Posts on Europe  

Mark Mulligan | August 20, 2008, 07:14 AM
To Sign With Labels or Not to Sign
Two significant developments in online streaming services: 1 - Online ‘mixtape’ site Muxtape has temporarily closed its virtual doors whilst it ‘sorts out a problem with the RIAA’. 2 – And on the other side of the fence, MusicMakesFriend (essentially Europe’s imeem) struck a deal with Warner Music adding its...( more )

Mark Mulligan | August 19, 2008, 06:57 PM
Judge Does an Italian Job on Pirate Bay
I missed this story last week: an Italian judge has ruled that Italian ISPs block its subscribers’ access to Pirate Bay. Though there are always ways to get round blocked IP addresses it nonetheless makes it much more difficult and awkward to reach blocked P2P sites. Practically speaking it only...( more )

Mark Mulligan | August 14, 2008, 08:43 AM
P2P Licensing Maybe Not So Close
PLayLouder’s CEO Paul Hitchman says it’s ‘pure speculation’ that they’re close to signing up with an ISP. I indicated yesterday that if the story was accurate it indicated a very significant change in tact from labels. It appears that they’re not quite that worried yet. But this doesn’t mean PlayLouder...( more )

Mark Mulligan | August 13, 2008, 01:03 PM
On Our Way Towards a P-to-P Blanket License?
PlayLouder are reportedly close to signing up a major UK ISP (Virgin Media?) to a legitimized-file-sharing service. Consumers would pay a 5 GBP a month fee which would essentially legalize their file sharing and remunerate rights holders by analyzing all music files using deep packet inspection technology. PlayLouder have been...( more )

Thomas Husson | August 11, 2008, 12:06 PM
European Mobile Forecast, 2008-2013
Phenomenal growth in mobile adoption and in SMS volumes over the last decade has resulted in very high expectations in the industry about the future of new mobile services, raising hopes that they will follow similar adoption rates. Reality is they failed to do so until recently despite (too?) early...( more )

Mark Mulligan | August 11, 2008, 08:28 AM
Songwriting Royalties Up in the UK
Latest half-year numbers from MCPS-PRS reveal that songwriter royalties in the UK earned from CD sales dropped by 15 percent but were compensated for by rises in other licensing streams, including public performance, live and online. However this doesn’t mean that online is finally offsetting the impact of the dying...( more )

IanFogg | August 07, 2008, 07:31 AM
iPhone Achilles Heal - Mobile Internet is Not Always-On
Mobile Internet and Mobile Broadband is not an always-on experience and this isn't going to change soon. Near term, there will always be places or situations where the cellular data network doesn't reach or where only a poor slow 2G signal is present (+). Product managers must design around it....( more )

IanFogg | August 06, 2008, 11:25 AM
One Web, Not the Mobile Web
The W3 argues in their new Mobile Web Best Practices that the mobile web should be integrated in with the full [PC] web. This is their "One Web" position. I agree. It's quite unlike the .mobi approach. Ideally, the w3 believes all of the same content should be available to...( more )

Mark Mulligan | August 06, 2008, 07:23 AM
Three Flavour of 7 Digital
You have to hand it to 7 Digital, they innovate hard and are ceaseless in their efforts to raise their profile and to carve out market share. Their latest initiative is a series of digital music service solutions for ISPs, split into three key tiers that appear aimed to address...( more )

Nate Elliott | August 01, 2008, 02:06 PM
Thoughts on the Brand Value of Paid Search
I've always been curious about how marketers use search for branding. Search is such an obviously direct response medium, but whenever we survey online advertising executives, they tell us creating brand impact is one of their top search marketing goals. I've actually spoken to marketers who admit they bid themselves...( more )

Nate Elliott | July 31, 2008, 04:26 PM
Google Rated Most Important Site for European Social Marketing Efforts
We recently asked European advertisers which site was most important to their social marketing efforts this year, and much to my surprise, Google came out on top. We know that respondents weren't thinking of YouTube when they selected Google, because YouTube was listed separately in the survey. And they weren't...( more )

Nate Elliott | July 31, 2008, 03:18 PM
Back Bloggin'
So, I've had my own little summer holiday. Over the past few months, as my travel schedule has gone haywire and I've gotten more and more enamored of twitter, I've stopped blogging entirely. Shame on me; I've started thinking in 140 characters rather than 140 (or 280 or 420) words....( more )

Mark Mulligan | July 31, 2008, 07:26 AM
Lost Tunes, Another Step Towards DRM Free
Here’s an interesting addition to the UK digital music market: Universal Music, via 7Digital, have launched LostTunes which has just 600 odd albums. But the unique twist on this site is the focus on rare music (100 of these albums aren’t available digitally anywhere else – legally anyway) and the...( more )

Thomas Husson | July 30, 2008, 12:07 PM
Declining prices for mobile banner ads
Not sure why but there were some articles today about the deal between Virgin Media and mobile advertising firm 4th Screen deal. 4th Screen was already selling ads for Virgin Mobile, but it may well be an extension of the deal with 4th Screen collaborating with Virgin's in-house advertising unit...( more )

Thomas Husson | July 30, 2008, 11:39 AM
EA/Gameloft mobile revenues
Both Gameloft and EA have just released their financial results for q2 2008. Revenues of the two main players in the mobile game arena are on par: 25.3M euros for Gameloft vs $44M for EA. Interestingly, North America now accounts for a significant 29% of Gameloft worldwide revenues. The company...( more )

Thomas Husson | July 30, 2008, 06:16 AM
Golden Frequencies - another good signal for telecom players
During my holiday break, the report from my colleague Laurence Meyer has been published: Terrestrial TV and the Digital Dividend: Assessing the Role of High Definition in the DTT Market. See here. Following my previous post, no political decision has been made yet in France. According to an interesting article...( more )

Mark Mulligan | July 28, 2008, 03:24 PM
Just How Seriously Does Tesco Take Its Download Store?
Not very, apparently. My local store had strips of 25 pounds iTunes vouchers on every isle (i.e. alongside, among others, toilet cleaners, baked beans and shampoo, though not interestngly alongside CDs). Tesco look like they're making the same mistakes as HMV and Fnac et al - rather than risk missing...( more )

Mark Mulligan | July 24, 2008, 11:23 AM
BPI and ISPs Tackle File Sharing. Strike One
The BPI today announced it reached a government brokered memorandum of understanding with six of the UK’s largest ISPs (BT, BSkyB, Virgin Media, Orange, Tiscali and Carphone Warehouse) to tackle online music file sharing. This will include sending out letters to their customers that are the heaviest downloaders during a...( more )

IanFogg | July 23, 2008, 06:07 PM
Using 'N' WiFi to Attract the Well-Heeled
BT are advertising their new home gateway, the Home Hub, on TV. The key benefit of the new hub model that BT pick out is the longer range and better coverage of its WiFi, as it uses the 'n' standard. To what kind of potential customers will this appeal the...( more )

IanFogg | July 23, 2008, 11:51 AM
KPN Launches Commercial FTTH
KPN launches its new fibre to the home (FTTH) service. The Netherlands is Europe's most sophisticated broadband market with extremely high broadband adoption and PC ownership. On some measures, it is the global broadband leader. What happens here, has tremendous implications for everyone. KPN's download speeds are good (30-60Mbps). Prices...( more )

