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Nokia enters mobile advertising market, buys Enpocket

Posted Sep 17th 2007 6:17PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Sprint Nextel Corp (S)

Get ready for ads to invade your cell phone. Yes, today Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE: NOK) announced that it is purchasing Enpocket (the price tag was not disclosed). Enpocket has a sophisticated platform to manage mobile advertising campaigns – using things such as SMS, MMS, and even video. The firm has deals with companies like Sprint (NYSE: S) and Vodafone.

Right now, the mobile ad market is fairly small – but it's expected to grow quickly. And, it looks like Nokia wants to be a part of the action.

I had a chance to interview Dipanshu Sharma, who is a wireless expert and founder of V-Enable (which is a mobile search provider). According to him:

"Quite exciting to see Nokia take an active role in overall mobile value chain than just handset sales. Nokia has a very strong presence in Europe and Asia, with their own advertising platform and where customers buy handsets mostly directly than through carriers.

"I guess after Google, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo, Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) kept pushing Nokia to preload them and make statements that mobile advertising is a bigger play than online advertising in the long term, Nokia had to do something to be part of that value chain. Again, this deal shows the new leadership at Nokia is serious about being a solution for the consumer."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

V-Enable founder: Making sense of all the new 411 services

Posted Aug 27th 2007 2:35PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Interviews, Marketing and advertising, Next big thing, Small business

Last week, V-ENABLE got a big score. The company announced a deal with MetroPCS Communications (NYSE: PCS) to provide a mobile 411 service, which is based on a monthly payment. Keep in mind that the typical wireless operator may charge as much as $2 per 411 call.

To get some more perspective on things -- and the 411 sector -- I had a chance to interview Dipanshu Sharma, who is the founder of V-ENABLE.

Q: How are things at V-Enable? What are you seeing in the free 411 marketplace?

A: V-Enable is doing quite well. Life at V-Enable is busier than ever. V-Enable is in the center of a business that is in transition. 411 is an age-old business and had not seen much innovation for decades. With the advent of local advertising shifting from yellow book to internet and now to mobile, the 411 business is seeing its share of innovation. There are three business models that are currently being practiced

1. Regular $1.50-$1.79 per 411 call (declining)

2. Unlimited 411 calling for a fixed price $2.99-$3.99

3. Free Directory Assistance (advertising supported)

Both unlimited and FREE DA models are seeing fast growth. The unlimited model allows users to talk to the operator without any annoying voice advertising and also limiting how much users spend on 411 per month. Free models takes all the cost away but users have to deal with voice ads.

Continue reading V-Enable founder: Making sense of all the new 411 services

Nokia offers Skype on its Wi-Fi tablet

Posted Jul 12th 2007 11:53AM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: eBay (EBAY), Nokia Corp. (NOK)

This week, Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) launched its Skype offering for its N800 Wi-Fi tablets. Skype, which is owned by eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), is a dominant player in peer-to-peer calling and has about 196 million registered users. So long as you call another registered Skype member, the calls are free. And even if you call a non-Skype member, the rates are fairly low.

So what does the Nokia deal mean?

I had a chance to interview Dipanshu Sharma, who is a wireless expert and founder of V-Enable. According to him, "I have a N800 and upgraded it with latest software last week, which includes Skype. Got a Skype Out/In account and am receiving home calls on the N800. Call quality is very good.

"So I think the addition of Skype onto Nokia phones will further erode the landline market for the youth that have internet and smartphones. It also affects the long distance market as Skype is giving 2c/min to most European countries. That said, Europe will be a big user of Skype because of reduced long distance costs and no-roaming fees (when on Wi-Fi)."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

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