Voice messaging service Pinger no longer requires recipients to be pinger members in order to listen to messages on their mobile phones. Instead, upon receiving messages from Pinger users, recipients will be prompted by a text message to click and call a local number to hear the message. Previously non-members were emailed Pinger messages. Sending messages out and managing contact lists will still be reserved for Pinger members, however.
Pinger’s normal service is meant as an alternative to text messaging, letting users send voice messages to each other without ringing the recipients phone, waiting, or difficulty of typing while on the go. All a user has to do is call into their Pinger number, say the name of the recipient or recipients (for group messages), and leave a voice message in their Pinger mailbox. Pinger members are then notified of the message by text, prompting them to click through and listen to the message, to which they can immediately reply by another Pinger message.
Pinger is rumored to be backed by a total of $11 million including financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and DAG Ventures.
Yahoo! has announced a new service that will be kind of a big deal for the mobile arena. Yahoo! Mobile Publisher Services is a suite of services designed to enable publishers to increase the discovery, distribution and monetization of their content on mobile phones. The suite is comprised of Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network, Mobile Content Engine, Mobile Media Directory and Mobile Site Submit. That’s a lot of mobile, so let’s take a look at what each of these products do.
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Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
VoiceSignal makes the majority of voice recognition systems found in almost every major handset made. Never heard of them, you say? Well, that’s because they’re so embedded that its a struggle for them to even get their logos on the handset screens. Any time you issue a voice command, however, there is an excellent chance you’re using VoiceSignal technology.
Now they’re offering VSearch, a part of their suite of solutions, that works just like the “Call Jane Smith” voice recognition systems of yore. This new system allows for map search, music search, and even ad-supported local search, all from the handset with only a minimum of network usage.
VoiceSignal is currently signing partnerships for in-line advertising and other goodies and they’re bringing down map data from multiple sources. On the test devices I saw, you could even say “Find Madonna” for a list of Madonna ringtones and even search for individual songs by name and artist.
Look for it on future handsets from many carriers, depending on upcoming partnerships.
Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
HOMBRE, which stands for Hands On Mobile Runtime Environment, is a 65 kilobyte environment for building mobile applications. It can run on almost any handset and actually uses the handset’s on board applications and API calls to play video, audio, and access network features.
The UI itself is quite nice and reminiscent of Helio and Adobe’s Web 2.0 reflection-tastic UIs you find on the MVNO and Samsung’s phones. HOMBRE is coded in XML and they’re currently looking for developers and offering up to $50,000 to the best app.
As a former developer, I’m intrigued by the product but a little dubious. Unfortunately, I also always think of the magazine “Honcho” when I heard the name, but that’s because I have the mind of a twelve-year-old.
Product Page
TechCrunch has
covered the release of a new mobile widget platform,
ZenZui, who launched their mobile widget browser this morning. The browser has lets users search through a grid of 36 widget tiles by panning and zooming around the grid by touchscreen or keypad. Each of the widgets in the browser serves as a mobile optimized interface to a website like Zillow or Amazon. It’s essentially a way to grow deck placement.
Widgets are created by developers and monetized on the service via “well-established advertising principles like CPA and CPM (we call it CPZ – Cost Per Zoom)”. ZenZui will split revenue with widget developers, as well as offer an ad-free version that displays messages from non-profits instead.
ZenZui’s zooming user interface was initially developed by Microsoft’s Redmond Research lab, and was spun off into it’s own company. In partnership with Microsoft IP Ventures, the company received $12 million in Series A funding from SeaPoint Ventures and other investors, with Microsoft retaining a stake in the company.
MobileCrunch has also covered other widget platforms such as Bluepulse and Nokia’s Widset.
Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
I’ve been scouring CTIA for MobileCrunch worthy material and I think I’ve found something. What do you get when you meld Second Life with mobile ad serving with Japanese teenagers? eXplo.
EXplo is an odd 3D environment that runs on almost any handset and allows you to chat, share photos, and view video and stream music in a simulated world. The world I saw was fairly small — a little plaza, a cool music video room, and one other participant — but apparently it’s quite popular in Asia and teenagers go there to visit temporary job listings and watch videos.
You can even create a little “sharing room” where you and your buddies go to project images on the screen in front of you. The graphics are fairly primitive but the movement was quite smooth and the concept, while initially silly, is fairly compelling.
No word on U.S. launch, but you can take a closer look at Gemini Mobile.
Product Page
Posted by John Biggs | Discussion:
I’m headed to Orlando tomorrow for CTIA Wireless. If anyone is looking for me, you can bug me at john @ crunchgear.com or call me at 6468270591. For those so included, CrunchGear and Jellyfish are holding a smack shopping event to coincide with the festivities. What is this “smack shopping” you ask?
The site offers a limited number of products at a deep discount. The Smack Auction reduces the price over time, but only until supplies run out. If you don’t buy before they’re out, you’re stuck. The key is to time it and buy just before you hit that magic, hidden number.
The fine folks at Jellyfish are planning to offer phones and laptops at a considerable discount, so hang out next Monday and be ready to rumble.
Smack Page
Posted by Matt Hickey | Discussion:
Without a doubt, the most popular classified ads site on the Internet is Craigslist. The simple, utilitarian site is a shining example of how the p2p Web can work, and one of the secrets to its success is the anonymization of its users by email forwarding and masking. Many people who wouldn’t want their real email addresses published can use an anonymous, temporary @cragislist.org address to keep things private while maintaining email as a valid form of commercial communication.
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Posted by Matt Hickey | Discussion:
At some point this week, the wheels of commerce may be set to turn over, changing the logo on forthcoming Treos to that of Nokia or even Motorola. The two have been bidding on Palm, maker of the Treo, for a few weeks now, and a couple of private equity firms have entered the fray, and the rumors are that things will finish up this week. Nokia wants the Treo name recognition, and Motorola wants a decent foothold in the smartphone market (the Q is not that). Sadly, if one of these companies gets Palm, we see them absorbing the popular smartphone maker instead of propping it up. (more…)