Mark Mulligan | July 22, 2008, 02:10 PM
Sky's Music Subscription Announcement - First Take
Today UK satellite Pay TV provider Sky announced a new music service which they will make available later in the year. The fact that the offering has been announced now before having a name, pricing structure, product tiers or software application confirmed, hint at the importance of this to Sky...( more )

IanFogg | July 15, 2008, 06:17 PM
The Demand for Fibre in the UK
BT's announcement today of UK fibre investment will completely transform the broadband market in the UK. The major competitor operators that have their own existing DSL networks -- Sky, O2, Carphone Warehouse, Tiscali -- will have to make decisions soon about whether to invest in fibre themselves. A key part...( more )

IanFogg | July 15, 2008, 09:44 AM
BT to Invest 1.5bn UKP in Fibre - 1st take
This is massive news: BT has finally announced its fibre plans. Key points: - Availability to 10 million homes by 2012. This is fast. - Mix of fibre to the home (FTTH) for new builds with peak 100Mbps speeds, and FTTC/VDSL2 for existing homes (peak speed of 40Mbps). Exact split...( more )

IanFogg | July 10, 2008, 01:09 PM
iPhone 3G Strategy and Prospects
The initial bunch of (mostly) US iPhone 3G reviews have missed the point. Almost all of these reviews have been written from the point of view of existing US iPhone owners that are considering upgrades. That's not what this launch is about. The iPhone 3G's main goal is to grow...( more )

IanFogg | July 10, 2008, 01:04 PM
WiMAX in Europe
Great post from my colleague, Thomas Husson, on WiMAX. I agree, and I can think of quite a few additional reasons too! Stop the hype with Mobile Wimax...( more )

Thomas Husson | July 10, 2008, 03:23 AM
Digital Dividend: the golden spectrum fight
UHF frequency band (470-862 Mhz) is currently being used by broadcasters (TV and radios). However, new spectrum resources freed by the digital switchover (move from analog to digital TV) will be re-allocated in the coming years in all European countries. In France, administrative authorities have ruled until recently in favor...( more )

Thomas Husson | July 09, 2008, 06:51 PM
Stop the hype with Mobile Wimax
The first time I really discovered Mobile Wimax was in 2004 when I attended a conference called "Wifi on steroids". This was 4 years ago. 2 years ago at 3GSM, it was viewed as a potential threat to 3G. At this year's Mobile World Congress, the debate was more about...( more )

IanFogg | July 09, 2008, 11:18 AM
Enter Our Research Survey on HDTV, VoD
The TV industry is being transformed by multiple trends: consumers embracing high definition; Internet TV viewing; IPTV roll outs; TV catch-up and other on demand services becoming increasingly mainstream. Jupiter is conducting its annual TV Executive Survey for the European Digital Home Service. If you work for a broadcaster, a...( more )

Mark Mulligan | July 04, 2008, 04:55 PM
On Holiday
I'll be away on holiday for the next couple of weeks, returning on the 21t July. So the posts will either be scarce or none....( more )

Thomas Husson | July 04, 2008, 05:11 AM
Together we can do more
Orange's New Vision and Brand Campaign - Premiers in the UK tomorrow with its new “I am” film. So exit "the Future is bright" and welcome the new vision expressed in the statement "together we can do more". The rationale behind this global campaign is quite interesting. See excerpt from...( more )

Mark Mulligan | July 03, 2008, 08:29 AM
BPI Steps Up Activity Against File Sharers
The BBC is reporting - online , on-radio and on-TV – on the thousands of letters to be sent out to illegal file sharers in UK on behalf of the BPI. 800 have already been sent out via Virgin Media. These are first steps, and though already criticized, the libertarians...( more )

IanFogg | July 02, 2008, 07:11 AM
VirginMedia Loses ASA Ruling on Marketing of Speed
Info on the ruling. Unlimited broadband = 12 minutes - My take in April on the detail of this traffic management scheme. As I've said before, it is in the broadband industry's interests to be clearer and less ambiguous on the way they market broadband and broadband speeds. Otherwise if...( more )

Mark Mulligan | June 25, 2008, 08:25 AM
When the ISP Met the Record Label
I’ve been meaning to write up some notes from the London Calling conference which I spoke at on Friday, but I’ve so busy over the last few days I’ve only now found time to do it. The uber theme that permeated most discussions (on stage and off) this year was...( more )

IanFogg | June 24, 2008, 10:55 AM
Symbian OS Becomes Free
Symbian OS will be available to all without payment of a license fee. And, to enable this, Symbian becomes a non-profit organisation with Nokia buying out the other current owners. See: www.symbianfoundation.org Note - I'm writing this ahead of the news conference, so more details may emerge soon. Also, I'm...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 24, 2008, 02:40 AM
Nokia to acquire Symbian
Well, more precisely Nokia has announced it will acquire the approximately 52% of Symbian Limited shares it does not already own. Simultaneously, a Symbian Foundation is to be established to provide a royalty-free open platform. Such initiative is announced to be backed by Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung (the 3 manufacturers...( more )

IanFogg | June 23, 2008, 11:36 AM
Why UK's Ebbsfleet Fibre Trial is Slow
A couple of weeks ago I was quoted on the BBC describing the BT/Openreach Ebbsfleet fibre as slow. What the BBC missed was my emphasis on upload speeds, see the speeds listed here and compare them with other European countries in this report. So, this UK trial is offering just...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 23, 2008, 08:57 AM
Nokia to acquire Plazes
Plazes is a start-up providing context-aware social-activity service. The company headquartered in Zurich is quite small but its team has a good expertise in adding the elements of "place" and "time" to social networking. From Loopt to Gypsii, a couple of players have embraced this trend, which seems key...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 17, 2008, 03:14 AM
AdMob Stats for Europe
Like Julie Ask, I am a regular reader of AdMob Mobile Metrics report. The forthcoming monthly report will have a focus on Western Europe stats. As stated by Admob, it only offers a snapshot of the data in their network. It is indeed dependent on the development of the off-portal...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 16, 2008, 10:20 AM
Green Porno
Green porno represents an experiment in storytelling for digital platforms according to the Sundance website. These short series about sex life of insects (?) have been specifically designed for the small screen. Not a joke at all. Budget of 70,000 $. Conceived, written, directed by and featuring Isabelle Rossellini. Bought...( more )

Mark Mulligan | June 13, 2008, 06:11 PM
Phew...
Coldplay are rock and roll after all...( more )

Mark Mulligan | June 13, 2008, 06:02 PM
Why the Music Industry Can't Afford to Have Another Radio
Bill Thompson’s piece on the BBC earlier this week on the BPI’s ‘education programme’ with Virgin Media has invoked the wrath of the BPI who put out a counter statement. What I find really interesting are the very different implications of file-sharing for TV broadcasters versus record labels. A wave...( more )

Mark Mulligan | June 12, 2008, 09:41 AM
Subscriptions are Dead, Long Live Subscriptions! / Musique Max – First Take
French telco Orange today launches (in its home market) an unlimited PC and Mobile music subscription offering, called ‘Musique Max’ (a name not entirely dissimilar to Omnifone’s Music Station Max). Musique Max takes a similar approach to DRM as Nokia’s Comes With Music will, in that it offers permanent “unlimited”...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 12, 2008, 04:35 AM
SFR Music
Echoing Mark's Mulligan take on Orange Musique max and the launch of Napster Mobile, unlimited music subscriptions are gaining ground and are welcomed by the music industry in the fight against piracy. Despite the price (TDC in Denmark launched a similar but not equivalent offering for free last April), Orange's...( more )

