Since free cell phones are not really free?

by Axel Bührmann

per Consumer Reports the cost of the phone is in your monthly bill. When the 2 year contract is over and you are still by the provider are you still paying for the phone?

Answer by Mia
no, that’s why you should upgrade and get a new phone… it does require extending your contract.

What do you reckon? Answer below!

Fascinating Business 2.0 Wireless Report: Mobile Content Goes Mainstream (US media companies wake up to it) live from San Francisco airport


Image by renaissancechambara
I found this newsletter article very fascinating as a from my Europeam perspective, the ship has already left the pier. For example I promoted Endemol and Channel 4′s Huge Brother video content on mobiles via Vemotion a few being ago.

Though you cannot ignore the power of US programming (such as Lost, CSI, 24) and the creativity the US media companies bring. It will be fascinating to see how the likes of Time Warner catches up to and competes with European mobile media players.

Wireless Report: Mobile Content Goes Mainstream

Huge media desires to deliver content through your mobile phone. At least that’s what can be gleaned from Tuesday’s announcement that Time Warner (parent company of Business 2.0) made a strategic .5 million investment in Glu Mobile during its most recent round of venture funding. Glu, based in San Mateo, Calif., is one of the pioneers in the burgeoning mobile entertainment promote. Since it was founded four being ago, Glu has pushed the wireless platform as a standard for consuming rich media with its pool of videogames, ringtones, and sports applications for cell phones.

The investment from Time Warner is significant for two reasons. First, it provides the company with additional cash to help finance its ongoing global expansion.

Second, and more vital, it opens the doors for Glu to make standard Time Warner content deliverable over mobile devices. While the investment doesn’t guarantee access to Time Warner’s stable of brands, it’s a sterling endorsement. Glu has already established licensing agreements with Time Warner’s Cartoon Network and will launch additional products based on the network’s standard "Adult Swim" programs later this year. Glu chief executive Greg Ballard sees it as a precursor of deals to come. "It gives us access to their corridors," he says, "and should lead to some very fascinating products."

In exchange Time Warner receives something equally vital: a clear view into the mobile industry. As part of the agreement, which took a year to hammer out, Turner Broadcasting System president Andy Heller will receive a seat on Glu’s board of directors. From this perch Heller can see firsthand just how complicated it is to bring a product to promote crosswise thousands of different handsets and hundreds of carriers. In Glu, Time Warner gets a partner that has established distribution agreements with nearly 90 wireless carriers worldwide and has developed a reputation for being able to bring products to promote quickly. "This business is incredibly complicated," Ballard says. "At this point it would be very complicated to start from scratch."

It’s the size of the promote that makes it impossible for media companies to ignore. For the foreseeable future, the cell phone will remain primarily a tool for making phone calls. Eventually, though, it will be converted into a platform that serves many different forms of media, from music to movies. By 2008 more than 2 billion people around the world will own mobile phones. If just 10 percent of these cellular owners use their phones to view news clips, play games, listen to music, or consume any other form of media, that’s a multibillion-dollar opportunity for media companies and mobile content publishers alike. "Nobody desires to miss this," Ballard says.

Other media moguls are certain to follow Time Warner’s go. Barry Diller and John Malone are said to be looking at potential investments. They are both seeking ways to extend their unfilled properties — Expedia.com or Contest.com, in Diller’s case — and the mobile platform is a logical next step. No other product in the world is as ubiquitous as the mobile phone; it’s one of the few devices consumers carry with them everywhere. News Corp. and Disney have already made strategic investments of their own. Fox Mobile Entertainment is working with another mobile content publisher, I-Play, to bring the hit television show 24 to subscribers’ mobile phones. Meanwhile, Disney has set up its own wireless division to find ways for Mickey Mouse and other standard characters to make their way onto handsets. In other words, it’s only a matter of time before consumers will be offered their favorite media content on their cell phones.

©2004 Business 2.0 Media Inc.
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I now have AT&T and i estimate im pleased with it but I read some reports on various sites and consumer reports magazine and Verizon got the best overall score on just about each possible subject. Is it time to switch, is AT&T no longer #1?

Answer by dangles90210
verizon wireless

Answer by diamondpryncs83
verizon

Answer by Toria
verizon is certainly better..i have it!

Answer by JASNLEOS
VERIZON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thasts the best

ATT
in the middle

and t-mobile
THE WoRST

Answer by Theresa
I live in the East Coast that is everywhere at&t is digit 1 and has the best coverage. I was with verizon never had a signal and had a conundrum with dropped calls often I switched to at&t so far fantastic I wont switch back anytime soon. I’m going to say AT&T for sure

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