Mobile Marketing Blog by Punchkick Interactive

Via The New York Times, “Google said yesterday that it had bought GrandCentral Communications, acquiring a service that lets people use a single number for all their phones.

Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

GrandCentral users can also create a single mailbox, accessible over the Internet, for all their phone messages, Google said on its Web site.

Users register their phones and can set all or some of them to ring based on who is calling.”

• Is Google going to launch a Google-branded handset?
  A short post asks this question citing Google’s announced partnership with LG Electronics.
• Creating and Testing Mobile Web Sites with Adobe CS 3
  Short article on testing .mobi sites with Dreamweaver CS3 and Device Central. It’s another great read from Scott.
• Vodka Authentication by SMS
  Apparently, counterfeit Vodka is running rampant in Russia. To combat that effort, the Russian government is creating a Vodka authentication system via SMS. “By sending the serial number of the bottle to a designated short code, they will get a response by SMS certifying (or not) the product.”
• Penrillian .sis Packager
  Penrillian have recently released a useful .NET application that allows anyone to package up passive content (music, images, ebooks etc) as part of standard UIQ or S60 .sis install.
• Nokia Mobile Web Server
• ustwo is hiring interface designers
• iPhone guided tour from Apple
• Top 10 phones for playing games
  It is what it is. Every list of links needs a good “top 10″ article.
• Appleiphany
  “Appleiphany (noun): The feeling experienced when using or viewing an Apple device, questioning why the heck things haven’t worked like this all along. Example: When viewing the recent iPhone Guided Tour, I kept asking myself why mobile phones don’t already do all this stuff… seriously, it’s so dang obvious. See also hindsight.”

Sources at WWDC are reporting that there is officially no Flash support on the iPhone. Apparently, in the State of the Media address yesterday, the announcement was made that: “There will be no Flash support at the moment on the iPhone.” Developers are being told not to serve video via Flash, as there simply isn’t a player built for the phone yet.

Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Punchkick Interactive has authored it’s first article for Adobe.com. Zak Dabbas and myself (Ryan Unger) co-authored Developing Flash Lite for BREW applications for Verizon Wireless. This article covers not only the technical side of developing applications for BREW for Verizon Wireless, but also the marketing aspects of distributing content directly to Verizon Wireless or to a content catalog partner such as Atom Entertainment, FunMobility, or Smashing Ideas.

The article has three main sections:
1. Understanding the Flash Lite for BREW marketplace
2. Becoming an authorized Qualcomm BREW developer
3. Testing content on a Verizon Wireless handset

Read the full article on Adobe.com

Introduction
At the October 2006 Adobe MAX conference, Adobe and Verizon Wireless announced a partnership that would make Flash Lite content available to over 37.5 million Verizon Wireless subscribers. Flash Lite developers were understandably excited about the announcement, and teaching developers how to create content for Verizon Wireless became a central focus of the MAX conference.

This article will teach you how to develop Flash Lite for BREW content directly for Verizon Wireless. It will detail the process of becoming an authorized Qualcomm BREW developer, testing your Flash Lite for BREW content on a Verizon Wireless handset, and selling your content through Verizon Wireless.

In addition to understanding the technical specifics of creating Flash Lite for BREW content, this article will also discuss the pros and cons of using the direct model for developing and distributing Flash Lite for BREW content—including the real costs and anticipated returns on your development investment. It will also briefly cover the process of selling content through an content catalog partner, and the pros and cons associated with doing so.

Also, we would like to thank Phil Pastore for helping out with the headshots.

Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s Flash Lite development capabilities.

This mobile marketing blog, Punchkick Interactive, is now available for download on EyeMags.com. I assume that most people reading this know what EyeMags.com is, but for those of you who don’t I’ll offer a brief description.

EyeMags is essentially a service that streamlines mobile blogging. With a simple download you can receive updated streams of any blog, or “mobile magazine” as they EyeMags would put it. The service does a pretty great job of presenting this content on a mobile device.

Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile Web site design capabilities.

