BEIJING, September 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Today SINA, China’s leading online media company, announced that they have joined as a sponsor in Nokia’s ongoing mobile multiplayer games competition to support the global search for new game developer talent and bring a new breed of innovative, connected mobile games to the Chinese market. As a result of SINA joining the competition, Nokia announced that the deadline for accepting mobile game concepts based on the SNAP Mobile platform has been extended to September 24. Selected concepts based on SNAP Mobile will receive free development support and preparation for market deployment.
“SINA will provide the winners of the multiplayer competition with a fast track opportunity to distribute games in China. This competition encourages developers and publishers to raise the bar on mobile game innovation, and developers located anywhere in the world, can compete,” said Terry Tian, Network Business Dept Director, SINA. “We are keen to add more SNAP Mobile based games to our portfolio, and see this competition as a unique way to speed deployment of innovative games to market.”
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Market-leading phone maker Nokia on Sept. 17 moved to bolster its mobile advertising front by agreeing to acquire Enpocket for an undisclosed sum.
Boston-based Enpocket makes a mobile advertising campaign management and delivery system that uses analytics technologies to draw a bead on consumer interests and deliver mobile advertising via SMS (Short Message Service), MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and video.
Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, said in a statement that it plans to leverage Enpocket’s mobile ad platform along with its partnerships with advertisers, publishers and operators, including Vodafone, Telefonica and Pepsi.
The multi-billion-dollar potential of putting ads in front of consumers via their smartphones and other Web-enabled gadgets has made locking down mobile ad technologies a key focus for phone makers, content providers and search specialists.
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The long-term cancer risk of mobile phone use cannot be ruled out, experts have concluded.
A major six-year research programme found a “hint” of a higher cancer risk.
But the UK Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHRP) did rule out short-term adverse effects to brain and cell function.
Researchers are now expanding the programme to look at phone use over 10 years, and the specific impact on children, which has not been studied.
The MTHRP programme, funded by the government and communications industry, has carried out 23 separate studies into the health impact of mobile phones, masts and base stations.
Programme chairman Professor Lawrie Challis said it was now up to the government to offer advice.
The team found that there was a slight excess reporting of brain and acoustic neuroma (ear) cancers.
Researchers said this was on the borderline of statistical significance.
Professor Challis said that it was only responsible to do more research, citing the way smoking was not linked to lung cancer at first.
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Google Inc. has filed a patent that would allow users to pay for goods from vending machines and retailers — as well as make larger payments — via text message, or SMS (short message service) technology.
U.S. Patent 2007/0203836, called “Text message payment,” was published last Thursday by Google engineer Ramy Dodin. The invention, dubbed Gpay in the supporting drawings, is described as “a computer-implemented method of effectuating a payment, comprising: receiving at a computer server system a text message from a payor containing a payment request comprising a payment amount sent by a payor device operating independently of the computer server system; debiting a payor account for an amount corresponding to the amount of the payment request; and crediting a payee account that is independent of the computer server system.”
According to the drawings, users could use Gpay to make payments to various retailers, doctors or even their landscapers.
However, there are several companies, including two in the Philippines, that already offer such a service. Globe Telecom offers Globe GCash, a system that “enables any Globe or TM subscriber to send and receive money and make payments just through text/SMS.” And Smart Communications Inc. offers Smartpadala, a cash remittance service via text.
It is unclear whether these two companies have filed patents for their technology in the U.S.
Google officials could not be reached for comment.
HELSINKI, Finland: Nokia Corp. unveiled new Internet services and gadgets Wednesday to help customers download music and play games on mobile handsets — in a strong push to challenge rivals, including Apple’s iTunes and iPod.
The latest move by the world’s largest mobile phone maker, which has a strong position in emerging markets with basic handsets, is further recognition that high-end markets require multitask handsets with photo, music and video capabilities and quick access to the Internet.
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