Mobile Content Bits: LG Social; Nokia Aussie; Burger King; Italian Mobile
By James Quintana Pearce - Mon 21 Apr 2008 04:13 PM PST
-- LG (SEO: 066570) Electronics Mobile Communications Company has launched the LG: Rally for Music contest, which will let musicians compete for LG products (latest mobile phones, HD TVs, MP3 players) and $15,000 in prize money. The site will let aspiring musicians and fans create personal profiles, share musical interests and upload and vote for music videos. There’s a lot of promotion for mobile phones on the site, but there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of encouraging the use of mobile phones to play or make music. (release)
-- Nokia said today it launched its Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Music Store in Australia at music.nokia.com.au, making millions of tracks available for 1.70 Australian ($1.60 U.S.) per song or 17.00 Australian ($16 U.S.) per album. The store will also offer customers a monthly subscription for PC users to stream an unlimited number of full length tracks for 10.00 Australian ($9.42 U.S.) a month. The store is providing exclusive access to a live album from the independent group The John Butler Trio. As part of the service, Nokia also signs up well-known music figures to recommend songs and albums to users. In Australia, they’ve appointed Rock legend Jimmy Barnes. The Australian launch follows the availability of the store in the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands. More countries are expected to launch throughout the year.
-- Burger King has announced BK CITY a mobile game developed by Mobliss. It’s a multi-level game with three distinct worlds and 12 dynamic, progressively challenging mini-games and also features community offerings including leader boards, user profiles, buddy lists and user-to-user text messaging to challenge friends and family. It sounds like a good game with all the mobile social features, but it requires a monthly subscription fee of $2.99… Is the Burger King brand strong enough to get people to pay for advertising?
-- About.com Health has launched a mobile version of its Calorie Count Plus web site, via WAP or via SMS. The site has the basic nutritional information on 70,000 food types, including calories and a breakdown of fat, proteins and carbohydrates. The point of the service is obvious—to let people check the nutritional information of what they’re eating when they’re not at home. (release)
-- Gameloft has signed a licensing deal with Hulk Hogan to produce Hulkamania Wrestling, a game in which players play Hogan with various no-holds-barred moves, jabs and humorous dialogue. There’s seven other wrestlers which can be played, and chairs can be hurled at opponents. This will be Gameloft’s (EPA: GFT) first wrestling game, and Hulkamania is a good brand to start with.
-- IA Net, aimed at the 26 million Italian-Americans in the US, is expanding to all platforms by launching a mobile content platform, as well as a HD linear television network, a VoD offering, and home entertainment and publishing initiatives reports C21 Media.
