Posted by Fox on June 30, 2007 at 10:55 PM

You can download free mobile video clips of the latest Big Brother tv series.

Get over to channel4.com/bigbrother

That's all I've got to say about it. Yawn :)

Posted by Fox on June 30, 2007 at 8:54 PM

So a few days ago, I got sent a link to a Mobile Social Network called Mobikade. If you're unsure what a Mobile Social Network is think of it as myspace or bebo on your mobile phone (more about Mobile Social Networks).

Anyway, so I got sent a link and thought I'd give it a try. Hee hee, being the cautious type I signed up using my wifes mobile phone. I figured if I was going to get hit with a bunch of premium SMS text messages, I'd let her deal with it :)

IT'S FREE
First surprise was that there is no charge! It's free. Nice, but what's the catch? Well I'll cover that and the sign up process in a minute. I want to get to cool stuff.

continued...

Posted by Fox on June 30, 2007 at 8:03 PM

I'm having fun with a new Mobile Social Network here in the U.K. Before I review it for you, I thought I should give a quick introduction to Mobile Social Networks.

SO WHAT ARE MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKS
Imagine Myspace or Bebo on your cell phone. Once you create a space on your chosen mobile social network, you can post messages, upload mobile video and share your photos. Your friends and family can view and respond to your messages, mobile video and photos.

It's not limited to friends and family. By indicating your interests when you sign up, you can join 'interest groups'. The range and topics of interest groups varies with each provider, but the more advanced Mobile Social Networks will allow you to create new interest groups yourself, other people with the same interest can then join the group and share their messages, mobile video and photos.

So in addition to getting clever with your friends and family, it's a great way of making new friends and contacts that have the same interests.

WHAT DOES IT COST?
Nothing. Mobile Social Networks are entirely free. They are funded by advertising, so there is no cost to you, your family or your friends to to access your mobile space.

That said, I have to tell you of a possible indirect cost. Accessing any mobile internet service or site via your cell phone will incur a charge from your mobile network or operator. MAKE SURE you have a low cost data plan, or better still get an unlimited data plan from your network or operator.

FREE MOBILE DOWNLOADS
The biggest difference with Mobile Social Networks and the web based ones such as myspace, is that they give you access to free mobile downloads such as mobile games, mobile wallpapers and mobile video. Mobile Social Networks are gonna be huge. As more and more mobile social networks pop up, your chosen one will want to keep you happy so you don't move to another.

WHERE CAN I FIND A MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORK?
Well, here in the U.K. I recommend Mobikade. In the USA & Canada, peekamo. looks great.

Read my review of Mobikade

Posted by Fox on June 29, 2007 at 10:59 AM

Available worldwide, RokComics have made a bunch of their mobile comics available for you to download to mobile phone, free of charge. A fairly limited selection, but a perfect introduction if you've never tried mobile comics before.

What are Mobile Comics?
Full color comic strips that you download and view on an MMS enabled cell phone or mobile phone. Some are black and white, but that's as intended by the creator.

In addition to the free mobile comics, RokComics has a number of premium cartoons including familiar comics strips such as Garfield and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Premium titles cost just USD $2 / GBP £1 each, and are available worldwide, regardless of your location.

They also offer a number of premium plans that allow you to pre-pay for 5 comics, or even subscribe for a weeks access to all of the mobile comics.

Get over to rokcomics.com to download your free mobile comic now.

I'm a big fan of Mobile Comics, here are related posts :
Create your own Mobile Comics
BBC Radio 1's Aled Haydn Jones gets his own Mobile Comic
PIG BROTHER, the Big Brother Mobile Comic Series

Posted by Fox on June 19, 2007 at 3:26 PM

A new fun SMS service goes live. Get a sexy message from a fake friend sent to your mobile phone while you're sat with your friends in a bar. Get out of boring meetings with an emergency text sent by a fake family member.

read more | digg story

Posted by Fox on June 19, 2007 at 3:25 PM

News of a new SMS Text provider that lets you send 250 free sms text messages a week, but there's an admin fee of 1.50. Hmm, then surely it's not free? But still a good deal if you're looking to get around the bullshit normally associated with free sms text services.

read more | digg story

Posted by Fox on June 18, 2007 at 3:19 PM

Following the YouTube Announcement regarding their new mobile version for cell phones (YouTube Mobile), I'm starting a new weekly "Top Mobile Video" feature in the Thumb Lounge.

