Rage becomes first 'mobile phone' movie

The first major film to be distributed for free exclusively through a mobile phone has been released to the public, reports TechRadar.

Downloadable in seven parts, Rage has a star-studded cast – featuring the likes of Jude Law, Steve Buscemi and Eddie Izzard – and has been directed by Sally Potter.

Although the movie has been available in bite-sized DLC for the last week for iPhone users, it is now having its full-length mobile phone premiere, courtesy of interactive IPTV platform Babelgum.

Babelgum bids to break into US mobile video market

Italian Internet company Babelgum launched Friday a new video-to-mobile service in the United States, its bid to break into the world's most developed smart phone market and spread beyond its current Web-based model. The IHT reports.

Babelgum offers bite-size videos, usually around three minutes long, viewed on smart phones — generally defined as mobiles that combine traditional telephony with Internet capabilities.

The business model seeks to make money through advertising, keeping the video free to viewers.

The U.S. service launched with five channels dedicated to music, comedy, film, nature and the environment and urban culture and trends.

Read full article.

Spider 3 pre-loaded on Sony Ericsson phone for South Korea

Sony Ericsson is calling on a superhero to help it enter the tough South Korean market. On Tuesday the company launched its brand with a version of the Xperia X1 cell phone that comes with the full Spiderman 3 movie loaded onto every handset.

[via The Industry Standard]

Putting movies on mobiles

The first ever mobile film awards got a touch of Hollywood glamour as it was hosted by multiple Oscar winner Kevin Spacey. The BBC reports.

Describing his involvement, he said: "When I started to hear about MoFilm, I started to hear about what they were trying to do with respect to short films and content being able to go on to people's phones.

"And in some cases realising that, in some countries, this might be the first time they ever see a movie," he said. "They won't see it on that big screen, they'll see it on a small one."

Many aspiring filmmakers are frustrated by the lack of opportunities to screen their work but mobile phones are increasingly being seen as a new platform for these short works.

The MoFilm competition received 250 entries from more than 100 countries. Entries were restricted to films that were five minutes or less in length - ideal for viewing and sharing on mobile phones.

An independent jury then selected a shortlist of five film-makers from which a winner was chosen by an audience voting using their phones at the Mobile World Congress.

Read full article.

CES: 100 HD movies on a stamp-sized chip?

Imagine storing 100 movies in glorious high-definition on a card the size of a postage stamp, then calling them up instantaneously for viewing on your cell phone whenever and wherever you like. That could happen within five years, according to the SD Association.Reuters reports.

Consumers will be able to store as many as 100 high-definition movies on a stamp-sized memory card and retrieve them with devices such as mobile phones and digital cameras, according to the promoters of the next-generation SD card technology.

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Qik Launches First Live Mobile Video Streaming on Mass Market Phones

Qik, Inc, the live mobile video streaming platform, today announced that it is the first live mobile video product to launch on mass market mobile phones.

"Available today in alpha, Qik's service is now ready for use on more than a dozen Nokia and Sony Ericsson mass market mobile handsets.

With Qik's free service, users can stream video live to the Internet in just two clicks from their mobile phone. Those watching the videos on the web can engage in live interactive chat with the person broadcasting. "

[via MarketWatch]

Nokia and Spike Lee make a 'people film'

Nokia has premiered its first user generated Nokia Productions film in league with director Spike Lee. Mobile Entertainment reports.

"The film was made by ‘everyday’people, using Nokia devices to generate and submit original content, which was then edited by Lee. Nokia and T-Mobile debuted the end result at a live event in LA.

Lee invited the public to submit original text, music, video or images around themes of birth, life and death to www.nokiaproductions.com. Over 4,000 pieces of original content were uploaded and over 350,000 visitors accessed the site."

Previously: -
Nokia and Spike Lee team up with Nokia on short film

All the Warner Bros movies on your phone

A partnership between Warner Bros and DivX means you'll be able to watch all the current and back catalogue Warner Bros titles on hundreds of devices.

DivX-certified devices have multiplied in the last few months, likely in anticipation of such a deal, so you'll be able to buy movies digitally and watch them on LG and Samsung phones, iRiver PMPs, PlayStation 3s and many Blu-ray and DVD players.

[via TechRadar]

Actress Rossellini probes insect sex in phone-films

Festiival Pocket Films, a film fest just for pocket-sized movies on mobile phones came of age in its fourth edition this weekend, with a series of flicks on the sex lives of insects by the actress Isabella Rossellini. The AFP reports.

"The minute-long films, a series of eight titled "Green Porno", are on handsets dangling on wires from a "mobile phone tree" in Paris' Pompidou Centre, for the three-day Pocket Films festival which opened Friday.

"Their format -- shot exclusively for viewing on 3G technology mobile phones -- make them the "films of the future," Rossellini told AFP in an interview. "Watching (war epic) 'Apocalypse Now' on a mobile telephone is no fun -- it was conceived as a big spectacle. But this tiny screen can be a new canvas for directors," she said."

Related: - Sex, Insects and Mobile Phones

Motorola signs Paramount Pictures deal for mobile movies

Motorola has announced a deal with Paramount Pictures to make a stack of movies available for download to its handsets in the UK, with Germany, Italy, Spain and France due to follow soon. You’ll actually browse and buy the films on Motorola’s UK website, before downloading them to your PC and sideloading them onto your phone.

[via Pocket Picks]