Gawker: valleywag, mobile

'Citizen Journalism' = Porn

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:43:29 EDT

Dadgummit, porn ruins corporate strategy! CBS is learning the hard way that if you give people a "branded mobile platform" to "upload" their "user-generated content," the "content" they will "generate" is "nekkid womens." The Tiffany Network started a site called CBSeyemobile.com where you, the idiotic consumer, can upload photos. And now they're shocked, shocked to find out that it's full of filth, loose women, and inappropriate public demonstrations of lesbianism! Ad Age broke the story in a Pulitzer-worthy feat of journalism, causing them to (modestly) publish this rather NSFW picture, which we are prepared to say is the most newsworthy photo that has ever graced that august publication's pages:

But you can't say it didn't generate any user dialogue:

Citizen journalism, ladies and gentlemen. [Ad Age]

Nokia two-timing Microsoft and Google

Jackson West — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:40:00 EDT

While mobile handset designer Nokia may be dedicated to the Symbian operating system, that doesn't keep company reps from attending the latest developer conference for Google's Android. And shortly after that report, the jQuery team issued a press release naming both Microsoft and Nokia as benefactors of the javascript library as a tool for mobile software applications. Who knew the scandanavian cell phone manufacturer was a polyamorist? Certainly a lot more excitement than regularly afforded to fifteen kilobytes of code. (Photo by Joe Loong)

Brit trounces Valley geeks with $54,000 phone bill

Paul Boutin — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 19:01:07 EST

The Daily Mirror reports on a factory worker from Yorks whose £27,000 Vodafone bill whups those run up by entrepreneur Joi Ito and Wired editor Chris Anderson. "Ian Simpson, 29, was sent the bill for four weeks' service after wiring his mobile up to a laptop to download TV shows - and only then found out his £41.50-a-month [Vodafone Anytime 800] deal didn't include unlimited web use."
(Photo by Daily Mirror)

Yahoo purchases Actionality, a startup which...

Mary Jane Irwin — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:07:43 EDT

Yahoo purchases Actionality, a startup which places ads inside mobile games, to accompany its mobile games portal. [VentureBeat]

You can call me, babe, but you can't have my number

Nick Douglas — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:04:42 EDT

NICK DOUGLAS — Some time when modern folk started storing our phones in our pants, we decided we no longer wanted everyone to know our numbers. At the same time, we started inventing ways to use phones that didn't involve that distasteful habit of actually talking on phones: voicemail, Skype, and texting from computers. The chimera of all this tech is Jaxtr, a service that lets you take calls, texts, or voicemail from anyone on the web, without handing them your phone number. So I tried it. Go ahead, leave me a message.

Get jaxtr | Login

Further analysis:

Jaxtr's home page explains the service with a three-panel comic:

That's pretty clear. You post a friendly widget, people call you from their computer, you hear calls or voicemails at your leisure, no one knows your number, and you can end the service at any time. I can see three types of people appreciating this service:

Anyone posting an ad on Craigslist, selling something on eBay, basking in 15 minutes of YouTube fame, or some other reason to take calls for a period of time. For them, Jaxtr is a voice-message system that just happens to conveniently fit with their normal phone habits.
Picky people with more fans than friends, who want to hear constant aural love without the promise of loving back — or the trust of handing over their number to everyone they want to hear from.
The penny-pinchers who, back in the payphone days, would "ping" each other like so: "Mrs. Douglas, you have received a call from It's-Nick-pick-me-up-from-school-thanks." Jaxtr lets them leave voicemails without paying for a normal mobile call.

Signing up was simple. I filled out two quick forms, told Jaxtr my phone number, got a call from them and entered a two-digit phone number to confirm my phone (no signing up with your enemy's phone number), and posted here. We'll see how the calling goes.

One weird detail: The Jaxtr programmers decided that actually naming time zones is too obvious, so they picked cities — not major cities, mind you — to represent time zones. I just have to figure out whether my zone is "Boise, America" or "Dawson Creek, America":

Nick Douglas writes for Valleywag and Blogebrity and runs a show called Look Shiny. He just called to say he loves you.

Why Jangl won't ring a bell

Nick Douglas — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:37:15 EDT

Om Malik, the tech blogger who usually doesn't waste his time with hopeless startups, makes a big deal about mobile startup Jangl, which just snagged $7 million in funding for a service that makes the urban dating process more awkward.

Used to be, you met a cute guy or girl at the bar, you got a phone number, maybe an e-mail addy. With the Web 2.0 magic of Jangl, the process goes like so:

Boy meets girl.
Girl gives boy non-identifying Jangl handle.
Boy signs up for Jangl.
Boy gives name to Jangl.
Boy gives identifying info to Jangl.
Girl decides if she really wants to hear from boy.
Boy and girl share relationship-specific number that hides their real numbers.
Relationship built on lack of trust.

On a scale of 1 to eHarmony, the likelihood of a Jangl success story ain't too high.

Jangl this [Om Malik]
Jangl [Official site]

Valleywag now, apparently, available on Mobileplay

ndouglas — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 18:29:14 EDT

Yay, a new way to read Valleywag! According to this press release a friend forwarded me (score one for internal communication), Mobileplay now offers Valleywag on a free subscription basis. It's "highly scalable" and "fast and easy" (except the bit where you register, opt out of alerts, and download an app).