IanFogg | June 10, 2008, 03:01 PM
Free's Fibre-Inspired Acquisition of Alice
Free plans to buy Telecom Italia's French ISP business, Alice. ISP markets across Europe continue to consolidate. In the past, Free has focused on organic growth rather than m&a, the main exception was the purchase of niche operator Citéfibre. Fibre is a scale business. In areas covered by fibre, Free...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 10, 2008, 01:24 AM
iPhone 2 - a new business model
So the iPhone 2 has finally officially been announced. Lots has already been said on the device: A-GPS (but with no navigation software embedded), HSDPA-enabled (a must-have), Microsoft Exchange support, 2MP camera only (no auto-focus, no flash; btw not a big deal if there is no front facing video camera...( more )

IanFogg | June 09, 2008, 11:57 PM
iPhone Release 2.0 - Notes from Europe
Interesting points from a European perspective: Worldwide availability on the same date, just a month from now. This takes some doing. Congrats to Apple for understanding that launching in just the US isn't the way to win hearts, minds and wallets elsewhere. So, initial European iPhone purchasers are between one...( more )

IanFogg | June 09, 2008, 04:25 PM
Mac OS Switching: Will the cat change its spots?
Using a Mac as my main computer has reminded me how little we are tied to Windows today. All of my main Windows software works on the Mac too: MS Office, Firefox, Thunderbird, Skype, IM, iTunes, Adobe apps, Twirl etc. etc. With the rise of web 2.0 online applications --...( more )

IanFogg | June 09, 2008, 03:12 PM
iPhone
Reminder of my post on this from a couple of weeks ago (iPhone Revisited: Signs and Portents). Key quote from there about the original iPhone model: version 1 hardware; version 1 applications; version 1 operating system; version 1 business model. Lets see how many of these Apple changes when, eventually,...( more )

IanFogg | June 09, 2008, 02:25 PM
MacBook Air Long Term Hardware Review
I've been using a MacBook Air for three weeks as my main computer at work and at home (plus I've used a MBA on and off since it came out). So, I'm going to publish a few entries covering how well the Air has worked. First up, I'll cover the...( more )

IanFogg | June 09, 2008, 01:53 PM
Coin-Op Public WiFi
Some products defy analysis. I could, but it's just not worth the effort here....( more )

Mark Mulligan | June 06, 2008, 04:49 PM
Take the Jupiter Online Video Survey!
JupiterResearch is currently conducting a major executive survey on the European online video market. The survey addresses issues such as TV broadcaster strategies, competing with free, evolving value chains and premium pricing models. If you would like to participate in this survey then just follow this link: http://www.insightexpress.com/s/JUPI132479 All respondents...( more )

Thomas Husson | June 06, 2008, 04:23 PM
Where will you watch the Euro 2008?
on such a screen? I was ironic about it 2 years ago at the time of the World Cup. Tomorrow, the European football cup will start and last until the end of June. Several operators will try to leverage the event to launch DVB-H. This is the case for...( more )

IanFogg | June 05, 2008, 10:29 AM
Ofcom Intervenes on Speed Marketing
Ofcom is introducing a voluntary code of practice on how ISPs should market broadband speeds. This is something I have been advocating for some time (see here on the 'ISP prisoner dilemma' where, back in 2006, I advocated regulator intervention to make speed marketing clearer, or here, or more recently...( more )

IanFogg | June 04, 2008, 02:20 PM
Vodafone Offers Home Broadband via HSPA / 3.5g
Vodafone Italy is now offering an innovative home gateway that has both ADSL2+ and HSPA (ie a 3.5g mobile radio). What's special is that the mobile radio is used completely differently to normal discussions of fixed-mobile or femtocells. Here, the HSPA radio offers an alternative to ADSL2+ to route a...( more )

Mark Mulligan | June 04, 2008, 11:54 AM
iTunes Movies Now in the UK (and what it may mean for music)
Apple today announced the roll out of movie purchases and rentals on their UK iTunes Music Store. With 700 films from a range of major studios including titles available for purchase same day as DVD release, this is a key event in the UK online video marketplace. Apple’s UK TV...( more )

IanFogg | June 03, 2008, 11:43 AM
FON-ISP Partnership Vastly Grows Hotspot Reach
BT has just announced it has reached 100,000 WiFi hotspots through its use of FON public WiFi sharing on its broadband customers' home gateways. This is a vast number. Hotspot directory Jiwire currently lists just 28,697 total hotspots in the UK. Clearly, they aren't including the BT FON ones. How...( more )

IanFogg | June 03, 2008, 10:32 AM
The New Digital Divide
This is something I've been saying for years. One example here: "There is going to have to be an acceptance that broadband will be faster in the cities. The model of equal access will have to be adapted," said Ian Fogg, an analyst with Jupiter Research. The next thing that...( more )

IanFogg | May 29, 2008, 03:04 AM
How Laptop Warranties Impact Mobile Broadband Prospects
Consumers are adopting laptops in large numbers. In the 80s, the PC industry targeted putting one PC on every desk. The 90s saw a shift to selling one PC into every home. Now, the market has moved again and now the industry is selling one PC to every person in...( more )

IanFogg | May 27, 2008, 04:19 PM
Dell Customer Service Catastrophe
Every company has faults and problems with products. What defines a company reputation is how they handle and resolve those problems when they occur. Last Monday my Dell laptop died. The Dell support line rapidly diagnosed a hardware fault and scheduled an engineer visit. So far, pretty good. From that...( more )

IanFogg | May 27, 2008, 11:45 AM
Customer Service Disaster 1: DSL Warehouse
I've started receiving emails asking for my bank details that are being sent to an email address I have only ever used to buy something from DSL Warehouse. The email address the phishing emails are being sent to is: dslwarehouse @ [mypersonaldomainname] . org i.e. a very very specific email...( more )

IanFogg | May 27, 2008, 11:34 AM
Comments, discussion, feedback
As people may have noticed, my blogging here has become lighter since I re-joined twitter. I hope to change that over the next couple of weeks and write more here. But, there is one great reason to join twitter and follow me there: Jupiter doesn't have comments enabled on our...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 22, 2008, 06:30 PM
Orange / Nokia agreement: beyond the PR blurb
Following agreements between Nokia and other operators (Telefonica, Vodafone, T-Mobile), Orange is finally extending its strategic international agreement with the leading handset manufacturer. Worth noting that Nokia managed to sign deal with the Top 4 European carriers. Initial reactions here and there could have let you think this may not...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 16, 2008, 02:58 AM
Orange to bring the iPhone in 7 European countries
Orange just announced a new agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Orange customers in 7 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland) but also in Egypt, Jordan, and Orange's African markets later this year. Just 2-3 observations in line with my previous comments on Vodafone's recent...( more )

