Yamgo partners with Tom Horn to launch pioneering mobile video sharing service and the world's first free-to-view mobile TV network
23 May 2007, Oxford, UK - Yamgo, a leading extreme sports mobile TV company has signed a technology partnership with Tom Horn, a software development company enabling Yamgo to launch a global cross-platform mobile video sharing service and the world's first free-to-view mobile TV network.
The new service offers users a fully interactive video sharing community on the Internet via www.yamgo.tv and on any video-enabled mobile device, on any mobile phone network with WAP access, anywhere in the world via http://yamgo.mobi Yamgo's pioneering service brings the web 2.0 phenomenon to mobile phones. Yamgo's new service features upload and sharing directly from a mobile device as well as the ability to watch high-quality mobile TV channels, live broadcasts, and user-generated content over both 2.5G (GPRS) and 3G networks (EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA).
Through the new service, Yamgo customers can create their own mobile video page and upload videos directly from their mobile phone or via the www.yamgo.tv website and then share them with friends regardless of what phone or network they are using. Yamgo takes care of all the complex encoding and device optimisation resulting in a powerful cross platform social networking application. User-generated content is free to view and there are no end-user charges to use the service, except data charges users may incur from their network operator. In addition to ad-funded free-to-view channels and user-generated videos, premium content including live broadcasts, mobisodes (mobile TV series) and downloads will be distributed on a time-based subscription, pay-per-view, or pay-per-download basis. Up to now the service has been tested in 25 countries worldwide and is currently available in English, Slovak, and Czech languages.
"Yamgo.tv is initially focused on extreme sports content, due to Yamgo's extensive catalogue of high-quality extreme sports content covering 26 extreme sports and exclusive world-first stunts, but also because extreme sports videos appeal to a global audience, cross language and cultural barriers and the short, sharp burst nature of the videos makes them an ideal category for mobile video consumption. Users can upload any genre of content and the selection of mobile TV channels will be broadened into complementary categories" stated Yamgo Operations Director Shaun Ellison.
Ian Mullins, Yamgo CEO stated "Yamgo's pioneering cross-platform video sharing service will enable users to upload, watch and broadcast content across any video-enabled phone, anywhere in the world. Web-based social networking has been accepted by consumers worldwide as the ultimate next-generation form of entertainment. Yamgo.tv offers a similar feature set on mobile devices as today's web-based social networks, plus additional functionality and a high-quality interactive mobile TV service. Our partnership with Tom Horn enables Yamgo to deliver a pioneering service offering and provides the technology infrastructure to create a global community of web and mobile content consumers. Tom Horn have developed a superior automated encoding engine called FRIEZE and have the technical expertise to develop a leading edge bespoke technology solution for Yamgo."
Igor Rintel, Managing Director of Tom Horn stated, "Yamgo's content can be effectively monetised through mobile TV premium downloads and looped streaming channels. Yamgo has an early-mover advantage in mobile social networking and has identified a significant gap for high-quality niche market and localised content."
The yamgo.tv service will run alongside Yamgo's existing extreme sports production, publishing and advertiser-funded mobile content service enabling Yamgo to offer advertising agencies and brands an end-to-end solution for the production and distribution of adverts.
Yamgo launches end-to-end mobile TV advertising solutions
5 January 2007 - Oxford , UK - Yamgo Ltd, a leading video-to-mobile company has launched a portfolio of mobile TV advertising solutions enabling companies to create brand awareness and advertise products and services directly to consumers using mobile TV and video. The solutions range from the production of made-for-mobile adverts to global distribution and tracking of adverts via the Yamgo TV channel, viral downloads and video streaming over 2.5G and 3G networks.
Yamgo has built a strong reputation for the production and publishing of extreme sports mobile video content and has invested in the technology and infrastructure to deliver video downloads and stream mobile TV directly to consumers. Ian Mullins, Yamgo's CEO, stated, "Advertiser-funded programming and video downloads with a 5-7 second pre-roll advert will enable consumers to watch free mobile TV and video on their mobile phones. Whilst it is still too early to predict how consumers will react to adverts on their mobile phone, we are using a traditional TV business model applied to mobile entertainment and offering a unique high-quality free mobile TV experience. Mobile TV campaigns can be integrated with advertisers' existing TV branding with interactive elements providing brand interaction and collection of valuable user data to personalise content and adverts."
Mobile TV adverts and mini series are produced from Yamgo's stock footage or using HD cameras filming specifically for mobile devices. Working with the world's top extreme sports athletes Yamgo produces made-for-mobile content in over 26 different extreme sports. This unique production capacity enables Yamgo to create exclusive stunts and inspiring action sequences to capture attention whilst stimulating interest and desire in the product or service being advertised. Shaun Ellison, Operations Director stated, "Captivating and retaining the interest of the highly coveted youth demographic and delivering adverts requires a unique approach to production. The content must deliver a short, sharp burst viewing experience on a small screen. Extreme sports work really well on mobile phones and the content genre has a mass market appeal."
Mobile TV adverts can be inserted in between programming on the Yamgo Mobile TV channel or packaged as a pre-roll advert before a mobile TV download or streaming session. Yamgo TV which is currently available in the UK , USA and China consists of mini films, crashes, equipment malfunctions and unique extreme sports stunts such as mountain biking off Beachy Head , Paragliding out of helicopters, River Surfing and Extreme Canopy Flying.
Yamgo offers four main options for mobile video delivery: Java Vidlets, Multimedia Messages (MMS), downloads and streaming links (3GP, MP4, RM). Java and MMS offer the widest compatibility and ease of use for viral marketing, but are limited to short videos, ideally less than 10 seconds. Downloads offer a high-quality user experience and are ideal for videos less than 90 seconds in length. Streaming is suitable for longer programming, but currently suffers from low device and network compatibility. Interactive mobile TV elements such as voting and links for more information can be integrated to enhance brand interaction with device recognition and usage statistics providing measurable results.
About Mobile TV Advertising
Now more than ever, marketers are looking for innovative ways to reach consumers. Traditional channels for advertising, like TV, radio and print, are becoming increasingly less effective because end-users now consume information and entertainment very differently than in the past. This is mainly due to the digitization of content and the increasing ease of access to the Internet. The mobile phone is now the fourth screen after the cinema, television and computer. Advances in the processing power, screen resolution and network connectivity coupled with the mass market penetration of video-enabled phones and falling data prices have resulted in the mobile phone becoming a credible advertising medium.
