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Proteus, Mobile and Interactive Media at SXSW

By Sunil Doshi : March 10, 2008 at 11:23 am

We spent last week in Austin, TX, to attend South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW). Compared to the mobile industry conventions we routinely attend, this gathering had a much broader perspective. It was incredibly invigorating and eye-opening to see where mobile sits in the larger world of interactive media.

The most striking thing about walking around the convention center was the number of people interacting with information on the go. Of course, there was a plethora of iPhones in the crowd, but there were also a lot of BlackBerries and other smart phones. While people were regularly using their laptops, it was clear that most people were running their busy lives through their mobile devices.

From conference schedules to SXSW gossip, attendees were keeping tabs on the pulse of the convention with SMS and the mobile Web. Talk of the best panels, keynotes and parties came through Twitter and mobile versions of blogs. More than anywhere in recent memory, an entire population was aware of each other’s activities through their phones.

We’re excited to be part of the technology that is making this kind of awareness possible. SXSW made it clear that Proteus’ commitment to democratizing the mobile experience is important and necessary. The products we’re building are letting people live a mobile life, while making the means of showing their personalities through their phones effortless.

Announcing Swift…The Future of the Mobile Web

By Guy Vidra : February 12, 2008 at 7:00 am

Today marks a turning point for Proteus. For more than a decade, we’ve been at the forefront of mobile development, yet we’ve taken a decidedly lower profile in the public domain. We’re not known for flash and hype, but rather as a group of smart, dedicated professionals with a passion for all things wireless who can actually deliver on our promises. In the past, we’ve taken a behind-the-scenes role powering some of the most innovative campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world. Today, we step into a new role as we launch Swift, a self-service mobile site creation platform. Swift is our first true product, and more importantly, it’s a product built with big business in mind, but with consumers at its heart.

Our vision is a simple one – to democratize the mobile Web. We’ve taken our years of WAP experience, learnings culled from launching mobile Internet sites for News Corp, Scripps Networks and HBO, among others, and insight into the needs of mobile consumers to create an incredibly powerful, easy-to-use tool.

We want to enable anyone to create a mobile Internet site. We want to let families create mobile blogs with pictures of their kids so they can show off to anyone, anywhere. We want to let small and home-based businesses find even greater efficiencies and connect with their customers in new and innovative ways. We want to engender a new generation of citizen journalists, untethered from their PCs. We want to enable marketers to create innovative campaigns for their clients. Most importantly, we want this experience to be fun not frustrating, empowering not disappointing.

We’ve spent a lot of time creating Swift. Now we’re handing the reins over to you. Check it out at www.swiftmob.com. We can’t wait to see what you create with it. As always, we’re eager to hear your feedback. We hope you’ll find it as fun, functional and relevant as we envisioned.

Happy New Year!

By Guy Vidra : January 2, 2008 at 6:44 pm

Happy New Year from Proteus! 2007 was an exceptionally exciting year for us—we added several new folks to our staff, opened additional offices in Latin America and signed some great clients—but we have even more up our sleeves for 2008. Expect big things from us in the coming year: brand spanking new products, enhancements to our current applications, exciting new campaigns and more.

We want to thank our clients and partners for helping to make 2007 Proteus’ most successful year to date, and we wish everyone a happy and safe 2008.

We Speak The Language.

By Matt Garlick : November 28, 2007 at 11:49 am

Proteus may be best known for its pioneering mobile efforts in the U.S. market. Two years ago, however, the company made a strategic decision to expand into Latin America. Today, Proteus has offices and staff in four of the leading Latin American countries and is aggressively expanding its reach pan-regionally. Read below for a few facts about why we are so excited about the Latin America mobile space, what Proteus has done in Latin America to date, and where we see ourselves headed in 2008.

Why are we excited?

• The Latin American mobile content marketplace is one of the fastest growing markets in the world today, expanding at approximately 120% year over year and expected to reach $2.6 billion in 2011

• Globally, subscriber growth rates in Latin America are second only to Africa, having exploded from 115 million users in 2003 to more than 320 million users today

• Mobile penetration in the region’s two largest markets, Mexico and Brasil, is still just 50%, leaving significant opportunity for continued growth

• Test messaging (SMS) is the primary form of communication of Latin American mobile subscribers

• 3G networks have already been launched in Argentina, Brasil and Chile, and are being rolled out pan-regionally in 2008

What have we done?

• Achieved direct connectivity to 8 of the 10 largest mobile carriers in Spanish-speaking Latin America

• Launched over 100 SMS campaigns in Latin America, including alerts, shoutouts, trivia, polls and SMS games

• Invested in the following media types: radio, Web, television, print, outdoor and point-of-sale/product placement

• Been selected as the exclusive technical partner to 2 of the 3 largest cable television brands in the region

• Signed an agreement with the region’s largest mobile operator for on and off-deck connectivity with all of its 14 local affiliates

Where are we going?

• We’re growing FAST: Our Latin American staff has expanded five-fold in the last 3 months, and we have offices in 4 of the 6 largest markets in the region

• Mobile Marketing – the Next Frontier: We’ve created a division dedicated to mobile marketing, with an emphasis on the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets

• The Rise of the Mobile Web: We’ve built products that enable advertising agencies, Fortune 500s and media companies to create, administer and monetize their own WAP sites

• Video/3G Applications: In partnership with our long-standing media partners, we are delivering premium video, via download and streaming, to Latin American carriers and consumers

If you are a media company, advertising agency or Fortune 500 looking for a partner to help you navigate the complex Latin American mobile marketplace, we look forward to speaking with you soon!

