Adamind Ltd. announced a three-year deal to provide mobile content production and delivery software to Universal Music Group subsidiary Universal Music Mobile U.S. The California-based developer, which also maintains a research and development facility in Israel, said the agreement calls for the integration of its Spire Production Suite within UMM-US’ existing mobile production workflow systems. Adamind said its software also provides custom content for “all existing and future mobile devices” used by consumers in North America.
T-Mobile USA Inc. users are now able to make their own designs for their phones’ casings under a new deal between the carrier and SkinIt Inc. T-Mobile USA customers can access SkinIt’s Personalization Partnership Platform and upload their own images or choose from available images to be printed and cut to fit certain device casings. SkinIt said its products are made of professional-grade vinyl and printed with a six-color process. The vinyl skins are then coated with a scratchproof finish and custom cut for each specific device. Skins are available for T-Mobile USA’s Sidekick II for $13, plus $5 for personally designed images. Skins for other devices are scheduled to be launched soon.
Sprint Nextel Corp. launched a location-based feature that allows users to access nearby movie theaters and listings by pressing a single button. The carrier added location capability to its MovieGoer application, which is powered by mobile media company Zingy Inc. Users can choose to allow the handset to determine their location through Zingy’s Locate Me service, which uses cellular sector technology in lieu of manually keying in a ZIP code or address. The offering is one of a handful of mass-market location-based services on the wireless market. But location services are expected to boom in coming months and years as operators come into compliance with E911 mandates.