IanFogg | May 14, 2008, 06:11 PM
iPhone Revisited: Signs and Portents
I've not been using the iPhone as my main phone (various reasons, nothing exciting). This week I had another go and I was impressed all over again. It's so easy to forget this is still just a version 1, given the smoothness of most of the experience: version 1 hardware;...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 14, 2008, 05:56 AM
MVNOs better than their hosts?
According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 UK Mobile Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study released recently, Tesco Mobile ranks highest in customer satisfaction with pre-pay mobile telephone service for the first time, while Virgin Mobile ranks highest among contract mobile phone customers for a second consecutive year. There are obvioulsy...( more )

Nate Elliott | May 13, 2008, 05:56 PM
Speaking in Hamburg this week at Next08
I'll be in Hamburg to speak at the Next08 conference this Wednesday and Thursday. I'm really looking forward to hearing audience feedback on some of our new research on social marketing best practices -- this will be the first time we've presented any of this data to the general public....( more )

Mark Mulligan | May 12, 2008, 09:25 AM
A Wider Perspective on the ITV Voting Story
Another guest blog today from Jupiter's European Media Analyst Nick Thomas Tempting as it is to join the chorus of disapproval as details of UK broadcaster ITV’s latest PR disasters around voting irregularities emerge - and boy, do they make themselves an easy target - what are the wider lessons...( more )

IanFogg | May 12, 2008, 12:36 AM
Joined Twitter
Decided to try twitter again. Follow me here....( more )

IanFogg | May 07, 2008, 11:13 AM
BT Broadband Goes Mobile, Sortof
[updated 15.04 UK time] BT has just announced that they are bundling a mobile smartphone service as part of their home broadband package. Interestingly, this new bundle will be presented as a new top tier for BT's Total Broadband home DSL, rather than as a mobile tariff. The name for...( more )

Thomas Husson | May 06, 2008, 03:38 AM
Vodafone to offer Apple's iPhone in ten markets
After the UK (02), Germany (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Austria (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), the iPhone will be available via Vodafone in 4 new European countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic). Interesting to point out that Spain is not included in this announcement, probably meaning Apple will find another partner (Telefonica?)...( more )

IanFogg | May 01, 2008, 04:37 PM
Vodafone: Unlimited Mobile Internet Offered for Free
This move by Vodafone is a game changer for mobile Internet usage. In short they are offering mobile Internet access for free to their contract customers. The data limit is generous too: 500Mb (Which is an enormous amount to use on a mobile handset. I consider myself a heavy user,...( more )

IanFogg | May 01, 2008, 02:29 PM
BT's Long Game, More ADSL2+ and 21CN
BT's launch of ADSL2+ with 21CN yesterday isn't going to make a vast difference to the ISP retail market, or to consumer broadband speeds. Initially, under one million households will benefit, none of which are in London. Even by May 2009, when BT will reach approx half of UK households,...( more )

IanFogg | April 30, 2008, 03:53 PM
BT Goes Slow with New ADSL2+ Broadband Speeds
BT's Broadband Connect is late (originally due January), and yet will initially only be available to a tiny fraction of UK households (under one million homes and businesses *). BT's launch is even more tardy compared with others: - BT's UK ADSL competitors -- Sky, O2, Be -- have been...( more )

IanFogg | April 30, 2008, 10:48 AM
Why VirginMedia Now Has BBC iPlayer on its TV VOD Service
VirginMedia has secured iPlayer content for its VOD service. This is an approach I advised Internet video suppliers to take in this report. It's great to see that traditional TV industry players like VirginMedia better understand the potential for free Internet VOD than do two out of the three leading...( more )

IanFogg | April 30, 2008, 10:28 AM
More Console Positioning Fault Lines: TV and VOD
This is a follow-up to yesterday's post on understanding the game console makers' strategies. The console owners approach to video on demand (VOD) and TV also highlights their divergent marketing: PS3 and Sony - See the PS3 as a TV and video hub, with content available for remote access using...( more )

IanFogg | April 29, 2008, 11:33 AM
GTA4 Stolen / Wii Fit for Purpose
Want to understand the positioning of the leading consoles? Ignore the talk. Look at actions. There's nothing that highlights the faultline better than console makers' current marketing campaigns: GTA IV (MS and Sony) vs Wii Fit (Nintendo). Microsoft and Sony are pushing GTA4 hard. The former with exclusive downloadable content,...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 29, 2008, 10:07 AM
DVB-T just in time for EURO 2008
Echoing my previous blog, I just received some more news on mobile TV: Vodafone Germany will launch two new DVB-T models just in time for EURO 2008. It reminds me of DVB-H just in time for the Football World cup. What happened in 2 years' time? Well, to the great...( more )

IanFogg | April 28, 2008, 12:41 PM
New Skype Mobile App
Skype Tests Software for Mass-Market Mobile Phones. It's interesting but not anything like as earth shattering as their press release headline suggests. The applet offers text chat, buddy list, and incoming and outgoing calling. But the telephony part uses Skypeout credits for a user to receive incoming calls so is...( more )

Mark Mulligan | April 28, 2008, 09:35 AM
SonyBMG Join Up With WE-7
Hot on the heels of their deal with Nokia, SonyBMG have inked a deal with UK based ad-supported download service WE-7. I’m sure the guys at We-7 are very relieved to be able to plaster Leona Lewis and Mark Ronson all over their site as a quick peek at the...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 28, 2008, 06:54 AM
Swedish dongles - part 2
I don't read Swedish but like me you'll understand that beyond SE performance in 3 Sweden shops, the key takeaway here is the fact USB Modem Turbo 3G sales more than any phones in the list below --------------- Sony Ericsson dominerar aprils mobilförsäljning på 3! Sverige är ett Sony Ericsson-land...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 24, 2008, 08:23 AM
Swedish dongles
I spent a few days in Stockholm recently. Really nice city by the way. I was intrigued in 2007 by some stats from Telia reporting that for several months in a raw modems / USB Sim cards were the top-selling units in Telia 76 Swedish shops. So I decided to...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 24, 2008, 08:00 AM
100,000 subscribers for Blyk
Blyk just announced that they had hit the 100,000 member target six months ahead of initial plan (end 08). The ad-funded MVNO has announced it will launch in the Netherlands (sometime in S2 2008) and is willing to expand in other European countries. It is an interesting concept. The company...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 24, 2008, 05:11 AM
DVB-H to be launched in Switzerland and Austria
As expected with the forthcoming UEFA Football cup, Austrian and Swiss players will soon launch DVB-H mobile TV offerings. See here and here. As in 06 with the German World cup, the idea is to leverage a sport event as a marketing catalyst to educate customers on new services. It...( more )

IanFogg | April 22, 2008, 03:11 PM
Competition and FTTH in France
France continues to set the pace on fibre broadband roll outs in Europe. The debate here, is already focused on how to ensure competition between the various under way FTTH network deployments especially with regard to the duct access needed to make deployments efficient and keep costs down. The alternative...( more )

IanFogg | April 22, 2008, 03:07 PM
The F Word
Isn't digital all about freedom and flexibility, not just free?...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 18, 2008, 07:25 AM
Are you smoking? No, just making a phone call
See this article in the IHT. The mayor of Graz city in Austria is ordering commuters to keep their cellphones in silent mode while riding the citys public transport. So, just imagine what a transatlantic flight would be if your neighbour was chatting all the time! Indeed, there have been...( more )

