Motricity News: Lay Offs, Moving to WA, Renewed Focus

Motricity, a heavily funded mobile content infrastructure company announced today that they are restructuring its business, laying off 250 people and moving its headquarters from Durham, N.C. to Seattle.

There have been lots of rumors about this news and the company made it official today.

The elimination of nearly half of its workforce will occur over the next nine months, with all affected workers getting an unspecified severance.

For those of you not familiar with Motricity, they provide the core technology platform that enables wireless carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile) to sell and distribute content from the device. If you've ever downloaded a ringtone or game from your phones store, it's likely that Motricity (or one of their few competitors) powered some or all of that transaction.

The Movaya team pays close attention to what Motricity does because we provide a similar set of technology to our customers who want to sell and distribute digital content for mobile devices. The difference is that Motricity's customers are wireless carriers and Movaya's customers are anyone with a website.

One of the announcements in the release that caught our eye, was that Motricity plans to retract from their non-carrier (or direct-to-consumer) business to focus on their carrier customers.

Now, one might hear that news and assume that if Motricity is getting out of the direct-to-consumer business that it must be a bad business to be in. Certainly the off-deck business is not growing as fast as some in the market had anticipated, but I think the real issue here is that Motricity needs to FOCUS on what they do well and what is paying the bills for them.

Talk to anyone in the mobile content space and you will quickly learn that the Motricity platform is far from perfect and they need to get their current house in order before they can extend their reach to new markets. Just as Movaya has chosen to focus on providing best of breed technology for off-deck mobile content sales, Motricity is best served focusing on their core business, which is providing best of breed services to wireless operators. You simply cannot be all things to all people.

But, if you are a portal or content provider that used to work with Motricity for off-deck purposes, the Movaya team would love to talk to you about how we can help. Give us a call, or drop us a line.

IN-FUSIO Enters Distribution Partnership with Movaya

Los Angeles, Calif. – February 1, 2008 – IN-FUSIO, a leading mobile entertainment company, today announced its partnership with Movaya, an off-deck, mobile content distribution company.

Under the newly formed partnership, Movaya will distribute IN-FUSIO's array of mobile content directly to the mobile marketplace. IN-FUSIO content will be readily available to the mobile community via Movaya's PlugNPlay system, a free to use ecommerce solution for mobile content.

"This new relationship with Movaya will bring our games and other applications to the mobile marketplace while allowing us to continue focusing our energy on developing high-quality mobile content," said Norman Evangelista, CEO of In-Fusio North America. "We expect it to be a highly beneficial partnership, with the end result being a greater selection of top-of-the-line mobile content for consumers."

"IN-FUSIO's unique and steadily growing portfolio of mobile content is a great fit for our PlugNPlay platform," said Phil Yerkes, CEO of Movaya. "We look forward to helping IN-FUSIO bring their games to a wider audience, and ultimately increasing their off-deck sales, using our streamlined system."

About IN-FUSIO
IN-FUSIO division is a leading international mobile entertainment company, publishing games and applications for cell phones worldwide. IN-FUSIO applications are enjoyed and available through more than 300 carriers and portals worldwide. IN-FUSIO's portfolio includes licensed applications based on Microsoft's Age of Empires® 2, and Zoo Tycoon® 2, Neopets®, Twentieth Century Fox's Die Hard, Canal Studio Image's The Terminator™, Tour de France, Golden Tee™, and original titles such as the award winning Shado Fighter and the famous Wallbreaker sold on more than 27 millions handsets. For more information, please visit www.in-fusio.com.

About Movaya
Movaya (www.movaya.com) is a Seattle-based technology company, whose mobile-content management and distribution software system allows mobile content publishers and online retailers to effortlessly extend their businesses to the growing off-deck mobile content marketplace. Movaya PlugNPlay is the company’s flagship product, which brings together Mobile Game and Application Publishers, Online Retailers and consumers in one marketplace for Mobile goods. Movaya is powering the off-deck, mobile industry.

