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A British firm is set to steal a march on Apple and Nokia by launching a mobile phone offering unlimited music downloads direct to the handset.

According to The Sunday Times, Omnifone will load the phone with its MusicStation service, which has agreements in place  to supply songs from all the big music labels including EMI.

The handset differs from Apple’s iPhone because tracks can be downloaded wirelessly over HSDPA and 3G networks, according to music-industry sources.

The Omnifone’s software is already available to UK Vodafone subscribers and has been sold in Hong Kong, Sweden and South Africa. The subscription fee is £1.99 per week.

Tags: Apple, Nokia, The Sunday Times, Vodafone

Blyk, the new mobile network for 16-24 year olds funded by advertising, has announced its expansion to the Dutch market. Blyk will use Vodafone Netherlands as its host operator, which means that Blyk members in the Netherlands will be able to use voice, text and data services across the Vodafone network.

Blyk’s CEO and Co-founder, Pekka Ala-Pietilä said, “For advertisers Blyk is a pan-European youth medium and the Netherlands is among the three highest advertising spend per capita in Europe. It is also a key target market for those
brands with international campaigns.”

“From an advertising perspective, the Netherlands is also an incredibly creative and dynamic market. The deal with Vodafone ensures that we can offer the highest quality service in the Netherlands for both our members and our advertisers.”

Anthony Hellegers, Director Strategy, Wholesale, Legal & Regulatory at Vodafone Netherlands said: “Last year we announced that we want to build a sustainable position in the Dutch MVNO market by offering a true partnership model and the best network quality. We are delighted that this has been recognized and that Blyk has chosen Vodafone Netherlands for their expansion into the Netherlands.”

Blyk will launch in the Netherlands in the second half of 2008. Other European markets are under discussions and details will be released later.

In a further statement, Blyk announced new investors Goldman Sachs and Industrial and Financial Investments Company (IFIC), who will join a roster that includes Sofinnova Partners and a number of private investors. On the investment, Ala-Pietilä commented, “We are pleased to have two new and prominent investors. It reflects great confidence in the Blyk model.”

Tags: Blyk, Goldman Sachs, IFIC, Sofinnova Partners, Vodafone

Mobile Entertainment is reporting that Mobile Operator 3 has selected Fonestarz to host and manage its new picture service, Pix. Pix has now launched on the 3 portal in the UK and Ireland and currently features 20,000 images and animations taken from FoneStarz’s catalogue of premium content.

The service includes branded imagery from partners including Disney, Manchester United and Aardman, and is hosted on FoneStarz’s content management platform, ‘Daius’.

FoneStarz Media manages, hosts and retails mobile content to a global audience. The business has a global relationship with Vodafone and T-Mobile and is already managing on-portal download, messaging, information and entertainment sites for 15 networks in 22 countries.

Primary Capital holds a 50% stake in the company.

Tags: 3 Mobile, Aardman, Disney, FoneStarz Media, Manchester United, Primary Capital, T-Mobile, Vodafone

There are certain brand names synonymous with excellence in the mobile phone industry: Nokia, Ericsson, Vodafone, O2, Chicago Rush, .. wait a minute … Chicago Rush? Who? Never heard of them! Well Chicago Rush are just one of the new mobile phone service ‘operators’ that have sprung up on Sonopia.com, the branded mobile community.

With Sonopia, any person, organization, club or cause can offer their own branded mobile service and make money doing it!

• Offer customized phones and competitive calling plans
• Provide exclusive content right on the phone
• Earn $50 for every mobile subscriber you sign-up
• Get a percentage of your subscribers’ monthly cell phone payment - 5% of your users’ bills.
• All on the nation’s leading wireless network

And it is free!

 www.sonopia.com

[Read more]

Tags: Cardinal Venture Capital, Chicago Rush, ComVentures, Danir, Ericsson, Macromedia, Microsoft, Nokia, O2, Sevin Rosen Funds, Sonopia, Symbian, Vodafone

The end of the year is closing in so I thought I would share with you my pick of the top three hottest tech companies. I have based my selection primarily on revenue growth and what I view as an interesting niche or sector. As ever, make your own mind up, do not rely upon my data for your business or personal decisions.

#1 GOLDEN GEKKO www.goldengekko.com

Revenue Growth 06-07: 900% (stg£34,000 - stg£359,000)

HQ: London UK

Sector: Mobile Application Development - Business Productivity

Investors: Active Capital Partners

CEO: Magnus Jern

Customers include: Coca-Cola, Paramount, Unilever, Vodafone

From the website:

Golden Gekko simplifies the development of mobile applications. Whether for marketing, sales or to assist your mobile workforce, Golden Gekko brings the world of mobile applications within everyone’s reach.

We’ve streamlined the development and distribution of mobile applications, allowing for quick and easy deployment, across any mobile network and on over 1000 devices.

Golden Gekko’s unique advantage is our platform the GG Mobile Media Engine(tm). This enables rapid, high quality development of easy-to-use and cost efficient mobile applications.

================================= [Read more]

Tags: Abundance Partners, Active Capital Partners, Algonquin Trust, Allegis Capital, ASDA, BBC, Brewin Dolphin Securities, Coca-cola, Dragon Bridge Capital, Golden Gekko, HBO, Landrover, Live World, MTV, Paramount, Red Eye Intl, Springboard, Unilever, Virgin, Vodafone, Wal-Mart UK, William Hill, WPP Group