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Vodafone live!

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Vodafone live! was the brand name for the multimedia portal service of mobile phone operator Vodafone, offering news content, picture messaging, instant messaging, email, and downloadable ringtones and games.[1] The service officially launched on 24 October 2002, originally in eight countries.[2] The first compatible phones were the Japanese Sharp GX10 and Panasonic GD87, and the Nokia 7650.[3]

It was initially developed by Japan's J-Phone under the J-Sky brand; Vodafone acquired J-Phone in August 2001,[4] and the J-Sky service in Japan was rebranded in line as Vodafone live! in 2003.[5] In addition, London-based Vizzavi which provided media content was taken full control by Vodafone (previously 50% owned)[6] in 2002 and the brand name was dropped, being integrated into Vodafone live![7] The service and its content are modelled largely on NTT DoCoMo's successful i-mode service.[8]

The service was marketed extensively,[9] using stars such as footballer David Beckham in the UK, Spain and Japan.[10] As of May 2003 there were 1.5 million customers.[11] In the UK market its main competing WAP portals were O2 Active and Orange World.[12]

While the service itself could be looked at with any WAP browser, Vodafone live! handsets marketed by the company integrated the service with each handset's core functions. All handsets included a colour screen, a digital camera and the capability to send and receive email, SMS and MMS messages. Vodafone live! had an icon-driven interface that was the same on all compatible models regardless of operating system.[13]

In December 2004, Vodafone live! with 3G services was launched.[14]

Vodafone live! was struggling against competitors i-mode and EZweb in Japan, and in 2006, it announced that its Japanese division will be sold to SoftBank Group. Vodafone live! was replaced there by Yahoo! Keitai.[15]

In September 2009, Vodafone 360 and Vodafone My Web were announced to replace Vodafone live![16][17]

References

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  1. ^ Daniel Ralph; Paul Graham (10 October 2003). MMS: Technologies, Usage and Business Models. Wiley. pp. 10–12. ISBN 9780470861165.
  2. ^ Tony Hallett (24 October 2002). "Vodafone gambles on 'biggest ever launch'". ZDNet.
  3. ^ Victor Keegan (31 October 2002). "Mobilising the forces". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Dan Sabbagh (25 August 2001). "Vodafone wins control of J-Phone". The Telegraph.
  5. ^ Reuters Staff (15 July 2003). "J-Phone to rename J-SKY Web service Vodafone Live!". Total Telecom. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ "Vodafone snaps up Vizzavi web venture". BBC. 30 August 2002.
  7. ^ Owen Gibson (30 August 2002). "Vodafone pulls plug on Vizzavi brand". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Richard Wray (11 October 2004). "MmO2 mulls over i-mode technology". The Guardian.
  9. ^ Ravi Chandiramani (31 October 2002). "Vodafone backs 'Live' with £25m campaign". Campaign.
  10. ^ "Vodafone signs David Beckham for another year".
  11. ^ Dominic White (28 May 2003). "Vodafone paid '£1bn too much' for 3G". The Telegraph.
  12. ^ Tony Dennis (7 June 2006). "UK grows i-mode fastest outside Japan". The Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ "One million Vodafone Live! customers". Vodafone Press Release. 26 April 2003.
  14. ^ "Global launch of Vodafone live! with 3G". Vodafone. 10 December 2004.
  15. ^ G Fasol (9 October 2006). "Yahoo!-keitai replaces Vodafone-Live!". Eurotechnology.
  16. ^ "Vodafone 360 takes on the Mobile App stores". TechCrunch. 24 September 2009.
  17. ^ Steve O'Hear (3 March 2010). "Foursquare checks-in with Vodafone UK". TechCrunch.
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