But, um, I have no idea how good it is. It's not available for normal phones, or for my T-Mobile Sidekick. But those of you with Blackberries can try it out and report back — or petition for a real mobile version of Valleywag. Wait, actually —

Full press release after the jump.

Gossip Goes Mobile
Mobileplay Delivers Valleywag to the Small Screen

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. - April 18, 2006 — — Mobile content delivery pioneer Mobileplay today announced the addition of Valleywag to its growing list of Gawker Media mobile sites. With Mobileplay, Gawker fans enjoy easy access to pure, unfiltered gossip from five of Gawker Media's wildly popular blogs: Defamer, Gawker, Gizmodo, Wonkette and now Valleywag, from their handheld device.

From L.A. to D.C., Gawker Media sites have become compulsory reading for millions of people who enjoy keeping tabs on the activities of the boldfaced names in their industry. From pill popping habits of Hollywood heavyweights, to the petty peccadilloes of media titans, Gawker Media sites keep their readers in the loop. Valleywag gives readers the inside scoop on technology industry notables. Mobileplay's mobile application enables fans to enjoy Gawker Media no matter where they are. Gawker Media mobile users can also forward tantalizing tidbits to friends via their handheld device. The mobile application for all five Gawker Media sites is available at www.mobileplay.com.

"Gawker Media is pleased to make Valleywag content available to mobile device users," said Gaby Darbyshire, director of Gawker Media. "Gawker Media fans, and Valleywag readers in particular, are heavy users of the latest mobile devices and services so bringing our content onto the small screen was a key strategic decision for Gawker Media."

"Since 2002, Gawker Media blogs have set the standard in the bloggesphere," said James Ryan, Mobileplay founder and CEO. "By extending its brand and content to the small screen, Gawker Media continues to pioneer the new media frontier. With the addition of Valleywag to Mobileplay's service, Valley denizens can now download Valleywag content directly to their beloveld moblie devices for fast, easy access to the 411 on technorati sex, greed and hypocrisy, whether they're in bumper to bumper traffic on 101, lunching in South Park or sitting in a parking lot on Sand Hill Road."

Mobileplay is the first service of its kind bringing advertising-supported news, weather, stock updates, sports scores, blogs, games, trivia, movie and travel information to some 80 million smart mobile phone and PDA users. The company's highly-scalable content delivery platform creates an opportunity for content developers to quickly and cost-effectively generate advertising revenue while delivering content to an audience of sophisticated, tech savvy consumers.

About Mobileplay

Mobileplay is a free, ad-supported content delivery platform for smart mobile devices. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Mobileplay's turnkey mobile solution enables content developers to generate revenue from their news, reference, game and infotainment content. The proprietary solution includes targeted delivery, tracking and reporting. Mobileplay content partners include: USA TODAY, About.com, Astrology.com, AP Digital, BusinessWeek Online, CinemaSource, Fodors, Gawker Media, Nerve.com, Volvo, PC World, The Sporting News, Weather.com, Wired as well as game and application developers including Crimson Fire.

Remainders: "No, we can afford Windows."

ndouglas — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 02:04:53 EST

Femfox: sexy women advertising Firefox. Possibly the strangest browser-inspired furry fetish ever. [Femfox]
Even if Verisign's shopping its mobile biz, maaaaaybe mobile phone content isn't dead. India's Mauj Telecom gets $10 mil in first-round funding. Bollywood should hold the mobile content market over til American teens get back into ringtones — but this time, all ironically. [alarm:clock]
Hm. Basically, no one knows what Apple will announce next week. Most likely, it's more Intel-based Macs (yawn). Whatever happens, I'll be on the scene, unfairly belittling it. [Macworld UK]
Classic! Jonathan Grubb of Rubyred Labs: "When the Linux Enthusiast asks you if you use Linux try saying 'no, our company makes pretty good profits so we can afford Windows.'" [Jonathan Grubb]
Today was Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. So, uh, hope you did. And when Google hired her, I hope you sent me her photo for the Google Gals contest. [Unofficial Google Blog]

Exclusive: Verisign shopping its mobile biz

ndouglas — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:52:05 EST

Verisign's out of the mobile biz. The telecom giant reportedly shopped its mobile division to at least one company.

Verisign dumped $273 million on Jamba (a.k.a. Jamster, the guys who filled the UK with the annoying Crazy Frog ringtone). They also snapped up mobile messaging service Lightsurf. But after jumping the gun on this "mobile phones are the new MTV" fad, Verisign has had trouble convincing investors that its acquisitions are worth anything.

But those investors were right — last year, Jamba's growth nearly evaporated. Now the mobile market is in freefall as teens get so over ringtones and Tetris clones. Verisign wants to get out the door before anyone even knows they were leaving. No one's told the press yet. Even the Red Herring didn't catch on before publishing "VeriSign's Big Dreams" this month.

Can't be a good sign for other mobile content providers, and a sale like this could spark an industry-wide sell-off. Thank God! No more viral ringtones!

Verisign's Big Dreams [Red Herring]
VRSN's staggering stock [Yahoo Finance]