Akumiitti Interactive Comics 27092001

8/14/2019 Akumiitti Interactive Comics 27092001

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Copyright Akumiitti Ltd. 2001 1

AKUMIITTI

interactive comics

OVERVIEW

The interactive comics service, enabled by the Akumiitti Entertainment Service Center (ESC),is a multimedia service, where subscribers receive comic strips, ringing tones, operator logosand SMS (Short Message Service) messages to their mobile phones. The service concept enablesmobile subscribers not only to receive comic strips to their mobile phones, but also toinuence the ow of the story.

In the rst phase the service is delivered via a Picture Messaging Application, which enablesusers to retrieve pixel images with text to their mobile phones. In the second phase the servicewill be made available to Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). EMS enables the attachment ofanimations and sounds to plain SMS messages, and EMS is supported by ESC. The interactivecomics service will also be made available to WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) in thefuture.

The value chain for the interactive comics service is presented in Figure 1. A service provider,service operator or mobile operator offers the service to mobile subscribers, and thus isthe only visible party to the service users. The network operator in turn offers the networkservices enabling the operations of the service provider. The Akumiitti ESC runs the interactivecomics service, and delivers billing information and reporting as well. The content providereither creates the comics content or transforms another copyright owners content to formatssupported by mobile phones. Finally, a copyright owner receives a payment for all thecopyrighted pieces of the multimedia content delivered.

Figure 1: Value Chain for Interactive Comics


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AKUMIITTI INTERACTIVE COMICS

The interactive comics service delivers multimedia content to mobile phones. Subscribersreceive picture messages, ringing tones, icons, logos and SMS messages to their mobilephones. The content received contributes to a comic strip. In addition to receiving the comic

strip to the mobile phone, the subscribers can also inuence the outcome of the story.

The logic behind the interactive comics is presented in Figure 2. When subscribing to theservice, subscribers rst receive comic strips 1 and 2 followed by a question A or B? The comicstrips as well as the question are received as SMS messages. The subscribers can then decidewhether they want the story to continue as comic A or comic B. Consecutively, they send thecorresponding keyword to the dedicated service number and receive the requested comic totheir mobiles. The content delivered to the subscribers is not limited to picture messages andSMS messages, but also ringing tones, operator logos and caller group icons can be attachedto the story line.

Figure 2: The Logic behind the Interactive Comic Strip Service Concept


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HOW DOES THE SERVICE WORK?

In this example the comic story about a spider called Mack. In order to subscribe to theinteractive comics, subscribers type in the keyword COMIC MACK on their mobiles and send themessage to the dedicated service number 1234.

Next, the subscribers receive the rst strips of the comic. These include both pictures andtext.

The messages are scrollable, so the story after the picture message can be 140 characterslong.

The last message is in a form of question, thus allowing the user to affect the storyline. Theusers can choose a preferred storyline twist (COMIC WHACK or COMIC FEED), and send thekeyword comic whack or comic feed as a reply to the dedicated service number.

Based on the subscribers decision on how the story will evolve, they receive the next comic

strips.


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COMIC WHACK

The SPIDER story continues the same way with choices given to the subscribers every now andthen. The example story includes 5 to 8 comic strips, 1 to 2 questions and 1 to 2 answers.In total, that contributes to 15 to 24 SMS messages sent by the operator, and 2 to 3 SMSmessages sent by the subscriber. In reality, the length of the story can be varied to meet thesubscriber and service provider preferences and content requirements.

COMIC HELP

COMIC FEED


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NEW INNOVATIVE SERVICE FOR SUBSCRIBERS

Interactivity is the key issue, which makes subscribers addicted to the service. For the rsttime they can affect on how the story continues. Both well-known and localized copyrightedcomic strips can be offered to subscribers to meet the individuals interests. Via the AkumiittiContent Provider Program, Akumiitti can also offer content for the service.

The interactive comics enables mobile operators, mobile portals and service providers operatingin GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900 and TDMA networks to differentiate against the competitionby offering their subscribers an innovative service concept that is new to the market.

The service itself is targeted at the heavy SMS-using youth segment and will create additionalpremium-rate SMS trafc with the pushed content and additional requests received via SMS.A considerable handset base for Picture Messaging already exists, and the emergence of EMSwill further increase the number of potential customers. Furthermore, the market segment andpotential subscribers already know how to send and receive SMS messages. That makes it easyto market the service and gain a large number of end-users within a short period of time.

WHY PICTURE MESSAGING

In the rst phase the interactive comics service is delivered via Picture Messaging. The ideais to deliver the service to an already existing customer base with a large volume of PictureMessaging phones. The Picture Messaging function is currently available, for instance, in Nokia3210, Nokia 3310, Nokia 6210, Nokia 6250, Nokia 8210 and Nokia 8850 handsets presentedin Figure 3.

Figure 3: Nokia 3210, Nokia 3310, Nokia 6210, Nokia 6250, Nokia 8210 and Nokia 8850 MobilePhones support Picture Messaging

In the second phase the interactive comics service will be made available to EMS phones,which are expected to be available on the markets during the 1st quarter of 2001. Currently theavailability of the service to WAP phones is postponed, as the number of WAP handsets amongthe targeted customer segment remains low. However, the situation is likely to change duringyear 2001 and that is when the offering of the service to WAP handsets becomes topical.


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BILLING

ESC records all the transactions conducted, and the service provider can then use thisinformation to bill the subscribers. That enables several pricing models for the service provider.A service package, for instance a story consisting of three pictures, can be offered at a xedprice, or subscribers can be billed based on the transactions.

ESC ARCHITECTURE

The ESC architecture presented in Figure 4 consists of all the elements needed for providingthe interactive comics service. Mobile subscribers communicate with ESC by sending and

receiving SMS messages via a GSM network. ESC handles the storage of the comic contents andthe interaction with the subscribers, i.e., the delivery of comic content and the handling ofrequests. The multimedia content is uploaded by the service provider via the AdministrationInterface open to various content providers. Billing information is passed to the serviceproviders billing system via the billing interface.

Figure 4: The Architecture of the Interactive Comic Service


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Head Ofce

AkumiittiTammasaarenkatu 5 B

FIN-00180 Helsinki

Finland

Telephone: +358 (0)201 500 500

Facsimile: +358 (0)201 500 501

Sales OfceAkumiitti APAC Pte Ltd

7500A Beach Road #07-310/311

The Plaza, Singapore 199591

Republic of Singapore

Telephone: +65 297 0021

Facsimile: +65 297 3032

Internet: www.akumiitti.com

WAP: wap.akumiitti.com

Email: [email protected]

No part of this publication may be copied, distributed, transcribed, or translated without the prior written permission of Akumiitti.Akumiitti has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this document is adequate and free of errors andomissions. If necessary, Akumiitti will explain issues that may not be covered by the documents. Akumiittis liability for any errorsin the documents is limited to the correction of errors and the aforementioned advisory services. Akumiitti welcomes customercomments as part of process of continual development and improvement of our documentation. Please submit your comments tothe Akumiitti support organization at [email protected]. Any trademarks mentioned in this document are properties of their

respective owners


Akumiitti Interactive Comics 27092001

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