We have released our Mobile Ocean ™ Flash Lite screensaver/wallpaper to Handago.com today. Mobile Ocean is the perfect cell phone screensaver/wallpaper for any marine lover. This product features seven tropical fish, four underwater scenes, and a digital clock.

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

Detailed Product Features:

• Built using Adobe Flash Lite 1.1 technology
• Seven tropical fish swimming across four unique underwater scenes
• An ideal mobile wallpaper or screensaver
• Includes an AM/PM digital clock
• For maximum Symbian phone compatibility, five different .swf file sizes are included: 96×65, 128×160, 176×208, 176×220, and 240×320

Purchase Mobile Ocean here for $1.99.

Mobile Ocean is the property of Punchkick Interactive Inc. Copyright © 2006-2007. All rights reserved.

Via AllAboutSymbian and Biskero:

Nokia Video Manager offers you a simple solution for transferring your videos from your phone to PC or vice versa – smoothly, efficiently, and with complete ease. The application is a free add-on product to be used together with Nokia PC Suite.

With Nokia Video Manager, you can:

• Manage and transfer your video clips between your phone and PC.
• Save space on your phone by converting videos into formats optimized for mobile phones.
• Forget the extra effort: file conversion takes place automatically during video transfer.
• Rely on assistance when you need it: Nokia Video Manager guides you every step of the way

Read more at AllAboutSymbian.com
Download the Nokia Video Manager

We are experimenting with sending phones SMS messages based on actions within a Flash Lite movie. To test this, we have implimented a way for our visitors to sample an SMS campaign—simply type your mobile number in the form located at the top right of our blog. Use the following format: 12165261544 (country code + area code + local number). Unfortunately, we have not been able to test this on all carriers or outside of the United States. If you do test this, please comment on the success or failure of the text message delivery by including your country and cell phone carrier.

Thanks for your help!

Via Engadget and Ryan Block.

Engadget created a great 15 minute presentation of the new LG Prada phone interface. For those who are still interested in the iPhone (and it’s competition), this video is a must.

Download link 

It’s not new news, but it’s new for me. I just found a great set of stencils for creating mobile device wire frames using OmniGraffle. Download from BitTube’s blog.

GotoMobile did a great writeup about this. The video should explain everthing. Make sure your speakers are on.

Download link

Next Generation 2D Coding

First noted by Aniway:

Adobe released the mobile device profile update #5. Get it here. This update contains or makes changes to the following device profiles:

• Nokia 3250
• Nokia 5200
• Nokia 5300
• Nokia 5500
• Nokia 6085
• Nokia 6125
• Nokia 6131
• Nokia 6151
• Nokia 6300
• Nokia 7390
• Nokia 8800
• Nokia E50
• Nokia E60
• Nokia E61
• Nokia E62
• Nokia E70-1
• Nokia N70-1
• Nokia N71-1
• Nokia N73
• Nokia N75
• Nokia N80
• Nokia N91-1
• Nokia N92
• Nokia N93
• Nokia N93i
• Sony-Ericsson K600
• Sony-Ericsson K600c
• Sony-Ericsson K600i
• Sony-Ericsson K606c
• Sony-Ericsson K606i
• Sony-Ericsson K608c
• Sony-Ericsson K608i
• Sony-Ericsson K610iM
• Sony-Ericsson V600i
• Sony-Ericsson V800
• Sony-Ericsson W300i
• Sony-Ericsson W550c
• Sony-Ericsson W550i
• Sony-Ericsson W600c
• Sony-Ericsson W600i
• Sony-Ericsson W710i
• Sony-Ericsson W810i
• Sony-Ericsson W830a
• Sony-Ericsson W830c
• Sony-Ericsson W830i
• Sony-Ericsson W850i
• Sony-Ericsson Z712a
• Sony-Ericsson Z800i
• Verizon Motorola RAZR V3c
• Verizon Motorola RAZR V3m
• Verizon LG VX9800
• Verizon Samsung SCH-A950

Download here.