Sega games for Mobiles (Back to News Reports)

Sega Mobile, a division of Sega.com, Inc. dedicated to bringing Sega content to the mobile market in North America, has formed a strategic alliance with Sprint (NYSE: FON, PCS), which operates the largest all-digital, nationwide network and is the fastest growing wireless carrier. Sega will leverage its popular franchises and extensive gaming legacy to deliver the best in mobile gaming content for the highly anticipated Sprint Third Generation Network launching nationwide this summer. Sega Mobile will bring one of the first full-color mobile games to Sprint wireless customers with the launch of the hit title Monkey Ball.

Sega's simian superstars are rolling straight onto your cell phone in SEGA Monkey Ball from Sega Mobile. The basic idea is simple enough: just guide your spherically-encased monkey to the goal line while collecting bananas along the way. Ah, but gravity is a harsh mistress, and if you tilt too far, you'll send your monkey to the great void below. The same precarious action you expect from Monkey Ball is here in glistening 2D, along with some all-new features, including different terrains, wind, and black bananas that will redefine the term "shock the monkey." So follow the bouncing, crashing, and plummeting ball, and start monkeying around with your wireless phone, Sega-style.

• The Nintendo GameCube hit comes straight ballin' to cell phones.
• 15 levels filled with different gameplay elements.
  
• New obstacles including wind, various terrains, and yucky black bananas.
  
• Auto-save feature lets you suspend play at any time.
  
• Painstakingly rendered monkeys -- you’d think you were watching
• PBS! Made for Sprint vision-enabled phones.

"The Sprint Third Generation Network enables the transformation of mobile games from the text-based experience of today to a graphic, full-color experience of console-brand games available through Sprint on its 3G-enabled PCS phones," said Chip Novick, vice president of consumer marketing for Sprint's PCS division. "When Sprint launches recognizable games like Monkey Ball from a top provider like Sega on its 3G Network this summer, you will inevitably see more and more Sprint customers moving their phones from their ears to their eyes as they get a little game action on the go."

For more information visit www.sega.com .

SOURCE Sega.Com Back to News Reports

Anthropics trials FacePlayer with operators (Back to News Reports)

15 August 2002 -- Anthropics, a British developer of visual messaging services, has announced that it is trialing its FacePlayer technology with network operators.

FacePlayer enables users to send and receive realistic talking head animations as multimedia messages (MMS). The system uses advanced lip synchronisation technology to animate a face and have it speak aloud a string of text.

Users will be able to download FacePlayer to a Nokia 7650 device and start sending messages immediately. Anthropics is working with a number of operators to have the capabilities installed as standard on smartphones.

In a statement the company said: "FaceWave messaging is set to transform the way we communicate today - providing substantial new revenue opportunities for operators, advertisers, music and entertainment businesses, news and information services worldwide. Unlike other multimedia messaging applications, Anthropics' FaceWave service produces perfect lip-synching, photo-realistic 2D characters, over low bandwidth and using low processing power. The Nokia 7650 trials reinforce Anthropics' strategy to reach mass market on GSM, GPRS and 3G 'smart' phones during the next six months."

Further information can be found from the company's web-site.

SOURCE Anthropics Press Release Back to News Reports

Orange Launches MMS Service (Back to News Reports)

London. August 14, 2002. Orange announced the launch of its advanced new range of messaging services (MMS) with a further five Orange operations across Europe intending to launch similar services in the coming months.

More than 12.8 million Orange customers in the UK will have the opportunity to access these advanced services that move messaging on from standard text, to messages that combine colour, photos, text and sound offering a greatly enriched messaging experience via a new range of Orange MMS handsets. They will also be able to receive update messages on news, sport and entertainment with the pictures to accompany the story.

Innovative handsets such as the Sony Ericsson T68i - available with clip-on camera - will be used at launch. The Nokia 7650 is due to launch at the end of August with a broad range of handsets available in the run up to Christmas. Orange believes that wirefreeTM devices with this capability will be used by 40% of its customers by the end of 2005. This is further endorsed by Ovum's prediction that MMS handset penetration will reach up to 50% at this time with MMS messages accounting for up to 30% of all person-to-person messaging in the same year.

