Cellular News is reporting that Italian Mobile Operator Wind has started to offer SIM cards, which have an embedded DVD optical disc in the plastic (credit card sized) holder than typically is used to deliver them when new (see pic).

The cards are supplied by Gemalto, and will be used by Wind to allow wireless Internet access from a PC. The idea is that subs use the SIM in their phone, connect their device to their PC, and then insert the card to run up the software on it. The software installs the necessary drivers, and user guides on the disc make life simpler for the end-user.

All in all, not a bad idea – efficient, and probably worthwhile. I’ve used these discs before and they store about 50Mb from memory, so a reasonable amount of data can be delivered.

….Smart Video Card replaces heavy and costly user and service guides – the usual tools for content promotion. It is environment-friendly, since subscribers use the card body as a DVD instead of throwing it away once they have extracted the SIM card.

Oh yes, and there is an environmental angle too.

[Via: Cellular news]

So, here’s the Friday Quiz, kinda courtesy of Sony, of who emailed me to let me know the trailer of Quantum of Solace is now available for viewing….

I say kinda, because it’s actually my question, based on Mobile Devices. So, in Casino Royale the device of the day was a Silver Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) K800i. Interestingly it was outfitted with a ton of extra cool stuff, including a new UI, and various other GPS/Radar features, if memory serves.

But what the device that we are going to see in-frame for QoS? Hint: we’ve mentinoned it before on IntoMobile…. but if you are a real device freak, you’ll be able to piece together manufacturer, film, and device, and the model number should literally jump up and poke you in the eye! Answers on a comment-card please…..

By the way, you can see the new Bond film trailer here.

We’ve known the Omnia has been coming for some time – we’ve even seen the Ads in the sunday newspaper today – but what is the total cost of all that marketing and advertising in the UK? Well, according to Mobile News, we now have an answer……

….. and the answer is nearly £5m!

The Omnia has come at somewhat an awkward time, in so much as the established competition (a certain Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) device) is selling like the proverbial ‘hotcakes’, and other newcomers such as the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N96, and Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Xperia are looming on the horizon.

So it would appear Samsung is going to address this by dumping a ton of cash in to making sure that everyone and his mate knows about this device! Oh, and the global marketing campaign is going to hit around £24m, just in case you were wondering.

In the UK at least, Samsung has qualified their spend to say it covers advertising in the press, online, and also outdoor (in ‘the street’ so to speak), but no TV Ads. So I think once it is done, we are all going to be pretty aware of this touch-based smartphone….

I’ve still got to wonder though – does that UI layer that Samsung have added to WinMo really make it competitive with the iPhone’s native UI? Best get myself down the local mobile shop and find out!!

[Via: mobilenewscwp.co.uk]

IBC 2008 is coming (very) soon to the RAI exhibition centre in Amsterdam. Great, you think, why should I care? Well, IBC is an entertainment industry exhibition and conference. And given part of that industry is “mobilised”, then there are going to be a large number of mobile companies there, showing their wares.

Specifically, the “Mobile Zone” is full of Mobile TV and video providers, and if last years show was anything to go by, a hotbed of activity.

If you fancy going, check out the opening dates/times below, and then go to the IBC website to sort yourself out a ticket!

IBC returns to the RAI Centre in Amsterdam, with the conference opening on 11 September and the exhibition running from 12 to 16 September 2008.

The exhibition opens to visitors at the following times:

• Friday 12 September 12.00-18.00 hrs
• Saturday, 13 September 09.30-18.00 hrs
• Sunday 14 September 09.30-18.00 hrs
• Monday 15 September 09.30-18.00 hrs
• Tuesday 16 September 09.30-16.00 hrs

Exhibitors will have access from 08.00 hrs each open day of the show

www.ibc.org both captures all the information from last year’s event and will chart the progress towards the next. As we have information to share, so our electronic newsletters will keep you up to date with the build-up to IBC2008. We look forward to seeing you there.

Gee, those guys at Motorola (NYSE: MOT) sure are good – they mail to let me know that you can win an E8 device from them, through a promotion they are partnering with Last.Fm on.

So, if you’re not already a Last.fm user then go and check it out and create a profile for yourself. Tell us which track Motorola should use for their next ROKR phone launch and you could win a MOTOROKR™ E8!

The comp can be found here.

The E8 is a nice little phone, and has a thumping ad campaign behind it (type motorola rokr e8 advert in to YouTube and you can watch it) – so well worth a go to win it!

