First movie series for mobile phones: The adventures of Ben the dog in London

BenQ Mobile presents the world’s first movie series for mobile phones: The adventures of Ben the dog in London, announces BenQ's website.

Ben the dog goes through turbulent adventures in all sorts of places in London carrying his master, Mr. Q’s, mobile phone. The story is to unfold in successive episodes developed by young directors worldwide. Thus the plot can take a completely new turn, depending on the director’s background. The 60-second movies in 3GP format are tailored for small screens. Swift camera movements and panorama shots are avoided, and the dialogue is also kept to a minimum. Several mobile models from various manufacturers support this format.

60-second movies from the “Dog & Bone” series can now be downloaded free of charge. Besides, the first episode of the series will be preinstalled on the new BenQ-Siemens M81.

An MMS soap opera for a football team

What do football players and soap operas have in common? A lot, if you open any gossip magazine here in Europe, and also if you have a look at what is going on in Germany.

The St. Pauli football team has launched an MMS based soap opera, starring his midfielder Benjamin Adrion.

[via Adverblog]

Mobile phone ratings could resemble TV-style audience share rankings

Last week Australia has launched a pilot for the mobile soap Girl Friday – a Sex and the City-style drama about a girl who finds a stranger's mobile phone and becomes embroiled in the life of the owner.

Girl Friday, which can be viewed on the web, includes one-minute diary episodes designed to be viewed on mobiles. Random Place, a Neighbours-style local mobile soap based on a Dutch version, is also set to be launched later this month.

And now research firm Nielsen//NetRatings is creating a ratings system to measure the number of people who are accessing news, entertainment and other services on their mobile phones.

As phones and networks increase their video capability and mobile penetration increases, the mobile phone ratings could resemble TV-style audience share rankings, showing the highest-rating mobile services at particular times of the day.

Optus, the first carrier to sign up to the system last year, says traffic spikes during the evening commute home and for live score updates during sports matches.

Advertising on mobile phones is still non-existent, but Nielsen//NetRatings expects that ads will eventually be measured in terms of impressions viewed and click-throughs, similar to how internet ads are measured.

Mobile operators, keen to maximise the billable revenue they generate from their content services, are also requesting data on how to present content in order to encourage subscribers to view it, what time of day people view it, the impact of promotions and competitions on mobile traffic, and the best combinations for bundled content subscriptions. (via The Australian)

Soap opera on cellphone is OK, but don't make it too long

China's first TV drama to be shown exclusively on mobile phones will begin shooting on March 27, reports China View.

"Appointment" is a romantic love story between a beautiful girl and two motorcycle riders. Each episode lasts five minutes. The length was determined according to the cognitive limitations of subscribers.

A market survey showed that mobile phone users feel tired if they stare at their small phone screens for too long. A 25-minute TV drama with five parts was found to be optimal.

A recently released report by IMS Research estimates that by 2010 there will be 120 million subscribers viewing TV programs on mobile phones.

Almost Hollywood

An MMS-based soap opera called "Almost Hollywod" launched in Denmark. The episodes last about two minutes and feature both audio and action. According to Flemming Lund, director at Inmobia, quoted on BT Mobil (in Danish), it's a relaxing entertainment.

[via KoBot!]

Related articles on mobile Soap Operas:

-- A Library and Cinema in Your Pocket Doreen Carvajal for The New York Times looks into "phone soap operas and made-for-mobile dramas that can be absorbed in less time than it takes to flick through a book introduction"

-- Cellpop, The First Cell Phone Drama That is not for your Mama! - Cellpop is a humorous look at the dark side of the music industry. It follows the lives of the people who make the hit music we listen to. Each day a new episode is delivered straight to your phone.

-- MMS Soap on Spanish Telefónica Móviles - Móviles has launched FanTESStic, an interactive series with real actors created exclusively for MMS

-- Launched on the Internet and closed in the late nineties, the Internet's first Soap, «The Spot» is back - on (Sprint) mobile phone.

-- «InYrShoes» - The plot of a UK soap called «InYrShoes» is not decided by scriptwriters, but by viewers sending text messages at the end of each episode, featuring a cliffhanger or dilemma.

-- Jong-Zuid: First picture soap opera for mobile phones The Netherlands came up with the first Picture Soap, Jong-Zuid, starring famous soap opera actors.