- Fortune, Friday, September 15, 2006 11:18 AM
News Corp. bought a majority stake in Jamba, a company that sells ringtones, screensavers and other mobile-phone personalization material. But analysts are split as to whether this is any kind of big
deal; Jupiter Research analyst David Card says ringtones are "like, so 2004." This deal is more about distribution than anything else. Teamed with MySpace, Jamba can now easily circumvent one of the
problems plaguing mobile content providers: wireless carriers' walled garden of content. Today, if you want to play a game or a video clip on a cell phone, the easiest way to get that content is to
scroll through a menu provided by your wireless carrier. Mobile companies compete for top billing on those screens, called "decks." Some 75 percent of mobile content in the U.S. is purchased directly
from these decks, which are controlled by the carriers. That means wireless content isn't as easy to surf through on your mobile phone as the Internet. With Jamba--called Jamster here in the
States--users text a number to the company requesting a ringtone or other piece of content, bypassing the search for what you want on those annoying decks. No need to go through the carriers, which is
huge. The obvious MySpace tie-in is that users will be able to download content directly to their phones from the Web site. Again, no need to go through the carriers. Say you're watching a Fox show on
your phone, like "The Simpsons," and all of a sudden a little ad appears in the corner telling you to text in a number for Simpsons-related wallpaper or a soundbyte or a ringtone. You get the idea.
Getting off-deck is the start of a trend to free up mobile content, which has been held back by the control of the carriers. Carriers don't really lose out because they get a cut of any sales that
occur over their network.
Read the whole story at Fortune »
