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Microsoft agrees to acquire Danger Inc.

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Microsoft Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire Danger Inc., the company responsible for the software and services powering many popular consumer handsets. The acquisition will align Danger’s nearly 10 years of expertise in the mobile consumer space with Microsoft’s vision to provide innovative and compelling mobile experiences to a growing base of customers.

Danger Inc. provides services that allow people to keep in touch, stay organized and keep informed while on the go through real-time mobile messaging, social networking services and other applications – all blended together on a single phone that is intuitive and customizable.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Originally posted on February 11, 2008 @ 1:55 pm

Gameloft launches mobile games for touch screen handsets

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Gameloft announced the launch of games designed especially for touch screen mobile handsets, the first publisher to cater to this new generation of mobile phones.

Using the company’s expertise from developing stylus-based games for the Nintendo DS, Gameloft sought out ways to best utilize the touch screens, which transform gameplay into a more intuitive experience and remove the limitation of small keyboards.

Gameloft already has more than 15 touch screen games in its catalogue, including Block Breaker Deluxe, Brain Challenge and Brain Challenge 2, Bubble Bash, Platinum Solitaire, Chessmaster, Miami Nights: Single in the City, Paris Hilton’s Diamond Quest, Sexy Poker Manga, Catchphrase, Deal or No Deal, Shrek the Third, Real Football: Manager Edition, and CSI Miami. These games were developed for the first touch screen mobile phones available on the market, including the LG Viewty, LG KS20, the HTC touch screen line, and the Samsung SGH-F700. Gameloft’s touch screen games were initially developed in Java, though some will also be developed on the Windows Mobile platform.

Originally posted on February 11, 2008 @ 2:49 pm

GyPSii to launch service in India together with Broadway

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GyPSii has signed an agreement with Broadway Pvt. Ltd., to offer the full suite of GyPSii services to the worlds second largest and fastest growing mobile market with 233 million mobile subscribers and growing at a monthly rate of over 8 million.

Broadway’s hosted server environment and unique relationships immediately provides GyPSii access to the mobile market and key carriers. Additionally, Broadway provides direct access to the content and advertising reach of India Online Netcom. IOL Netcom is the only company in India today to enjoy a distinct advantage in terms of access to fibre in major metros and a Content Delivery Network (CDN) agreement with BSNL and MTNL.

GyPSii uniquely incorporates a wide range of location-specific functions and services into a single easy-to-use interface that works on GPS and non-GPS-enabled mobile devices. Users can access and use the latest location-enabled services and information from GyPSii to create and share content, connect with friends and communities, search user content, people and local points of interest, and get maps and directions– all from their mobile phone.

Originally posted on February 11, 2008 @ 8:13 am

Microsoft to deliver PlayReady Technology for Telefonica mobile entertainment services

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Microsoft Corp. and Telefonica Espana is collaborating on the use of Microsoft PlayReady technology to power Telefonica’s next-generation mobile entertainment services. Telefonica Espana plans to deploy PlayReady for its mobile music service in the second half of 2008. The collaboration also includes working on video and games services.

PlayReady is a content access technology from Microsoft that enables content owners and service providers to deliver virtually any type of digital content, using a wide range of business models. PlayReady also provides significant improvements in ease of use for consumers looking to access, manage and back up protected content.

Microsoft PlayReady is designed for digital entertainment services, devices and applications, with a specific focus on meeting the needs of mobile operators, service providers and device manufacturers. The technology supports a range of business models that can be applied to almost any type of digital content (music, video, games, ringtones, images and more) and a wide range of audio and video formats (including AAC, AAC+, Enhanced AAC+, H.264, Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV)). PlayReady also provides features such as service domains and embedded licenses, specifically designed to make it easy for consumers to enjoy content on all their registered devices, and back up their content just as easily as they would any other type of file.

Originally posted on February 11, 2008 @ 7:11 pm

MoConDi partners with One Italia for content sharing application

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MoConDi inked a partnership with One Italia mobile for Italian mobile carrier H3G. The partnership will provide MoConDi’s MeYou content sharing application, branded Passa Parola in Italy, to H3G’s seven million subscribers.

H3G customers will now be able to recommend to their friends mobile content, including games, from top publishers through one-click viral sharing on the Web and mobile phones. Additionally, users of MoConDi’s MeYou service, currently numbering nearly one million, can recommend the content to additional users for credit within the application, encouraging further distribution and recommendation.

With MeYou, users are rewarded with credits for purchases and recommendations, which can then be redeemed for purchases of more content. The application has access to over 5,000 pieces of content via the MoConDi content management and delivery platform. The client allows users to browse through the catalogue and either purchase or recommend relevant content; it has become one of their major sales channels for games and other content to date.

Originally posted on February 11, 2008 @ 5:07 am