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Music to be 3G killer app

Paul Vecchiatto
By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent
Cape Town, 29 Nov 2004

Music and graphics will be the killer application for 3G cellular offerings and everything else such as movie clips will continue to be the poor cousin, says cellular content provider iTouch.

iTouch commercial director Wayne Levin says the early adopters of 3G cellular technology and services will probably be children aged between nine and 15, rather than the adult customers the service is really aimed at.

Vodacom, along with its major British shareholder Vodafone, is due to launch its local 3G network sometime in December and it will offer the latter`s portal, Vodafone-Live, which will feature content-rich offerings and services.

"Studies have shown that the early adopters are very young people, while the adults are far slower to move into it. The young like to have the latest movie-related ringtones and tune-tones and to download graphics of celebrities as part of identifying with a 'tribe`," Levin says.

Cape Town-based content company InnoVeda Technologies SA has secured the local rights for Cinema Electric - the US company that provides Hollywood-related movie clips, ringtones and graphics that are popular among the young and trendy.

InnoVeda Technologies marketing executive Bertus Preller says the service will allow consumers to download movie trailers and various shorts of their favourite films.

"This market is potentially massive. Some 2.6 million booklets detailing the latest offerings from the content providers every six weeks are published and distributed. Movie clip offerings will just grow that market space."

Preller says InnoVeda obtained the Cinema Electric rights after actor Nicholas Cage referred one of its founders to the company when Cage visited SA a few months ago.

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