Nate Elliott | April 17, 2008, 01:32 PM
Free Search Marketing Survey Data! (In exchange for a few moments of your time)
I apologize for not being a very active blogger lately -- I've been traveling quite a lot, and most of my blogging impulses have been going towards Twitter the last couple of weeks. But I did want to take a moment to announce that Jupiter is conducting its annual Search...( more )

IanFogg | April 17, 2008, 01:32 PM
One Small Step for Ofcom on UK Fibre
Ofcom has just announced a consultation into 'Next Generation Fibre for New Builds'. Key points here, many have been missed by the press coverage: This is just a consultation, not a decision on how to regulate such networks. Looking at green field housing developments is the easiest regulatory aspect of...( more )

IanFogg | April 16, 2008, 03:50 PM
Fring VoIP on iPhone First Take
A beta of Fring has just been launched for Apple's iPhone. The downside is that it's only available for jailbreaked iPhones (ie those that have been hacked to allow unauthorised third party software to be installed). Quick observations, prior to trying it out: Skype calls on iPhone are now possible....( more )

Thomas Husson | April 16, 2008, 02:53 PM
Orange & Telia Sonera?
According to French daily Le Figaro, Orange is contemplating buying Telia Sonera. TeliaSonera (merger of the 2 Swedish and Finnish incumbents) is still partly owned by the Nordic States (37.3% stake from the Swedish State and 13.7% from the Finnish State). Needless to say this would mainly be a complex...( more )

IanFogg | April 16, 2008, 02:33 PM
The VirginMedia Brand and Net Neutrality
So, net neutrality is bollocks? Virgin Media's CEO Neil Berkett sounds like he's a little out of his depth here. In Europe, bus lanes help buses go faster, as the lanes are less congested with other traffic, and not slower as he implies. Worse, there is a knotty communications conundrum...( more )

Mark Mulligan | April 16, 2008, 07:43 AM
How Not To Do Multi-Platform Programming
Another guest blog from Jupiter's European Media analyst Nick Thomas A story about ITV caught the eye yesterday. It was something of a self-inflicted PR disaster. In an attempt to reinvigorate the flagship ITV1 brand, the broadcaster reverted to a strategy that served it well in the past by buying...( more )

IanFogg | April 10, 2008, 11:14 AM
Phorm and ISP Business Models
Phorm's model is yet another example of ISPs looking for revenue sources beyond the consumer, as consumer broadband prices have been falling. This is a further example of the net neutrality debate, although the various articles about Phorm haven't used the 'n' words. I've held off writing about Phorm until...( more )

IanFogg | April 09, 2008, 06:58 PM
iPlayer and ISP Business Models
The debate raging between ISPs and the BBC over the iPlayer catch-up TV service highlights the strain that ISP business models are under. In essence, a combination of fierce inter-ISP competition and the confusing marketing of broadband packages, has led to a tailspin of residential broadband pricing as consumers choose...( more )

Thomas Husson | April 09, 2008, 05:46 PM
"Smart" pipes, "big fat" pipes & Citizen Kane
Tectonic shifts are happening in the mobile industry. New entrants and new approaches of existing stakeholders in the value chain are forcing operators to redefine their roles. They were some interesting quotes reported in the press in the recent weeks made by the CEOs of 2 leading operators: “…Carriers must...( more )

IanFogg | April 02, 2008, 01:25 PM
Unlimited Broadband = 12 Minutes
Below are the data limits listed on VirginMedia's traffic management page. These data limits apply during the peak hours between 4pm and 9pm. When a customer hits the data limit their speed is cut and then the lower speed stays in force for five hours. Separately, on VirginMedia's own broadband...( more )

IanFogg | April 02, 2008, 11:59 AM
Brand Madness
If other mobile operators copy T-Mobile and trademark similar aspects of their brand, and worse then enforce them as T-Mobile appears to be with Engadget Mobile over the latter's use of the colour magenta... I can see some nasty implications for anyone writing about the UK mobile industry. Or, at...( more )

Mark Mulligan | March 31, 2008, 08:45 AM
TDC Launch Subsidized Music Subscription Offering
Danish telco TDC has announced the launch of a subsidized subscription service that will “offer consumers unlimited music downloads ‘bundled' with private broadband or mobile subscriptions, at no extra cost.” TDC broadband and mobile customers will automatically be able entitled to access the music offering free of charge. At first...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 26, 2008, 05:11 PM
Mobile Internet
I have been skeptical at launch and ironic recently about the .mobi initiative. My point is essentially that consumers should not even have to think about the url they are typing. It should be a smooth and direct experience. From a media / brand perspective, it makes sense to have...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 21, 2008, 11:47 AM
"State of the Telecom Union"
2 days ago, the EU commission published its 13th report on the state of the European Electronic Communications market. Definitely worth a read if you want to know the state of the Union and better understand the telecom competitive landscape in Europe. On a different topic and as expected, The...( more )

Mark Mulligan | March 19, 2008, 09:10 AM
Labels Sue Eircom
More on the enforcing piracy debate: the four majors have sued Ireland’s leading ISP Eircom, demanding that filtering technology be deployed to combat illegal downloading of music. Eircom unsurprisingly protest and ask how they will be able to tell whether traffic is copyrighted or not without first of all looking...( more )

Nate Elliott | March 18, 2008, 11:25 AM
Video-Related Notes from OMMA Hollywood
No, I'm not there. But Corey Kronengold, of Tremor Media and the Online Video Watch blog, is there. Check out some of his good session reports on Buying Video and Looking Smart Doing It, on Pitch your Niche, and on Pat Keane's keynote....( more )

Thomas Husson | March 18, 2008, 07:47 AM
Hard Candy
7 tracks of Madonna’s new album will be distributed and promoted exclusively to Vodafone customers around the world*, 7 days prior to the April 28th global release of Madonna’s 11th studio album for Warner Bros. Records. Those kind of partnerships between labels and operators are now more and more frequent....( more )

Thomas Husson | March 17, 2008, 05:19 PM
Mobile 2.0
(For French readers only). Christophe Romei, who edits servicesmobiles.fr, a good source of information on current mobile trends, is organizing the second edition of the mobile 2.0 conference, to which I will participate. The conference will take place in Paris on April 8th and I really think it will be...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 17, 2008, 04:55 PM
Back from Praha
I had the opportunity to speak at the mobile youth conference in Prague last week. Last time I was in Praha was back in 1996. No doubt the city is really beautiful and nice walking around. It was already crowded at that time but now seems overcrowded with tourists. I...( more )

Nate Elliott | March 17, 2008, 10:46 AM
Why Behavioral Targeting is Scary
Behavioral targeting shouldn't be scary to consumers -- because every major behavioral targeting system I've ever seen (outside of spyware) goes to great lengths to protect user privacy. It's all completely anonymous! But behavioral targeting is incredibly scary to publishers and advertisers and any other company who wants use anonymous...( more )

Mark Mulligan | March 17, 2008, 10:19 AM
More Anti-Piracy Legislation
The Swedish government is working on legislation to compel ISPs to provide details of IP addresses used for illegal file sharing. (Sweden remains the main home of the infamous Pirate Bay). This is part of a European swell of rights owner driven legislative activity. Currently Swedish ISPs are (predominately) not...( more )