It'll probably come as no suprise that this excellent Paris Hilton parody has the honor of being the most viewed on YouTube Mobile. Enjoy!

YouTube Page

Notes : This video can be viewed using your mobile web browser on a compatible cell phone. It's highly recommended that you have an UNLIMITED DATA PLAN before watching any YouTube Mobile video. More info at YouTube Mobile.

Posted by Fox on June 17, 2007 at 7:51 PM

Great news for all you mobile video clip fans. YouTube have opened access to their mobile video clips to ALL compatible cell phones across ALL carriers.

7 months after launching mobile services exclusively on Verizon Wireless (and Vodafone 3 months later), youTUBE has launched a mobile version of its website that is accessible to any mobile handset.

The mobile videos are in the 3GP format, YouTube highly recommend that you have an unlimited data plan, or you'll pay considerable download fees to your carrier.

Just point your mobile phone web browser to http://m.youtube.com. The site also works in regular internet browsers so you can take a peak right now.

See it in action here

Posted by Fox on June 17, 2007 at 7:08 PM

David Seiver dropped me an email suggesting an SMS text service he'd come across.

HappyBirthdaySMS.com is great! You enter a few details such as your friends birthday, the message and the specific time to send it and they'll send the SMS text message FREE.

Now, what makes this really stand out is that they'll also send you a reminder one week before, and one day before your friends birthday. Very useful, especially for someone as forgetful as me.

The service is free, and funded by the advertising message that you get with your reminder. Clever thing is that the advertisement is for selected birthday gifts. Inspired! No adverts are sent to your friends number, they only receive your chosen birthday message.

Only way this could be more useful is if it sent me an SMS text reminder two weeks before my friends birthday, just to give a bigger head start on having the gift delivered to me in time for the celebrations. Also, it would be really great if the service was available outside of the USA, which it isn't :(

Click here to take a look.

Source : SMS Text Guide

Posted by Fox on June 17, 2007 at 6:44 PM

Yeah, it's been about for nearly four years, but this is still one of my all time favorite "geeky" cell phone gadgets, and easily over looked. It's a tiny remote control rally car that you control via your Bletooth enabled Sony Ericsson.

Once paired with your cell phone, this really cool looking car works up to 10m from the handset. It's only the size of a match box. You control it using your keypad, and it takes its power directly from your cell phone via the charging connector. I wish they'd come up with one for my Nokia.

I think I'm gonna spend some time looking for other bluetooth enabled gadgets. I'll keep you posted.

Links:
A list of compatible Sony Ericsson Phones
A comprehensive review

Posted by Fox on June 16, 2007 at 3:05 PM

Normally, you have to be Brad Pitt to walk around with Angelina Jolie all day. NOT ANY MORE! Not with these free Angelina Jolia mobile themes for your cell phone / mobile phone.

There are 3 Angelina Jolie mobile themes to choose from, this is my fave.

Get your free Angelina Jolie mobile themes here.

Posted by Fox on June 16, 2007 at 2:06 PM

Spotted this interesting piece by Derrick Story over at O'Reilly regarding his use of his camera phone.

"Most of us have camera phones. A few of us use them. I have a practical application for your smartphone that’s bound to help you at least once: Use your camera phone to photograph your parking locations in a gigantic garages so you don’t lose your car."

"I started doing this a while back, and suddenly became enamored with some of the images stored on my phone. I started adding a little creativity to the recording of parking spaces, and then it dawned on me that this could be an interesting community endeavor. So I’ve started the Park by the Numbers Camera Phone Project."

This got me to thinking about my own obsession regarding camera phones and car parks. It started in 2004 after I'd just purchased a swanky new sports car. Whenever I parked it in a public car park I'd take photos of the cars next to it as I was walking away, just in case I returned to find a scratch on it.

Quite what I'd do if I found a scratch, I have no idea. I guess it just made me feel better knowing I'd know who had done it. Sort of.

