Vodafone Mobile Clicks – 2nd round nominees announced

Well, it has been exciting this year. With over 50 entries for the UK this year, and the standard even better than last year (and last year was good), it was a tough gig to get to the final five from the UK. But somehow we did it.

The UK judges for this round included myself, Rafe Blandford from All About Symbian and a group of representatives from Vodafone’s developer marketing team. A special thank you goes to Mike Butcher and Elizabeth Varley from Techhub who looked after us so well this week for the final judging session. May I recommend the pizzas they order in for things like this. Ab-so-lute-ly delicious!

Anyway, I digress.

The jury selected the very best entries based on the 5 criteria mentioned below:

- Originality, creativity and innovation
- Technical and operational ability
- Economic and financial viability (i.e. the business case)
- Use case and end-user value
- The quality of the members of the (management) team (e.g. their experience, knowledge, skills, relationships)

And the UK nominees are (in alphabetical order)

• Little World Gifts Visit Website
• Milestone Planner Visit Website
• Movirtu Visit Website
• RouletteCricket Visit Website
• Touchnote Postcards Visit Website

Hurrah! Well done to everyone and we really do wish all our UK nominees the best of luck. I’m glad I don’t have to choose who goes through to the final at Picnic – it’s a really tough choice.

And for the other countries…. there’s some stiff competition here by the way, they are:

Spain:

• MALCOLM Visit Website
• No Excuse Accounting Visit Website
• Oonair Visit Website
• vFacer Visit Website
• Wannataxi No Website Available

The Netherlands:

• AED4 Visit Website
• Akvo Phone Visit Website
• Smart HomeCare Visit Website
• Snapje Visit Website
• Track and Protect Visit Website

Portugal:

• Cardmobili Visit Website
• Cube Visit Website
• Eunoia Visit Website
• Live City Visit Website
• MobilePLUX Visit Website

Many thanks to all participating startups for their time and effort to enter. It’s really exciting to see these companies and ideas unfold.

More details about this announcement can be seen here.

Oh, and if you’re interested to know who’s been judging all the entries, then here’s a list of the judges for you:

For Spain:

- Belen Aparicio - Marketing Specialist (Vodafone ES)
- Carles Ferreiro - Co-founder MoMo Barcelona & Madrid
- Albert Cuesta - Technology Columnist at CanalPDA

For the Netherlands:

- Jochem Heerkens - Head of Postpaid Terminals Marketing (Vodafone NL)
- Marc Fonteijn - Chairman MoMo Amsterdam
- Peter Robinett - Owner of Mobile DevCamp website/database

For Portugal:

- Nuno Inácio - Product Manager (Vodafone PT)
- Vitor Domingos - Founder Mobile Monday Portugal
- Luís Silva - CEO Wit Software

For the United Kingdom:

- Mike Eaton - Head of Content (Vodafone UK)
- Helen Keegan - Co-organizer Mobile Monday London
- Rafe Blandford - Blogger allaboutsymbian.com

Global jury members:

- Rudy de Waele - Founder Mobile 2.0 Europe
- Yuri van Geest - Co-organizer Vodafone Mobile Clicks

UKTI West Coast Interactive Mission – call for companies

Our friends at the UKTI have let me know that there is a trade mission coming up in November to Los Angeles and San Francisco that may be of interest to MoMoLo’ers.

Some of you may not be familiar with the trade mission concept but I think they’re one of our best kept secrets in the industry. The UKTI puts these trips together to help SMEs do real business abroad in a particular sector. In this case, the location is the West Coast of the USA and the sector is interactive media (which of course, includes mobile media). If you’re accepted on to the mission, you’ll get to meet key decision makers from leading entertainment and media companies at their US offices. Last year, this included visits to Facebook, Apple, Warner Bros Technical Operations, Sony Pictures Digital Networks, Lionsgate Digital, Evite.com, Smule, Current Media, as well as agencies like IDEO, Astor Studios and the Ant Farm. In addition to that, there were two networking receptions and a round table on doing business in Silicon Valley. And this year’s will be developed along similar lines.

I’m told that in attending a trade mission like this, you’ll have a chance to build your international profile and gain an understanding of the interactive media market in the US. And let’s face it, like it or loathe it, Silicon Valley is pretty important to us mobilists. And not only that, you’ll meet interesting people both in the US and also fellow UK companies travelling with you from complementary sectors. I’ve heard very good things about the recent trade missions to Boston, China and SXSWi in Austin and I’m reliably informed that they do represent value for money and the UKTI work very hard on your behalf to organise relevant meetings and introductions for those on the trip.

