The problem is relatively old – which means about 10 years in this industry – getting content to many devices over many operators. As the industry has matured, the added complexity of charging for content has also become a critical consideration.

It really comes down to this. You have one source of content, and lots of ways to deliver it, and lots of things to do in order to deliver it correctly. If mobile content delivery were an equation, it would read:

content x network x ( billing systems x ad network ) x device = choas

There were many systems that helped with parts of this problem, but none that really tackled it head on, until Fabric came along. There are two reasons other systems often fail.

Firstly, many systems are designed to solve one particular problem. For instance, delivering the right mark-up to the right device. But, to really work effectively there are other issues that must be addressed, and so you need to add other software that handles those things: asset management, billing system integration, video support, to name a few. So you end up with a kind of mobile content management soup, with bits of solutions mixed together to get what you need.

This is both painful and ugly to work with. There are numerous points of failure and as you enter into new markets, with new requirements, you’re back to the white-board – or even worse, new vendor selection.

The second reason things often fail is because very technical people, trying to solve a very technical problem, typically design these systems. The end-user – the person writing or uploading into the mobile content management system isn’t, doesn’t need to be and often doesn’t want to be an uber mobile specialist.

Fabric has solved this by brining the essential components together and taking the workflow that is typical in publishing (including the terminology), to make things more intuitive and simple to use. It’s all incorporated in the core of its design. The result is something that should be very familiar to anyone that has used a good CMS (Content Management System) or blogging engine previously.

So when we were looking to develop our new media marketing abilities into mobile content management, we were careful to select a company that we knew our customers could work with easily. We wanted a low barrier of entry solution – in terms of cost and usability – that we could be confident using.

If you are considering a mobile content platform, many of these requirements will also be at the forefront of your selection process. It’s a minefield out there filled with false promises and slide-ware. Our advice? Look for a system that can be trialed in days not weeks or months and with a customer base in your field that is willing to recommend.

Mountain View, CA—December 9th 2008.

Firebox Partners, a provider of new media marketing services and MobileIQ, creators of the mobile content delivery platform Fabric, today announced their partnership to offer the Fabric platform across North America.

Fabric already has an impressive number of customers, including Channel 4, where it delivers mobile content and services for the hit show “Big Brother”.

To extend a growing global customer base, MobileIQ has engaged with Firebox to act as re-seller and the North American support arm for it’s products and services.

“We are delighted to work with Firebox” said Shaun Barriball CEO, MobileIQ. “We believe we can offer the best service to our North American customers by utilizing the depth of experience offered by Firebox”.

Paul Danter, CEO of Firebox added “Fabric is an amazing product that makes life simple for the vast majority of companies trying to take their content mobile. It’s a perfect fit with what we already provide and we are excited at the prospect of working with a great team and bringing North America some outstanding European mobile technology”.

A Note to Editors.

About Firebox Partners

Firebox Partners is a new media marketing company specializing in helping companies reach their potential on the web. This means reaching customers however they connect – desktop, mobile or Internet-enabled-refrigerator. Please visit http://www.fireboxsoftware.com for more information or call +1 650 492 5040.

About Mobile IQ

Mobile IQ empowers media agencies and content brands to deliver rich mobile internet solutions using Fabric™ – a complete mobile management platform. Mobile IQ’s customers include Channel 4, News International, New York Post and Dennis Publishing. Please visit http://www.mobileiq.com for more details.

Take for example the software upgrade path on the iPhone. How many people have actually upgraded a phone prior to the iPhone? Not many. I experienced Nokia and Sony Ericsson upgrades once or twice during my Argogroup days, and it is not for the faint-hearted.

For a start other companies don’t call it a “software update”, it’s referred to “firmware flashing”—something that seems much more technical, risky and that you should avoid at all costs.

And avoiding at all costs is, of course, the whole point. Other manufacturers don’t want you to get new features in this way, they want you to go out and buy a new subsidized phone to keep the retarded ecosystem alive.

Sure Apple has had to make some concessions along the way. Subsidizing the 3G iPhone with AT&T, for instance, to keep the product competitive. But over one year in, if you step back, and look at the all of the things they’ve introduced—like the software update—you’ve got to admit that the mobile landscape is a far better place with Apple in it.

To help AOL get their message across to new users, Firebox has been engaged to produce a screencast demonstrating the end-to-end process of getting contacts and calendars in sync with Mobile, Web and Desktop. We helped with the production of the visuals and the editing of the final product.

This is a bright spot (which contains language, in case you’re offended) – Sarah Silverman pushes the get out and vote message…

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

It’s always good to remember that when it comes to getting your message across, comedy works. If you’re funny.

This is more subtle, well thought-out and powerful because of what it doesn’t say. It leaves the viewer to put the pieces together. It gives them credit for being intelligent enough to understand the issue.

Pay special attention to the music score – it’s a very effective heart-beat rhythm which, while not directly related to the main point, subconsciously reminds us of another.

The existing design was very slick with iconography that most people would be very happy with. The whole design had been executed very well, so the question was “how do make something great, even better?”.

There was one hole in the design and some minor tweaking we spotted to help the site engage the audience even more. For a very technical company with a very technical product set, the design was a little impersonal. When you’re dealing with tech, it’s always tempting to emphasize the capabilities, forgetting that it’s people who’ll be using them.

We decided to add in a human element and selected images of users doing things (even though I think direct engagement with the reader – with eye contact works best). To pull it together, we ensured the image took up some good real estate on the page. As part of the launch, we introduced the “Mobile We” positioning concept into it, to try to get some leverage from this new concept.

We also recommended some minor tweaks. Moving and highlighting the 4 push boxes they use to promote the ‘solution’ areas the product is promoted in. We think the result is great.

I spent a day at CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment last week. I was surprised how small the show has become and how few small companies in the entertainment space were exhibiting.

As I walked into the show I thought the title of this post might be CTInyA as I was struck by how even the bigger companies—the handset manufactures and carriers—had much smaller stands than I remembered.

What was good however, was the ability to talk to some old friends and colleagues—the wireless space is relatively small—and it was pretty productive to meet up with people from a business development point of view.

I tried out some of our new brochures which went down well, along with the gorilla-marketing-style Firebox business cards with Tabasco included. If you got one, I hope you spiced something up, which you may have needed looking at the topics of most of the sessions at the show!

As a side-note, the brochures for Device Karma will be available in a new downloads section coming to the site soon.

Anyway, in retrospect, I guess the show may be far from inspiring, but its still worthwhile to have a reason for the industry to meet up on the west coast.

Were you there? What were your impressions?

Mountain View, CA—August 18th 2008

Firebox Software announces the beta availability of Device Karma – the mobile device information management tool.

A web based application, Device Karma lets organizations manage key information about devices via an intuitive web interface. This data can then be used in many ways – including programatically in applications and via the web user interface to distribute device information internally or to customers.

“Device Karma solves a key problem with mobile device information – getting to the data.” said Paul Danter CEO, Firebox Software. “There are many sources of information out there, but none of them are particularly accessible outside the XML they are provided in”.

Device Karma also helps with another key issue. Blending information from many sources into one device ‘profile’ that represents everything relevant to your organization.

Paul Danter added, “Each device information source will claim that it is all you need to know about a device, but only you know what is relevant to your needs. Relying on one source of device information is unrealistic and we help address that by allowing you to manage many sources – selecting and editing only the bits you are interested in”.

Device Karma is available under beta license today as a locally installable application. Contact Firebox Software for further details.

A Note to Editors.

Firebox Software LLC is a privately held company operating from Mountain View, California. Visit, http://www.fireboxsoftware.com/ for more information or call +1 650 492 5040.