My obession stopped when Michelle complained that I never took photo's of her whenever I left her someone public. You know, in case someone scratched her :)

So what quirky use do you have your camera phone? Use the comments link/form below to share it.

Posted by Fox on June 14, 2007 at 8:11 PM

Glu, a prominent mobile game developer has launched a Transformers mobile game, based very loosely I suspect, on the Transformers Movie.

Battle as OPTIMUS PRIME and fight DECEPTICONS across the world. Change from robot to vehicle and use special weapons in combat. Help the AUTOBOTS find the Allspark - the true source of power!

Game Features:

• Play as OPTIMUS PRIME and convert from vehicle to robot with special weapons
• Battle DECEPTICONS across multiple levels as you search for the Allspark
• Locate IRONHIDE ™ and RATCHET ™ to aid OPTIMUS PRIME in the fight
• A unique and robust combat system never seen before on mobile

Check out the mobile game and try the free demo here

Posted by Fox on June 14, 2007 at 7:23 PM

Not long until Harry Potter & The Order of The Phoenix hits the cinema, and there's a great Harry Potter free mobile theme available for your cell phone.

It's available for most recent handsets and totally free to download to your PC, and then transfer to your cell phone via bluetooth, a memeory card or a data cable.

Get the Free Harry Potter Mobile Theme here.

See Also : Harry Potter Mobile Game

Posted by Fox on June 13, 2007 at 1:00 PM

There's a new bingo game just been released for mobile phones. The mobile game download is available free for most java enabled mobile phones. There are prizes and cash up for grabs 24 hours a day.

You can try the Bingo out for free as they give you a 'strip' to play with when you download the free mobile game. If you get hooked, you can purchase addition strips via your mobile phone bill, using your credit/debit card or with vouchers purchased in your local shop.

This offer is for U.K. mobile phone users only. Visit hereisrussell.com for info and the free download.

Posted by Fox on June 11, 2007 at 5:21 PM

With iTunes now making DRM free music available for all mobile devices such as cell phones and mobile phone (article here), this is a cool offer from Duracell batteries.

Promotional packs contain a code that that you redeem through your iTunes account. It'll give you a single credit for your free iTunes song that you can now put on your mobile phone or cell phone.

Offer ends 1st April 2008. Visit duracell.com/itunes (a nice looking site)

Source : doipod.com

Posted by Fox on June 11, 2007 at 5:13 PM

The recent roll out of DRM free music on iTunes is great news for cell phone amd mobile phone users. Starting with EMI artists such as Cold Play, David Bowie and The Rolling Stones, you can now purchase a song and download it to ALL of your mobile music devices.

Previously all songs purchased on iTunes incorporated DRM (Digital Rights Management) that meant you could only install the song on your iPod.

Not only that, but the new DRM free music is a much higher quality. These DRM free songs cost a little more than the DRM version (30 cents / 20 pence), but that's the price of having a song on multiple MP3 players, Mobile Phones, and Cell Phones.

I have an iPod and iTunes account. When I logged in it gave me the option to upgrade my existing songs to the DRM free version. Obviously it only does this if there is a DRM free version available.

Worth noting that's it's not all good news. The higher quality songs are a bigger file size, so you'll end up with fewer songs on your cell phone due to memory restrictions.

Check out iTunes

Posted by Fox on June 11, 2007 at 2:04 PM

I'm really liking the emerging Free Mobile Games Networks. Up until now, nearly all free mobile games sites have been on a subscription basis, where you sign up to get a free game and then find yourself billed weekly or monthly for access to another "free mobile game". Hmm, not really free is it?

It was a natural progression for some smart arse to get the idea of offering free mobile games to mobile gamers, that contained a small advertisement. You get the mobile game free in return for looking at a advertisement that's built in to the mobile game.

There are 4 parties involved in the arrangement.
1st: The Provider. The web/WAP site from which you download the free mobile games.
2nd: The Mobile Game Developer. The company that created and coded the mobile game.
3rd: The Advertiser. The company that pays to have the ad placed in the game, in the hope of having you buy or use their product or service.
4th: You, the mobile gamer. Arguably the most important of the four.

