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Today's Top Stories
1. Apple mulls bid to acquire digital video service Hulu
2. Gartner: Worldwide mobile payment volume to grow 76% in 2011
3. Google says it rejected $100M royalty deal to use Java in Android
4. Inneractive: iOS ad click-through rates double up Android
5. Placecast launches ShopAlerts Self-Serve mobile marketing tool Also Noted: Spotlight On... Patent troll Lodsys expands in-app purchase fight to 'Angry Birds'
Peel debuts TV recommendation app for Android; Artificial Life teams with MXit for mobile games and much more...  FierceMobileContent is on Twitter
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| Sponsor: ebook: Mobile Video's Promise Events > CTO Telecom Summit - September 18-21, 2011 - Montelucia Resort, Scottsdale, AZ
> Cloud Connectivity and Device Content 2011 - 20-21 September 2011 - BH Barbizon Palace, Amsterdam
> LocNav USA 2011 - October 18-19 - San Jose
> The Open Mobile Summit: Registration now open, act now! - November 2-4 2011 - San Francisco, CA
> Appcelerate - November 4, 2011 - San Francisco, CA
> Android Developers Conference - November 6-9 - San Francisco
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> New Fierce eBook: Realizing Mobile Video's Promise
Jobs > Sr. RF Engineer at SyChip, Inc. in Plano, TX
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* General ad info: Click here | Today's Top News 1. Apple mulls bid to acquire digital video service Hulu
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly considering making a bid to acquire digital video service Hulu, with sources telling Bloomberg that the two companies are currently in the early stages of negotiations. Hulu, owned by media conglomerates News Corp., Disney and Comcast, touts ABC, Fox and NBC programs including Modern Family, The Office and Glee, series or season runs of past favorites like Arrested Development and The X-Files and a catalog of feature films. Acquiring Hulu would give Apple a popular new subscription service spanning both mobile and desktop platforms: "Part of the ecosystem of Apple's future is to include more video," said Wedbush Securities Inc. analyst Scott Sutherland. "It's something they are focused on." Bloomberg and SNL Kagan forecast Hulu's price tag could surpass $2 billion. Apple--now the world's second most-valuable company--recently said it has $76.2 billion in cash and securities on its books. Both Apple and Hulu declined to comment on the reports. Hulu's digital audience tops 28.5 million users per month, with mobile apps available for Apple's iOS and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android. However, the service is a source of discontent to cable and satellite providers who pay programmers $30 billion a year for the rights to broadcast programming viewers can check out online or on mobile devices for free via the ad-supported service. Although Hulu offers an ad-free premium version, dubbed Hulu Plus and priced at $7.99 per month, reports indicate Hulu board members have clashed with CEO Jason Kilar over the number of ads run in each free program and the cost of Hulu Plus membership. For more:
- read this Bloomberg article Related articles:
Hulu Plus rolls out to Android as sale rumors escalate
Hulu Plus coming soon to Android 2.2 smartphones
Hulu primping for $2 billion IPO
Hulu launches multi-platform premium video service
Hulu poised to debut premium service on iPad, Xbox Read more about: Apple, Mobile Video, Hulu, VC/M&A
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2. Gartner: Worldwide mobile payment volume to grow 76% in 2011
The number of subscribers using mobile payment options will increase from 102.1 million worldwide in 2010 to 141.1 million in 2011, a 38.2 percent year-over-year spike, according to a new forecast issued by Gartner Inc. Worldwide mobile payment volume is expected to reach $86.1 billion during the current year, up from $48.9 billion--a 75.9 percent annual increase. Merchandise purchases across mobile app stores and digital commerce platforms like Amazon.com and eBay are driving m-commerce growth, Gartner states. Merchandise purchases are expected to yield 90 percent of all North American mobile transactions this year, compared to 77 percent in Western Europe. Money transfers and prepaid top-ups currently dominate developing markets, generating 54 percent of mobile transactions in Eastern Europe and 32 percent in the Middle East and Africa. Despite the growth, Gartner said the mobile payment market is evolving slower than anticipated. In particular, emerging markets are not yet embracing mobile payment services with the fervor many onlookers expected: "Many service providers are yet to adapt their strategies to local requirements, and success models from Kenya and the Philippines are unlikely to be translated to other markets," said Gartner research director Sandy Shen in a statement. "While developing markets have favorable conditions for mobile payments, such as high penetration of mobile devices and low banking penetration, this is no guarantee of success, unless service providers adapt their strategies to local market requirements." Shifting the focus to developed markets, Gartner believes that mass-market adoption of Near Field Communications-based m-payment services is at least four years away. "The biggest hurdle is the need to change user behavior by convincing consumers to pay with mobile phones instead of cash and cards," Shen said. For more:
- read this release Related articles:
Financial execs survey: Mobile payments going mainstream by 2015
Forecast: Mobile payments market to reach $670B by 2015
PayPal forecasts mobile payments to reach $3B in 2011
Forecast: Contactless payments to reach $50B worldwide by 2014 Read more about: Metrics, M-Commerce, nfc, Gartner
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3. Google says it rejected $100M royalty deal to use Java in Android
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) legal representation has stated the company turned down an offer to pay $100 million in royalties in exchange for using elements of the Java programming language in the development of its Android mobile operating system. Google attorney Robert Van Nest said during a federal court hearing Thursday that the 2006 offer from Sun Microsystems outlined a three-year, "all-in" deal to jointly build Android, not a patent licensing agreement. "There wasn't any specific discussion of patents," Van Nest said after U.S. District Judge William Alsup requested an explanation for why Google and Sun entered talks. Van Nest stated that while a few lines of code in Android are "identical" to Java, the code likely came from a third party, adding "We are investigating that." Oracle, which acquired Sun in April 2009, is now seeking as much as $6.1 billion in damages over claims that Android "directly copied" elements of Java. According to court filings submitted late last month, Oracle wants Google to pay $0.9 billion to $1.4 billion upfront for infringing on its patents. Oracle also wants 15 percent of mobile advertising revenues generated across the Android platform. Late last year, Google said its mobile ad business operates at a run rate of $1 billion annually. On Thursday, Oracle separately won permission to question Google CEO Larry Page to determine his knowledge of the situation. Oracle seeks to depose Page about Google's discussions with Sun over licensing Java as well as Android's strategic value, according to a court filing. U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu ruled that Oracle may depose Page for two hours "solely on topics relevant to the willfulness of defendant's alleged patent infringement, and the value of Android." Oracle states that "approximately one-third of Android's Application Programmer Interface (API) packages" are "derivative of Oracle's copyrighted Java API packages" and related documents. "The infringed elements of Oracle America's copyrighted work include Java method and class names, definitions, organization, and parameters; the structure, organization and content of Java class libraries; and the content and organization of Java's documentation," the Oracle suit alleges. "In at least several instances, Android computer program code also was directly copied from copyrighted Oracle America code." Intellectual property activist Florian Mueller believes the Oracle lawsuit could force Google to restructure its Android business in both economic and technical terms. "It could very well be that a defeat in court would require Google to make fundamental changes to its Dalvik virtual machine--changes that would likely affect many if not all existing Dalvik-based (.DEX) applications," Mueller writes on his blog. For more:
- read this Bloomberg article Related articles:
Oracle wants 15% of Google's Android ad revenues
Oracle seeking billions from Google in Android patent battle
Oracle goes after Google ad revenues in Android patent suit
Oracle claims Google 'directly' Java code for Android
Google petitions court to dismiss Oracle's Android patent suit
Oracle sues Google over Java code in Android OS Read more about: Google, Android, Oracle, Java
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4. Inneractive: iOS ad click-through rates double up Android
While Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS lead the race for worldwide smartphone supremacy, mobile advertising trends across the two platforms are significantly different according to a new infographic issued by mobile ad mediation platform Inneractive. From a global market perspective, Apple leads on effective cost per mille (eCPM), which measures the revenue a developer generates per every 1000 impressions of an ad in his or her application--iOS eCPM is now $1.70, Inneractive reports, compared to $1.30 on Android. The iOS platform also boasts a significant lead on consumer click-through rates at 2.3 percent, more than double Android's 1.1 percent CTR. The global fill rate on Android now reaches 85 percent, however, compared to 78 percent on iOS. Looking at the U.S. market, iOS doubles up Android on eCPM ($1.52 vs. $0.72). Apple also wins with click-through rate of 86 percent compared to Android at 61 percent. Android edges iOS on fill rate, with a 99.01 percent CTR compared to 98.96 percent on the Apple platform. For more:
