PavingWays

Wizzl, a Dutch company, is preparing to launch its all-in-one virtual phone. Users (”Wizzlers”) can talk, chat, have direct access to live TV, Internet radio and web games. Or as written on their website:

“Wizzl has developed free communication software which will allow its users (’Wizzlers’) to make free voice and video calls over the internet, and calls to local and international phones and mobiles from only 1.5 Eurocents per minute. And it doesn’t stop there; with Wizzl’s all-in-one virtual phone, Wizzlers will have direct access to live TV, internet radio stations and the most popular web games around. Personal photographs, music and videos will also be at users’ fingertips.”

The official (worldwide) launch will be at GamePlay, the largest game event of the Benelux, between 23 and 25 Nov. 2007.

You can test their (Windows) software on your desktop PC here: http://www.wizzl.com/intl/en/download. First-time downloaders get up to 10 minutes of free calling time to landlines and mobile phones across the world. Wizzler-to-Wizzler voice and video calls are completely free of charge. “The current beta version works on desktops and laptops only. In the very near future, Wizzl will also be available for mobile phones.”

Sources:
http://www.wizzl.com
http://www.gameplay.nl

I read an interesting article on us.blognation.com about mywaves, a mobile video service. mywaves was founded at the end of 2006, is led by a team that includes veterans from Yahoo, Napster, Danger, PayPal and TiVo and is financially backed by Menlo Ventures.The Sunnyvale, California based company revealed some quite impressive numbers. mywaves reported 1.25 million visitors per month. Honestly, I didn’t know that there is already such a big market for mobile video out there. According to their press release they got an average of 4 visits per month per individual. These visits lasted an average of 20 minutes.

How does it work?
First you have to sign-up for the service. Then you can discover, choose and personalize your on-the-go entertainment on their website that will be automatically delivered and updated to your mobile phone. mywaves also sends text messages alerting you about content updates in their channels. The service is free and works globally across all 3G, EDGE, BREW and EV-DO carriers as well as most video-capable mobile phones.

Marketing
In May 2007 they announced their partnership with Admob to enable click-to-video advertisements for AdMob advertisers.In July 2007 mywaves announced that Alltel Wireless will be the first North American carrier who launches mywaves service allowing Alltel customer to watch videos from their phone for 3.99 USD per month. Customers can easily download the application from their phone via the Alltel Axcess Shop and customize the content.

Sources:
http://www.mywaves.comhttp://us.blognation.com

- Vodafone sued T-Mobile in Germany over its exclusive contract with Apple. That’s why Vodafone had issued a “restraining order” against T-Mobile for offering the iPhone exclusively. Another German carrier Debitel had also complained to the German telecommunications regulators about the exclusive deal (which ties the iPhone to a single carrier).
T-Mobile announced yesterday that they will now also sell the iPhone in Germany without the 24-month contract as well as without SIM lock. T-Mobile’s unlocked iPhones (without a contract) will cost 999 EUR (1473 USD).
Customers who sign up for a 2-year T-Mobile contract get the device for 399 EUR (588 USD) plus (at least) 49.99 EUR/month.

- The new version of the mobile Opera browser - Opera Mini 4 - was released on Nov. 7th and had already had over 1 Mio. downloads in the first ten days. Incredible! Congratulations to the Opera team!
Download Opera Mini 4 here: http://www.operamini.com/download/

Sources:
http://www.betanews.com
http://business.timesonline.co.uk
http://www.heise.de