To quote Heath Ledger as the Joker: “if you’re good at something, never do it for free.”

That seems to be the thinking of late around the corporate towers of the New York Times.

And the “joke” could very well end up on lovers of the original mobile content provided by the venerable but financially struggling newspaper.

At some point soon, it is likely that the New York Times will begin charging users to access its news coverage on mobile devices.

Until now, the popular service has been free.

Citing lost revenue opportunities, the company is eager to move forward with aggressive plans to improve the service for which they will now charge.

“Mobile offers a better opportunity for paid content,” says a NY Times executive to Bloomberg News. “For publishers to offer their content for free in the mobile platform forever without getting paid very much money, I don’t think it’s going to be tenable.”

For now at least, The New York Times mobile content is available free of charge on the Apple iPhone.

Share This

A major lawsuit is rocking the mobile world.

ASCAP, a performance rights organization abbreviated for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, isn’t happy with AT&T.

The organization claims that the ringtones supported by AT&T violates performance and copyright law when they are played in public.

As a result, ASCAP has filed suit against AT&T.

Although mobile carriers and content providers pay songwriters and music copyright owners a license fee to carry the downloadable ringtones, ASCAP contends it isn’t enough and that additional royalties are due.

Now.

The legal eagles are weighing in on both sides at this hour. And while it isn’t clear exactly what will happen, it’s unlikely that consumers will be deprived of their beloved ring tones as a result of the suit.

After all, if we want to listen to “Ice Ice Baby” when we’re in the middle of grocery shopping and our mom calls, that’s our prerogative entirely.

Not that I would know anything about that.

Share This

Nothing says international travel like National Geographic.

Without question, the recent announcement from the venerable brand is likely a welcome development for cosmopolitan country-hoppers.

National Geographic is rolling out what has been dubbed “the National Geographic Duet Travel Phone,” which is designed specifically for “the needs of the international traveler.”

According to the announcement, the new handset supports two SIM cards and offers additional features useful for travelers: Bluetooth, a camera, FM radio, television and 1GB storage card.

As expected, the Duet comes packed with National Geographic content like ringtones, wallpapers and travel-related videos from the National Geographic Channel.

In case you were wondering, the Duet also includes National Geographic’s pay-as-you-go National Geographic Travel SIM card, allowing affordable calling in 185 countries, free incoming calls in more than 80 countries and 30 minutes of outgoing call credit (for most countries). Users have the option of inserting another SIM card in the phone and having a secondary number and service.

There’s no question that the Duet is cool and convenient. But will a National Geographic product catch on with most young travelers who don’t equate National Geographic with much of anything considered “cool”?

Only time will tell.

For now, the National Geographic Travel Phone is available online through CellularAbroad.com, Amazon.com, Expansys-usa.com and other select retailers.

Share This

Amazon.com search subsidiary A9 has scooped up SnapTell, a company, as we all know, that allows mobile users to take photos of products or advertisements to get special deals or more product info.

Although no dollar amount was ascribed to the acquisition, the development can prove quite valuable to SnapTell users, particularly those who download the application to their iPhone and then use their phone camera to snap a picture of an advertisement or a product and then send it to SnapTell in return for a variety of information about the product or the company that produces it.

SnapTell also has a database of “millions” of pictures of DVD, CD, book and video game covers. When end-users snap a photo of a cover and send it to SnapTell, they get information back about prices for the product at stores.

Looking to build upon their popularity, SnapTell is now taking their brand one step further.

“One of the most heard requests was how we could integrate better with Amazon’s fabulous shopping experience,” SnapTell said in a public commentary regarding the acquisition. “We should be able to do so pretty well now.”

Amazon created A9 in 2003 to develop search technologies, including Search Inside The Book, which lets users search for a book by character names or even obscure phrases.

SnapTell fits with A9 like a glove.

For more information, check out www.snaptell.com

Share This

On Friday, FLO TV will debut on the small screen.

But it’s a small screen that’s bigger than the smaller screen they’re famous for.

This Friday, Qualcomm’s mobile broadcast subsidiary FLO TV will expand its service nationally.

It’s a move that’s been in the making for quite some time, one that comes hand in hand with
DTV transition, which provides the the broadband spectrum vital for the FLO mobile TV network.

As it stands, FLO TV will reach 39 new domestic markets with a potential audience of 200 million everywhere from Boston to San Francisco.

And that’s just the beginning.

By the end of this year, FLO TV is expected to see the light of day in at least one hundred markets.

As you may recall, FLO TV had no choice but to postpone its national debut after federal lawmakers delayed the switch to DTV from Feb. 17 to June 12.

The big moment is finally upon us.

Share This

The new Opera Mobile 9.7 beta has a lot of people talking and taking further attention away from competitor Safari, which lost its edge in the worldwide lead in mobile web browsing last month.

Now, Opera is aiming to “accelerate the mobile browsing experience” for Windows Mobile-based phones.

What it all boils down to is speed, fitting with the theme of Opera’s recently launched technology for faster surfing called Opera Turbo. Basically, the Opera Mobile 9.7 beta features a mobile version of Opera Turbo. Read the rest

Share This

Palm, once king of all handhelds, released its highly-anticipated Pre smartphone–the first to be powered by the company’s new webOS operating system–over the weekend to rave reviews. But it’s not the twittering (or Twittering) of tech reviewers that caught my eye. I was struck by what Palm Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein told Reuters:

“‘For us, the opportunity is not to take customers away from RIM or Apple,’ but rather to entice users of lower-level cell phones to upgrade to a more powerful smartphone.”

In other words, the Pre–not the Blackberry Storm, nor the next version of the iPhone expected to be announced this morning–could commoditize smartphones. This may ensure once and for all that mobile marketing (from SMS to mobile Web ads) is the essential way to reach consumers. Read the rest

Share This