Preview: Train Tycoon from Redboss

June 13th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in 1 | No Comments »

When I met Jan Rezab (CEO – Redboss) back in February at the 3GSM event in Barcelona, we discussed the wonderful Train Tycoon game on the PC which turned out to be a game we where both hooked on. Jan told me, he was busy to try and get the game running on a mobile phone. Though I had my doubts if anyone could pull that off. Now, four months later he sent me an early beta version.

The minute I got it, I grabbed my phone and started playing. The game loads up extremely fast on a SonyEricsson K700i and instantly generated a unique map to play on. I was amazed by the number of buildings and other graphics that where used on the small screen. There has been a huge attention to detail here I hadn’t seen before in similar games like Zoo Tycoon or Townsmen (Which are also great games).

Redboss really shows their experience in this game genre by creating a really solid gameplay experience even though the game is not finished by far. The controls are well balanced. A lot of mobile games suffer under the crappy keypads that mobile phones sometimes have, however the way Redboss interpreted keypad usage is really smart and intuitive.

As I said, the game is not finished by far. The Redboss team still has a lot of features to implement, however we are sure this game will be a must have to every strategy lover out there.

new blog: www.madvertisingblog.com

May 31st, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in 1 | No Comments »

www.madvertisingblog.com is my new address

Where to draw line when street ads give you a ring

May 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in 1 | No Comments »

 Great
article in the International Herald Tribune today on marketing from
actual billboards to your phone! It seems that in the next few weeks we
will be seeing billboards in France that are bluetooth enabled and will
send you more information when you come to close. You need to have
special software (download) installed on your mobile phone to recieve
the digital advertisements which makes it permission based for now.

People with certain kinds of phones who download a
special software program and say they want to participate will receive
digital advertising when the phone is near the billboards. Read on

Internet searches on cellphones (advertising next!)

May 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in 1 | No Comments »

 Where
there is search, there will be advertising! Very insightfull article in
the WSJ about the recent activities and push towards mobile from
Google, Yahoo and MSN. Expectations are high for mobile search and
advertising.

Internet searching in general is a huge market, with
U.S. search-related advertising spending totaling $5.1 billion last
year, according to research firm eMarketer Inc. But advertising on
cellphones is still in its infancy, generating just about $100 million
last year, analysts say. And, mobile searching generates little if any
revenue. Still, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt recently said on
the sidelines of its annual analyst conference that mobile advertising
was the company’s single most exciting opportunity.

Operators like Vodafone still do not seem to get it and I truely
believe that the more advanced a mobile consumer becomes, the less
he/she will use portals like Vodafone Live as they are to restricted.

Service providers traditionally have fought to keep
consumers within their own branded portals in order to pocket the
proceeds of any mobile purchases such as music downloads or videogames.
Vodafone, for instance, will still prioritize search results from its
own branded portal when customers use its Google-powered search
feature. And, the link to Google will require clicking through several
layers of screens. Read on

Mobile Advertising Blog

May 7th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in 1 | No Comments »

Link: Mobile Advertising Blog.

entertainment today, promising an even brighter future.

    Every year U.S. women spend $5 billion on magazines, movies and other lifestyle “content.” Now, marketing experts tell UPI’s Wireless World, the mobile-phone industry is eyeing the women’s market as a new niche, hoping to provide customized content, whether it is ringtones, personalized “wallpaper” or other features exclusively for female customers.

    Surprisingly, the survey showed, mobile games are also very popular with women customers, coming in second only to ringtones as a desired download. The survey showed that 69 percent of women age 18 to 22 surveyed have already downloaded one or more ringtones. The use of ringtones as “caller ID” identifiers is also representative of the importance of customization and personalization in mobile content for younger women, the pollsters said. Read on

Mobile Advertising Blog

May 1st, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in 1 | 1 Comment »

Link: Mobile Advertising Blog.

Game Ads Going Mobile

In-game advertising is showing up increasingly not only on PCs, the web, and game consoles, but also on mobile phones. This article from Red Herring shares some intresting thoughts and views from people in the industry.

    Major brands like Coca-Cola and Toyota have been advertising in online video games, attracting major companies such as Microsoft and Viacom to acquire the startups Massive and Xfire (see Redmond to Play Ad Game and Viacom Pays $102M for Xfire).

    Dave Madden, executive vice president of WildTangent and chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s games committee, said in an interview Wednesday that the Microsoft-Massive and Viacom- Xfire deals help validate the industry.

    “The growth of advertising in games is going to be huge,” he said. “Microsoft is one of many companies trying to figure out how to play in this space.”

Mobile Advertising Blog

May 1st, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in 1 | 1 Comment »

Link: Mobile Advertising Blog.

Xybernaut sells patents targeting ads to mobile devices

The WayPoint patents help push information or advertisements to GPS-equipped cell phones.

    Xybernaut Corp. will auction patents that can wirelessly transmit advertising, direct mail and information to targeted mobile phones and devices at specific locations, a company executive told TechWeb.

    The company intends to use the proceeds to emerge from Chapter 11 and successfully reorganize. Xybernaut president and chief executive officer Perry Nolan said the patents will go up for auction in Washington, D.C. on May 17, with a minimum bid of $3.9 million for the three U.S. patents, one pending known as “WayPoint.”

    “We need capital to get us out of Chapter 11 and reorganize,” Nolan said. “My primary goal is to get through the auction, generate the revenue, paying off the creditors, and get out of Chapter 11 as quick as we can.”

Mobile Advertising Blog

May 1st, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in 1 | No Comments »

Link: Mobile Advertising Blog.

Get ready for Mo-Lo!

In Australia the coined a new term: Mo-Lo and local advertising on mobile phones will become more important to small and medium businesses than the internet, Sensis CEO Bruce Akhurst predicts.

    “Mo-lo” – mobile local advertising – was set to become the latest marketing buzz for local businesses in the $3.4 billion local advertising market, Mr Akhurst told an Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney yesterday.

    With companies like Yahoo, Google, News Limited and Fairfax moving swiftly into local search on the internet, Mr Akhurst said, the next transition would be to mobile phones.

    “The thing that will really ignite local advertising is mobility,” he said.

    “It takes local advertising to a whole new level by putting local services in the hands of buyers no matter where they are. Mobile local – or Mo-lo as it is now called – is generating a lot of excitement for one simple reason. If a person is searching for a business on a mobile, chances are they’re not only ready to buy, but are probably just around the corner.