Gaming company ZeptoLab will spend approximately $1 million to launch its latest game “Cut the Rope: Time Travel,” according to The Wall Street Journal. The new game launch will tie-in merchandise such as T-shirts and plush toys as well as a promotional partnership with Burger King. In February, ZeptoLab selected Lippe Taylor as its first consumer AOR.
T-Mobile is aggressively attempting to lure customers from rival carriers like AT&T and Verizon as it begins to market the iPhone.
The company is offering a trade-in program for older iPhones from other carriers. In exchange, customers won’t have to put money down for a new iPhone 5, instead of a $99 upfront payment. Those customers would also get a reduced monthly rate, with T-Mobile giving out credits of up to $120 that can be used to pay off the phone. Still, even with T-Mobile’s cheaper and less restrictive phone plans, analysts point out that the company’s main impediment is that its network coverage is not as broad as those of its competitors.
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Facebook is conducting a major marketing campaign for its new mobile software, Facebook Home. Since its launch event on Thursday, the social network has promoted Facebook Home through sponsored stories, posts, online ads, and TV commercials produced by ad agency Wieden + Kennedy. Facebook Home, which will be available this week, is downloadable software for Android phones that adds a customized home screen, lock screen, and app launcher. Elsewhere, Facebook Home has also raised privacy and security concerns.
More women are going social and mobile when it comes to shopping, according to the “Women’s Buying Behavior Index” study by Lippe Taylor in partnership with SheSpeak. The second installment of the study surveyed more than 2,000 American women to get a pulse on buying habits and forecast purchasing trends. According to the survey, 71% of respondents research products online, and 70% shop on mobile devices. The study also examined the role of celebrity influence on shopping habits.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the “Facebook phone,” a customization product for Android devices, at the company’s Menlo Park headquarters today. Called Facebook Home, Zuckerberg said it is “a family of apps and you can install it and it becomes the home of your phone.”
Today is the 40th anniversary of the first cellphone call ever made. Mobile phones and mobile technology have come a long way since then, and Mashable has put together an infographic in “cell-ebration.” (Get it.)
(Admit it, you were always jealous of Zack Morris’ sweet phone.)
T-Mobile made a few big announcements at an event in New York City today. The mobile phone carrier announced that it will add the iPhone and launch an LTE network, which will allow it to carry LTE-enabled devices such as the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, and BlackBerry Z10. The company will also no longer offer annual contracts and will instead charge consumers month-to-month.
Above: T-Mobile CEO John Legere at today’s event.
Yahoo has acquired news-reading app Summly, which was created by 17-year-old entrepreneur Nick D’Aloisio. Yahoo didn’t disclose the purchase price, but several sources tell All Things D that it paid $30 million. Yahoo said it plans to shut down the app, use its algorithmic summation technology, and make D’Aloisio a face for the company’s mobile initiatives. “Nick will be a great person to put in front of the media and consumers… to make Yahoo seem like it is a place that loves both entrepreneurs and mobile experiences,” according to a source close to the deal.
Above: Video from Summly’s launch featuring D’Aloisio and English actor Stephen Fry.
Silicon Valley venture capitalist and former Apple executive Guy Kawasaki has joined Motorola Mobility as an adviser. Kawasaki will advise the company on marketing, product design, and social media strategy. Could this mean a new direction for Google’s mobile division?