Broadband Penetration

The Movaya team has been heads down on 2008 business planning the past week so we haven't had much time to spend on blog posts but one announcement this week that is important to our business and the overall mobile content space, was T-Mobile USA's CEO Robert Dotson announcing that the carrier will spend about $10 billion between 2007 and 2009 for 2G and 3G network deployments.

For those of you not familiar with the terms "2G" and "3G", these stand for Second Generation and Third Generation wireless networks. First generation (1G) were analog while 2G and 3G networks are digital. 3G technologies enable network operators (wireless carriers like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony and broadband wireless data up to 5-10 Mb per second.

T-Mobile is the last of the four big US carriers to deploy 3G. AT&T Wireless was the first to roll out a true 3G network in the US back in 2004 and today Sprint, Verizon and AT&T have (pretty much) nationwide 3G services.

Why is broadband wireless important? Well, if you're currently on a broadband connection on your desktop, you probably already know the answer. If you're still on dial-up at home, one analogy I can use is to think of highway traffic. As a Seattelite, we experience some of the worst traffic in the country. Dial-up is like driving in traffic during rush-hour where it is not uncommon to take over an hour to go under 10 miles on our highways. Broadband, however, is like driving on the same highway in the middle of the night when there is no traffic.

In the US, the total number of homes with wireline broadband has grown to over 70 million over the last 6 years. This broadband adoption has been one of the biggest drivers of the Internet growth. Companies and websites like Youtube, Real.com and iTunes would have a tough time existing without broadband.

So for companies like Movaya, that are in the mobile content space, wireless broadband adoption is an important component. Without broadband, downloading games and applications to your cellphone would be painstakingly slow and consumers simply wouldn't do it.

So, in the US, what are the numbers for 3G adoption? Take a look at the chart we put together at the top of this post. The blue bars represent the number of wireline broadband subscribers in the US and the red bars represent the number of wireless broadband subscribers in the US.

There are approximately 250 million total wireless subscribers in the US (at the end of 2007) and an estimated 50 million of them are already on 3G. So in the 3 years since 3G was first deployed in the US, you already have almost as many wireless broadband subscribers (50 million) in the US that you had after six years in the wireline broadband space (70 million). Fast forward a few years out and you'll have hundreds of millions of US consumers with a broadband connection with them wherever they are.

The Movaya team is ready to take advantage of this HUGE opportunity. If you want to discuss your plans to take advantage of this, drop us a line.

Hottest Casual Games for Mobile Now Available Off-Deck from Sandlot Games

Online Store Powered by Movaya Offers Cake Mania, Slyder for Mobile

BOTHELL, Wash — November 27, 2007 — Sandlot Games® (www.sandlotgames.com), the world's premier developer and publisher of casual and family-friendly games, and Movaya (www.movaya.com), a leading provider of mobile content distribution software solutions, today announced the availability of mobile games direct from Sandlot Games web site.

Through Sandlot Games' branded online store, powered by Movaya's mobile game e-commerce solution, consumers can now purchase popular mobile game titles including Cake Mania® and Slyder®.

"Now consumers have a very easy, instantaneous way to get the most popular Sandlot Games' on their phones," said Daniel Bernstein, founder and CEO of Sandlot Games. "Movaya's e-commerce mobile game solution is a great fit for our online store and we expect it will dramatically improve sales of our mobile titles."

In addition to powering the online store's mobile game distribution, Movaya processes mobile game order transactions, provides real-time reporting services, and offers customer support services.

"Movaya is focused on the off-deck distribution of mobile games in the U.S. via websites and WAP sites," said Phil Yerkes, CEO of Movaya. "By taking advantage of our mobile game distribution platform, Sandlot Games can expand its mobile game sales opportunities by offering customers a user-friendly experience directly from their own website."

Popular casual game titles for mobile, including Cake Mania and Slyder, are now available for purchase at www.sandlotgames.com.

About Sandlot Games
Sandlot Games Corporation, headquartered in Bothell, Washington, is the world's premier developer and publisher of casual and family-friendly games. Sandlot Games boasts a captivating portfolio of popular game titles and franchises including Cake Mania®, Glyph®, Super Granny®, Tradewinds® and Westward®. Sandlot Games reaches millions of game players worldwide through a variety of distribution channels including online, PC, PDA's, handhelds, videogame consoles and mobile phones. Since 2002, over 100 million games have been downloaded by its loyal fan base. For more information or to play one of our award winning games, please visit us at www.sandlotgames.com.

About Movaya
Movaya (www.movaya.com) is a Seattle-based technology company, whose mobile-content management and distribution software system allows mobile game publishers and online retailers to effortlessly extend their businesses to the growing off-deck mobile gaming marketplace. Movaya PlugNPlay is the company's flagship product, which brings together Mobile Game Publishers, Online Retailers and consumers in one marketplace for Mobile goods. Movaya is powering the off-deck, mobile gaming industry.

Contacts:
Jared Nieuwenhuis
Sandlot Games
425-486-5822 x291
jared@sandlotgames.com

Justin Hall
Voxus Inc.
253-853-5151 x234
jhall@voxuspr.com

Movaya Releases PlugNPlay 2.0 for Mobile Content Distribution, and Welcomes Casual Game Merchants

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) November 15, 2007 -- Movaya (www.movaya.com), a leading provider of mobile content distribution software solutions, today announces that it has released PlugNPlay 2.0, the newest edition of its Mobile Game and Application distribution and management platform.

With PlugNPlay, Movaya enables online merchants, casual game merchants and anyone with a website, blog or forum to create a store for selling mobile games, mobile applications or any type of mobile content. From the website to the sales page, everything that the customer sees can be branded with the company's logo, style and formatting.

Version 2.0 of PlugNPlay introduces three new, key components:

• Instant WAP store that allow any PlugNPlay client to have a mobile version of their store
• FLASH Interfaces provide the easiest way for clients to get online
• XML Feed for advanced programming.

"The ability to use the PlugNPlay XML Feed has allowed Capcom to build a custom web application and sell our games directly to consumers," said Matt Gillis, Senior Vice President of Publishing, Capcom Interactive, Inc. "This has created an additional revenue stream for us with little to no risk to the company."

With these new features in place, and more games in the system (currently over 400 titles from companies such as RealNetworks, Capcom, COM2US and more), Movaya readily welcomes Casual Game Merchants to use its system to add Mobile Game sales to their existing stores.

"Movaya is focused on developing the most complete, flexible, easy to use system for off-deck distribution," said Phil Yerkes, CEO of Movaya. "And this includes distribution of mobile games not only via websites but WAP sites as well. By taking advantage of the flexibility of our mobile game distribution platform, anyone can expand into mobile game and application sales."

Platinum Studios, an entertainment company that specializes in developing and adapting comics and graphic novel content to other media, has gone online with a website for mobile content sales, PT78Mobile.com. Additionally, with the new features of PlugNPlay 2.0, Platinum was able to instanly add a WAP store. Using your cell phone you can visit m.pt78mobile.com.

An example of the PlugNPlay Flash Interface can be seen at PhonePimp.com.

About Capcom
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment. Founded in 1983, the company has created world-renowned franchises including Resident Evil®, Street Fighter®, Mega Man®, Breath of Fire®, Devil May Cry® and the Onimusha® series. Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, the company maintains operations in the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany, Tokyo and Hong Kong. More information about Capcom and its products can be found on the company's web site at www.capcom.com.

Since its establishment in November of 2005, Capcom Interactive, Inc. has published several mobile games based on Capcom’s celebrated intellectual property, including 1942, Ghost n' Goblins, Mega Man and Resident Evil®: The Missions, to commercial and critical acclaim. For additional information on the company and its offerings, please visit www.capcommobile.com.

About Platinum Studios:
Platinum Studios is an entertainment company that specializes in developing and adapting comics and graphic novel content to feature film, television, animation, games, the Internet, and other media. Our independent library of comic characters is the largest in the world and contains more than 3,800 characters that have appeared in hundreds of millions of comics in 25 languages and more than 50 countries. Simply put, we create, produce, and distribute comic-based content, and lots of it.

About Movaya:
Movaya is a Seattle-based technology company focused on creating the premier E-Commerce Solution for Mobile Software Publishers and Online Merchants.

"Powering the Next Generation of Mobile Content Distribution"

Since its founding in 2006, Movaya has been dedicated to the development of its revolutionary mobile-content management and distribution software platform; a platform that has created a new distribution channel for mobile publishers and enables any one to sell and distribute mobile-content such has video games, applications, music and videos.

R4 Mobile and Movaya Partner to Bring Interactive Marketing to Mobile Applications

Movaya-Powered Websites Now Able to Leverage Ad-Sponsored Mobile Content

SEATTLE, WA AND SAN DIEGO, CA - October 18, 2007 - R4 Mobile, a leader in interactive mobile marketing and merchandising solutions, has announced a partnership with Movaya, a leading provider of mobile content distribution software solutions. R4 Mobile provides tools and services for mobile applications to drive discovery and consumption of premium content. Configurable modules include dynamic sponsorship capabilities, in-application advertising, content licensing, interactive consumer feedback interfaces, up sells, cross sells, and viral functionality. Movaya will leverage R4 Mobile within its Platform M™, a complete web-based ecommerce software platform for mobile content transactions. Movaya will now be able to offer ad-supported content within its suite of mobile content distribution offerings, including its PlugNPlay system.

"We are always looking for innovative solutions to drive more revenues for our merchant and content publisher partners," stated Phil Yerkes, CEO and Co-founder of Movaya. "Given the uniqueness and scalability of their solution, we selected R4 Mobile to be our partner to provide interactive marketing and merchandising services. In addition to new revenue models, the R4 Mobile solution provides our customers insights regarding consumer behavior not previously available."

R4 Mobile's Interactive Marketing and Merchandising Platform™ is the industry leading white-labeled solution for carriers and portals to rapidly and effortlessly unlock the richness of advertising and merchandising uniquely available from within mobile applications. R4 Mobile solutions provide an array of mobile sponsorship modules, innovative real-time campaign management tools, and compelling insights into consumer behavior and preferences. For the first time, R4 Mobile's partners will have access to content preferences, usage patters, and explicit demographic and psychographic information which can be leveraged to dramatically increase the value of mobile advertising campaigns and targeting capabilities.

"At R4 Mobile, we created a highly scalable solution that brings interactive marketing and merchandising to mobile applications with no developer integration required," said Mark Munoz, COO of R4 Mobile. "We are pleased to be working with a leader such as Movaya who will make this solution available to its portal customers. For Movaya, its partners, and us, advertising is not the only objective. Rather, R4 Mobile makes it easy to engage with end users and drive purchases of premium content. We believe sponsored applications will drive content awareness and increase consumption of premium content to the benefit of all parties."

Movaya has partnered with several leading game publishers and online merchants such as Capcom Interactive, GameZone.com, Freezetag, GOSUB 60 and COM2US. Through its Platform M™', Movaya provides end-to-end mobile content storefront enablement from storefront creation, catalog management and over-the-air delivery of content and billing.

About Movaya
Movaya ( www.movaya.com ) is a Seattle-based technology company, whose mobile-content management and distribution software system allows mobile game publishers and online retailers to effortlessly extend their businesses to the growing off-deck mobile gaming marketplace. Movaya PlugNPlay is the company's flagship product, which brings together Mobile Game Publishers, Online Retailers and consumers in one marketplace for Mobile goods. Movaya is powering the off-deck, mobile gaming industry.

About R4 Mobile, Inc.
R4 Mobile is the leader in mobile marketing and merchandising solutions. Based in San Diego, California, R4 Mobile provides highly scalable, rapidly deployable mobile marketing and merchandising solutions for carriers, portals, and content publishers to grow consumption of premium mobile content and drive marketing revenues. For consumer brands, R4 Mobile provides turn-key, innovative marketing services that raise brand awareness, consumer relevance, interaction and acquisition. For additional information, email info@r4mobile.com.

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R4 and R4 Mobile are trademarks of R4 Mobile, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.


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Press Contacts:
Movaya: John Calian, 206-527-2920
john.calian @ movaya.com

R4 Mobile: Mark Munoz, 858-459-2135
mark@r4mobile.com