Ad-supported mobile gaming and social networking features are a winning combination
NEW YORK, NY & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – NOVEMBER 26, 2007
Under the Radar Conference judges announced mobile gaming company Hovr won the “Judges Choice” award in the advertising category of the mobility-focused event organized by Dealmaker Media. The Under the Radar Conference took place on November 15 in Mountain View, California; showcasing applications and business practices at the forefront of the growing mobile technology market.
Each presenting company at the conference was given six minutes to sell their company’s value statement to the over 400 venture capitalists, media, executives, content developers and other industry leaders in attendance.
Awards were distributed in eight categories, including social networking, infrastructure and Hovr’s winning sector, advertising.
The sole criterion on which companies were evaluated by the panel of judges is which of the presenting companies in each sector stood the best chance of succeeding.
The three conference judges for the advertising category were:
To win the “Judges Choice” award, Hovr showcased its free mobile gaming service which offers millions of users from over 190 countries access to hundreds of ad-supported games for mobile phones; along with its MobileSpace social network.
Judges had positive feedback on the Hovr ad-supported model, and specifically liked the way the Hovr service is leveraging compelling content with social networking elements to keep game players returning to the Website again and again.
Hovr launched a new white label service earlier this month, allowing Web sites, portals and carriers worldwide to offer their users direct access to hundreds of free, ad-supported mobile games, all under their own brand.
MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS
QUOTES
Vipul Sawhney, CEO of Hovr
“The Judges Choice honor that Hovr was awarded validates the growing scope of ad-supported content, along with the value that the social networking elements of our site bring to users. Hovr aims to continue to innovate within the social gaming arena and bring to market new value added services to enhance our customers’ mobile gaming experiences. Participating in UTR allowed us to share that mission with the mobile community.”
About Hovr Inc.
Hovr is a mobile media company that marries the needs of advertisers seeking to reach the important and growing mobile demographic with the desires of mobile users wanting entertaining content and applications on their mobile phones. Hovr provides users with free ad-supported mobile content such as high-quality, fun-to-play mobile games. The Hovr MobileSpace social network lets users connect, compete and interact with their friends and other players in a compelling community environment. For more information visit www.hovr.com.
Increase brand loyalty and grow revenue with free ad-supported mobile games and social networking features
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 14, 2007
Hovr Inc. today announced the launch of Powered by Hovr, a white label mobile gaming service for mobile operators and online communities.
Through this service, consumer-oriented web sites, mobile portals and carriers worldwide can offer their users direct access to hundreds of free, highly entertaining, engaging, ad-supported mobile games, all under their own brand.
The Powered by Hovr service creates significant new revenue opportunities through enhanced entertainment choices for end users.
The Powered by Hovr white label service also offers cutting edge online and mobile social networking features.
Hovr’s social networking tools provide a whole new way for community members to connect and interact around mobile game play and the sharing of mobile content.
The value proposition is simple – users enjoy free mobile games that generate advertising revenue each time they are played.
Several Powered by Hovr communities have already begun service with excellent results.
Tanzanian-based Push Mobile and Indonesian-based mobile firm BuzzCity are providing Hovr’s free mobile games to their customers.
Push Mobile, the leading provider of mobile content in Africa, previously only offered ringtones and wallpapers to its user base but now offers customers free access to Hovr’s entire mobile games catalog, resulting in an order of magnitude increase in traffic and users.
Mobile community provider Buzzcity is also using the Powered by Hovr service for its myGamma mobile portal.
Both Hovr.com and Hovr’s MobileSpace community enjoy active participation by millions of gamers from more than 190 different countries as they download, play and enjoy Hovr’s fun, high quality, free mobile games.
“It’s a win-win solution for brands, portals, carriers and online communities of all sizes. With Powered by Hovr, our partners not only maintain control of their customer base, they protect, extend and even strengthen their brand through an expanded offering that includes free mobile games that drive new customers to their site and keep their existing customers even more engaged.”
Brian Waluchio, Marketing Manager of Push Mobile
“Offering mobile games on our own was just too complicated and cost prohibitive. We chose Hovr to provide us with its Powered by Hovr service based on the high quality gaming catalog as well as the excellent user experience gained by the use of the social networking features built around the games. The ability to grow and engage more effectively with our user base as well as generate an additional revenue stream really sets the Powered by Hovr service apart from other offerings in the mobile space.”
About Hovr Inc.
Hovr is a mobile media company that marries the needs of advertisers seeking to reach the important and growing mobile demographic with the desires of mobile users wanting entertaining content and applications on their mobile phones. Hovr provides users with free ad-supported mobile content such as high-quality, fun-to-play mobile games. The Hovr MobileSpace social network lets users connect, compete and interact with their friends and other players in a compelling community environment. For more information visit www.hovr.com.