- read this Inneractive blog entry Related articles:
IAB: 72% of marketers to boost mobile ad spending over next two years
InMobi: Smartphones yield 78% of mobile ad impressions
Forecast: U.S. mobile local ad spending to reach $2.8B in 2015
ComScore: Mobile display advertisers up 128% over 2009
Forecast: Global mobile ad revenues to reach $24B in 2015 Read more about: Mobile Advertising, Metrics, Android, iOS
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5. Placecast launches ShopAlerts Self-Serve mobile marketing tool
Location-based mobile marketing firm Placecast unveiled ShopAlerts Self-Serve, a white-label geofencing solution enabling merchants to create, roll out and track targeted mobile campaigns. According to Placecast, ShopAlerts Self-Serve gives merchants the flexibility to establish physical campaign boundaries, interacting with opt-in customers only when they enter the geofenced area--messaging can include discounts, sale notices, store directions and related real-time content. Placecast notes that the ShopAlerts messages can be delivered via SMS, MMS or push notification, enabling merchants to reach consumers across mobile networks and handset models. ShopAlerts Self-Serve also touts analytics reports spanning all aspects of program performance, including participation and ROI. Placecast adds that ShopAlerts Self-Serve is not directly open to small businesses--mobile operators, yellow pages providers, retailers, financial institutions and deal services instead deploy the solution to their SMB customers. Placecast first launched ShopAlerts in late February in partnership with AT&T (NYSE:T). Touted as the first large-scale, geo-specific consumer deals program spearheaded by a U.S. wireless operator, ShopAlerts bolsters marketing messages with customized content like weather and traffic. For more:
- read this release Related articles:
AT&T launches location-targeted ShopAlerts deals
Placecast: Groceries, dining top user interest in mobile marketing alerts Read more about: Mobile Marketing, Location-Based Services, Placecast
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Also Noted SPOTLIGHT ON... Patent troll Lodsys expands in-app purchase fight to 'Angry Birds' Patent holding company Lodsys has amended its lawsuit alleging that a number of iOS developers are violating its intellectual property rights by implementing in-app purchase options within their iPhone and iPad solutions. The updated suit targets five additional gaming companies: Rovio Mobile, maker of the smash Angry Birds, as well as Electronic Arts, Atari, Square Enix and Take-Two Interactive. Lodsys contends the developers violated patents related to in-app payments and data collection applied to user interactions and seeks 0.575 percent of U.S. revenues over the period of the notice letter to the expiration of the patent, plus applicable past usage. Article Quick news from across the Web > Peel debuts TV recommendation app for Android. Release > Artificial Life teams with MXit for mobile games. Release Wireless News > Verizon notches 2.3M iPhone activations, 1.2M LTE device sales in Q2. Article > AT&T adds 3.6M iPhones in Q2, still confident on T-Mobile deal. Article > HP's Bradley: Amazon's Kindle was a big driver behind Palm acquisition. Article And finally... Has an amateur codebreaker solved the Zodiac killer riddle? Article  | > CTO Telecom Summit - September 18-21, 2011 - Montelucia Resort, Scottsdale, AZ The CTO Telecom Summit, September 18-21, 2011, will bring together CTOs to discuss IT topics and trends currently affecting the industry. The 2011 agenda has been revamped to include focus groups, think tanks, and analyst Q&As, all of which encourage meaningful conversations between delegates, analysts and solution providers. Learn more. > Cloud Connectivity and Device Content 2011 - 20-21 September 2011 - BH Barbizon Palace, Amsterdam The Cloud Connectivity and Device Content Summit will outline the key steps operators need to take to ensure their services are ready to compete against OTT providers and bring value to their brand. Attend and hear exceptional cases of best practice, identify which customers to market to and answer questions on how cloud is driving convergence between devices. Register today! > LocNav USA 2011 - October 18-19 - San Jose Bringing together our highly successful Location Business Summit, with our long-running Navigation conference, LocNav USA is a large-scale, senior-level event. It comprises of two executive-level conferences, a central exhibition, workshops and our new Get Funded Show. For more information click here or email naomi@thewherebusiness.com. > The Open Mobile Summit: Registration now open, act now! - November 2-4 2011 - San Francisco, CA Meet the most influential and the most innovative in converging mobile, Internet, media and apps at the thought leadership event of the year. Act now - click here!
