McAllister at Virgin Mobile, added: "We’re really excited about our new Games Portal. It looks great and we think it’s the only mobile games place to hang out! We’ve really focused on getting the portal right so that our customers will be engaged in their mobile games experience at all times. By adding new elements such as VIP Club and Games Reviews, MIA has been able to help us add that extra bit of sparkle to our customer play time." "We look forward to working closely with MIA moving forward."

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Mobile Australia

Virgin

Games

Gaming

Mobile Gaming

Mobiles

Mobile gambling - Wikipedia

2008-04-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

Mobile gambling refers to gambling done on a remote wirelessly connected device. These devices can include wireless tablet PC's, mobile phones and other non traditional mid-level networked computing devices. Some online casinos and online poker cardrooms offer mobile options.

Most mobile gambling services require a data connection to operate. The data connection is provided by the telecom provider for the region or country and may use data layer technologies such as GPRS, GSM Data, UMTS, and I-MODE. However, some services are available through an SMS text messaging interface.

While still relatively underdeveloped, analysts place the value of the market space at US$20 billion by 2010. Juniper, Gartner and Seymour Pierce all project rapid growth in the sector through to 2010.

The market is still at a nascent stage at the moment, as mobile operators and brands/ media owners are currently not in a position to create this market due to the potential reputational risk. This is mainly because of the uncertain nature of most countries' in-decision towards regulation of remote gambling and online gambling.

Some companies however have begun developing and testing mobile platforms to position themselves early in the anticipated growth of the market.

The remote gaming market has been growing at a rate of 35% over the past 4 years and was estimated to be worth over $7 billion in 2004, the vast majority of which was internet-based. The mobile section of the gaming market only accounted for $5 million in 2004. However, industry analysts such as CCA, Juniper Research and Screen Digest estimate this grew to $1 billion in 2006.

Projected Market Value Stats:

* Asia-Pacific region is expected to contribute the largest share of total gross revenues with 39% of the market
* Europe follows closely behind with a 37% market share, with the US making up the majority of the remainder
* Telecoms analysts Juniper Research reveals that mobile lotteries will be the largest money-spinners, with gross revenues of nearly US$7.9bn worldwide by 2009, followed by sports betting (US$6.9bn) and casino-style gaming (US$4.5bn).

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Casino

Mobile Gaming

Mobile Babes

Mobile Ringtones

Gaming

Casino

Mobiles

Sex tourism gets turned into a mobile game, by Stuart Dredge - Pocket Gamer

2008-04-19T00:21:00.000-07:00

With Sex Trip, you're Amsterdamned if you do...

It's only a matter of weeks since I was stood on-stage at GDC Mobile, suggesting politely that since more than half of mobile game buyers are female, perhaps it would be an idea to tone down the sexism in games a wee bit.

It's not about being prudish, but more about recognising that endless bikini babes and game plots that involve collecting them like trophies might not appeal to, well, half your potential customers.

With that in mind... Sex Trip is a new mobile game that sees you playing a bloke who has to "break hearts of as many women as possible" by having sex with them, using "his own skills in order to conquer adamant girls".

Oh.

And that's not all. See, you have to avoid their pimps, since this is Amsterdam, and all the women you meet are presumably prostitutes. Although that doesn't stop them accepting gifts as part of the 'flirtation' process.

Ah well, so much for that toning down the sexism idea. Developer Inlogic says it plans to launch more titles set in different cities around the world.

It might sell tonnes of downloads if advertised in the back section of Nuts magazine but, somehow, we can't see this game coming to your operator portal anytime soon.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Babes

Mobiles

Telco's roaming holiday, by Fleur Leyden - Herald Sun - 17th April 2008

2008-04-19T00:17:00.000-07:00

Vodafone Australia says roaming charges for travellers using laptops overseas will be slashed by up to 80 per cent with the launch of new data roaming plans.

The telco said it had tapped into its international network to offer the internet deals to customers and hinted that roaming charges for mobile phones on its network would also decrease in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Customers who sign up to the telco's $39, five gigabit a month mobile data plan are eligible for the new overseas "data bundles".

The two roaming plans range in price from $49 a month for 25 megabits (MB) of internet use overseas to $199 a month, which entitles the user to 120MB.

