Russian Mobile Content News
Newsletter, March 27 - April 17, 2006

Mail.Ru launched WAP search service
Internet holding Mail.Ru launched the first Russian WAP search engine. The service allows mobile users to search information on Russian WAP sites. The technology of WAP search was entirely developed by Mail.Ru. Currently the WAP search engine processes 33 mln WAP documents. Access to the service is available at wap.mail.ru or wap.go.mail.ru.
Source: http://procontent.ru/release/21.html

MForum.ru presents rating of content downloads in Russia
A Moscow based analytical and news service company MForum.ru (Mobile Forum) has published a rating of the most popular mobile music and game downloads in Russia for the first half of March period. The rating is based on top ten downloads presented by leading Russian mobile content providers.
Mobile music rating (based on downloads):
1. Vostochnye skazky (Orient tales), by Arash & Blestjastchie
2. Esli v serdce zhivet lubov (If love lives in heart), by Julia Savicheva
3. Chernye glaza (Black eyes), by Aidamir Mugu
4. In Da Club, by 50 cent
5. Boro Boro, by Arash
6. All About Us, by T.a.T.u.
7. Chernye glaza (Black eyes), remix
8. Brigada, by Triplex
9. V mire zhivotnyh (In animal life), by X-Mode
10. Kak tvoi dela (How are you), by Julia Savicheva.
Java games rating (based on downloads):
1. Bumer 2
2. Kto hochet byt millionerom (Who wants to be a millionaire)
3. Lednikovy period 2 (Ice Age 2)
4. Ulichnye gonki: gorjastchii asfalt 2 (Street racing: burning asphalt 2)
5. Olimpiiskie igry: Turin-2006 (Olympic games: Turin-2006)
6. Age of Empires II
7. Dvoinoi forsazh (2 Fast 2 Furious)
8. Mashiny-monstry 4*4
9. Durak Interactive-2 (Fool Interactive-2)
10. Dom 2.
Source: http://www.mforum.ru/sub/content/news/025357.htm

Inform-Mobil enters Georgia
Moscow based company Inform-Mobil (JMI.ru brand) is the first Russian mobile content provider starting services in Georgia. Inform-Mobil signed a contract with local cellular operator Magti?om. SMS services ZnakomstvA (dating), Amigos!, Mobile leisure, mobile forum, anecdotes, horoscopes, melodies, pictures, Java and SMS games are currently available to Georgian users. Inform-Mobil provides services in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Source: http://www.mforum.ru/news/article/033568.htm

HeroCraft released two new J2ME games
HeroCraft, a well-known Russian developer of games for mobile phones, released new J2ME games Sweet Invaders and Mr. Revolver. Sweet Invaders is a games with Amazon female warrior characters fighting in the fantastic Universe. Mr. Revolver is a Western style shooter. A user plays for the legendary hero MARSHAL Wyatt Earp who was a sheriff of Dodge City.
Source: http://www.mforum.ru/news/article/033541.htm

Vimpelcom launching Beeline brand in Ukraine
On April 1 a cellular operator Vimpelcom started a promotion campaign of its brand Beeline over Ukraine. Vimpelcom's subsidiary Ukrainskie Radiosistemy (URS) will provide Beeline services. According to advertisement experts, Beeline's promotion campaign budget is about $20 mln. A half of the budget will be spent on TV advertisement, the rest will go to ads in print media, outdoor and the Internet.
Source: http://www.kommersant.ru

MTS planning to test 3G and 3.5G in Belarus
Cellular operator MTS reported on installment and testing of equipment to provide mobile services in UMTS and HSDPA standards in Belarus. UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is a European 3G standard providing data transmission up to 384 KBPS. HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is the next step in UMTS development allowing to increase data transmission speed up to 1.2 MBPS.
Source: http://sotovik.ru/news/news_21606.html

PlayFon announced animated themes content
PlayFon, a provider of wireless entertainment, introduced animated themes for cell-phones in Russia. That product is a new for the Russian market of mobile content. Unlike standard themes, animated themes enable to display animated wallpapers in standby mode. Under the contract between British company PhoneThemes and PlayFon the latter got the exclusive rights for distribution of animated themes in Russia and Ukraine. "PlayFon's active operations in the advanced European markets of wireless entertainment help us to remain in the frontline of innovation and offer Russian subscribers the most sophisticated and original services", said Vladimir Borodin, PlayFon's Vice-President. PlayFon offers a wide range of mobile content services to more than 200 million subscribers in Russia, Ukraine, Sweden and UK.
Source: http://cellnews.ru/news/all/04-04-2006/3647.htm

SMSmedia.ru entering Ukraine and Belarus
Russian content provider SMSmedia.ru signed contracts with cellular operators UMC, Jeans*, UkrTelecom and Kyevstar to serve SMSmedia.ru's short numbers in the territories of Ukraine and Belarus. Thus all SMS services provided by the company in Russia will be available to Ukrainian and Belarusian users. The products include interactive services, voting, standard mobile content like ringtones and pictures, Java and SMS games. Initially SMSmedia.ru was focused on realization of interactive services for TV chats.
Source: http://www.mforum.ru/news/article/033638.htm