Major opportunities exist for UK companies who provide innovative digital media products, services or applications within the following sectors and disciplines: 

• Design
• Publishing
• Gaming
• Music
• Video
• Film
• Social/mobile interactions
• Digital Display
• Advertising

The mission will run from 8 – 12 November 2010 in Los Angeles and San Francisco but you can stay longer if you wish. The companies don’t have to travel together.

This doesn’t come free, but it does come very reasonably priced. And depending on where you’re based in the UK, there may be additional help to co-fund your trip so it’s worth asking. The basic cost is £600 plus the cost of your flights and accommodation. BA currently has a deal offering 15% discount to Mission participants via the UKTI, but you may find better deals using Kayak or Skyscanner and I think there may be some deals going with Virgin at the moment. And if you have friends to stay with in LA and SFO, even better as that brings the price down even further for you. AirBnB might also be worth a look for the bootstrappers amongst you. It’ll be worth shopping around I expect.

To find out more about this opportunity, it’s worth taking a look at http://www.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/event/116453.html where you can download an application form and also the flyer outlining what kind of companies are welcome to apply. And if you have more questions, then please contact Andrew Wilson on 0191 281 5777 or email him and he’ll be happy to help – he’s in charge of organising this particular mission.

Closing date to apply is 17 September so best get those application forms in. It doesn’t cost to apply in the first instance. The cost is only if you’re accepted on the programme.

Sounds great – wish I was going!

Mobile Entertainment Awards – closing date for entries 16 August

I think this must be the busiest mobile year ever because no sooner do we have the Vodafone Mobile Click Competition and also the DCKTN / UKTI competition to win places to Mobile World Congress but we also have The EMMAs (for mobile marketing excellence - nominal £100 entry fee) and the Mobile Entertainment Awards for doing great stuff in mobile content (free to enter).

Since Mobile Entertainment Magazine is a friend of the MoMoLo family, we’re very happy to fill you in on the Mobile Entertainment Awards, and even better, they’re free to enter. And since I know a lot of you are involved in mobile content and mobile media, this could be a good one for you. But get your skates on, closing date for entries is 16 August which isn’t far away at all.

So what’s it all about then?

The ME Awards evening rewards companies doing outstanding things in the mobile content space. Once again, the venue will be the Royal Garden Hotel in London. The big night takes place on Thursday, November 18th. I went last year, and it was a great night.

You now have until Monday August 16th to enter. It's a free and very simple process. No complex terms and conditions. No need to be a start-up or a company of a specific size. As long as you’re in the mobile content world, then there’s probably a category for you. Just send a short pitch document (no more than 500 words), containing information about your successes and innovations – and stating the category you wish to enter – to ME-awards@intentmedia.co.uk.

Here's the full category list:

DEVELOPMENT & PUBLISHING
Best Gambling Company
Best Adult Company
Best Games Company
Best Location Company
Best Social Media Company
Best Mobile Book Company
Best D2C Company

SERVICES
Best Video Service Provider
Best Music Service Provider
Best Games Service Provider
Best Transactions Provider
Best App Developer
Best Mobile Web Publishing Platform
Best Advertising Network
Best B2B Content Provider
Best App Store

OPERATORS & HANDSETS
Best Handset Company
Best Developer Programme
Best Operator

SPECIAL AWARD
Outstanding Contribution to Mobile Content

FAQs

What’s the nominations process?
The ME team decides on the shortlists, basing its decisions on nomination pitch documents and consultation with industry insiders.

When is the deadline for submissions? 
16 August 2010.

What’s the judging process?
The winners are decided by a judging panel consisting of around 400 execs from all sectors of the business.

So over to you lot to get entering. What do you have to lose?

Technorati Tags: competition,awards,mobile entertainment magazine,ME Awards,mobile content,mobile media,mobile games

Win a free place to exhibit at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, February 2011

The Digital Communications KTN, working in association with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), is pleased to announce a competition open to UK-based SMEs with an innovative new mobile or wireless solution or product.

On offer are free places to showcase your solution or product on the UKTI stand, located on the Avenida at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona from 14 - 17 February 2011. This is your chance to introduce your high technology product to the more than 60,000 key industry decision makers that are expected to attend.

How to enter: If you would like to take part in this competition please summarise in no more than 500 words:

• the nature of your new solution or product,
• its value proposition and benefit to the customer,
• and why you believe your company should be awarded a place to showcase it at next year’s Mobile World Congress.

Summaries should be sent to info@dcktn.org.uk and arrive no later than 5:00pm on Friday, 3 September 2010.