Customers will be able to take their laptops overseas to 38 countries -- including China, the US, Britain, New Zealand -- and get online without having to find a connection in a hotel or internet cafe.

Joseph Ferrar, Vodafone Australia's products manager for international data roaming suggested the telco would soon overhaul mobile phone roaming charges.

"We can't reveal anything at the moment but this is a big year for Vodafone in terms of roaming and we are really going to look at reshaping the roaming proposition in the future," he said.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Vodafone

Mobiles

Vodafone aims at those who roam, by Jesse Hogan - The Age - 17th April 2008

2008-04-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

VODAFONE wants to attract more international business travellers by offering them hefty discounts on wireless broadband access when travelling overseas.

The telco, based in Britain, is now offering bundled data roaming plans to allow Vodafone's Australia customers to use their laptop datacards or USB modems in 38 countries without paying extra for roaming on non-Vodafone networks.

While the two monthly data plans are vastly more expensive than plans for Vodafone's Australian network - users will either pay $49 for 25 megabytes of downloads or $199 for 120Mb - the telco insists it could cut some customers' roaming bills by up to 80%.

The countries covered by the deal include New Zealand, the United States, Britain, Singapore, India and China.

Customers travelling to most of these countries will connect to 3G phone networks.

The major exceptions are China, India and much of Eastern Europe, where customers will roam on much slower 2G networks.

"Laptops are an invaluable tool for modern travellers and the new rates we've announced today provide convenience and value, eliminating the need to find internet cafes or rely on expensive hotel broadband connections," said Ed Goff, Vodafone's general manager for business markets.

Even if Vodafone customers travel for only a week they have to pay the full monthly charge, although they can cancel the plan at any time without penalty.

But the plans do not offer unlimited downloads.

Roaming customers will be charged 0.8¢ per kilobyte - or $8.19 per megabyte - for use above their 25Mb or 120Mb quotas.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Vodafone

Mobiles

Vodafone cuts international data roaming charges, by Stuart Corner - IT Wire - 18th April 2008

2008-04-19T00:10:00.000-07:00

Vodafone Australia today launched two international data roaming plans that it says will reduce "dramatically" the price of mobile Internet access for Australian customers travelling to 38 countries.

The Roaming Data Bundles are available as an optional extra to customers who have subscribed to Vodafone's 5GB for $39 per month mobile data plan. They enable customers to take their laptops overseas and connect to the Internet using either their Vodafone Mobile Connect USB modem or Expresscard (supplied for $0 as part of the 5GB/$39 plan). Two sizes are available: 25MB for $49 per month (Light) and 120MB for $199 per month (Heavy).

Customers can choose the duration of their international roaming plan with a minimum period of one month, and are able to activate a new plan each time they travel. No additional fixed-term contract is required. The 38 countries covered by the plans account for more than 85 percent of all Vodafone Australia's international roaming traffic and include China, the US, UK, New Zealand, Singapore and India.

Vodafone's new prices at about $2.00 per Mbyte on the light plan and slightly less than $2.00 on the heavy plan are still much higher than the $0.50 per Mbyte charged to 3 users roaming onto 3 networks overseas, without having to purchase a minimum of one months service. However they are a big improvement on the $20 per Mbyte charged by Optus (with no concessions to those roaming onto other SingTel owned networks), the $15 per Mbyte charged by Telstra and the $15-$30 charges imposed by 3 to non-3 networks.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Vodafone

Mobiles

Vodafone bails out defunct MVNO Dot Mobile - Mobile News International - 18th April 2008

2008-04-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Vodafone coughs up cash for troubled MVNO's customers and creditors, including 20:20

Vodafone has paid around £1 million to take on the 18,000 customers of student MVNO Dot Mobile, which went into administration last month.

Dot Mobile launched across 90 universities across the UK in 2005, offering bundles of ‘units’ instead of the traditional minutes or texts. It recruited customers by offering up to £80 for successful referrals.

Vodafone, which supplied the airtime for Dot Mobile, agreed with administrators Smith and Williamson that it would pay an estimated £1 million for customer information. It has agreed to migrate customers to Vodafone tariffs of equal or better value, and to pay any outstanding referral bonuses.

The £1 million will pay Dot Mobile creditors, which include handset distributor 20:20.