Normally, whenever you buy a mobile game the provider passes a fee to the mobile game developer. This can be as high as 75% of the purchase price. The provider simply scrapes a small commission for each mobile game sold.

With the Advertising Supported Free Mobile Games, the provider still pays the mobile game developer a fee for each game you download, but instead of YOU paying for it, the provider has sold ad space in the game. The provider uses this money to pay the developer.

So the developer still gets their fee for creating the game, the provider still gets to scrape off a small commission for each free mobile game downloaded, and you get to play the game.

Advertisers Getting a Bum Deal?
Of all those involved I think the advertiser is one that gets the bum deal. The ads in the free mobile games are usually nothing more that an image/splash screen that shows up at the beginning and at the end of the game.

Due to current technical restrictions, these ads offer no engagement to you the mobile gamer. There's no button or link to click if you're interested in what they have to offer. It's just a line of text that says "go to www.blah.com".

Worse still is that there is little feedback for the advertiser. Sure they know how many people downloaded the free mobile game containing their ad, but there's currently no acceptable way for the advertiser to measure the success of the ad.

Understand that the mobile game developer usually has a back catalog of mobile games they have developed and simply hands these over to the provider on a disk. It's the provider that inserts the ad in to the mobile game code, and it's not rocket science to add a splash screen at the beginning and the end of a mobile game.

For this to continue to grow and succeed, the ads need to offer a return on investment to the advertiser. The only way this will be achieved is with more interactivity for the mobile gamer and more measurement for the advertiser.

So, where's it heading?

Well at the very least I think we'll see more ads appearing through out the mobile game, at the end of each level for example. We'll see an option to visit the advertisers WAP site in the game options.

There are plenty of ways in which you the mobile gamer can be engaged. Prizes from the advertiser for top score tournaments. Unlock codes for new levels that you can only get from the advertisers web site. All of these are possible right now, it's just a matter of time.

One thing is for sure, the mobile game developers are going to to start building these features in to their games.

to be continued...

Posted by Fox on June 6, 2007 at 3:21 PM

FreeBe.tv is a free mobile TV service available in the UK. The service currently offers 29 mobile TV channels covering Music, cartoons, Comedy, Sport, News and Culture.

The free service is available on select Nokia, LG, Sanyo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola mobile phones. Specifically all mobile phones with a media player that streams video.

Currently the free mobile TV channels are only available on contract tariffs on T-Mobile, Orange and Vodafone. I advise that you have GPRS data tariff included in your plan or you'll get be charged and arm and a leg by your network.

There are no hidden charges for the Mobile TV channels, the service is supported by advertising. You simply sign up and they'll send you a link to their wap site from which you stream the channels at your leisure.

Strictly speaking this more of a mobile video download service than mobile TV. You're not actually receiving a signal to view the mobile TV channels (that's a couple of years away). Instead you're streaming a pre-recorded file to your mobile phone everytime you watch one of the channels, but you'll not find a better offering or introduction to Mobile TV than FreeBe.tv.

Check it out at freebe.tv/, let me know what you think of it using the comments button/form.

Posted by Fox on June 5, 2007 at 11:51 AM

PayPlay.fm, a store selling more than 1.3 million indie music tracks for mobile and MP3 player, with a search engine that allows you to search for your fave artists and get similar indie artists in the catalog.

Previous to this PayPlay sold only DRM-crippled WMAs for $0.77, the MP3s sell for $0.88. I guess that we could take that as a tacit admission that DRM makes music worth less, but it does seem a little weird to charge a premium for music that doesn't treat you like a crook.

The service says that this reflects the cost of retooling to host MP3s instead of WMAs.

via: Boing

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 5:43 PM

Well not really, but you may fool one or two of your friends with this neat mobile download that's nothing more than a cleverly animated mobile wallpaper that you download to your cell phone.

The UK version won't fool anyone though, because the cell phone numbers that appear on the 'radar' are in the wrong format. A shame, but judge for yourself.

[Update - This product is no longer available]

UK mobile phone users click here to see it in action.

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 5:03 PM

Celldorado have launched 3 great fun sounds, a nice alternative to either your ringtone or your text alert.

