• New Media Age, Sunday, August 8, 2010 10:58 PM

News Corp is trying to offload its mobile businesses, collectively know as Fox Mobile Group, after stating it was a loss-making venture. The planned sell-off would include Jamba, the company behind the Crazy Frog ringtone, which News Corp bought for an estimated $388m in 2008 and now operates under the Jamster brand, reports New Media Age.

Fox Mobile Group was formed in an attempt by News Corp to leverage the mobile distribution rights of its entertainment brands, such as "The Simpsons." However, repeated attempts to launch a Hulu-like VOD service for smartphone users have yet to be successful.

However, on the game front, video games retailer Game has launched a transactional mobile site that lets users download games directly to their mobile phones. Game will bill users for their downloads by adding the fees directly to their mobile phone bill using premium SMS messages, and has appointed mobile content distributor Zed Group to develop the site.

Paul Howes, Game general manager of digital, said, "We recognise that gaming on the mobile device is a significant area of growth and we are bringing our expertise to the sector, seeing it as fundamental to our developing multi-channel proposition," he added.

Read the whole story at New Media Age »