Mobiles

Interesting article by Reuters this week titled: "Porn to spice up cell phones"

Unlike in Europe, mobile porn has yet to take off in North America as carriers have been afraid of offending political and religious groups and parents concerned about children being exposed to adult content. Mobile porn in Europe is estimated as a $775 million industry in 2007 that will grow to $1.5 billion by 2012, with the global market reaching $3.5 billion in 2010, according to Britain-based Juniper Research.

In comparison, North America generated just $26 million last year in mobile porn sales. Most North American carriers have not even discussed offering adult service and the only one who has, Telus, Canada's second-largest phone company, withdrew a mobile porn service last year after complaints from hundreds of customers and criticism from the Catholic Church.

This is another case of "here we go again" as adult content has always played a big role in driving technology adoption. Back in 1997 when RealNetworks launched its first Internet streaming video system, a large percentage of the initial client interest came from the adult sector. Online porn is now a huge business and unlike a lot of other online video segments, the business model works well because consumers are willing to pay for access.

Certainly there are some technology requirements needed (age verification, etc.) but this is a train that's impossible to stop and if the carriers were smart, they'd figure out how to generate revenue here.

"It will be impossible to stop the adult business exploitation of mobile entertainment," said Gregory Piccionelli, a lawyer specializing in adult entertainment at law firm Piccionelli & Sarno.

French mobile game developer Gameloft (EPA:GFT) announced details of the company's sales results for Q4 2007 and for all of 2007. For the quarter, Gameloft had sales of EUR25.8 million, up 19% from the previous year. Full year sales increased by 40% compared to 2006, reaching EUR96.1 million.

The sales of downloadable games, which are the company's core business, reached EUR90.2 million during 2007, a 45% increase over 2006.

Europe represented 44% of sales for full-year 2007, North America 34% and the rest of the world 22%. The sharpest growth took place in the rest of the world, up 86%.

"The market shares gained by the company in 2007 are due to the strong performance of Gameloft's back catalog, which continued to account for more than 70% of the Company's downloads, and also investments in R&D made in 2007," said a Gameloft representative. "These investments allowed us to release more games than our competitors on more handsets across more countries. To date, Gameloft's catalogue includes 200 mobile games adapted to over 1,200 different handsets and sold in over 80 countries via direct distribution agreements signed with more than 180 carriers."

Gameloft is the biggest "pureplay" mobile game publisher in the world, and they are either #2 or #3 in market share for mobile games worldwide behind Electonic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS).

Glu Mobile (NASDAQ:GLUU), the other #2 or #3 in market share, will issue its earnings release for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007 after the market close on Monday, February 11, 2008.

New law requires all border crossers including U.S. citizens to have a Passport when entering the country, which includes Canada and Mexico borders. With that requirement, new scanning technology has been integrated into new passports including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Now more than ever it is essential to protect your personal data from unauthorized access.

Fortunately there is a solution. Mobile Edge released two new ID Sentry wallets that block out unauthorized RFID access. Reports have emerged of new ways thieves are attacking unsuspecting credit card and Passport holders stealing their confidential information and credit card numbers without being detected due to the misuse of RFID technology.

As recently reported in the New York Times, there is a growing concern about the potential security and privacy holes in the new generation of credit cards using RFID technology. With tens of millions of cards already issued, “equipment for their use is showing up at a growing number of locations,” the article revealed. Additionally, U.S. passports now contain the new RFID chip. Would be thieves are able to scan a user’s social security number and other personal information completely undetected.

As reported from the Associated Press on January 31, 2008.

TUCSON, Ariz. — New rules for the types of identification U.S. or Canadian citizens must present to cross into the country shouldn’t cause significant delays and won’t be strictly enforced at first, a senior federal official said.
Under the rules going into effect Thursday, people will no longer be allowed to simply declare to immigration officers at border crossings that they are citizens, Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said Tuesday. Instead, those 19 and older will have to show proof of citizenship — a passport, trusted traveler card or a birth certificate and government-issued ID such as a driver’s license.

Protect your identity with an ID Sentry Wallet from Mobile Edge. There are two sizes available, the ID Sentry Passport Wallet, $29.99, and the ID Sentry Credit Card Wallet, for $19.99.

To read the full Associated Press report click here.

Heads up porn addicts! You will love this! For parents out there, this is pretty disturbing...

Apparently, the leading US phone companies are desperate enough to go floppy over mobile pornography. Once hard-core supporters of stringent mobile services, they are now looking for new avenues to generate profits. In short, back to the good old marketing tactic - sex sells.

According to Reuters, most phone companies have loosened their leash on their networks to allow the entry of free porn contents or adult entertainment services.

I guess this is inevitable given the convergence of mobile technology and Internet. Even now, many online porn companies are reaping ridiculous amount of money for these lewd services. Now, the gate is open and it will be a matter of days or months before we see mobile users salivating over some dirty images or videos.

Via Phones Review See full article.

Related Entries:

Mobile Phone: A Conspicuous Consumption? - 18 April 2007

Teens on Mobile Phones: It's Not About Being Cool - 07 October 2007

Mobile Future Through the Eyes of Nokia - 23 October 2007

Why You Should Not Buy a New Mobile Phone this Holiday - 05 December 2007

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