Studio Press

A delectable mobile handset known as the ‘Chocolate Phone’, first in LG Electronics (LG) black-label phone series has become the favourite treat of handset buyers worldwide. The phone from LG, a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, officially débuted in London, U.K. in early May and continued its tour to China, Russia, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, Iran and U.A.E.. There are still upcoming launch events in other cities around the world. The earliest event is scheduled on May 29 in Bangkok. The phone has been sparking a buzz among trendsetters and socialites in every fashion capital.

Mr. Mun-Hwa Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said, “The Chocolate phone is for discerning customers, in every market worldwide, who view mobile phones as fashion statements. LG is now positioning its mobile handsets as premium products and this stunning phone is just the beginning. The global launch has been extremely successful and we are already seeing a flood of reorders.”

More than half a million Chocolate Phones have been sold worldwide in the four weeks since the global launch in London, where the phone has already sold out. Retailers there are anxiously awaiting additional shipments, and there are long waiting lists of customers with a craving for Chocolate. The phone has also taken the No. 1 best seller position at Carphone Warehouse, the largest European mobile phone retail chain. It also took the top sales spot in Mexico, with 25% market share, beating Motorola’s Razr when it was launched there. Saudi retailers have already signed numerous pre-release sales contracts for the phone, anticipating a huge demand. It is no wonder why the Chocolate phone was chosen for the cover of Swedish mobile phone specialty magazine Mobil, which touted it as the next million unit seller after Razr.

The Chocolate Phone’s success results from the combination of its excellent design, marketing and a proactive sales strategy. LG has hired Colleen McLoughlan, fashion icon and girlfriend of premier leaguer Wayne Rooney, as UK’s primary Chocolate phone ambassador. She mentioned, “The LG Chocolate phone is working as an accessory for any outfit. It’s unique, sleek and exactly the right size to pop into any handbag for any occasion. The black and red theme really makes this phone stand out and the touch sensitive buttons make it beautiful.”

The Chocolate phones have also been presented as gifts for celebrities like Pierce Brosnan, Gwyneth Paltrow and Claudia Shiffer in London launch event. The strategy to position the phone in the luxury market was a great success. In Taiwan, a huge buzz was created prior to the launch event, because of a massive outdoor advertising campaign, and buzz among bloggers. LG use of locale tailored marketing strategies and securing of sales channels through major retailers, led to the incredible sales success.

Though the Chocolate phone phenomenon is expected to continue for the time being, LG is already planning the next move to secure its premium position in global mobile industry, now being established.

But the fight for supremacy will extend far beyond the soccer fields. It will include one that has begun in earnest among telecommunication companies (telcos) here, some 10,000km away. Maxis Communications Bhd has launched an early raid, powered by a RM60 million right as the main broadcast sponsor of the event here. Rivals Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd and DiGi.Com Bhd didn't want to miss the boat, following suit with their football-related campaigns. Celcom introduced Football Mad Nation Ruled By Celcom, while DiGi launched DiGi Destination Germany 06 campaign. During the past few weeks, the two telcos have flooded the local television channels, billboards and newspapers with their football-related advertisements, which somewhat link them to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, directly or indirectly. The reason: The widely-watched football event represents a golden opportunity for telcos to boost their subscriber base and squeeze more revenue from their users as they offer soccer-related promotions, products and contents. As such, the pre-World Cup campaigns are crucial as they help increase the telcos' subscriber base. However, the big money will start to roll in once the World Cup event kicks off. That is when people will be using their mobile phones more frequently, talking and messaging about matters concerning the football game, analysts said. The traffic volume for both calls and short messaging service (SMS) are expected to increase during the one-month period, which will kick off at 1am on June 10 local time, starting with the game between host Germany and Costa Rica. In a recent interview, Maxis Communications Bhd senior general manager and head of consumer business division, Thomas Schnitker said he expects to see at least 5 per cent growth in traffic volume, a modest estimate compared with most analysts' feedback. "We could likely see double-digit growth in volume usage of voice and data pick-up and ultimately peak closer to the finals," Avenue Securities telecommunications analyst Mohd Izhar Mohd Allaudin said. Unlike the previous World Cup tournament, more opportunities are on the table for the three telco players. Among them are the enlarged SMS community and subscriber base. Back in 2002, there were only 3.61 billion SMSes being sent a year. The number has more than tripled today. As of end of 2005, the industry saw the number increase to over 21 billion. During the first three months of 2006, there were 7.46 million SMSes sent. For telcos, this is an important statistics as SMSes are being offered at a minimal cost with attractive margins. "SMS is a cash-cow for telcos," Mohd Izhar said. Currently, there are more than 20.6 million mobile users in the country, which represent a penetration rate of 77.7 per cent. During the 2002 World Cup, there were only around nine million mobile phone users. "With almost eight out of 10 Malaysians owning a mobile line, telcos will need to focus on retaining existing customers, while going at each other to get new subscribers ... And with an event like the World Cup coming up, the telcos just simple couldn't afford to be left out," an analyst said. This is evident as telcos have been offering football-related promotions, special pre-paid cards that feature football players, football-related downloadable contents and free SMSes for their subscribers. Some are even giving away handphones and trips to Germany to entice football fans. Besides that, the upcoming World Cup provides a chance for the telcos to attract third-generation (3G) subscribers. "World Cup would, to a certain extent, entice avid fans to try 3G if the telcos can make their service offerings attractive and affordable," Mohd Izhar said. However, some analysts believe that Maxis, which has the rights to show the game's highlights to its 3G customers, will have an added advantage to court 3G users. Although the stock market in general is expected to be quieter during the World Cup period, we can rest assured, this will not apply to Maxis, Celcom and DiGi.-Bussiness Times

Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd will upgrade its network in Sabah, to reach 70% of the state by the end of the year.

Its head of segment marketing, Yohani Yusof, said the company, which came here in 1995, currently covers about 50% of the state and hopes to provide better coverage in the state’s top tourist destinations.

Digi will improve its network in areas like Lahad Datu, Semporna, Kota Marudu, Beaufort and Sipitang.

As part of its plan to bring high-speed data services to areas still lacking in coverage, Yohani said Digi would cover Tawau, Labuan, Sandakan and Tuaran with improved GSM Evolution (EDGE) services.

“As a leading telecommunications provider, we want to keep challenging ourselves to provide better services for our customers, “ she said. -theStar

LG Electronics (LG), a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, has launched the first integrated-memory MP3 Player with Mobile Broadcasting (DMB) reception. The compact FM35 measures just 52mm wide, 92mm long and 14mm thick. It gives consumers an added choice in LG’s DMB lineup, which includes mobile handsets, notebook PCs and PDA's with DMB functionality, offering more choices to customers.

Mr. Si-Bum Park, the marketing head of LG Electronics said, “The FM35 is the slimmest and most compact DMB device available. It has 2GB of integrated memory, so users will be able to carry all of their favourite songs with them. We offer many options in our DMB product line so consumers can choose the mobile TVs that best fit their lifestyles. LG will secure leadership in the mobile broadcasting device market by continuing to update and expand our DMB product line.”

The FM35’s minimalist design and black-and-white façade create a polished look for this high-tech device. It has a 2.4-inch 16:9 aspect ratio LCD display, which allows the viewers to see vivid details of the digital broadcasts. A 360-degree rotating DMB antenna guarantees high-quality reception and 2GB of integrated flash memory store up to 500 music files. The device supports popular audio file formats including MP3, WMA, OGG, AVI and ASF. It allows users to multitask, listening to music and viewing pictures at the same time.

Other features include lithium ion polymer battery which can be recharged through the USB cable or connection of the mobile phone cable. Users can watch four hours of DMB broadcasts or listen to 55 hours of music between charges. The FM35 is also capable to storing images and text files downloaded from a PC, allowing users to access the files on-the-go. The DMB MP3 player also features ultra high-speed file transfer capability through its USB 2.0 and a powerful broadcasting output of 18mW.

LG expects the FM35 to further boost business in the mobile device business. The company will continue to lead convergence technology through its mobile broadcasting devices.

160 Characters, the independent mobile messaging forum, today announced the winners of the third annual Global Messaging Awards, the only industry awards that are solely dedicated to mobile messaging.

This year’s winners were selected from countries spanning four continents, clearly demonstrating the continued evolution and innovation of messaging services and applications across the world. Mobile technology companies in UK continued to demonstrate excellence picking up three of the seven awards, whilst companies from Canada, USA, Singapore and Argentina respectively won the remaining categories.

The ceremony took place at the distinguished Fredericks Restaurant, Islington, London, following the first day of Informa’s Global Messaging Congress and marks the huge contribution that messaging applications and services contribute to the mobile industry, providing recognition for the most innovative companies in this space.

2006 Winners

Most effective device or software for data input

Zi Corporation (Canada) - Decuma Version 4 Decuma® combines handwriting and predictive text technology on devices that render them prone to poor and shaky handwriting. Presenting the award on behalf of the judges Ken Blakeslee said that “usability was absolutely key to this category and was well demonstrated by the Decuma combination of handwriting and predictive text.”