John Chilson ([Select A Contact Type]) Mobility Public Relations +1-503-343-4133 (office)
jmchilson (Skype)
Email: hovr@mobilitypr.com
Web site: http://www.hovr.com
Answers to consumers’ burning questions about Talkster’s Free World Dialing™
TORONTO, ONT — NOVEMBER 3, 2007
Talkster’s Free World Dialing, the only service offering free long distance, international and group conference calls from any phone on any network, launched at CTIA last Monday where it won Laptop Magazine’s Best Overall Service Award amidst a lot of positive buzz. With many so-called “free” calling offers out there that actually cost money to use, the overwhelming first reaction from people who have tried Talkster’s Free World Dialing is that really free long distance, international and group calls without talk time limits are just too good to be true. Is it too good to be true? In the Q&A below Talkster directly addresses the most common questions being asked about its new service.
Is there a limit to the number of minutes I can talk?
No, there are no limits to the time you can talk for free using Talkster’s Free World Dialing. Listen to a single 10-second audio ad and talk as long as you like — to one friend or up to five people in a Talkster Groups™ call.
Will I ever pay to use Talkster?
All Talkster Free World Dialing calls are supported by advertising offers, so you never have to pay to talk to your friends around the world. We don’t take your credit card number or ask you to deposit money in any way. At Talkster, free actually means free. Completely free.
Is Talkster like “cheap” calling services such as Rebtel?
With Talkster there are no limits to the free talk time we offer – Talk as long as you like – for free. Free is a lot less expensive than “cheap.”
Talkster doesn’t require that you create an account, ask you for your credit card nor require you to share any personal information to use Free World Dialing, no matter how long you talk – other services do.
Talkster Groups lets you arrange conference calls so you can talk to groups of friends around the world for free, too! Your friends can be local or far away, and you will always have one number to reach this group of friends.
The Talkster service is ad-supported which means you not only get free calling but you also get the opportunity to opt-in for valuable offers and promotions you won’t find elsewhere
There is no bait and switch with Talkster. The same registration-free, no-cost service that we offer you the first time you use Talkster will be the service you can expect every time you place a call. We don’t entice you with a free trial offer then ask you to switch over to a paid service because with Talkster our service is always free.
You’ll be impressed with the quality of the calls, too. The networks on some “cheap” calling services make the calls sound like cheap calls. We’ve heard time and again how crystal clear our network is and how good the call quality is. If you don’t believe us, try it – after all, it won’t cost a thing to try Talkster.
Talkster’s Free World Dialing was created for people who have friends or family all over the world but are reluctant to call them because of the expense. Talkster has been in the business of cheap calling offers before, and we learned from our beta tests that people aren’t looking for just cheap calls. Based on the feedback we received in our beta test and from the international calling community, we designed Talkster’s Free World Dialing with a commitment to a fully sustainable ad-supported free calling business model.
Our competitors may offer some stuff for free, but in order to sustain their business model they must charge their users for other features, hoping that the paid service will offset the cost of their limited “free service.” Free offers that require a credit card are not consumer friendly, are they? And free services that produce no revenue for the company that provide them is hardly sustainable. When you think about it, Talkster doesn’t have a competitor in this space, at least not yet.
Why is the voice quality of the Talkster service so good?
Talkster calls go over the Talkster managed network, not a cheap low-quality VoIP circuit. While companies offering cheap VoIP calling are looking to drive the cost of the call as close to zero as possible, they end up sacrificing call quality. Because Talkster calls are placed over our own network, we manage the quality of the connection to ensure consistently reliable and high quality calls internationally, even for Talkster Groups calls placed from multiple locations around the world.
How many countries are supported by the Talkster service?
Talkster currently offers free calls to and from 29 countries with new countries being added weekly. Because at Talkster quality is important, we are expanding our network methodically. We expect to announce coverage expansion on a regular basis, including a forthcoming service feature that will extend the Talkster Free World Dialing capabilities to VoIP restricted countries in the Middle East, Caribbean and parts of South America. Stay tuned for that exciting announcement — coming soon!
What is the Talkster Facebook® Application?
The Talkster Free World Dialing application inside Facebook gives callers one more place to create Talkster Groups conference calls and set-up and manage their Talkster contacts. It doesn’t matter how you invited your friend to talk with you on Talkster (whether from your computer, mobile phone or from your Facebook friends). All your Talkster numbers are automatically populated into your Facebook profile once you add our application. As an added benefit, the Talkster Free World Dialing application in Facebook allows you to call your Facebook friends while still maintaining the anonymity of your personal phone number.
What can we expect from Talkster in the future?
The revolutionary work taking place in Talkster’s labs continues at a breakneck pace.
Talkster’s history of innovation will continue and expand the reach of Free World Dialing even further. Remember, Talkster was the first company that let people place calls from mobile phones to instant messenger services like Yahoo, AOL, MSN and Google Talk – all services without phone numbers. You can be assured there are many exciting developments in store for Talkster users that will make staying in touch with friends – both near and far – easy, fun and always free.
About Talkster
Talkster’s award winning voice technologies are revolutionizing international and long distance calling with a fully sustainable mobile advertising supported business model which benefits both callers and advertisers. Talkster’s Free World Dialing™ is the only service for making completely free long distance, international, and group conference calls from any phone, on any network, and is publicly available at www.Talkster.com, http://free.talkster.com and on Facebook®. With FREE international, long distance, and Talkster Groups™ calls, who will you call? For more information on Talkster please visit www.Talkster.com.
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
