Comms4Business News

This time last year, MEF made a number of predictions that came to fruition in 2009. It predicted that mobile applications would emerge as a content category in their own right and with more than 24 application stores now launched and several billion apps downloaded this has clearly been realised.

MEF also predicted the proliferation of touchscreen devices would drive discoverability and content usage which is self evident with seemingly every OEM producing a touch-screen device and strong consumer demand for the interactive functionality this interface provides.

Such a creative and richly diverse industry will continue to deliver new and exciting challenges and opportunities. With MEF’s previous success in anticipating, defining and addressing these key issues, we share here our forecast of top trends in mobile media for 2010.

MEF’s Top 10 Mobile Media Trends for 2010: Fragmentation and variance amongst handsets and now application stores will continue to plague the industry, however the growth of applications on the Android platform will close the gap on Apple’s App Store.

Operator enabling services will start to be widely deployed, facilitating the growth of rich media content that is simpler, faster and offers a better user experience.

Media publishers will start to experiment with micro-payments, subscription service models and alternative payment methods which challenge the operators’ dominance, with Rupert Murdoch’s decision to charge for online media content highlighting an already fierce debate.

Books will emerge as a new and popular content category for smartphones.

Technology innovation will continue, with content developers experimenting with 3D mobile video viewers and augmented reality for mobile. The emerging risk of illicit charging by in-app billing will be met by firm regulatory action.

Significant tightening of premium rate regulation in the Atlantic region will spread across the world.

2010 will be the year of multiplatform dual-delivery of content including music, video and games, across mobile phones, TVs and PCs.

The growing consumer demand for data-heavy services will put greater pressure on networks, with flat rate data tariffs increasingly subjected to stringent download limits.

Complexity, confusion and ambiguity in the application of rights to the mobile platform will be addressed seriously in 2010.

The second announcement from Monitise is to develop its Mobile Money services in Asia Pacific and to extend mobile banking and payments into the world of retail. Monitise has reached an agreement with First Eastern, a Hong Kong based direct investment firm, to roll out its Mobile Money network across Hong Kong, China and other territories in the Asia Pacific region, enabling people to use Monitise’s cutting edge mobile banking and payments services. The first services are expected to be available in Asia Pacific through banks and financial institutions to consumers during 2010. Victor Chu, chairman of First Eastern, said: “We are most excited to partner with Monitise in the Asia Pacific region. This will be a fantastic growth opportunity for both First Eastern and Monitise in view of the vast market potential here for value added services and products introduced by a proven mobile banking and payments platform. “With First Eastern’s extensive network and investment expertise, I am confident that we will contribute significantly as Monitise rolls out its ambitious expansion plans across the Asian region.” Alastair Lukies, chief executive officer, Monitise, said: “Monitise has reached a point of significant momentum. These new partnerships, together with the investments and full support of our existing strategic shareholders, validate our market leading status and position us very well to take the business through to profitability. “People everywhere will be able do their banking, shopping and make payments from their mobiles as easily as they can talk and text. After years of hard work building the platform for Mobile Money, it is good to see it come of age and begin to reach out to the mass market globally.” Monitise is growing rapidly and in the UK it has taken 100% ownership of Monilink, its former UK joint venture, now being rebranded Monitise.