A new mobile application, developed by SA's Blue Label Telecoms and Microsoft, called mibli and powered by OneApp, aims to have a dramatic impact on emerging market cellphone users.
This will be the second iteration of Blue Label's mibli application, which has been redeveloped to run over the top of Microsoft's recently announced OneApp platform.
Blue Label's mibli will be the first overlaid application to ship with Microsoft's new platform and will carry around 12 plug-in applications as a basis.
According to Microsoft SA's Unlimited Potential Group head Ian Puttergill, the solution will combine access to online social networking sites and micro blogging services that would normally require several different applications on mobile to access them.
He says the OneApp platform will be freely available to users, who will only then need to pay for the cost of the download to a handset. Microsoft says the company wanted to keep the download size to a minimum and the final download will only be 150KB.
With this download, users will have access to around a dozen applications, including Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live Messenger. Blue Label has also included a wallet service, where users can buy airtime, tickets, or transfer money.
Puttergill says the new platform has been designed specifically to target the emerging markets. He says considering the high penetration of mobile in Africa and other emerging markets, an application like mibli makes sense.
Blue Label joint-CEO Mark Levy says in SA, for most users, the first taste of the Internet will come from a mobile phone.
IDC analyst Pieter Kok says the new concept could have a dramatic impact, especially for the emerging market user. “Just consider the explosive growth of social networking and combine it with a mobile connectivity.”
He says this kind of combined application could drive many rural mobile users onto the Internet. Kok points to the wallet plug-in that will be included in the current iteration of the product.
“Cellphone banking has skyrocketed in SA, especially in the rural areas. Placing this in the application could see a large uptake for Blue Label.”
Kok says mobile has become an emerging market revenue-spinner and will help companies like Microsoft gain access to an otherwise lost audience. “You can see many companies are now diversifying. Nokia has, for example, started a netbook range. This kind of application could help Microsoft find a new revenue stream.”
While Puttergill says the application is free, and there is no current revenue generator built into it, the company is looking to add advertising space that could be a monetising opportunity.
Mibli powered by OneApp will be released today, after Blue Label's results presentation.
Related stories:
Internet usage in South Africa: growing or slowing?
Ukash drives online payment
Share