Monday, December 18, 2006
What's next? II
Many praised the launch of our mobile web portal a few months ago as the next best thing to back-lit phone pads. Extensive, easy to navigate, fast-downloading. See Mediapost, for example. Now that our friends at Opera and BlackBerry have bundled a link, it's even easier to access on many devices. And, of course, anyone else can just type "Mobileplay.com" into their mobile browser and up it will pop. Practically every week new links are being added, and we continue to optimize for more and more mobile browsers. But we aren't stopping there! The next step is to let YOU create, access and, of course SHARE your own content. We're going to keep it as simple and fun as possible. Nothing to download, nothing to pay. So stay tuned, and look for some cool new stuff taking off early in 2007!
Friday, September 08, 2006
Sharing the Love
From my desk...
I wanted to personally thank everybody who is using our "share" features, both to share the Mobileplay service as well as individual article or application content with your friends and colleagues. And don't forget mom, even if she doesn't have the latest mobile device she'll appreciate a forwarded article from you now and then! We just added the ability to share (and, of course, win prizes!) from the mobile browser version of Mobileplay. We have also partnered with online video game rental site Gamefly to offer an "instant win" prize of a free 30-day trial, so I hope all you gamers out there will take advantage of this opportunity! As an off-carrier deck mobile community we depend upon our members to spread the word and share the love! Keep up the good work!
I wanted to personally thank everybody who is using our "share" features, both to share the Mobileplay service as well as individual article or application content with your friends and colleagues. And don't forget mom, even if she doesn't have the latest mobile device she'll appreciate a forwarded article from you now and then! We just added the ability to share (and, of course, win prizes!) from the mobile browser version of Mobileplay. We have also partnered with online video game rental site Gamefly to offer an "instant win" prize of a free 30-day trial, so I hope all you gamers out there will take advantage of this opportunity! As an off-carrier deck mobile community we depend upon our members to spread the word and share the love! Keep up the good work!
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
One Billion Mobile Pages Served and Counting
From my desk...
Kudos to our good friends at Opera who announced yesterday that they had reached the milestone of 1 billion web pages served in the first 7 months since they launched their awesome Opera Mini browser. Interestingly Russians topped the list of most avid mobile browsers, followed by U.S., India, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. High mobile usage in many countries is a reflection of low PC penetration, though U.S. users would seem to want to consume their web anywhere and everywhere. Sony, which this week unveiled its Mylo handheld web surfing and email device--with Opera bundled, is banking on this growing popularity. But for $349 couldn't they have matched the Sidekick and built in a phone?
Friday, August 04, 2006
It's All in the Wrist, er, Thumbs...
Filed from my desk...
Despite our name--as many of you have pointed out--our initial content offering has leaned more towards news and services than games. But we're actively trying to put the "play" back in Mobileplay! A half-dozen or so game developers are currently or will shortly be integrating with our ad-supported network. When you have 5 or 10 to kill waiting for that bus, sometimes a wee Tetris goes just as far as the latest smear from ValleyWag to relieve the tedium. Since my mind has been on games lately, I was pleased to see a column from Pocket Gamer's Chris James with 10 Tips for improving the quality of mobile entertainment. One I particularly liked, which goes for any mobile app, was "Provide the player a reward within the first 30 seconds." Since the likelihood is high that a mobile gamer has spent a hefty slice off life struggling to get the darn thing onto the phone that's advice well-heeded. The other was to add a dash of "madness or humor." It is just a game after all. We'll definitely keep his advice in mind and maybe just maybe we can help get the other 97.7% of the U.S. public engaged in one of our favorite pasttimes.
Despite our name--as many of you have pointed out--our initial content offering has leaned more towards news and services than games. But we're actively trying to put the "play" back in Mobileplay! A half-dozen or so game developers are currently or will shortly be integrating with our ad-supported network. When you have 5 or 10 to kill waiting for that bus, sometimes a wee Tetris goes just as far as the latest smear from ValleyWag to relieve the tedium. Since my mind has been on games lately, I was pleased to see a column from Pocket Gamer's Chris James with 10 Tips for improving the quality of mobile entertainment. One I particularly liked, which goes for any mobile app, was "Provide the player a reward within the first 30 seconds." Since the likelihood is high that a mobile gamer has spent a hefty slice off life struggling to get the darn thing onto the phone that's advice well-heeded. The other was to add a dash of "madness or humor." It is just a game after all. We'll definitely keep his advice in mind and maybe just maybe we can help get the other 97.7% of the U.S. public engaged in one of our favorite pasttimes.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Opera Mini + Mobileplay=?
Filed from my desk...
When we first started playing around with Opera's new Mini 2.0 browser we couldn't believe what a huge improvement it was over other mobile browsers. And we're not just talking about WAP. That included browsers like Pocket IE and Blazer designed for powerful smartphones. The secret is that Opera does a lot of the formatting, compression and compiling on their servers so the download and display speeds on device are incredible, even via slower data networks. This makes a lot of sense for phones, particularly lower end models.