Mark Mulligan | March 14, 2008, 10:21 AM
Napster Available on O2
Napster is coming to O2 (the UK mobile operator) but in a slightly counter intuitive way. Instead of O2 customers having the opportunity to have the full fledged subscription service on their mobile they instead get to search, preview and buy (a la carte) from the Napster catalogue on their...( more )

Thomas Husson | March 14, 2008, 06:33 AM
Napster Mobile
As my colleague Mark Mulligan just analyzed, 02 UK and Napster have announced today a partnership to launch a mobile music service. Single tracks will initially be priced at 99p (for a promotional period) or you can benefit from 5 tracks for £4. O2 UK is not the first operator...( more )

Nate Elliott | March 07, 2008, 07:36 PM
Twittering
I've always thought Twitter might be a bit pointless -- it certainly looks that way from the outside -- but everyone tells me that once you start doing it, you can't stop. So I'm about to find out. You can find me at twitter.com/nate_elliott....( more )

Thomas Husson | March 06, 2008, 04:38 AM
"Human penetration"
I came across this strange expression in a Mobistar analyst presentation, mentionning that "human penetration" had reached 84% on the Belgian mobile market for 2007. This obviously refers to individual penetration (end-user owning a mobile phone) by opposition to SIM card penetration / connections. At Jupiter, we value this approach...( more )

Mark Mulligan | March 05, 2008, 10:55 AM
Is SFR Really France's Number One Download Destination?
Vivendi recently stated in their annual earnings that “SFR: [is the] #1 music platform in France for downloads in Q4 2007” and press reports place their December downloads at 2 million. All of which sounds pretty impressive except for the fact that they’re almost certainly not #1. As readers of...( more )

Mark Mulligan | March 04, 2008, 10:10 AM
Warner to Sell DRM-Free via 7 Digital
I nearly missed this: 7 Digital (one of EMI's original DRM-free partners) today announced that they will be selling DRM-free MP3 tracks of Warner Music’s entire catalogue. A welcome move that reflects the growing realization among the music industry that dropping DRM is a becoming a strategic centre-piece rather than...( more )

Mark Mulligan | March 04, 2008, 08:49 AM
Nokia Launches German Download Store
Nokia have launched their second European digital music store, this time in Germany, following the UK launch in November. The store itself is not about to change the digital music landscape, but it will be basic element of Nokia’s broader ambitious content and music strategies. Whether Nokia actually need to...( more )

Nate Elliott | March 03, 2008, 08:35 PM
The Social Networking World
[Via Greg Verdino] Le Monde printed a cool map a few weeks back covering the social networking world. The map isn't quite perfect. While there's some data to support the idea that Bebo are the largest network in the UK, there's almost no chance they're bigger than MySpace across all...( more )

Nate Elliott | March 03, 2008, 03:20 PM
Integrating Images and Video Into Search Results
I've just finished up a report on how Yahoo, MSN, and Ask are competing with Google in Europe. The short answer, of course, is that they're not competing very well: Google is incredibly dominant in all the key European markets. But there are some ways that the other engines can...( more )

Nate Elliott | March 03, 2008, 03:12 PM
"Inside Facebook" Lists Every Single Way to Market on Facebook
Unfortunately there's not a lot of detail or analysis -- and nothing along the lines of best practices -- but the blog Inside Facebook has posted a useful list of every possible way companies can use Facebook for marketing. It'd make a good read for executives who want to understand...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 28, 2008, 08:51 PM
Hey CNBC, What's a Widget?
Online Video Watch has a clip of some CNBC presenters trying to figure out what a widget is. I'd make fun of them, except... have you ever tried to define 'widget'? It's not that easy a concept to summarize. (But it's definitely not, as one of the hosts suggests, a...( more )

IanFogg | February 28, 2008, 12:56 PM
VirginMedia Results: Multiplay good, but ARPU down.
Today, VirginMedia report their q4 2007 results. As usual, as an industry analyst I'll comment solely on the operationals. Note - this is being written ahead of the conference call. Key points: - Broadband customers are up year-on-year to 3.5m using VirginMedia's hybrid coax-fibre (HFC) network -- plus another 287k...( more )

IanFogg | February 28, 2008, 12:19 PM
Mobile Web vs Applications/Widgets
Michael Mace nails it: mobile devices are different from PCs, the market for add-on software is stumbling, and has not been as great a success as most would like. (+ also see my footnote). The issue for the handheld software industry now, is that the number of mobile platforms that...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 27, 2008, 01:41 PM
Mobile Internet Tariffs
Not a single conference or mobile event I attended in the last 3 years without media companies or Internet players complaining about mobile data plans. No doubt that non affordable and non transparent data pricing schemes have been a key barrier (but not the only one) to the uptake of...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 27, 2008, 01:35 PM
m.brandname.com
m.facebook.com m.linkedin.com m.yahoo.com... .mobi, where are you?...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 25, 2008, 06:21 PM
Search Clicks Worth Twice as Much as Contextual Clicks
Efficient Frontier is reporting its clients' average cost per click on paid search and contextual advertising across a range of categories. The category splits are interesting (note that EF's auto clients pay more for contextual clicks than for search clicks), but more interesting to me is the fact there's still...( more )

Mark Mulligan | February 22, 2008, 11:13 AM
Time for ISPs and Content Owners to Get on the Same Page
News of the UK government’s proposal to pass legislation to compel ISPs to stop illegal file sharing on their networks appears to be polarising debate and bringing out the usual discussion of privacy concerns etc. They key issue here is that it is in the interest of content owners and...( more )

Mark Mulligan | February 22, 2008, 10:59 AM
DRM is So 2007
Having just attended a certain music awards show I had the refreshingly high tech experience of a using a sponsor’s pre-stored value swipe card to redeem a USB format album of music for the show. Though I intially had a few odd experiences when trying to open it (including being...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 20, 2008, 04:12 AM
zaOza - Vivendi Mobile Entertainment
As my colleague Mark Mulligan pointed out yesterday, Vivendi officially launched its new content portal zaoza. In fact, the service was announced back in November (see here) and launched in beta under the name "magic zaoza". The idea was to create buzz among VIPs who could access the content for...( more )

Mark Mulligan | February 19, 2008, 05:23 PM
Universal Appeal?
Vivendi Universal today announced the launch of Zaoza (in France for now), a mobile subscription offering that gives consumers unlimited access to music (most majors on board), videos and games for just three Euros a month. A cynic might argue that at that price point you have to question just...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 14, 2008, 01:02 PM
Valentine's Day Fun
I've handed off leadership of our online dating research this year -- you can see David Card's analysis of the market, and our newest online dating forecasts, in Monday's press release -- but since it's Valentine's Day I couldn't help posting a link to The Onion's brutally funny take on...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 14, 2008, 11:14 AM
Special Guest Blogger: Dorothee Vogel on Tchibo's Efforts to Explore New Markets Online
I want to offer congratulations to my colleague Dorothee Vogel, who a month ago gave birth to her first child, a son. Reports are that mother and child are both doing well -- and as if to prove it, Dorothee's already back tracking the online commerce space. Here's her take...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 14, 2008, 03:49 AM
Back from Mobile World Congress
It is difficult to wrap up so many news but I tried to step back a little from the flow of information when flying back from Barcelona. After the 2007 takeaways, here below is my vision of the 2008 mobile mecca pilgrimage. MWC is and will continue to be a...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 13, 2008, 10:54 AM
Why 2008 Won't Be The Breakthrough Year for Mobile Advertising
Apparently Nokia mobile ad bigwig Jeremy Wright cracked a joke last week about 2008 being the seventh year in a row that mobile advertising is supposed to break through. He's right: for nearly a decade, mobile has been promoted as the next big thing in advertising. And the sector looks...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 13, 2008, 10:22 AM
BusinessWeek Hammers MySpace on Ad Effectiveness
Catherine Holahan, a young reporter at BusinessWeek, has been venting her spleen on MySpace and other social networks over the past week. First she wrote an article called MySpace Users Build Up Ad Immunity (key quote from former MySpace advertiser: "Users [have become] more or less desensitized to the advertising")...( more )

