Real MMS is coming to the iPhone from Hook Mobile

Since day 1 the iPhone was announced, I've been miffed that they excluded MMS from the functionality of the device. It never made any sense to me from a consumer perspective, nor from AT&T's perspective.

At Hook Mobile, we've developed a cross-carrier MMS delivery platform that partners can use for content optimization and delivery (in addition to many other things). As the one entity that sits between all the carriers for MMS, we found ourselves uniquely suited to do something about the iPhone MMS issue. While today, we can't 100% solve the 'receive an MMS on the iPhone' problem, we can solve the 'send MMS' problem.

We are in the process of submitting an application called MMS to the Apple App store. The application allows iPhone users to select images and send via MMS to friends mobile phones. The message is uploaded to us via http, then optimized for the target device and delivered via the carriers MMS infrastructure to your friends messaging inbox. No data download required by your friend, they just need a messaging plan.

In future versions, we'll be adding functionality and hopefully address the receiving issue. Until then, keep a look out for it in the app store. I'll post again when we launch and share Ad Hoc with a lucky few!

Hook Mobile to present at Under the Radar

Hook Mobile was selected to present at the Under the Radar | Mobility conference on November 12, 2008 in San Jose.

We will be discussing the Hook Mobile platform and the MMS opportunity.

Google to share Android Market revenues with operators

It was widely reported yesterday that the revenue split for Android developers will be 70/30. Unlike the Apple App Store, the 30% in this case will be going to the operator (currently T-Mobile for the G1). Since the operator is going to be responsible for the billing and delivery, this makes sense. Not to mention that this is the traditional model pursued by operators and app developers.

I was happy to see that the split was 70/30. As anyone in the mobile content business can tell you, splits have been steadily getting less favorable to the developer over the last few years. I thank Apple for pushing 70/30 as the norm. Application developers shoulder virtually all the risk and as these marketplaces become more competitive so does the need to create more complex (read: more expensive to develop) applications.

I hope we continue to see more Android phones appear on other networks with the same model.

T-Mobile G1

http://announcement.t-mobileg1.com/#

Check out the dedicated site T-Mobile just launched for the upcoming G1 (Google Android phone) from HTC. I watched the live press event today and the device looks great. A lot of cool features that will give the iPhone a run for its money. Some of the mapping functionality looked useful, if not novel. At $179, it should be an attractive device to consumers. T-Mobile claims it will be launching its largest advertising campaign ever in October to support the launch. It is going to be interesting to see how their reach will compare to Apple's.

One thing is for sure, the pace of innovation in mobile is going to continue thanks to this new entrant!

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