There's sound of 'Scratching a Chalkboard' that put everyone's teeth on edge. An 'Electric Shaver' and my personal favorite... "The Low Battery" that plays a standard ringtone with effect of a fying battery. Fun stuff.

They've actually launched 4, but the last one is a 'Silent Ringtone' - They lost me on that one. I don't get it.

[These ringtones are no longer available]

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 4:02 PM

Bling Ring offers the ultimate in cell phone bling with their DIY crystal kits for cell phones.

Each kits uses genuine Swarovski Crystals, and all the stuff you'll need to take your cell phone bland to bling in just a few hours. Kits start at $10.

They also offer a total VIP service. Send them your cell phone and they'll bling it for you, using your own custom design. The VIP service costs $295.

Check it out at http://www.myblingring.com/crystal-studded-cell-phone.asp

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 2:08 PM

This SMS text section of The Thumb Lounge will be easy to keep up to date because of my SMS text blog. I'm constantly being emailed with details of the latest fun sms text service to hit the interweb.

As always, your really welcome to use the 'Comments button/form' to let me know of any cool SMS text stuff I'm missing. I'll make sure it gets featured for other Thumb Lounger readers.

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 1:54 PM

Of all the cell phone bling you can get for your mobile phone, I think ringtones is my least favorite.

Sure everyone loves their own ringtone, but when someone else's ringtone goes off, I can't help but mutter "wanker" under my breath. Come on, admit, I'm not alone :)
    
Despite my loathing of ringtones, I'll do my best to keep this ringtone section rolling along.

As always, your really welcome to use the 'Comments button/form' to let mne know where you're getting your ringtones and what the quality is like. I'll make sure it gets featured for other Thumb Lounger readers.

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 1:46 PM

I'm not sure that mobile video clips requires its own section in The Thumb Lounge, but lets see how we get on.

As always, your really welcome to use the 'Comments button/form' to let me know of any mobile video clips that you've come across. I'll make sure it gets featured for other Thumb Lounger readers.

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 1:44 PM

Now, mobile TV and mobile movies for cell phones are the two most exciting cell phone developments for me.

Already you can download 'catch ups' of top TV shows and it won't be long before we'll be watching streamed and live TV of our cell phones. Can't wait!

I'll be hunting down the best mobile TV stuff and giving you the heads up.

As always, your really welcome to use the 'Comments button/form' to let me know of any mobile TV that you've come across. I'll make sure it gets featured for other Thumb Lounger readers.

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 1:40 PM

So I'm not talking ringtones here, nope. This is the full track MP3's you can download to the latest cell phones.

Using my cell phone as an MP3 player is fairly new to me as I'm still a huge fan of my iPod. But I do keep my current top 10 fave's loaded up.

I'll be hunting down the best cell phone music and giving you the heads up.

As always, your really welcome to use the 'Comments button/form' to let me know of any mobile music that you've come across. I'll make sure it gets featured for other Thumb Lounger readers.

Posted by Fox on June 4, 2007 at 1:37 PM

Now, mobile Movies and mobile TV for cell phones are the two most exciting cell phone developments for me.

I can't imagine ever being inclined to watch a full length movie on my cell phone, but getting my hands on the latest blockbuster trailer will be cool.

This'll be an interestiung section to wqork on, I'll be hunting down the best cell phone movies stuff and giving you the heads up.

As always, your really welcome to use the 'Comments button/form' to let me know of any mobile movies that you've come across. I'll make sure it gets featured for other Thumb Lounger readers.

Posted by Fox on June 3, 2007 at 10:27 PM

Let's face it, aside from getting a new skin for your cell phone, there's little you can do to make your cell phone stand out in a crowd. But a cool wallpaper or screensaver on your mobile phone can make you the envy of all your friends (or a laughing stock, depending on your choice of wallpaper).

I suspect celebrity mobile wallpapers are the most popular, closely followed by personal pic's taken with a camera phone.

Anyway, I'll be hunting down the best cell phone graphics and giving you the heads up.

As always, your really welcome to use the 'Comments button/form' to let me know of any mobile wallpapers that have got you hot and bother under the collar. I'll make sure it gets featured for other Thumb Lounger readers.