Mark Mulligan | February 12, 2008, 10:35 AM
UK Government to Back 3 Strikes and You're Out for File Sharers?
The Times reports on a government paper to be published which will recommend a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy for illegal file sharers, to be implemented by ISPs: “Users suspected of wrongly downloading films or music will receive a warning e-mail for the first offence, a suspension for the...( more )

IanFogg | February 07, 2008, 02:55 PM
Real French Fibre from Orange
Moving on from the crazy UK situation on fibre, Orange in France offers real fibre broadband at 100Mbps (download speed), complete with a full IPTV service, and VoIP telephony. Unlike fibre wannabe's, Orange's upload speed is also staggeringly fast at 10Mbps, which makes the service ideal for uploading high quality...( more )

IanFogg | February 07, 2008, 12:34 PM
Real UK Fibre Broadband
[BT] Openreach has announced plans to install fibre optic cable instead of traditional copper to connect houses on a 1,000-acre new-build project at Ebbsfleet Valley in Kent. At this site Openreach will offer all of its products on a wholesale basis to all UK CPs. From August 2008, CPs at...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 07, 2008, 12:22 PM
Barcelona - MWC
From a US perspective, Mobile World Congress may be perceived as an event to keep an eye on. In comparison to the 150,000+ delegates at CES and other shows in Las Vegas, it still is pretty small. However, it clearly is the most important mobile / telecom event of the...( more )

IanFogg | February 06, 2008, 02:20 PM
UK Advertising Body Standards Needs Some Broadband Expertise
update 7.12pm - This is even worse. Now VirginMedia are claiming "The UK's fastest broadband is fibre optic and it's only available from Virgin Media." !!!!! and: "Virgin Media is the only place to get fibre optic broadband, and the good news is more that half the homes in the...( more )

Thomas Husson | February 06, 2008, 07:10 AM
Orange 2007 results
France Telecom announced this morning its annual results for the full year. As always, I am neither going to comment the financial results nor the fixed / broadband results even though I find it quite impressive that out of the 11.6 European ADSL accesses, 41% use VoIP and 11% IPTV,...( more )

IanFogg | February 05, 2008, 09:21 AM
Quantitative 3 Screen Research: Microsoft/MTV/Sony BMG
Today Microsoft are announcing new online video initiatives in Europe plus new partners. We've published extensive quantitative research on video and TV across the "three screens" and on social portals. Clients or journalists - please contact us for our analysis of these areas. Key reports: ">European Three-Screen Audiences Leveraging the...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 01, 2008, 06:44 PM
My First Take: Can Microsoft + Yahoo Challenge Google in Search?
There's no shortage of comment around the blogosphere today about a possible combination of MSN and Yahoo, and its potential to threaten Google's dominance. But while it's useful to keep in mind what impact this will have on music, messaging, or other verticals, I'm going to stick with talking about...( more )

IanFogg | February 01, 2008, 01:18 PM
MS / Yahoo! - Communications Impact
Microsoft has bid to buy Yahoo! This is being widely reported as an anti-Google move. But in communications -- email, instant messaging/presence, social networks etc. -- a Yahoo! - Microsoft combination would be tremendously dominant. Microsoft has the leading IM platform in Europe. The second place varies by country: AOL...( more )

IanFogg | January 31, 2008, 11:44 AM
Skype on PSP - Initial Impression
Skype is continuing to become a more ubiquitous communications service. Now, it arrives on the PSP. Skype is being offered for free to new PSP owners and to older ones that choose to upgrade their firmware. This distribution method will push Skype in front of a large number of users...( more )

Nate Elliott | January 28, 2008, 12:37 PM
AdSense Seems to be Working Better for Advertisers
Since Google's AdSense program (which places advertisers' search ads into content pages) was first launched almost five years ago, many search marketers have questioned its effectiveness. I remember seeing a room full of angry advertisers rip into Google at a Search Engine Strategies panel back in 2003 for the low...( more )

Nate Elliott | January 28, 2008, 11:28 AM
Speaking at I-COM 08, Barcelona, 5-8 Feb
I'm going to be participating in a great event next week called I-COM, the International Conference on Online Media Measurement. I-COM is designed to bring together thought leaders from around the industry to take on the following topics: Despite various efforts, in many domains and particularly amongst the emerging media,...( more )

Nate Elliott | January 23, 2008, 11:13 AM
My Latest RSS Feed: Online Video Watch
I recently reconnected with Corey Kronengold, who I've known for years, since he was at Eyeblaster. Corey now handles marketing for video ad network Tremor Media, and blogs at Online Video Watch. It's an entertaining and useful blog -- if you're interested in the online video space, you should go...( more )

Nate Elliott | January 22, 2008, 01:52 PM
NewTeeVee on Five Ways to Save Joost
Video-focused blog NewTeeVee offers its "Five Ways to Save Joost." The first idea (integrate Hulu) involves getting more content onto the platform; but all the rest are about making the platform available to more users (through podcasting, with a web-based client, with a Firefox plug-in, and by putting it on...( more )

Nate Elliott | January 22, 2008, 09:34 AM
Facebooking at Work?
According to Nielsen, people use Facebook more at work than at home: Facebook was the 10th most-visited site in the UK in December 2007 based on Nielsen's Home & Work panel, but it's not in the top 10 if you look at just their Home panel. News Corp (including MySpace)...( more )

IanFogg | January 21, 2008, 11:23 AM
MacBook Air and WiMAX
The Air is an astoundingly thin PC. Steve Jobs introduced the MacBook Air by saying that Apple had made no compromises, unlike other manufacturers. This is great spin but is not quite correct. Apple did make trade-offs in the design, but just not the same ones as everyone else. Apple...( more )

IanFogg | January 20, 2008, 11:41 PM
iPhone Sales: the Danger of Not Reporting Figures
The FT reports that UK iPhone sales are below target (also covered on the Inquirer if the FT story is behind the subscription wall for you). Apple has chosen not to report Europe-splits for iPhone data, just as it has always done for the iPod. I hope we'll hear more...( more )

IanFogg | January 18, 2008, 05:23 PM
Catch-Up TV on iTunes / Apple TV
Ashley Highfield speculates about new distribution models for BBC TV programmes via Apple's platform. The main consumer advantage I see with offering BBC catch-up TV via iTunes is that such programmes would be transferable to iPods, iPhones, Macs, PCs i.e. multiple devices, rather than remaining tied to one PC as...( more )

