iHollywood

Verizon Wireless Adds 1.9 Million Users

Verizon Wireless added 1.9 million users in its third quarter this year, more than any of its rivals in the wireless phone business.

Revenue at Verizon's wireless unit, which Verizon owns jointly with Vodafone, soared 18% to $9.87 billion.

Verizon wireless now has 56.7 million users.

-Benjamin Nugent

Disney Mix Max is For Kids, Not Intended to Compete With iPod

"The Mix Max is not and will not be marketed to compete with the iPod," Disney Consumer Products VP of Global Electronics Chris Heatherly told us. "It is designed specficially for kids and parents who are looking to purchase an affordable yet fully functional digital audio player for their kids."

Disney's Mix Max Personal Media Player, is an iPod Nano-sized device that plays digital music and Disney video. It'll be available in November for $100 at www.disneyshopping.com.

It makes Disney the second content company, along with Sony, to create a gadget designed to play that company's own content (this strategy didn't work so well for Sony--that's why you now listen to Sony artists on an iPod).

Mix Max movies will be on chips that sell for $15.

-Benjamin Nugent

WiMAX Exec to iHollywood: We Want WiMAX in Phones Like T-Mobile's

Christian Stavig, an executive in Intel's WiMAX Business Development division,told me today that Intel wants to work with mobile device companies to put its WiMAX technology in the kind of combo wireless/cellular handsets T-Mobile rolled out this week.

"T-Mobile's news in our mind amplifies two things," said Stavig. "Mobile communications is a viable path for us, and embracing multiple technologies makes a lot of sense, because [cell phone] operators are trying to move their heavy usage customers off the cellular markets."

That means Intel envisions devices that would use both WiMAX and cellular networks, just as T-Mobile's new phones use both Wi-Fi hot spots and cellular networks. 

T-Mobile's news "validates what we've been talking about," Stavig said.

Read my earlier post on T-Mobile's news and WiMAX's reaction here.

-Benjamin Nugent

 

T-Mobile Tests Dual-Mode Phones, Intel Applauds

T-Mobile is test-launching a new dual-mode phone in Seattle that will allow users to tap either cellular spectrum or WiFi to make calls and download data. Called T-Mobile HotSpot@Home, the phone is the first in an expected wave of dual-mode phones over the next year from carriers such as Sprint and Verizon. Users will be able to talk for an unlimited period using any free WiFi network, or T-Mobile's 7,000 hotspots, including most Starbucks outlets. T-Mobile's sales strategy is contained in the dual-mode phone's website: www.theonlyphoneyouneed.com.

The phones come as VOIP providers such as Vonage roll out their own wireless phones and technology leaders such as Intel champion WiMax technology, which allows broadband wireless connections over distances of up to several miles.

Intel told us it's psyched about what T-Mobile's up to:

The news from T-mobile is actually right in line with Intel’s WiMAX and wireless vision and is really great news for consumers. Multi-wireless technologies are really needed to support the variety of needs that consumers have. We believe that Wi-Fi will be the primary way that people will use their devices in their homes and having the first devices that roam between networks is a great first start. 

Is Intel dreaming of one day putting its WiMAX technology in T-Mobile's handheld devices, the same way it put its processors in Macs? In the mean time, the company emphasized to us that WiMAX is intended chiefly for transmitting lots of data, which isn't what people use cell phones for (in 2006).

 

--Benjamin Nugent

Podcasts on the Road

Alltel Wireless has partnered with Melodeo to offer a podcast download service to Alltel Wireless subscribers. The service will cost $3.99 per month for access to the robust Melodeo library of podcasts. An application pre-installed on Alltel phones provides the interface to search and stream or download podcasts. Users will also be able to subscribe to their favorite podcasts.

The partnership offers a unique value to Alltell subscribers and could help increase ARPU for Alltel. However, the offering will likely fall short in two important regards:

• Acquiring New Customers - Offering the ability to download podcasts is unlikely to convince users to leave their existing phone service and opt for Alltel. This is especially true since many podcasts are listened to on the PC and can be transferred for free to many existing portable devices. Even so, this is a necessary move for Alltel to compete with the multimedia offerings of other wireless carriers and gaining new customers is likely not the ultimate goal of this partnership.
• Convincing Users to Sign Up - Downloading podcasts to a phone is all about convenience by offering users the able to access and update their favorite podcasts without the need for PC access. This will be appealing for those often on the go and cannot update their content. The question is, will other users who have regular access to their PC and already manage their podcast subscriptions through another service invest the $3.99 to also have access on their cell phone? The answer is most likely no.

In order to build on this announcement, Alltel should consider adding more multimedia offerings. The issue again is cost to the consumer who may manage and get content for free elsewhere. Can Alltel convince consumers to pay for content they can regularly access for free?

Alltel's approach to the market crosses barriers other companies have been unwilling to break. This is evident by its offering "free" calling to phone number on other wireless service plans. Perhaps Alltel continues this approach by partnering with a company that could provide access to one's personal content stored on a PC or DVR may provide the value customers are looking for to pay an additional monthly service charge without the need for Alltel to become or partner with a content aggregator. This service would help differentiate Alltel with its customers and may be appealing enough to attract subscribers from other wireless carriers.

Verizon Unwraps Chocolate

As LG's Chocolate music phone launches, Verizon has revamped its mobile music offerings. Gone is the $15 monthly fee for V Cast Music. In its place is an a la carte download model. Songs purchased from a phone will cost $1.99; a copy will be sent automatically to a user's PC. Music can also be downloaded directly from the PC and transferred to the phone for $.99. For the first time, Verizon will support MP3s transferred from a personal collection.

The announcement removes a major barrier to entry for consumers unwilling to pay the monthly V Cast fee but interested in downloading content on a per-track or per-album basis. The new business model will eliminate recurring monthly subscription revenue for Verizon, but that revenue will be supplanted by the wider reach the free music store will offer. Usage of the V Cast Music store thus stands to grow.

Allowing users to port MP3s to their V Cast phones is an important step for Verizon, which had disabled the feature until now. While the Music Store might appear to be losing sales, Verizon's decision may actually result in additional users buying Chocolate and the accessories that Verizon offers for it. By embracing MP3s, Verizon will expose many more people to the V Cast Music Store -- stimulating many more sales from its 1.3 million-track library. Even though mobile music has a $1.00 premium over PC downloaded music, it is an impulse buy for consumers who occasionally must have a particular song. Those users are also more likely to buy additional storage solutions from Verizon. Eliminating the fee will be a win for consumers and a win for Verizon.

Googling the way home

Earlier today, Google announced that it had added live traffic to users of its mobile maps service in 30 major U.S. cities. The feature puts Google ahead of Yahoo's mobile traffic offering which lacks the traffic feature and helps Google better compete with in-car GPS systems by Garmin, Tom Tom, etc.

Some of those units already offer updated traffic information. However, some offer dynamic directions to direct a driver to a new route with less traffic. The addition of live traffic may push additional users to the site. This is good news for cellular carriers as they attempt to upsell consumers on data plans and need more applications to offer value to the consumer.