Mobile Marketing Blog by Punchkick Interactive

This is very exciting news as I can’t think of a single thing that could more quickly expand the reach of Flash Lite.

Sony Ericsson announced today at its Developer World conference plans for a new technology that bridges Adobe Flash Lite and Java ME development platforms.

The technology, called Project Capuchin, allows Java ME (formerly known as J2ME) applications to use Flash Lite as the front-end interface for mobile phone applications.

“In using Flash, you typically can’t access properties of the phone. But with Capuchin, you can get at information and applications in the phone and use that info with the Flash display,” said Christopher David, director of long-term platform planning at Sony Ericsson.

The Java ME/Flash Lite connection will be a two-way street, so both can invoke the other, according to Ulf Wretling, director of Sony Ericsson Developer World. But most importantly, Flash content is packaged as a Java JAR file for use on Java ME-compatible mobile phones.

Read the full article on InternetNews.com

I just stumbled across a great game on ilovetypography.com called The Rather Difficult Font Game. If you’re a fellow typophile, you should check it out. And, should you have the hardware, there is also an iPhone version to play with as well.

It would seem that WiMAX’s impact on mobile technology in the United States might be closer than we all originally thought.

NextWave Wireless Inc. (Nasdaq: WAVE), a global leader of all things WiMAX, announced that it has retained Deutsche Bank and UBS Investment Bank to explore the sale of its extensive spectrum holdings in the United States. NextWave’s U.S. spectrum footprint covers over 251 million people in the United States and includes major markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, and Detroit.

What drove the surge? Possibly Allen Salmasi, chief executive officer and president of NextWave Wireless, when he remarked:

Since the completion of the recent 700 MHz auction, we have received multiple offers for our U.S. spectrum assets. [N]ow is the perfect time for us to sell these valuable assets while network operators are trying to finalize their band plans and spectrum holdings for their continuing 3G and planned 4G rollouts. Monetizing the value of our substantial spectrum assets would allow us to further strengthen our balance sheet, retire debt, and continue the commercial introduction of a wide range of innovative wireless broadband and multimedia solutions such as our high-performance WiMAX and RFIC chipsets, advanced multi-mode, multi-band TD-CDMA, WiMAX and LTE enabled base station platforms, breakthrough MXtvTM and TDtvTM mobile television systems.

Four days ago Twitter was just a word that floated around the Web. It meant nothing to me. Well, that’s not 100% true. To me it meant, ‘terrible-waist-of-time—and—a-bad-idea-to-boot.’

That has all changed. Three days ago I visited Twitter.com because I figured that I should at least know what it was before I publicly bashed it—and boy am I happy I did.

It all started back when I saw the awesome Common Craft video, Twitter in Plain English (again, that was just three day ago). Since then, I have grown to love Twitter. I am still in awe at how incomplete one feels without hearing the beloved tweets.

Click to play

I should add that I am aware that Twitter is not the newest tool on the block, and I know that I am probably the last geeky-type to blog about twitter—ever. But alas, that is okay. I just hope that my new favorite pastime doesn’t become my old waist of time.

Help keep Tweeter in my life by following me.
I use twhirl on my Mac to read the micro-blog of the future (that’s what I am calling Twitter).
All the Twitter tools and mashups in one place.
p.s. I now also love Common Craft because they are super clever. Watch the video if you don’t believe me.

Adriana Gil Miner created a great video for her blog, Digital Ecologist, outlining today’s issues with SMS spam, privacy, and how mobile marketing law in the United States may be influenced over the next several years by the CAN SPAM Act. This follows up on Pogue’s Post about The Worst Spam Ever.

Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile marketing capabilities.

Punchkick Interactive has officially been approved by Apple to become part of the Apple iPhone Developer Program, and we are curious as to the number of other developers who were also approved—so, we decided to start a tally.

If you have been approved by Apple to participate in the iPhone Developer Program, then leave a comment. We will update the tally here daily.

1 developer has been approved.

As a bit of background, U.S. applicants rejected received an e-mail stating: “Dear Registered iPhone Developer, Thank you for expressing interest in the iPhone Developer Program. We have received your enrollment request. As this time, the iPhone Developer Program is available to a limited number of developers and we plan to expand during the beta period. We will contact you again regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time. Thank you for applying.”

Applicants outside the United States received an e-mail stating: “Dear Registered iPhone Developer, Thank you for expressing interest in the iPhone Developer Program. We have received your enrollment request. At this time, the iPhone Developer Program is only available in the US and will expand to other countries during the beta period. We will contact you again regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time. Thank you for applying.”

Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s iPhone software development capabilities.

While using Google Calendar this morning I noticed a new feature titled, “Google Wake Up Kit!” I clicked on it because I often have trouble waking up. Unfortunately, however, it was just an April Fools Day joke from Google.

