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CTIA: Nokia Diving Into Mobile Content
The mobile phone maker is teaming with the creator of NBC's HEROES to launch a multiplatform, interactive project involving geotagging, social networking, and user-generated content.
By Marin Perez
InformationWeek
April 2, 2009 10:15 AM
The world's largest cell phone manufacturer said it knows it won't be able to maintain its market leadership by simply focusing on hardware, and it's bolstering its software to offer a more immersive experience driven by location and Internet-based services.
Part of Nokia (NYSE: NOK)'s efforts will be realized through applications, and the company is readying its own virtual store to compete with Apple's App Store, the Android Market, and Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM)'s just-launched BlackBerry App World. Nokia wants to differentiate its wares by including location data and social networking aspects. For example, if a user agrees to the presence tracked, the store will recognize where they are and dynamically present apps that would have relevance to that location.
But the company has larger ambitions than just being an app distributor. It wants to leverage the capabilities of a mobile phone to provide a new and compelling experience. Nokia is teaming with Tim Kring, creator of NBC's HEROES, to create a multiplatform, interactive storytelling project code-named TEVA.
Kring is intentionally vague about what the project will be, as he believes holding back some elements will add to the narrative. The project will be rolled out regionally this summer and likely will involve geotagging, social networking, user-generated content, and professionally made videos.
"It's a very real-world idea," said Kring. "We are trying to invent a new genre here."
Users may have gotten a taste of what will be involved with TEVA. Nokia released a beta program that uses recognition software to make a phone's camera bring up relevant information on real-life objects. For example, if a user pointed a camera at a movie poster, the Point & Find program would use Internet connectivity, image processing, and location data to bring up content such as a movie trailer, or directions to the nearest theater.
The Point & Find software is an open platform that Nokia hopes other developers, advertisers, and content makers will exploit. It's available for download from Nokia's Web site for select handsets such as the N95.
The cell phone manufacturing giant said this new generation of mobile content will be best used if developers integrate location data. The company said a platform built with users' location information, mobile Internet connectivity, and rich applications can lead to a "virtual world" that ties into the user's real life and enhances the mobile experience.
"That's why we spent $8 billion on Navteq," said Anssi Vanjaki, executive VP of markets, at a roundtable discussion. "It wasn't just to provide maps or directions. Imagine 1 billion mobile phones contributing their location, and then what types of databases and services can be derived from that."
The company's vision of this next generation of mobile software probably will not be achieved until the next generation of wireless broadband is rolled out, and data prices go down. Nokia said it can see Long Term Evolution networks blanketing most of the major regions by 2015, and predicts a new era of how customers interact with and use their cell phones. Because the majority of wireless carriers are backing LTE for 4G networks, some Nokia members don't give WiMax much of a chance.
"WiMax is going to wind up like Betamax," Vanjaki said.
It's kinda different, 'cuz it seems to be an idea which places Kring outside of his "element" or comfort zone (wasn't he a writer for Knight Rider, Misfits of Science and Teen Wolf Too before creatin' Crossing Jordan, Strange World and HEROES?); seems more like something that Grunberg or Jesse Alexander would do, especially when ya check out Alexander's thoughts at his blog about the transmedia approach.The mobile phone maker is teaming with the creator of NBC's HEROES to launch a multiplatform, interactive project involving geotagging, social networking, and user-generated content.
By Marin Perez
InformationWeek
April 2, 2009 10:15 AM
The world's largest cell phone manufacturer said it knows it won't be able to maintain its market leadership by simply focusing on hardware, and it's bolstering its software to offer a more immersive experience driven by location and Internet-based services.
Part of Nokia (NYSE: NOK)'s efforts will be realized through applications, and the company is readying its own virtual store to compete with Apple's App Store, the Android Market, and Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM)'s just-launched BlackBerry App World. Nokia wants to differentiate its wares by including location data and social networking aspects. For example, if a user agrees to the presence tracked, the store will recognize where they are and dynamically present apps that would have relevance to that location.