Allister Manson, associate director of administrator Smith and Williamson, said: “Vodafone has honoured its commitment to provide these services so there should be no disruption to customers.”

Manson added that although Dot Mobile subscriber numbers had been rising, its MVNO agreement with Vodafone was due to expire in May 2009. Vodafone said it would not renew this contract, and Dot Mobile was unsuccessful in finding a replacement network partner.

Vodafone declined to comment except to say it was working with the administrator.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Vodafone

Mobiles

Media Man Australia Mobile Telephony Directory Updated

2008-04-18T03:56:00.000-07:00

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Telephony

Mobile Babes

News

Media Man Australia Technology News

Mobile phones may be new betting tools, by Ashley Gardiner - Herald Sun - 23rd November 2007

2007-11-07T14:36:00.000-08:00

Gamblers could play lotto on their mobile phones under a new licence granted by the State Government to Greek gambling giant Intralot.

A weekly TV bingo game could also be introduced by the company under its licence, which was tabled in State Parliament yesterday.

The licence also allows a lottery to be conducted on the internet or sold from convenience stores, newsagencies, supermarkets, post offices and vending machines.

The extra games would be in addition to the instant scratch lotteries Intralot has confirmed it would introduce.

Other new Intralot games would include Keno, Pick 5, Heads or Tails, Cross & Match and Pick 3.

Intralot director Tony Sheehan said the company had no plans to introduce internet or mobile phone lotteries.

"They're things that could be done, but not things we are going to do," Mr Sheehan said.

"Any games we introduce have to be approved anyway."

The wide-ranging licence has angered the state Opposition. "It's now possible to lose your shirt without having to leave your house," Opposition gaming spokesman Michael O'Brien said.

Inter-church Gaming Taskforce chair Mark Zirnzak said he was appalled by the new Intralot licence.

"This is a Government that is demonstrating it is more concerned about protecting the industry than looking after the interests of the Victorian community," Dr Zirnzak said.

Gaming Minister Tony Robinson said new games would need to be approved by the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation.

"The licence provides the opportunity for Intralot to develop new games," he said.

"But at all times those games would have to be approved by the VCGR.

"Simply, the licence provides the opportunity for Intralot to develop new products."

New ways of selling lotteries, including text messaging, would also need to be approved by the gambling regulator, Mr Robinson said.

"The licence documentation simply provides them with the opportunity to apply to the VCGR to develop that sort of point of sale outlet.

"A lot of business is now done through mobile phones.

"A lot of business is now done through the internet.

"For some years it's been possible to purchase lotto products online."

Mr O'Brien said Parliament was already debating whether to allow drunk people to bet on horses or play pokies, in an effort to reduce problem gambling.

"If intoxicated people can buy lottery tickets through their mobile phone, or through a vending machine, it's going to be an open invitation to gamble and those measures are not in the public interest," he said.

Selling lottery products to minors will remain an offence, punishable by a $1000 fine.

The Government ended Tattersall's monopoly of the lotteries market last month, allowing Greek-based Intralot to enter Victoria from July next year.

Last financial year, the Government drew $330 million in lottery tax and expects that figure to rise under new licence arrangements that open the market to competition.

Premier John Brumby has promised the estimated revenue of more than $3 billion over 10 years from the new lottery licences to Intralot and Tattersall's would go directly to health services.

(Credit: News Limited)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Mobile Phones

Casino News

Media Man Australia Mobile Telephones Profile Updated

2007-03-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Mobile Telephony profile

Mobile phone experts
Kashif Amjad
Paul Budde

Mobile Telephones Blog News

2006-07-17T01:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Mobile Telephones blog news site.

This is a creation of Media Man Australia and associates.

Mobile telephoney is one of the world's hottest commodities and can be a very lucrative business to be in.

For updates keep checking this blog site, and the mobile telephony pages of Media Man Australia.

Mobile Telephony profile

Mobile Babes profile

Mobile Telephony News
The mobile babes sections of Media Man Australia and Australian Sports Entertainment are proving to be huge traffic generators.

Thank you for your interest.

Best Regards
Greg Tingle
Director
Media Man Australia
e: greg@mediaman.com.au
w: www.mediaman.com.au