So that is why we decided to partner with them to deliver a browser-based version of our content on Java-enabled phones. That's not to say we aren't stilll big believers in applications-based content delivery. There are huge advantages for many forms of content when they are delivered via sync, and can be cached on device for offline viewing when you don't have a data connection. This is particularly true for mobile games and some of our more database-driven and location-based applications for smartphones.
The world of mobile content delivery is still in its early stages and involves a lot of experimenting, especially when you want to be out on the pioneering fringes. We look forward to your feedback as we provide new and different options for viewing content and services for your mobile device. Browser vs. Application? You decide.
When we first started playing around with Opera's new Mini 2.0 browser we couldn't believe what a huge improvement it was over other mobile browsers. And we're not just talking about WAP. That included browsers like Pocket IE and Blazer designed for powerful smartphones. The secret is that Opera does a lot of the formatting, compression and compiling on their servers so the download and display speeds on device are incredible, even via slower data networks. This makes a lot of sense for phones, particularly lower end models.
So that is why we decided to partner with them to deliver a browser-based version of our content on Java-enabled phones. That's not to say we aren't stilll big believers in applications-based content delivery. There are huge advantages for many forms of content when they are delivered via sync, and can be cached on device for offline viewing when you don't have a data connection. This is particularly true for mobile games and some of our more database-driven and location-based applications for smartphones.
The world of mobile content delivery is still in its early stages and involves a lot of experimenting, especially when you want to be out on the pioneering fringes. We look forward to your feedback as we provide new and different options for viewing content and services for your mobile device. Browser vs. Application? You decide.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Java Phone Support--Coming Soon
A lot of regular phone users who had heard about our service for Smartphones and PDAs were disappointed when they learned we did not support J2ME handsets. We are pleased to report that their disappointment will be short-lived. Early this summer we will be launching Mobileplay service on about 80 handsets that we don't currently support. In the meantime, give us your email address and we will notify you when we launch. Like our Smartphone service, the Mobileplay Java phone app and all the content will be available free and ad-supported. No more fees to your carrier to get news, sports and weather! Unlike our current service for Palm and Win Mobile devices, there will be no desktop updating and only limited caching. But we promise that like its Smartphone big brother, the app will be 10x faster and 10x easier to use than a browser.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
It's in the cards...
From my SF desk...
Okay, the Treo 650 has a lot of great features. A substantial main memory is not one of them. With only 24MB at the user's disposal, half of which can be taken up by an email program--particularly if you are one of those folks who hate to delete--there isn't much room left for great applications such as Mobileplay. Enter the SD Card. I picked up a 1gig version on sale at CompUSA for only $50! That's a lot of data storage. As many of you are aware, the beta version of MP does not currently support SD Card storage of apps and data. But never fear, we have heard your cries of distress and our engineers are hard at work fixing this solution for the next rev of our product. Stay tuned! Among other things, later this spring we hope to offer you the capability of downloading not just HTML, not just apps but also audio and video via the MP sync--all of which, naturally, will go on the storage card, leaving you with the ability to not delete emails to your heart's content.
Happy Syncing!
Okay, the Treo 650 has a lot of great features. A substantial main memory is not one of them. With only 24MB at the user's disposal, half of which can be taken up by an email program--particularly if you are one of those folks who hate to delete--there isn't much room left for great applications such as Mobileplay. Enter the SD Card. I picked up a 1gig version on sale at CompUSA for only $50! That's a lot of data storage. As many of you are aware, the beta version of MP does not currently support SD Card storage of apps and data. But never fear, we have heard your cries of distress and our engineers are hard at work fixing this solution for the next rev of our product. Stay tuned! Among other things, later this spring we hope to offer you the capability of downloading not just HTML, not just apps but also audio and video via the MP sync--all of which, naturally, will go on the storage card, leaving you with the ability to not delete emails to your heart's content.
Happy Syncing!
What's Next?
Written at the kitchen table...
Hope everybody is logging in to your accounts on the web or checking out the recommended list ("+" sign) on your device. We have just added several new content partners that we are pretty excited about. Flavorpill, which pulls together the creme de la creme of nightlife info, is providing us with city guides for five top-destinations: NY, SF, CHI, LA and London. About.com, one of the most popular web destinations, has compiled some nifty lifestyle tips and tricks. Coming soon is a killer app from Fodor's, the travel guide specialists, with hotel, restaurant, museum and venue listings for dozens of cities around the globe. Then we have some new, challenging sponsored games: Folder Follies and Venture Quest. More FREE fun.
We, of course, welcome our users' suggestions for more content to add. If you haven't done so already, please fill out the "We want to know what you think" user feedback survey on your mobile device. Or post your comments to this blog.
