A new mobile social network, EyeVibe, will succeed 3’s SeeMeTV and O2’s LookAtMeTV, from the end this month, when the two operators have finished testing the service.
The two offerings have proved valuable money spinners for their operators and are both built on a platform provided by Emap subsidiary, YoSpace.
Both 3 and O2 claim that, between them, the two services have racked up 32 million video downloads since 3 launched SeeMeTV in October 2005, and O2 created LookAtMeTV in June 2006.
Users pay between 10p and 49p to download clips and can upload as much content as they like.
The contributing user receives a share of revenue generated from people downloading their videos.
It is believed that operators including Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile could join the service.
Jane Wilding, lead product manager at 3, said that the new service will be backed by a “powerful marketing campaign” that will run through Emap titles across TV, magazines and radio, as well as online.
At launch, 3’s SeeMeTV was seen as a pioneering move into mobile social networking. But, like many past developments in the online sector, it was criticised for its reliance on adult material to generate revenues.
Wilding insists that adult content makes up less than 10% of SeeMeTV’s revenues and that content can only be accessed through a PIN-protected system.
She said that advertising will form part of EyeVibe’s revenue stream before long.
She added: “My personal view of social networking is that there should be no single stream of revenue.
“People are saying that everything should be ad-supported and, yes, we’ll quite possibly look at that, but ads on mobile are still in their infancy. As long as we are always wise to addressing what our customers need-if it’s exciting, people will follow.”
The two offerings have proved valuable money spinners for their operators and are both built on a platform provided by Emap subsidiary, YoSpace.
Both 3 and O2 claim that, between them, the two services have racked up 32 million video downloads since 3 launched SeeMeTV in October 2005, and O2 created LookAtMeTV in June 2006.
Users pay between 10p and 49p to download clips and can upload as much content as they like.
The contributing user receives a share of revenue generated from people downloading their videos.
It is believed that operators including Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile could join the service.
Jane Wilding, lead product manager at 3, said that the new service will be backed by a “powerful marketing campaign” that will run through Emap titles across TV, magazines and radio, as well as online.
At launch, 3’s SeeMeTV was seen as a pioneering move into mobile social networking. But, like many past developments in the online sector, it was criticised for its reliance on adult material to generate revenues.
Wilding insists that adult content makes up less than 10% of SeeMeTV’s revenues and that content can only be accessed through a PIN-protected system.
She said that advertising will form part of EyeVibe’s revenue stream before long.
She added: “My personal view of social networking is that there should be no single stream of revenue.
“People are saying that everything should be ad-supported and, yes, we’ll quite possibly look at that, but ads on mobile are still in their infancy. As long as we are always wise to addressing what our customers need-if it’s exciting, people will follow.”
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