Communications and Technology Industry Research

It’s no secret that wireless entertainment is one of the most dynamic sectors of the mobile industry. Companies offering wireless entertainment services are rapidly consolidating, resulting in even stronger dominance for top players in the industry.

 

While the trend is for wireless entertainment service providers to grow larger and larger in size, IDC (News - Alert) reported this week that there remain many smaller players in the supply chain. The research and consultancy firm believes that some of these companies may have a significant impact on the wireless entertainment industry, despite their small size.

 

IDC picked ten such companies, and highlighted them in a new report, “10 Emerging Wireless Entertainment Players to Watch in 2007,” out this week.

 

Those companies are:

 

Loopt – a Palo Alto, CA-based startup that offers a social mapping service, utilizing GPS, that’s designed to change the way people use mobiles phones to keep in touch. The company was founded in 2005 by Stanford students Sam Altman and Nick Sivo.

 

Medio Systems – a company that specializes in helping carriers and content providers drive revenue through the use of efficient, effective search tools. Medio was founded in 2004 by Brian Lent and Michael Libes.

 

Millennial Media – a Baltimore, Maryland-based mobile advertising company that uses business intelligence, technologies and media to sell performance-based ad solutions.

 

Mobio Networks – a mobile lifestyle application provider. The company was founded 2005 in Menlo Park, California by Ramneek Bhasin.

 

Nellymoser – provider of a next-gen mobile media platform, as well as scabable mobile media solutions. Based in Arlingon, Massachusetts, Nellymoser was founded by John Puterbaugh.

 

ooober – as of the publishing of this article (12:00 p.m. ET on March 22, 2007), ooober’s Web site, www.ooober.com, could not be accessed. Its listing on Google (News - Alert) indicated that the company offers ringtones, games, wallpaper and related content for mobile phone users.

 

PeerMe – a peer-to-peer communications technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company, founded in 2004, offers a secure, instant messaging platform designed to bring a human connection to the Internet by voice-enabling the Web.

 

ShoZu – a division of U.K.-based Cognima, the company (headquartered in London) offers a free service for mobile phones that makes it easy to send and receive photos, video and music.

 

The Hyperfactory – a mobile ideas and media company that creates, executes and analyses long-term mobile strategies for brands and agencies. The company was founded in 2000, and is headquartered in New York City.

 

Trilibis Mobile – found in 2002 by Tom Paddon, the company offers a mobile publishing solution, SmartPath, that enables fast and easy creation and management of rich content mobile applications.

 

Few in the broader telecom industry have heard of these companies, IDC said—yet they’re poised to have a big impact. What the ten companies share is innovative technologies, creative market approaches, and market experimentation.

 

“Some of the small companies highlighted in this study focus on areas such as mobile advertising/marketing, mobile search, mobile community, and mobile user-generated content and services, which have become some of the U.S. carriers’ top priorities to help drive data usage and revenue,” noted IDC analyst Julien Blin, in a statement.

 

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