Leading UK-Based Carrier Drives Adoption of Innovative Mobile Lifestyle Utilities
- 3’s 15 million worldwide subscribers can now easily discover ShoZu’s service
on the 3neXt site, review user comments and ratings
LONDON- ShoZu Inc. announced today that its one-click mobile-to-Web image uploading
service for mobile phones is among a handful of applications featured on 3neXt
(www.next.three.com and http://3next.mobi for mobile access), a new mobile applications
community website from mobile operator 3. The site is designed to aid consumers
in finding innovative mobile lifestyle applications that fit 3’s focus on mobilising
the Internet, as reflected in 3’s X-Series phones introduced last year.
3’s 15 million worldwide subscribers can now easily discover ShoZu’s service
on the 3neXt site, review user comments and ratings, and click through to www.ShoZu.com
to download the ShoZu application on their X-Series phones free of charge. 3’s
X-Series pricing structure provides mobile data services for a flat fee on top
of the user’s basic subscription, enabling consumers to use ShoZu’s service to
send images to their preferred Web communities as part of the X-Series flat-fee
package without additional upload and download charges.
ShoZu’s media service is one of seven third-party mobile applications being spotlighted
in the launch of 3neXt. Other applications showcased on the site range from the
Litefeeds RSS feed service to Vringo’s video ringtones and Map24’s mobile navigation
and mapping utility.
“3 is driving mobile media forward with its X-Series service, and their 3neXt
site will make an important contribution to that effort by allowing customers
to explore a variety of mobile applications in one location,” said Dean Wood,
ShoZu SVP Commercial. “ShoZu’s inclusion on the site will help us advance our
strategy of bringing ShoZu’s services to consumers around the world through the
leading mobile operators, handset manufacturers and media companies.”
ShoZu previously announced an agreement with 3 Austria, 3’s Austrian arm, to
provide its image uploading service as a free download from that business’s mobile
portal. ShoZu is forming agreements like these as well as arranging for pre-installation
of the ShoZu application on select carriers’ handsets to simplify consumer access
to ShoZu’s services.
ShoZu’s Share-It image uploading service enables users to upload mobile photos
and video clips to the Web with fewer clicks, larger file support, and more destination
options than any other method. Upload options currently include YouTube, Facebook
and nearly two dozen other photo sharing, social network, blogging and news desk
sites as well as any FTP or email address. Videos and photos can be uploaded at
full resolution at file sizes up to 10MB, offering support for 10-minute video
clips compared to just 30 seconds for other methods, or at a lower resolution
for blogging use. Users can also add titles or tags before or after uploading,
exchange comments between Web and phone, and automatically add location tags for
sites that support geotagging. Consumers can make phone calls or take more photos
while an image is transferring.
The company also offers ZuCasts, a media delivery service enabling select videos,
photos, music, games, news and other content to be downloaded directly to the
mobile phone at the user’s request without manual user intervention or download
downtime. ShoZu’s patented data replication technology allows files to be downloaded
invisibly in the background. ZuCasts provide the first user-friendly way for brands,
media companies and content providers to interact with their customers through
the critical mobile channel.
Benefits for carriers include patented technology that maximizes network utilization,
an open gateway that can support any number of Web communities without requiring
users to change client software, and a revenue-sharing model that provides downstream
revenue opportunities from mobile advertising as well as subscribers who sign
up for flat-rate data bundles.
ShoZu currently supports 250 Symbian, Java, Microsoft Windows Mobile-based and
BREW devices available from multiple manufacturers. The ShoZu service can also
be used with select WiFi-enabled mobile phones such as the Nokia N80 in Europe
and Dash in the U.S., permitting multimedia files to be routed over users’ home,
office or WiFi connection (or AirPort connection for Mac users) rather than the
cellular network to reduce data transport costs.
About ShoZu
ShoZu provides mobile media services that enable fast, easy exchange of multimedia
content and web-based services on mobile phones. Used by consumers in more than
90 countries, major recording artists and a variety of consumer and media companies,
ShoZu’s patented technology allows photos, videos, music, text and other digital
content to be downloaded and uploaded to and from the handset without opening
a mobile browser, waiting for pages to load, interrupting phone calls, starting
over in the event of a dropped connection, or syncing to a PC. Services include
innovative ZuCasts that deliver content to the handset automatically, one-click
uploading of photos and video clips to community websites and other destinations,
and a mobile advertising platform that provides non-intrusive and highly targeted
ad delivery. For more information, visit www.ShoZu.com/AboutUs.
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