But the company has larger ambitions than just being an app distributor. It wants to leverage the capabilities of a mobile phone to provide a new and compelling experience. Nokia is teaming with Tim Kring, creator of NBC's HEROES, to create a multiplatform, interactive storytelling project code-named TEVA.
Kring is intentionally vague about what the project will be, as he believes holding back some elements will add to the narrative. The project will be rolled out regionally this summer and likely will involve geotagging, social networking, user-generated content, and professionally made videos.
"It's a very real-world idea," said Kring. "We are trying to invent a new genre here."
Users may have gotten a taste of what will be involved with TEVA. Nokia released a beta program that uses recognition software to make a phone's camera bring up relevant information on real-life objects. For example, if a user pointed a camera at a movie poster, the Point & Find program would use Internet connectivity, image processing, and location data to bring up content such as a movie trailer, or directions to the nearest theater.
The Point & Find software is an open platform that Nokia hopes other developers, advertisers, and content makers will exploit. It's available for download from Nokia's Web site for select handsets such as the N95.
The cell phone manufacturing giant said this new generation of mobile content will be best used if developers integrate location data. The company said a platform built with users' location information, mobile Internet connectivity, and rich applications can lead to a "virtual world" that ties into the user's real life and enhances the mobile experience.
"That's why we spent $8 billion on Navteq," said Anssi Vanjaki, executive VP of markets, at a roundtable discussion. "It wasn't just to provide maps or directions. Imagine 1 billion mobile phones contributing their location, and then what types of databases and services can be derived from that."
The company's vision of this next generation of mobile software probably will not be achieved until the next generation of wireless broadband is rolled out, and data prices go down. Nokia said it can see Long Term Evolution networks blanketing most of the major regions by 2015, and predicts a new era of how customers interact with and use their cell phones. Because the majority of wireless carriers are backing LTE for 4G networks, some Nokia members don't give WiMax much of a chance.
"WiMax is going to wind up like Betamax," Vanjaki said.
Oh well, hope it works out.
ETA more info... From here:
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Here Comes the "Mobile Immersive Experience"
Written by Sarah Perez / April 2, 2009 8:30 AM
First there were movies, then there was TV, now prepare for the entertainment platform of the future: the "mobile immersive experience." That's actually not it's official name, but is a term that was apparently invented on the spot this week at a dinner gathering of Nokia execs, journalists, and oh yes - Tim Kring, the creator and executive producer of NBC's "HEROES." He was there to talk about NBC's first attempt at a new entertainment experience using mobile as the platform. And it's going to be nothing like anything you've ever seen before.
What's TEVA?
Thanks to Nokia's partnership with Kring, their upcoming Ovi Store (aka the Nokia App Store) is going to kick off with some of the most innovative content that has ever come to the mobile platform. Set to open in May, soon after the store will feature Kring's new project, code-named TEVA. As for what exactly TEVA will look like and what it will be about...well, details are still vague. Kring wants to make sure spoilers don't ruin the fun for the audience...or perhaps we should say "participants."
ARG Explained
What we do know, however, is that TEVA will be a combination of user-generated content and Alternate Reality Gaming (ARG). In you're unaware of what "ARG" means, it's when an interactive narrative is told using the real world as the platform. Instead of passively consuming this sort of entertainment, ARG players actively participate in it. A somewhat recent example of this is the ARG called the "Lost Experience," which launched back in 2008 as an online clue hunt developed by ABC for fans of the TV show "Lost." In this game, web sites across the net contained clues that when pieced together told a story that tied into and paralleled that of the show. Another example would be the ARG created by the band Nine Inch Nails for their "Year Zero" album. This time, the adventure started when concert goers found thumb drives in the bathrooms that contained unreleased songs and clues.
