Multimedia messaging services will be a 3G hit
October 23, 2002
Rich media mobile sports service set to score with operators
The ball is now rolling for exciting new multimedia messaging services
(MMS) with an agreement between Nokia and international sports marketing
company IMG.
Nokia and IMG have teamed up to develop an MMS Essential Sports
Service, delivering sports images, news, updates and audio commentary
to sports' fans' mobile phones. The service aims to prove the market
is ready and willing when it comes to mobile multimedia services,
generating new and lucrative revenue opportunities for operators
The Essential Sports service will be tailored to suit the specific
interests in different regions - Europe, the USA and Asia Pacific.
The service will be available to Nokia's operator customers, who
will then be able to brand their services individually.
Nokia has among the wireless industry's most extensive track record
in MMS with around 40 customers to date and an ever-growing number
of launched systems, making multimedia messaging a reality for today's
mobile consumers and a strategic growth area for Nokia and the industry.
"MMS is already taking the industry by storm with strong growth
in markets like Italy where in the first two weeks of service over
180,000 Multimedia Messages were sent. We want to see this happen
in all markets and with all our customers and this agreement with
IMG is just one example of the initiatives we are taking, " explains
Esa Harju, Director, Strategic Marketing, Nokia Networks.
"As the world's leading sports promoter, IMG is a good cooperation
partner for us to work with in developing MMS services that are
easily replicable and commercially sustainable. Nokia believes MMS
will form the next wave of mobile data, moving us beyond text to
images and sound . MMS will spur a rapid growth increase in data
usage traffic and lead us into 3G and an even richer service experience,"
continues Harju,
"IMG has delivered mobile content services since 1996 and is constantly
reviewing the potential of emerging technologies. With MMS, we see
a major opportunity to create compelling rich media services that
deliver the emotion of sport. This global project with Nokia provides
an ideal opportunity to explore the potential of rich media services
with mobile operators," says Mark Selby, Head of IMG's Mobile Division.
"Sports are universally popular and IMG's analysis of mobile user
behaviour patterns certainly indicates that MMS offers a major opportunity
for new rich media. This Essential Sports project will enable mobile
operators, Nokia and IMG to gather critical experience in the delivery
and satisfaction of sports fans on their multimedia mobile devices,"
adds Selby.
Multimedia messages can be sent between MMS-capable phones or even
to legacy phones, thanks to the Nokia Multimedia Terminal Gateway.
The Nokia solution provides content storage, voice messaging over
MMS, intelligent connectivity to e-mail, and rich push/pull applications
among other services.
The Nokia MMS solution allows consumers to send and receive rich
messages containing text, images, graphics, voice, and audio clips.
Nokia's imaging handsets, 7650 and 3650, further extend the company's
support for MMS.
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3G Motorola A920