Top cellular phones to browse WAP
TOP.WAPSTART, a catalog and rating of Russian WAP sites, provides statistics on mobile phones used to access WAP sites in the country. In March the most popular cellular phone brands were:
1. Samsung - 12.31%
2. Nokia - 12.1%
3. SonyEricsson - 9.78%
4. Siemens - 6.13%
5. Motorola - 4.23%
TOP.WAPSTART processes over 2.5 mln hits daily.
Source: http://procontent.ru/news/1136.html

i-Free runs mobile marketing campaign for Reebok
i-Free has launched an interactive SMS promotion for Reebok, designed to promote sales of RBK Pump sneakers. Participants enter into the PUMP IT UP! SMS promotion by purchasing any pair of RBK Pump sneakers. The buyer will be issued a scratch card with a personal code at purchase, which is to be SMSed to 4443. The reply SMS will contain a link for the subscriber to download a Reebok brand image and instructions on how to enter a lottery to win the top prize. The top prize is a trip to the tennis championship at Wimbledon, the UEFA Super Cup or Formula I Grand Prix in France. To vie for the top prize, the subscriber will be asked to choose a championship by SMSing its event code to the promotion number. i-Free is now among the top three leading players in the segment, according to J'son & Partners. In the past six months, i-Free has designed and run upwards of 30 interactive promotions and mobile services for FMCG companies, banks, film studios, Internet providers and mass media. i-Free's latest projects include interactive promotions for Gillette and Chupa Chups Russia, the Sobranie and Stella Artois brands, mobile banking services for customers of the Russky Standart Bank.
Source: http://www.mforum.ru/news/article/033699.htm

PlayFon launching services in Baltic States
PlayFon announced its market entry to Baltic States. PlayFon Sweden AB, PlayFon's European branch is handling company's operations in the region. Best content from PlayFon is currently available to Lithuanian and Estonian subscribers; the vending operations in Latvia will be launched shortly. The subscriber base in Baltic States reaches 5.5 million with the penetration rate of 85.5%. However, the market of value-added services is far from saturation stage, offering providers ample opportunities for business development. PlayFon's operations in the area trace back to 2005 when the provider tapped into Tele 2 networks in Lithuania and Estonia, following the companies' successful partnership in Sweden. In the winter of 2006 the subscribers of the largest regional carriers Bite (Lithuania) got a chance to download the best mobile content from PlayFon. The company has recently sealed an agreement with Esti Mobile Telefons (Estonia); the negotiations with Omnitel (Lithuania) and Latvijas Mobilais Telefons SIA (Latvia) are under way. Currently, PlayFon offers its products at the Tele2 mobile portal.
Source: http://www.CellNews.ru

Shamrock Games released Gold Mahjong Java game
Shamrock Games has announce the start of cooperation with Hands-On Mobile (formerly MForma, Inc.) - the leading global publisher of mobile lifestyle, games and personalization products. The worldwide release of the new Java-game Gold Mahjong developed by Shamrock Games is the first step in that cooperation. For the first time Russian J2ME game is published so widely under the name of the original developer. Gold Mahjong is a mobile version of the traditional Chinese game that has won popularity all over the world combines elements of poker, dominoes, and chess. The player is to take all the chips off the board by finding matching pairs among chips arranged in one of the complicated figures. The new game from Shamrock Games features subtly painted traditional Chinese subjects, strict observance of the classic game rules, more than 20 original brick compositions, 6 languages and support of more than 350 phone models. "We developed Gold Mahjong with the aim for the Western market and we are thrilled that our game is represented on the Western market by Hands-On Mobile. Our game can now become available to customers in more than 40 countries," said Shamrock Games' marketing director Nadejda Antsiferova. Shamrock Games, a subsidiary of Next Media Group, is a leading Russian Java and SMS game developer.
Source: http://www.mforum.ru/news/article/033787.htm

Rambler Mobile launched ICQ 2WaySMS in Russia
Rambler Mobile, a subsidiary of Rambler Media holding, has launched ICQ® 2WaySMS service in Russia. The new service allows Russian users of the international version ICQ 5 and the Russian language program Rambler-ICQ to send SMS directly from ICQ to mobile phones. According to ICQ Inc., ICQ® 2WaySMS is the second most popular service among ICQ users: 12% of ICQ users enjoy the service daily. Today there are 3.3 mln ICQ active users in Russia, over 1.1 mln users of the Rambler ICQ. In December 2005 ICQ Inc. and Rambler Media have signed a contract to provide ICQ® 2WaySMS in Russia. According to the contract, Rambler Mobile has developed a billing system and provides technological connectivity of ICQ service to cellular operators. Besides, Rambler Mobile provides 24 hour technological support of the ICQ® 2WaySMS service.
Source: http://www.procontent.ru/news/1197.html

Inform-Mobil - official partner of MTV Russia Movie Awards
MTV Russia has announced nominees of the MTV Russia Movie Awards. Voting for award winners is provided by a mobile content provider Inform-Mobil. The service users should send an SMS reqiest with a word "MTV" and a nominee ID. The SMS voting service is the next step in cooperation of the content provider and the music channel. During the last Christmas night Inform-Mobil and MTV Russia provided Christmas chat for the channel audience.
Source: http://www.procontent.ru/release/32.html

Mobile Books, a new service from i-Free
i-Free has announced the launch of a new service, Mobile Books, enabling mobile phone users to download books in the Java format. A Mobile Book is a Java application that can be downloaded to a mobile phone and displayed as text files. Mobile books are as easy to download as regular content such as games, images or tunes. The subscriber needs to SMS the code of the book to 4449. The reply will give the subscriber a link to follow in order to download the chosen book from a WAP site. Mobile books cover all sorts of genres: classical fiction and poetry, modern fiction, sci-fi, detectives, books for children, cheat sheets in many different subjects for school and college students, handbooks, traffic rules, etc. The i-Free library features the latest Russian best-sellers by Sergei Lukianenko, Aleksandra Marinina, Mikhail Veller, Vladimir Kozlov, Dmitri Gorchev and other popular authors. Mobile books cost $3 apiece (excluding VAT).
Source: http://www.mforum.ru/news/article/033800.htm

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