TEVA is No Ordinary ARG
So the idea of an ARG isn't an entirely new one, but using the mobile platform to play the game is. Having said that, TEVA isn't just a traditional ARG moved to the mobile platform - it only involves some elements of that type of story-telling mechanism. Another piece to this mobile experience is user-generation content. This is a new twist. In the past, ARG players would just interact with the story line - now they're going to help create it. And yet another aspect to this mobile experience will be local. Gameplay takes place in your city - not just in an application or just on the web. How exactly this happens, we don't know, but TEVA will use GPS and other location-based services in some way.
So What Do We Call This?
When we asked if there was a name for this type of entertainment, Kring said perhaps we could call it a "mobile immersive experience." It's a bit long, but it works.
Since there aren't a ton of details yet about TEVA yet, we have to use our imaginations to guess at what sort of interactions might be included. Based on some of the other discussion topics that evening, one of the possibilities that may come into play in this new mobile experience is an augmented reality application.
At the dinner, one of the Nokia execs described how we could use our mobile phones to record geo-located images and videos and tag them with specific keywords. This media could then only be accessed when you arrived in the same geo-location with your mobile phone. For example, if you showed up at the local park, you could pull up a video of your friends playing Frisbee there last week. This "mirror world," as it is being called, isn't so much an "alternate" reality, but a real one...just one that's been recorded and tagged and archived. With this, we sort of become the ghosts of ourselves.
The Possibilities are Endless
The TEVA project will initially launch in the Ovi Store while it's being developed for other mediums (iPhone? Web? This, too, is unknown.) What is known, though, is that Kring is extremely excited about the project. As a creative, he's less interested in the technical details of the technology itself - just what it can do and how he can use it to create an entirely new entertainment experience.
Kring noted that there are already mobile applications that allow you to go out into the real world and "collect clues, send things, create things, and share with other people nearby...using the locative qualities of the phone. Once you get the parameters of what these services can do," he continued, "then your imagination is the only thing that stops you...if you attach a narrative to that."
TEVA will launch this summer and will be rolled out regionally.
And there:Written by Sarah Perez / April 2, 2009 8:30 AM
First there were movies, then there was TV, now prepare for the entertainment platform of the future: the "mobile immersive experience." That's actually not it's official name, but is a term that was apparently invented on the spot this week at a dinner gathering of Nokia execs, journalists, and oh yes - Tim Kring, the creator and executive producer of NBC's "HEROES." He was there to talk about NBC's first attempt at a new entertainment experience using mobile as the platform. And it's going to be nothing like anything you've ever seen before.
What's TEVA?
Thanks to Nokia's partnership with Kring, their upcoming Ovi Store (aka the Nokia App Store) is going to kick off with some of the most innovative content that has ever come to the mobile platform. Set to open in May, soon after the store will feature Kring's new project, code-named TEVA. As for what exactly TEVA will look like and what it will be about...well, details are still vague. Kring wants to make sure spoilers don't ruin the fun for the audience...or perhaps we should say "participants."
ARG Explained
What we do know, however, is that TEVA will be a combination of user-generated content and Alternate Reality Gaming (ARG). In you're unaware of what "ARG" means, it's when an interactive narrative is told using the real world as the platform. Instead of passively consuming this sort of entertainment, ARG players actively participate in it. A somewhat recent example of this is the ARG called the "Lost Experience," which launched back in 2008 as an online clue hunt developed by ABC for fans of the TV show "Lost." In this game, web sites across the net contained clues that when pieced together told a story that tied into and paralleled that of the show. Another example would be the ARG created by the band Nine Inch Nails for their "Year Zero" album. This time, the adventure started when concert goers found thumb drives in the bathrooms that contained unreleased songs and clues.
TEVA is No Ordinary ARG
So the idea of an ARG isn't an entirely new one, but using the mobile platform to play the game is. Having said that, TEVA isn't just a traditional ARG moved to the mobile platform - it only involves some elements of that type of story-telling mechanism. Another piece to this mobile experience is user-generation content. This is a new twist. In the past, ARG players would just interact with the story line - now they're going to help create it. And yet another aspect to this mobile experience will be local. Gameplay takes place in your city - not just in an application or just on the web. How exactly this happens, we don't know, but TEVA will use GPS and other location-based services in some way.