In the UK, Orange pay monthly customers will benefit from a simple, easy-to-understand pricing structure, where they will be charged 40p per photo message sent. Orange pay as you go customers will be able to access the services later in the year

The initial Orange UK advanced messaging services available will be:

Person-to-person Photo Messaging - allowing customers to send combined colour photos, text and sound clips to other MMS handsets and email addresses. Customers with non-MMS handsets will receive a text message inviting them to view their photo message on the orange.co.uk website.

Picture content – now allows customers to receive entertainment and information updates with images on their MMS handset. Orange customers dial 277 and select a topic (eg. sport, news, entertainment and gossip). Once notification has been given, they will then receive Picture Content messages about their chosen subject – each message received costs 25p.

Nokia and Ericsson have been named as the preferred network suppliers across the Orange group for these advanced messaging services. Nokia will supply the infrastructure for Orange in the UK with other member companies announcing their preferred supplier upon launch.

SOURCE Orange UK Press Release Back to News Reports

Hutchison set to launch price war on UK mobile phone operators
(Back to News Reports)

12 August 2002 - LONDON (AFX) - Hutchison 3G is to launch a sweeping attack on the UK's mobile phone operators by undercutting their existing voice tariffs when it starts its new service this year, The Business reported citing industry sources.

The move will put further pressure on the revenues of Vodafone PLC, Orange, MmO2 PLC and T-Mobile, the newspaper added.

Citing industry sources, the newspaper said Hutchison plans to pitch its new service -- called 3 -- on heavily-discounted voices services.

It said the tariff structure, offering rate packages that work out at least 15 pct lower than existing mobile phone deals, will set Hutchison on a collision course with the other four operators headed by Vodafone.

SOURCE AMPLE Back to News Reports

New Bank payment service on your existing phone (Back to News Reports)

12 August 2002 - Those who want to make a bank payment via their mobile phone but don’t want to upgrade it to be either WAP- or GPRS-enabled will soon have a chance to do so.

With additional software to enhance the capability of the mobile network and an SIM-card upgrade, people using existing 2G phones will be able to check their bank accounts via mobile banking or search for a friend through a location-based application.

To make such things happen, Kity Foo, regional marketing manager of SmartTrust, said that mobile phone operators will be adding more software solutions to enhance the capability of the existing mobile infrastructure. While at the same time, the operators will have to offer upgraded SIM cards.

SmartTrust is a Finland-based provider of infrastructure solutions designed to enable secure mobile e-services.

The company has already proposed its solution, called the SmartTrust Delivery Platform, to operators. The platform is an infrastructure solution for mobile e-services. It allows operators to invest less when it comes to offering wireless applications to users who are not WAP or GPRS enabled.

With this, Foo said, users would be able to get services like infotainment, mobile banking, stock trading access and other highly tailored services on their phones.

To use the applications, however, it is not enough just to enhance the capability of the phone network, the SIM card too has to be upgraded as well.

To get a 2G phone to work as a 2.5G phone users have to change their SIM from either an 8-K or 16-K to a 32-K, which is wireless Internet browser (WIB)-enabled.

WIB is the program that is similar to Internet browsers like Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, but is on the SIM card. It allows a handset to browse the Internet.

To make the service happen in Thailand, Tim Clark, SmartTrust’s regional technology manager, said that what is needed in the initial stage is collaboration between mobile phone operators, SIM manufacturers, wireless application developers and his company.

As far as the SIM card goes, SmartTrust will bundle its WIB, as well as other applications, into the card before they are put on the market.

The company is talking with one major mobile phone operator, as well as Sectec, a SIM manufacturer, and E Com, an application developer, to introduce the service to the market before year-end.

There would be about three to four applications to serve the marketplace, he said. Potentially, the applications can be mobile banking and payments, pre-paid refills, a location-based service, and corporate applications.

The company said that WIB has already been integrated into more than 25 million SIM cards worldwide.

SOURCE Nation Multimedia Group Back to News Reports