SurfKitchen » mobilegroove

Regular readers will know I rave about EContent magazine, where I am a Contributing Editor and regular columnist. I am proud to say some of my best work has been for EContent, inspired by the vision and dedication of Michelle Manafy, EContent editor-in-chief and expert commentator on a range of issues impacting the content industry at all levels. I encourage you to add the site to your list of must-read destinations. Why? Many of the business models and businesses driving revenues in the Internet are coming soon to mobile. (Search engines and collaborative software companies lead the pack of companies moving out of stealth mode to make some serious waves.) Amidst this change I know of no better source than EContent to stay that extra-important step ahead of the game. (I will therefore give EContent a top-notch spot in the new-look Knowledge Sharing Zone I wrote about in this earlier post. The goal is to create a comprehensive list of valuable resources and destinations. If you would like your site or blog to be considered, please email it to me (peggy@msearchgroove.com). As part of the recent Buying and Selling eContent conference, Michelle invited experts and contributors who judged the EContent 100, to give their views on the companies and trends that matter. Michelle reports that the series of video interviews got good reviews, and the content in them was "extremely well received."

Regular readers will recall that MSG has partnered with bnetTV to cover industry events such as CTIA and, more recently, Mobile World Congress (MWC). The team did an awesome job, producing 200+ interviews. I focused on analysis, and conducted some 20 interviews with senior executives at companies including abphone, BuzzCity, Movius, Gracenote, Mob4Hire, GyPSii, AdMob, BuddyMob, Gigafone, BubbleMotion, Visto, JumpTap, and SurfKitchen (in no particular order). From JumpTap's mobile advertising strategy, to Gracenote's new music search and share features, to SurfKitchen's widget launch, the video interviews are a valuable knowledge resource. Today marks the debut of these new segments on the MSG video jukebox (located in the right-hand sidebar). This week's focus, and feature video in the player, is my interview with Shane Lennon, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Product Development at GyPSii, a must-watch company leading in the race to deliver connected and cool experiences combining information, entertainment, social networks, and location/navigation. In our interview we connect the dots in the recent string of announcements and discuss the significance for brands and advertisers. Indeed, it's the raft of announcements over the last weeks -- including a partnership to embed GyPSii's app on a range of LG mobile phones; the tie-up with Nokia and RIM (blackberry) to make the app available on a wide variety of their devices; and a wise decision launch an open API (allowing partners to call the shots on how they integrate GyPSii into their mobile strategy and devices) - that speaks volumes about the company's new and stronger focus. My take: GyPSii has both the ideas and the impetus to impact our mobile lifestyles. In addition to the interview and my analysis (below), I also encourage you to read more about GyPSii in my regular column for the bnetTV newsletter, which counts some 10,000 readers. For all my coverage and columns in one place, check out this page on the bnetTV site dedicated to MSG news and views. Thanks again to bnetTV's Michelle and Tony Sklar for promoting MSG to their growing audience of industry executives and professionals, and to Nicole Scott for bringing it all together in some great brainstorming sessions!

Regular readers will recall that I write columns and commentary for a wide range of sites and publications including MobiAdNews and (beginning in the New Year) Mobile Marketer and RCR Wireless (Analyst Angle). However, it is my collaboration with Michelle Manafy, my editor, esteemed colleague and friend at EContent magazine, that has allowed me to not only analyze trends and companies that matter, but recognize leaders in mobile impacting the industry at all levels. Congratulations are in order for the four new (mobile) additions to the EContent100: ChangingWorlds, CrispWireless JumpTap, MCN and SurfKitchen. They join other movers and shakers that made the list including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Nokia and Twitter.

The advance of the mobile Web and the growing popularity of Internet destinations on mobile phones give importance to the mobile browser and anticipate another impending battle for the control of the user experience.Are browsers the new application framework, as this post from GigaOm suggests? It argues – in my view, quite convincingly – that “browsers, plus the right downloads such as Flash or Silverlight, will drive the consumer experience more than the OS.” The po…