So What Do We Call This?
When we asked if there was a name for this type of entertainment, Kring said perhaps we could call it a "mobile immersive experience." It's a bit long, but it works.
Since there aren't a ton of details yet about TEVA yet, we have to use our imaginations to guess at what sort of interactions might be included. Based on some of the other discussion topics that evening, one of the possibilities that may come into play in this new mobile experience is an augmented reality application.
At the dinner, one of the Nokia execs described how we could use our mobile phones to record geo-located images and videos and tag them with specific keywords. This media could then only be accessed when you arrived in the same geo-location with your mobile phone. For example, if you showed up at the local park, you could pull up a video of your friends playing Frisbee there last week. This "mirror world," as it is being called, isn't so much an "alternate" reality, but a real one...just one that's been recorded and tagged and archived. With this, we sort of become the ghosts of ourselves.
The Possibilities are Endless
The TEVA project will initially launch in the Ovi Store while it's being developed for other mediums (iPhone? Web? This, too, is unknown.) What is known, though, is that Kring is extremely excited about the project. As a creative, he's less interested in the technical details of the technology itself - just what it can do and how he can use it to create an entirely new entertainment experience.
Kring noted that there are already mobile applications that allow you to go out into the real world and "collect clues, send things, create things, and share with other people nearby...using the locative qualities of the phone. Once you get the parameters of what these services can do," he continued, "then your imagination is the only thing that stops you...if you attach a narrative to that."
TEVA will launch this summer and will be rolled out regionally.
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HEROES Creator Preps Nokia Project
By Mansha Daswani
Published: April 2, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO: Nokia has tapped Tim Kring, the creator of NBC's HEROES, to develop programming for its Ovi Store, which opens in May delivering content for a range of Nokia devices.
Nokia has signed on as a strategic partner and technology enabler for a project created by Kring, code named TEVA. It is being billed as an immersive multiplatform narrative. Nokia and Kring will launch the first mobile phase of the project this summer.
“Tim Kring is a Hollywood visionary and masterful storyteller who truly understands that the reach of the Ovi Store is a powerful way for millions of people around the world to experience the new forms of entertainment he is seeking to create,” said Tero Ojanperä, the executive VP of Nokia Services. “The Ovi Store will rely on great content partners, a compelling, relevant consumer experience and access to millions of Nokia devices to become an important new entertainment distribution platform.”
“The ability to extend storytelling past traditional audiences and reach millions of Nokia consumers through the Ovi Store is very exciting,” said Kring. “Mobile has reached a state of maturity where it is now a creative platform to tell, share and consume multi platform content and I intend to take full advantage of the infinite possiblities using technology and narrative.”
By Mansha Daswani
Published: April 2, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO: Nokia has tapped Tim Kring, the creator of NBC's HEROES, to develop programming for its Ovi Store, which opens in May delivering content for a range of Nokia devices.
Nokia has signed on as a strategic partner and technology enabler for a project created by Kring, code named TEVA. It is being billed as an immersive multiplatform narrative. Nokia and Kring will launch the first mobile phase of the project this summer.
“Tim Kring is a Hollywood visionary and masterful storyteller who truly understands that the reach of the Ovi Store is a powerful way for millions of people around the world to experience the new forms of entertainment he is seeking to create,” said Tero Ojanperä, the executive VP of Nokia Services. “The Ovi Store will rely on great content partners, a compelling, relevant consumer experience and access to millions of Nokia devices to become an important new entertainment distribution platform.”
“The ability to extend storytelling past traditional audiences and reach millions of Nokia consumers through the Ovi Store is very exciting,” said Kring. “Mobile has reached a state of maturity where it is now a creative platform to tell, share and consume multi platform content and I intend to take full advantage of the infinite possiblities using technology and narrative.”