Best SMS and/or MMS Network Infrastructure

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) (UK) - Votewinner VoteWinner™ is MIG’s broadcast product developed specifically for processing high volumes of SMS votes at high speed. It has been used for all mainstream competitions and votes on ITV including The X Factor; I’m A Celebrity & Dancing on Ice. In addition, VoteWinner™ was selected to manage the phenomenal number of SMS messages sent as part of the Live 8 ticket text lottery in June 2005. Mike Short commented that “this was a highly fought category and Votewinner illustrated scalablity, innovation and reach and together with some of the more recent applications they have delivered it stood out.”

Best messaging application: consumer

Bubble Motion Pte Ltd (Singapore) - Bubble Talk BubbleTalk is a 'Click, Talk and Send' asynchronous Short Voice Messaging Service (SVMS) that works across operators and networks. This is a non intrusive talk and listen messaging alternative to the 'type and read' text messaging service provided by SMS. Bubble Talk is deployed in Malaysia , Singapore , Indonesia, India and Hong Kong where it generates millions of messages every day. “Consumers take to applications that they can easily understand and meets their communications needs and Bubble Talk’ has already shown success with its innovative voice messaging” said Ken Blakeslee presenting the award.

Best messaging application: business

Mobiqa (UK) - Mobi-tickets for the Red Bull Rail Storm Mobi-tickets™ were used as the the only form of tickets available for the Red Bull Rail Storm (an international urban rail snowboarding competition) at Trafalgar Square, London, on 20th November 2005. To date a major headache has been the distribution of paper tickets at the sporting events around Europe, which has proved expensive, complex and very people intensive. Commenting Mike Short said that “when SMS started no one envisaged that barcodes would end up being used. Mobi-tickets is a good example of how mobile can be used to improve event management.”

Best messaging application: public sector/not for profit

Greenpeace (Argentina) - Green lobby mobileactivism The Zero Waste campaign was the first initiative of Greenpeace Argentina in which mobile-activism was the primary tool used to achieve a goal. Through different “guerrilla” marketing tools, Greenpeace asked people to join us as “mobile-activists” sending a SMS to our number and then encouraged them to support and promote the campaign. SMS was also used to arrange spontaneous meeting points and demonstrations. The result: the government of Buenos Aires will implement a Zero Waste policy that will, by 2010, reduce urban waste sent to landfills by 50%. Presenting the award, Mike Grenville said that “there was enormous potential for mobile to be used to deliver interactive services for both public sector and NGOs. The consumers have the phones and are very well used to mobile messaging and Greenpeace Argentina is a good example of what can be done.”

Best new mobile email and/or IM application

Thumbspeed Inc (USA) - 3MC Mobile IM More than 60% of mobile IM users use more than one community. Thumbspeed set out to create a user experience that encourages extensive use of IM on mobile phones across multiple communities. 3MC utilizes a patent-pending, multi-community (MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ) tabbed GUI, making it easy for users to simultaneously login to all of their accounts and switch between communities with just one click. “Making it easy for mobile messaging to be used across communities is an important step to stimulate growth” said Ken Blakeslee presenting the award.

Biggest impact of mobile messaging

Spinvox (UK) - Voicemail-to-text service SpinVox is the world’s first voicemail-to-text service for mobile and landline phones. The service converts voicemail messages into texts and sends them straight to your mobile phone, as if the caller has sent you a text. You can instantly see who called and what they said, then call or text back at the push of a button. Dror Bin, VP and General Manager MS Division at event sponsor Comverse presenting the award said that “Spinvox have taken an existing technology and using its merits taken it to the next level. It showed a spark of innovation and brings together the convenience of voicemail and texting.”

Judging Panel

The 2006 awards judging panel contains leading industry leading lights including Mike Short, Chairman MDA and VP Technology for 02, Ken Blakeslee Chairman, WebMobility Ventures, Angel Gambino VP commercial strategy and digital media, MTV Networks UK, Marek Pawlowski, editorial director at PMN and MEX conferences, Graham Trickey, Technical Director, GSMA, Guido Gybels Director of New Technologies, RNID, Paul Walsh CEO, Segala, Philippe Herbert Partner of Banexi Ventures Partners, Jim Black director of MX Alliance and Mike Grenville, founder and chairman of 160 Characters.

Mike Grenville, 160 Characters said: “Every year there are certain sections of the industry who claim that SMS will be replaced by the next big thing but SMS volumes continue to rise.

“Organising these awards for the third year running, I have been impressed at just how inventive some of the applications for SMS have been from companies around the world. Really simple applications of SMS which help every day people in every day situations and it’s that ubiquity of SMS which makes it the most popular form of mobile data available.”