I’ve been a fan of O2 (NYSE: TEF) for a while in respect of their Marketing efforts, and turning the Millenium Dome in to a desirable venue was no mean feat. Justin Timberlake was awesome on a different level when he played there, and so it’s with great pleasure I can report that Kanye West is coming to the O2 (again) in November.

Kanye’s latest album has been a masterclass in how to lace high-quality lyrics with phat sampled beats, and his live show is variously reported as being stunning. So get your interweb-clicking fingers on the mouse button and check out here for pre-order of tickets. Nice!

O2 has announced that it is continuing it’s sponsorship of the England Ruby team for another four years – this will mean it will run beyond the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The deal is worth about £4 million per season, and run to 31st August 2012.

O2 (NYSE: TEF) is promising it’s customers more player access, and more unique mobile content also – as an O2 customer myself, I can’t wait! Come on England!!

[Via: Mobile Choice UK]

Carphone Warehouse Chief Exec Andrew Harrison recently called for sensible marketing of mobile phones to kids, according to Mobile News. Unfortuntely, it doesn’t appear he has much backing, as Child safety organisations wouldn’t back him, and the industry at large didn’t have anything to say in support either.

Harrison said last month the industry should take a “responsible attitude” towards the increasing number of children using mobile phones by marketing targeted products to them in a sensible manner.

The input from the Childrens’ Charities was that a more ethical approach would be to market to the parents, not the children. Also the charities pointed out that the safeguards for services usage needed to flow through the parents to they could control what the children are seeing.

Interestingly, handset manufacturers didn’t support the idea of marketing to children either – despite the fact they potentially have a good amount of sales to gain:

Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) marketing director Dave Hilton said: “We do not target children and do not promote phones to under 16s. We recognise teenagers use phones, but we have adopted the ethical policy not to target them. If it is found that there is an increasing market appetite and we believe there are no ethical implications at that time then we would consider targeting under 16s.”

And finally, even the (other) retail channels don’t appear to be in agreement with Carphone:

A Phones 4U spokesperson said: “Whilst it is clear the use of mobile phones by children is on the increase, we must remember that child safety is paramount. We understand there is a need in society today for more stringent controls regarding how mobiles are used by children, and the content they are able to access. However, Phones 4U’s core target market are 16-24 year-olds, and so all of its marketing efforts are focused on reaching those over the age of 16.”

Apart from the input from SE and Phones4U, other companies in the Mobile ecosystem largely refused to comment. Personally, I’m not surprised, given the sensitiviy of the issue. Where children are concerned, there need to exist extra levels of protection to make sure that Mobile devices don’t become a targeted channel for all the less than savoury elements out there, in whatever forms they may come.

[Via: mobilenewscwp.co.uk]

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) has now started it’s marketing push for a public beta of 3G telephony services, hinting that full deployment may be available soon after that little sporting event called the Olympics!

As we’ve reported on before, the dominant tecnology for 3G in China is not going to be the otherwise globally-accepted WCDMA, but in fact China’s homegrown TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access).

TD-SCDMA was developed as part of a larger Chinese effort to create technology standards that would not require the payment of royalties to foreign patent holders. It is not compatible with any other 3G standard, and China’s carriers have not indicated they will support any other 3G standard. However, given the size of China’s domestic mobile market — about 550 million users — even 10 percent penetration would give TD-SCDMA more users than in many nations.

This latest advancement in trialling comes after 3 years of trials, in which various sample groups and technologies have been tested. There are six handsets involved in the current trial:

• Dopod s700
• Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s l800t
• Haixin T66
• LG KD876
• Lenovo (OTCPK: LNVGY)’s TD800
• Samsung i688

Interestingly, the i688 is one of 4 models that Samsung gave to the “Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG)” for use during the Olympics next month – Samsung is also an official sponsor. Overall, 15,000 devices have been supplied – clearly there is a massive P.O. (purchase order) if Samsung is selected as a key provider, so what’s 15K devices between friends!?

[Via: PCworld.com]

 The Mobile Marketing Association has released a Global Code of Conduct – the aim being to help companies use mobile for marketing, whilst protecting consumers. This latest release updates the 2007 document, and contains five categories:

• Notice
• Choice & Consent
• Customisation & Constraint
• Security
• Enforcement & Accountability

I’m all up for this sort of more stringent control, anything to protect us end-users from being spammed, hassled, called, and texted by dodgy companies offering various “once in a liftetime” opportunities!

[Via: Mobile-Ent.biz]