A panel representing the Digital Communications KTN and UKTI will assess all submissions received by this date. Up to twenty short listed companies will then be given the opportunity to present their products at finals held at locations determined by the geographic spread of the short-listed entries – and one of these finals will be in October in London, organised by Mobile Monday London.

Previous winners include Movirtu, Palringo, CuteCircuit and Touchtype.

Registration for these events will be free, and will be open to all members of the Digital Communications KTN on a first come first served basis. They will provide an excellent opportunity for the short-listed companies to draw their products to the attention of a wider audience. A panel of judges will select companies from those presenting at the finals to each be the recipient of a free place to showcase its product on the UKTI Stand at the 2011 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Keep up to date with the work of the Digital Communications KTN by becoming a member. Membership of the Digital Communications KTN is free, and participants are encouraged to register as members at http://www.dcktn.org.uk . If you have any questions or comments please email us at info@dcktn.org.uk.

And if you’re entering this competition, and you’re a start-up from the UK, Portugal or the Netherlands, less than three years old, then don’t forget to enter the Vodafone Mobile Clicks competition too for a chance to win Euro 100,000 or Euro 50,000. More details about the competition here. Closing date 22 August 2010.

 

Technorati Tags: DCKTN,UKTI,vodafone mobile Clicks,competition,mobile internet,start-up,SME

A special invitation to MoMoLo members – N8 launch event

Breaking News from Nokia HQ to invite MoMoLo members to attend the developer launch event for the Nokia N8 next Tuesday morning at the rather lovely Century Club on Shaftesbury Avenue. Yes, it’s all a bit short notice, as it often is with these things, but it looks really interesting whether you’re a seasoned developer or new to mobile. There are sessions geared around development, but I happen to know that Nokia is trying to make things easier for the less technical amongst us to join the apps party too and that’s where QT comes in. So if you’re interested in getting an app out there, but coding isn’t your strong suit, then you should consider coming along to this to find out more. I’m no coder, so that’s what I’ll be there to explore. Oh, and we also get to play with shiny new Nokia N8 handsets too.

So if you’d like to come – here are the details:

What is it: Nokia is hosting an exciting developer event for the N8 which will provide an introduction to QT and the Nokia N8 - complete with live developer workshops at all levels and an opportunity for some hands-on time with the device itself. It’s also a chance to network with your peers.

When is it: Tuesday 3rd August, 9am to 1pm

Where is it: The Century Club, 61 to 63 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 6LD – nearest tube is Piccadilly but Leicester Square is nearby as well.

RSVP: If you’d like to come, please contact the Nokia Press Team by email nokiapressroom@bpgoodrelations.co.uk or phone 0845 603 8498.

+++++++++

So in a little bit more detail, what are we talking about here? Well the Nokia people have sent me this:

  The N8 wow-factor

The much anticipated Nokia N8, our latest smartphone, intuitively connects to the people, places and services that matter most. With the Nokia N8, people can create exciting content, connect to their favourite social networks, and enjoy on-demand Web TV programs and Ovi Store apps. The Nokia N8 introduces a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash, HD-quality video recording, film editing software and Dolby surround sound. All in a beautiful, aluminium design which you can see here.

The Nokia N8 is Nokia’s first device to be integrated with Qt, a software development environment that simplifies the development and makes it possible to build applications once and deploy across Symbian and other software platforms.  Nokia has also made the powerful and simple to use Nokia Qt SDK available, in its initial beta, to enable developers to start realizing the potential of Qt.

Why you should attend?

Learn first-hand from Nokia’s experts and peers in the developer community – meanwhile we’ll introduce you to all the latest tools and technologies and everything you need to take advantage of the enormous opportunity that is presented by the N8. And rest assured: There won’t be any PowerPoint presentations during these sessions. And of course we’ll teach you how to make best use of the Ovi Store so that you can make your content available to millions of consumers from more than 180 countries around the world.

Who should attend?

Whether you’re new to Nokia, or a seasoned coding pro…

Whether you’re a web designer or a hard-core gamer…

Whether you’re a student or working at a technology start-up…

Whether you’re a biz-dev professional or a serial entrepreneur…

How to attend:

RSVP to the Nokia press office by email nokiapressroom@bpgoodrelations.co.uk or call 0845 603 8498

So that’s it.

I shall be there. And I expect there’ll be a few familiar faces there. So if you’re interested in finding more about the opportunities with Nokia QT and have a play with the lovely, new, shiny N8 device and you’re free on Tuesday morning, why not put your name down and come along.

Technorati Tags: nokia,Nokia N8,events,mobile applications,nokia ovi,ovi