Another Israeli company is participating in Beijing's Olympics. Start-up Celltick today announced the launch of a mobile media service over China Unicom’s network. The new service provides official Olympics-related content directly from China's official news agency Xinhua News. The content will be available over customers' mobile devices.
The service is designed and implemented through Celltick’s LiveScreen Media platform.
The contract between Celltick and China Unicom, which will begin with the 2008 Olympics, will be based on revenue sharing. Estimates are that the deal will lead to revenue of $30 million over the next three years.
The service will include the latest Olympic news, results and anecdotes and accompanied by topical games and applications. It will include breaking news alerts if records are set. The service also includes non-Olympic content such as news, lifestyle, business, and entertainment.
Celltick's technology allows mobile phones to receive content without SMS and without needing to connect to the mobile internet. LiveScreen Media allows mobile operators to send what it calls "targeted teasers" to an idle mobile phone screen, turning the screen into a bulletin board.
Celltick’s LiveScreen Media application will be embedded on SIM cards that will be offered to local customers and to tourists at the airport. The cards will also be distributed in China Unicom retail outlets around Beijing. The service will be available in both Chinese and English.
Celltick VP Media Services Golan Shaked told "Globes", "China Unicom replaces about 30% of its SIM cards each year, so the company is expected to very quickly be able to offer Celltick service to many of its customers".
Celltick CEO Stephen Dunford said, “The Olympic Games represents an enormous opportunity for the mobile industry and our managed LiveScreen Media application is ideally positioned to help China Unicom capitalize on its full potential".
The launch of the LiveScreen Media service in Beijing will be the first in a series of LiveScreen deployments across China.
China Unicom is an integrated telecommunications service provider with over 180 million mobile subscribers nationwide.
Celltick was founded in 2000 by Yossi Wellingstein who served as the company's CEO until January 2006.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 7, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008