Happy Syncing!
Hope everybody is logging in to your accounts on the web or checking out the recommended list ("+" sign) on your device. We have just added several new content partners that we are pretty excited about. Flavorpill, which pulls together the creme de la creme of nightlife info, is providing us with city guides for five top-destinations: NY, SF, CHI, LA and London. About.com, one of the most popular web destinations, has compiled some nifty lifestyle tips and tricks. Coming soon is a killer app from Fodor's, the travel guide specialists, with hotel, restaurant, museum and venue listings for dozens of cities around the globe. Then we have some new, challenging sponsored games: Folder Follies and Venture Quest. More FREE fun.
We, of course, welcome our users' suggestions for more content to add. If you haven't done so already, please fill out the "We want to know what you think" user feedback survey on your mobile device. Or post your comments to this blog.
Happy Syncing!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
New Toy, No Joy
Written at the Mobileplay conference table...
As a gadget geek AND mobile software developer, I must admit to feelings of mixed emotions every time I see a new device released. My pulse leaps a few rungs at the thought of another cool toy, but then my heart sinks when I peruse the specs and suddenly realize this means yet another screen configuration or OS we have to optimize for. Yikes! Such were my feelings recently when I got my hands on the new Treo 700. It's a pretty nifty device but poses some interesting dilemmas for developers. First of all it has a square screen when just about every other Win Mobile device has a rectangular screen. Secondly, it has the two button menu navigation system that Smartphone users will be familiar with, but also a touch screen. So is it a Pocket PC phone or a Smartphone? Actually, it's a hybrid of the two. And then there's the new Win Mobile 2005 operating system. More obstacles to resolve. Anyway, we know our users will want us to support this device...So the new gadget grin fades into a frown as I grab my laptop to draw up a new product spec.
As a gadget geek AND mobile software developer, I must admit to feelings of mixed emotions every time I see a new device released. My pulse leaps a few rungs at the thought of another cool toy, but then my heart sinks when I peruse the specs and suddenly realize this means yet another screen configuration or OS we have to optimize for. Yikes! Such were my feelings recently when I got my hands on the new Treo 700. It's a pretty nifty device but poses some interesting dilemmas for developers. First of all it has a square screen when just about every other Win Mobile device has a rectangular screen. Secondly, it has the two button menu navigation system that Smartphone users will be familiar with, but also a touch screen. So is it a Pocket PC phone or a Smartphone? Actually, it's a hybrid of the two. And then there's the new Win Mobile 2005 operating system. More obstacles to resolve. Anyway, we know our users will want us to support this device...So the new gadget grin fades into a frown as I grab my laptop to draw up a new product spec.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Why an application?
Welcome to Mobileplay's blog. I want to thank everyone who has been helping us to test our new software for viewing content on your mobile device.
Let's face it, the "browser" model of content delivery on mobile devices-- opening a browser, typing in a a URL, establishing a connection, waiting for a page to download, waiting for the next page to download, losing your connection in the middle of the download... is sheer agony. Browsers were designed for desktop computers with mouses and keyboards and generally reliable connections. We offer an alternative.
With a couple of taps or clicks we will go and fetch your favorite content--optimized by our software for viewing on your device, cache it, and allow you to view it offline. And unlike mobile RSS Readers, we have partnered with content providers like Astrology.com, USA TODAY, The Sporting News, Fodor's, Weather.com to bring you the full article. Not just a headline and synopsis.
Coming soon are some really powerful applications to bring you restaurant & hotel listings, movie listings in your area, as well as cool ad-supported (and thus free) games, puzzles (Sudoku!), trivia, and more. Stuff RSS readers could never even dream of doing.
We are still in beta and still a work in progress so we hope our users will help us to make this an even better service. So send us your feedback and happy syncing!
Let's face it, the "browser" model of content delivery on mobile devices-- opening a browser, typing in a a URL, establishing a connection, waiting for a page to download, waiting for the next page to download, losing your connection in the middle of the download... is sheer agony. Browsers were designed for desktop computers with mouses and keyboards and generally reliable connections. We offer an alternative.
With a couple of taps or clicks we will go and fetch your favorite content--optimized by our software for viewing on your device, cache it, and allow you to view it offline. And unlike mobile RSS Readers, we have partnered with content providers like Astrology.com, USA TODAY, The Sporting News, Fodor's, Weather.com to bring you the full article. Not just a headline and synopsis.
Coming soon are some really powerful applications to bring you restaurant & hotel listings, movie listings in your area, as well as cool ad-supported (and thus free) games, puzzles (Sudoku!), trivia, and more. Stuff RSS readers could never even dream of doing.
We are still in beta and still a work in progress so we hope our users will help us to make this an even better service. So send us your feedback and happy syncing!
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