It’s Like a Rubik’s Cube

By Ian Heffernan : November 15, 2007 at 12:28 pm

Navigating the technical requirements mandated within the mobile space can be a challenge. For example, Carrier A wants us to deliver SMS messages this way, while Carrier B wants us to do it that way. Carrier A mandates a VPN to establish connectivity, Carrier B requires connectivity through a third-party aggregator, but Carrier C allows direct binds. Carrier A bills via a SOAP Web service, Carrier B uses premium MT (mobile terminated messages), while Carrier C uses a third party. Now make Carriers A, B and C interchangeable - swapping messaging, connectivity and billing requirements on a regular basis - and you can begin to understand what we deal with on a daily basis here at Proteus. Such different and constantly fluctuating requirements can be a daunting challenge for those looking to establish a presence in mobile. But Proteus is here to handle all that.

Proteus’ technology group thrives on the challenges presented by the carriers. Over the years, we’ve seen and adapted to everything the carriers have managed to throw at us, and we’ve even been asked on multiple occasions to partner with carriers rolling out new technologies such as WAP Push and MMS. We’ve built a suite of applications that allow us to provide our clients with everything from trivia and polling campaigns to mobile Internet sites to content delivery - with quite a few custom solutions sprinkled in along the way. What we’ve done is remove the complexity from the equation for our clients, allowing them to focus on their brands and their products rather than all the technical minutiae.

Leave the details to us, it’s what we do. And you know what - we’re pretty good at it…

Impressions from CTIA

By Lindsay Rall : October 29, 2007 at 11:25 am

The Proteus Team is back in D.C. after a week in San Francisco for CTIA Fall ‘07. Although this event wasn’t as large as the spring version of CTIA or 3GSM, it was still a productive week of meetings, show floor exhibits and parties.

“Mobile” is such a buzzword right now, and everyone wants a piece, even though some haven’t quite figured out how best to use it yet. I noticed that many more companies were using SMS for party RSVPs and sweepstakes entries than ever before, but big name media brands and corporations are still asking us lots of questions about SMS and WAP and mobile marketing, and many don’t have an internal team dedicated to mobile (at least not yet). That’s where a company like Proteus comes in. We know the space and can serve as a virtual extension of a client’s marketing team to execute on mobile campaigns.

At any tradeshow like this, it’s easy to get caught up in the glitz of large booths, giveaways and high-profile parties. There is a lot of competition out there, and it can be challenging to stand out among the crowd, but I think it’s important to realize that much of what we saw during the week was short-term hype and fleeting buzz. I don’t believe companies are going to win new business or execute better just because they had the most expensive collateral or spent tens of thousands on a party.

Some of the folks we talked to expressed that they are responsible for proving the concept of mobile initiatives to upper management and therefore, they need to show a positive ROI. To help them accomplish this, Proteus will stay focused on the right solutions for the right customers. We’ll stay above the chaos and be smart about what we invest in. Although our current focus is on serving carriers, media brands and ad agencies, we believe that a company in any industry can find a good way to use mobile marketing, and we’re excited to play a lead role in that evolution.

All for now…see you at the next event!

Welcome to the Proteus Blog!

By Guy Vidra : October 19, 2007 at 2:26 pm

Proteus has been around since the Stone Age of the mobile industry - 11 years - and we’ve basically seen it all. We were there when WAP was introduced as the best thing since sliced bread, we witnessed its downfall and now we are playing an active role as it rises again from the ashes. But it’s the future of Proteus, as well as our dynamic, whirlwind of an industry, that I want to talk about here with you.

The mobile industry is possibly the most explosive growth area within technology today. The industry is worth well north of $125 billion in the United States alone, with over 230 million mobile subscribers. Literally billions of dollars are being plowed into new and enhanced mobile networks, handset development and mobile application development. Did you know that more people in the U.S. have a mobile phone than the radio, TV or PC?! Moreover, no device is quite as, well, mobile, as the cellular phone, making it the most personal of digital devices.

So, what does the future look like? Imagine a full broadband experience… a vibrant screen… a powerful mini-computer that allows you to access all of your entertainment, productivity and communication needs - all in one device. Some of us will use all of the available features while others will stick to just the few they care about, like voice. But the ability to sit in a local café and work on the latest Excel document, or watch the latest Netflix movie in your queue, or access your bank account and transfer money to your kid’s account will all be a possibility. It will.

Today, however, the mobile landscape is anything but that. We have millions of handsets that can only perform the basics such as voice and SMS. We have networks that are frustratingly slow and ineffective. We have a variety of competing standards and operating systems. We have a marketplace where there’s a tight leash over content standards, access and advertising.

So, where does Proteus fit in?

We’re innovators - always have been, always will be. We developed the first working demo of a WAP site in the U.S. market, the first live interactive event on TV using a mobile phone and the first Web-to-SMS gateway. We will be at the forefront of developing products that serve the needs of media companies, carriers and large enterprises. We will focus on the here and now, because without that you get a lot of splash, but not too much in terms of results. At the same time, we will keep our ear to the ground and an eye looking out to the future. You’ll see some great products coming from our team in the next few months - we’d love your feedback on them. We’ll also share our ideas with you, both through this blog and elsewhere. We hope you’ll share yours with us. Our goal is to create the best mobile products on the planet, so that no matter who you are or what industry you work in, Proteus can help you make our world a more productive, efficient and fun place to be.