Mark Mulligan | January 17, 2008, 05:09 PM
HMV Reports Record Christmas Sales
The UK's HMV Group announced its “most successful Christmas ever”. But before you take this as an early indicator of a recovering music market, central to the strong performance were DVDs, games, and cookery books. Though there were successful albums and strong sales were reported “across all product categories“ the...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 16, 2008, 03:49 PM
T-Mobile , Yahoo! and mobile Internet ad euros
T-Mobile and Yahoo! today announce a strategic partnership which will see the first display advertising appear on T-Mobile’s Web'n'Walk service. I don't think there is any major difference between this agreement and that already announced between Vodafone and Yahoo! Interestingly, both operators have selected Google as their mobile search engine....( more )

Thomas Husson | January 16, 2008, 03:19 PM
Thorough phone reviews
So, v 1.1.3 for iPhones is now available. Some of the basic stuff is hopefully now fixed (SMS to multiple folks). The most important one is clearly the ability to customize the homescreen and the upgrade capability itself. Apple has already sold 4M iPhones. That's pretty impressive when you compare...( more )

Nate Elliott | January 16, 2008, 12:26 PM
JupiterResearch Forecasts European Mobile Ad Spending Will Reach €1.3 Billion in 2012
We've just released a new report that forecasts the European mobile advertising market (which includes mobile display advertising and mobile search marketing, but NOT mobile messaging ads like SMS and MMS ads) will reach €1.3 billion in 2012. The biggest driver for the growth of the market will be consumers'...( more )

Nate Elliott | January 16, 2008, 12:02 PM
Why the US is Ahead of Europe in Online Video Advertising
An old friend of mine, Rachel Barnhart, is a local TV reporter and anchor at Rochester station 13-WHAM. When I visited her station's site this morning, I was surprised to see how well they do pre-roll video ads. They follow many of the rules we lay out in our Online...( more )

Mark Mulligan | January 15, 2008, 10:59 AM
EMI Cuts Confirmed
EMI today confirmed the rumoured news that it is to shed up to a third of its staff as part of wide ranging cost saving measures. As I have said here before, the process EMI is going through now is certainly more severe than the other majors but it is...( more )

Mark Mulligan | January 14, 2008, 01:03 PM
EMI to Cut Its Cloth...
According to the WSJ Terra Firma will announce today that EMI will shed up to a third of its staff. Though EMI have the unique catalyst of VC ownership, this illustrates as point I’ve made a few times before in this blog i.e. that the declining revenues of the 21st...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 11, 2008, 08:57 AM
What's your job?
Being an industry analyst outside US/UK* inevitably exposes you to be asked: "Could you remind me again, what's your job?". We are not financial analysts. We look at market trends within various industry segments. At Jupiter, we try to have as much as possible a marketing angle to avoid focusing...( more )

Mark Mulligan | January 09, 2008, 12:15 PM
Apple to Standardize Euro iTunes Pricing
Following a conclusion to the EU investigation Apple has announced that it will be standardizing the price of iTunes Music Store downloads across all European countries, so that finally UK customers won’t have to pay more than their continental European counterparts. This issue has seen the labels and Apple blame...( more )

Mark Mulligan | January 09, 2008, 04:17 AM
Pandora Goes Back in the Box
Ad Supported Social Music site Pandora is closing its doors on the UK due to license fee issues. Pandora claim that the per track minimum fees demanded by PPL (the UK label licensing body for radio) and MCPS/PRS (the mechanicals and performance body) are too high to be sustainable for...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 08, 2008, 05:17 PM
Sarkozy and the French media landscape
Today was the first press conference from Sarkozy, the newly elected French president. Surprisingly, he announced that he would like an analysis to be made to "totally ban advertising on French public TV and other financing solutions to be considered such as a tax on ad revenues from private TV...( more )

Mark Mulligan | January 08, 2008, 05:50 AM
Digital Music Not Saving The Music Industry Yet
Jupiter has just released its latest European digital music forecasts. The key finding is that although European spending will total €2 billion by 2012 revenues will not fully Compensate for Declining CD Sales Until 2010, and even then mobile digital revenues will be partially responsible for the turn around. The...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 06, 2008, 03:52 PM
iPhone v 1.1.3
Orange France officially announced to have sold more than 70,000 iPhones (launched Nov 29th) in France while o2's CEO recently expected to reach the 200,000 ceiling early January (launched Nov 9th). Both operators will meet the target they officially announced but there was no major "Christmas effect" (however, I don't...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 04, 2008, 05:10 AM
Ringtones on the decline
This is always quite funny to see how a press interview is being picked up. My colleague Mark Mulligan initially gave an interview mid-December to the International Herald Tribune / New York Times about the maturation of the ringtone business. I found out recently many new articles on various websites,...( more )

Thomas Husson | January 03, 2008, 10:05 AM
My 2008 predictions
I quite like Samuel Johnson's quote: "the vanity of being trusted with a secret is often the prime motive to disclose it" as mentionned by my colleague Michael Gartenberg. The idea here is not to disclose anything unofficial but simply to highlight a couple of key trends in the mobile...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 21, 2007, 10:30 AM
2007 Predictions Reviewed
Russell at MobHappy said "even professional analysts aren’t that brave (to review their predictions) as they need their clients to generally believe that they’re right all the time and so to admit to fallibility would be shooting themselves in the foot". I don't think it is really the case for...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 21, 2007, 05:13 AM
VIVENDI's SFR buys Neuf Cegetel - First Take
It is now official. SFR, VIVENDI's subsidiary (at 56%), will buy 9 Cegetel. Here below is the big picture of the French telecom market end q3 2007 if the acquisition had been completed at that time (still needs to be approved by the anti-trust authorities): Background: - Vivendi sold Cegetel...( more )

Nate Elliott | December 20, 2007, 10:40 AM
Great New Yahoo Maps Feature... But Again, It's US-Only
As reported by the Kelsey Group, Yahoo Maps has introduced a great new drag-and-drop route planning feature in the US version of Yahoo Maps. Based on Yahoo's past timeline for rolling out their US local-and-map features internationally, we can expect to see drag-and-drop route planning in Europe in... perhaps two...( more )

Nate Elliott | December 19, 2007, 03:44 PM
Special Guest Blogger: Dorothee Vogel on Green Travel
Dorothee Vogel, Jupiter's European online commerce analyst and champion of green products and green marketing, is back with another guest blog: While some travel suppliers are still heatedly discussing the relevance of carbon-offsetting schemes, lastminute.com’s involvement in the Carbonwise offsetting scheme stands as a unique success story. Lastminute.com said that...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 19, 2007, 06:53 AM
Top 10 movies
No worries, I am not starting here a new blog as a movie critic. back to mobile in the next post. Just came across the astounishing stats below while having a look at Metro and found them quite interesting: Top 10 movies in France in 2006: 1- RATATOUILLE (7,7M) -...( more )

Thomas Husson | December 18, 2007, 07:41 AM
Mobile TV news
There have been quite a lot of mobile TV news over the past few weeks. So, here's a wrap up: - 3 Italia is taking part to the 1st DVB-SH trial in Europe. See press release from Alcatel here. Given S-band is available (not the case of the golden band...( more )

IanFogg | December 13, 2007, 06:38 PM
Testing "Unlimited" Broadband
This is an interesting initiative to help consumers test whether their unlimited broadband se