The wake up page reads:

In combination with the kit, you can receive a new type of notification from Google Calendar, called the “wake up” notification. This notification is relentless in ensuring your timely awakening from restful slumber.

The “wake up” notification uses several progressively more annoying alerts to wake you up. First it will send an SMS message to your phone. If that fails, more coercive means will be used. The kit includes an industrial-sized bucket and is designed to be connected to your water main for automatic filling. In addition, a bed-flipping device is included for forceful removal from your sleeping quarters. Learn more.

Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s custom mobile software capabilities.

We are excited to announce that Mobile Ocean, a Flash Lite screensaver that we designed and developed, has been selected for the launch of Adobe’s new Flash Mobile Gallery within Adobe.com.

Hopefully, it will be the first of many featured items for Punchkick Interactive on Adobe.com. The Punchkick Interactive Mobile Ocean screensaver can be viewed within our company Web site on our Flash Lite Screensavers and Wallpapers page or purchased from Handango.com.

Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile screensaver design capabilities.

Adobe’s CEO, Shantanu Narayen, said Tuesday that Adobe has officially started development of a Flash player suitable for use on Apple’s iPhone and hopes to finish development by June.

Narayen made the comments during a conference call with investors, explaining that Apple’s recent release of an iPhone software developers kit (SDK) has afforded his company the necessary tools to finally begin work an iPhone version of Flash Player.

“We believe Flash is synonymous with the Internet experience, and we are committed to bringing Flash to the iPhone,” he said. “We have evaluated (the software developer tools) and we think we can develop an iPhone Flash player ourselves.”

Adobe hopes to deliver their missing product via Apple’s new App Store, set to open in June alongside the release of iPhone software version 2.0.

So much for Jobs’ comments about the iPhone not being able to support Flash because of a limitation with the Flash player. It seems ridiculous that Apple’s position is a limitation in the Flash Player given that the Flash Player works perfectly on the Nokia 810, countless other portable devices, the Skyfire browser, Pocket IE, and Opera Mobile 9.5. I am very happy to hear about Adobe’s new position on the issue.

Source: Apple Insider, Wall Street Journal

Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s iPhone software development capabilities.

Yesterday, Bill from Adobe announced that Microsoft has licensed Flash Lite 3 and Reader LE for future Windows Mobile based devices. Flash Lite 3 will be pre-installed in the Internet Explorer Mobile browser on future Windows Mobile devices. Additionally, Reader LE will be pre-installed to allow consumers to open and view PDF documents while they’re away from their computer.

How many Windows Mobile devices
Recent information for Windows Mobile devices states that devices were 11 million shipped in 2007 and 20 million are expected in 2008. Also, according to Strategy Analytics, in 2007 1/3 of Windows Mobile devices shipped in North America (33%) with other regions representing other values: Western Europe (29%), APAC (20%) and the rest of the world (18%). Visit Microsoft to provide guidance on future handset shipments but you can visit their site to get a sense of the range of devices they have in market today. This deal is different than other licensing agreements Adobe has with OEMs. Because the license agreement is with Microsoft, it will be part of their Windows Mobile OS in the future meaning any OEM that will ship a Windows Mobile device will have Flash Lite 3 pre-installed. Today these OEMs include HTC, iMate, Samsung and others.

Ryan and I had the chance to visit Chicago on business last week, and decided to make a long weekend out of it. I love the city of Chicago—there’s plenty of great restaurants, first-class shopping, and friendly people. Ryan’s favorite part of the trip? It wasn’t Shedd Aquarium, the largest indoor aquarium in the world. Nor was it the Brazilian churrascaria Fogo De Chao, where a waitstaff hovers around carrying skewers of perfectly grilled meat, serving all-you-can-eat portions until you are nearly-comatose. It wasn’t even the Water Tower, which could fit all of Northeast Ohio’s retail locations within it.

No folks, it was the Nokia store. That’s right, the Nokia store. Normally calm-and-subdued-Ryan became what I can only describe as “frantic.” There’s nothing quite like sitting in the Nokia store for an hour while a geek runs from phone to phone with a crazed look on his face.

Note: The device in Ryan’s hand is the Nokia N810. When he realized he could pull up the Punchkick Interactive site on it, a wave of joy overtook him. You know you are in trouble when electronics sales-associates look at you funny.

• AT&T is offering unlimited voice for $99 and unlimited connectivity and messaging for $35. One year contract is required for new subscribers and data plans are unchanged, though.
• Analysts are expecting Sprint to, “offer flat-rate calling plans at up to 40 percent discount to it’s rivals” — bringing unlimited wireless minutes into the $60 range for sprint customers.
• $99 buys you unlimited voice and text (including text, picture and IM) at T-Mobile. Previously, the Deutsche Telekom owned mobile operator has been selling unlimited text messaging for $14.99 and 5,000 minutes of calls for $129.99.

Sources: IntoMobile, Reuters