> Appcelerate - November 4, 2011 - San Francisco, CA Registration now open! Meet the leaders of the Mobile app economy. The CEOs of the hottest app publishers share their secrets on making, marketing and monetizing mobile apps. Don't miss out, this event sells out! Click here for more info. > Android Developers Conference - November 6-9 - San Francisco AnDevCon is the world's premier event for Android apps development and management. It features top experts and is 100% Android focused. Fierce subscribers receive a $100 discount off the Full Passport by inserting code MEDIASPONSOR when prompted on the eRegistration page at www.andevcon.com
| > eBook: Path to 4G In this eBook we will explore the current state of 4G deployments in the U.S., the role of devices in attracting consumers and more. Download this new eBook brought to you by FierceWireless. > New eBook: Building a Better Backhaul Network This eBook from FierceWireless we will look at how operators are designing better backhaul networks and planning ahead for the next round of capacity constraints. Click here to download today. > eBook: OTT Delivery: An Online Video Revolution That Changed TV Forever This eBook from FierceOnlineVideo, will look at which segment stands to benefit the most from this new delivery vehicle, and which stands to lose, as the nascent video revolution marches forward.Click here to download today. > New Fierce eBook: Cashing in on the Cloud Services Opportunity This eBook from FierceTelecom we will explore the trends, benefits and challenges service providers have in building a profitable cloud service business.Click here to download today. > Looking for a better mobile Web experience? Experience 20-30% faster page downloads, up to 70% faster JavaScript execution, HD video at 30 fps. Download the White Papers from the Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc and Qualcomm's Web Technologies and begin to optimize the mobile Web to perform like the wired Web. > New Fierce eBook: Realizing Mobile Video's Promise This eBook from FierceMobileContent will look at some of the technologies necessary to deliver a quality mobile video experience as well as delve into the various business models necessary for making this a reality. Click here to download today.
| > Sr. RF Engineer at SyChip, Inc. in Plano, TX If you have RF Engineering experience in wireless technology – this is a great OPPORTUNITY to join an exciting company and to become a part of a winning team Murata Electronics North America, Inc., a leading international electronic component sales organization, is seeking a Senior RF Engineer for our Plano, Texas office. Learn More! > Atoll RF Planning / Optimization Tool Product Support Engineers at Forsk, Chicago, IL Forsk is looking for support engineers for its RF planning & optimization software, Atoll. Main responsibilities will be: Technical support for existing customers (hotline, emails); Support during evaluations (remote and on-site); Pre-sale/Post-sale training & mentoring sessions... Read more. > Radio Network Trainer, Wireless WorkForce in San Diego, CA Wireless WorkForce Technical Training is seeking one or more full or part-time trainers to train students on the installation of microwave and radio access network equipment at our San Diego California facility. The ideal candidate(s) will meet the following criteria: *Alcatel Lucent radio access network and microwave equipment experience *Extensive knowledge and experience in microwave network installation... Learn more. > Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceWirelessJobs | |
