Global Network Solutions Europe Ltd (GNS Europe), the European business base for Japanese Sogo Shosha ITOCHU Corporation, in conjunction with Excite Japan Co, one of the largest portals in Japan, has announced the UK release of mobikade a successful, ad-funded mobile social networking service from Japan.
mobikade provides personal mobile space to keep track of whats new in your life, by enabling users to post updates on what they are doing. Users can also download a wide variety of cool games, mainly puzzle games such as Sudoku and enjoy them for free. Currently, mobikade provides 20 games and plans to add around four new games each month.
Every time they do something on mobikade, users are rewarded with points. These points can be used to send free SMS messages to friends, or redeemed for a chance to win prizes each month. mobikade aims at acquiring around 200,000 users by March 2008.
The Japanese mobile ad-funded market amounted to 156 million in FY2006, a 35% increase on the previous year. Ad-funded mobile social networking services have been hugely successful, the company says. One site has achieved, in 12 months, over 5 million users, 10 billion monthly page views, and 12 million in revenue, mainly from advertisements.
To deliver the mobikade service in the UK, GNS has co-operated closely with mobile services consultancy Intohand. Intohand successfully adapted its ICAPS porting system, in order to allow rapid Java game builds, including porting, facilitating the re-coding of games to suit the handsets in the UK.
My aim is to successfully introduce Japanese mobile strategies to the UK and Europe says Atul Sasane, Head of New Business at GNS Europe. mobikade is so cool it will change the lives of mobile users in the UK. GNS Europe is pleased to have been associated with sourcing the technology and capability to deliver the mobikade launch as a successful project, on time and within budget. We will use this experience to bring in more innovative businesses from Japan to Europe.
To access mobikade, text mkade to 60017 to receive a link, or type mkade.com into your UK mobile phones browser and navigate directly to the site.
