HooQs

HooQs Video Recommendations Now Embeddeble

2008-06-26T16:08:00.003+03:00

Who said personalization was difficult?

Check out the new HooQs player. In the bottom of the picture you'll see a "clips4u" button. When you click on it, the strip will present you with your own personalized recommendations.

Like or dislike what you see? Vote with "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" and your clips will get updated accordingly. No, no registration is required :)

2008-06-13T18:43:00.003+03:00

MashBash TelAviv is behind us now and was a great event for anyone active or interested in the Israeli Internet scene.

Here are some HooQs' pics & video interviews by Mashable at the event.

http://www.flixwagon.com/watch/37430

Amazing Gym Capabilities, body Building or Erotica?

2008-06-12T18:36:00.000+03:00

I haven't seen anything like it and I don't know who these are... 2 power built men performing an amazing gym routine, not free of art or perhaps subtle homo-erotica. Amazing to watch.

Kung Fu Panda on Your Mobile Phone

2008-06-09T12:04:00.004+03:00

DreamWorks Animation's Jack Black comedy, "Kong Fu Panda", opened with a $60 million weekend. This strong opening beat Paramount's projection of $40 million. Adam Sandler comedy "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," came in at No. 2 with $40 million.

We have a special treat for you - 12 different "Kong Fu Panda" clips that you can download to your mobile phones. Enjoy!

Anticipating the 3G iPhone

2008-06-08T08:02:00.003+03:00

Well, first love only happens once, but this second love is almost just as exciting. Only a day to go before Steve Jobs Keynote at Apple WWDC and the rumor mill has hit full speed. The 3G iPhone has already been shipped, but nobody seems to have seen a real unit.

So what else is the 3G iPhone going to bring us besides better connectivity? GPS? Better Pricing? Unlocked device?

The iPhone blog gives a great review of the new iPhone technical spec.

CNN Money have collected a lot of formal and informal 3G iPhone spy shot.

Forbes and Fortune report that the new 3G iPhone could be $100 cheaper than the old iPhone, which makes you think about how Apple is treating early adopters...

The British Telegraph reports that Apple is about to Unlock the iPhone. Gizmodo reveals that 55% plan to unlock it anyway.

On the negative side, Silicon Valley Insider warns that production delays may stall iPhone sales. I remember the production delays of last time, they only made the lines more impressive...

Finally, we have collected the clips the net offers in line of this anticipation.

HooQs to Sponsor MashBash Tel Aviv

2008-04-29T11:04:00.005+03:00

As yet another sign of growing recognition to the Israeli start up schene, , the leading social networking news blog, announced the first international MashBash, to be held in Tel Aviv on June 11. In addition to the party, will be covering at least 10 Israeli startups through the Media Tour Series.

HooQs is a proud sponsor of the event. We will be celebrating the launch of HooQs v2 (currently in Alpha) which includes the first personalized mobile media recommender system.

These are very exiting times. The party will be held at the Galina Beach Club. Full details here.

See you there!

A Spike Lee Mobile Joint

2008-04-25T07:11:00.005+03:00

I certainly wasn't expecting this! Fierce Mobile Content reports about one interesting new deal between Nokia and Spike Lee. Apparently the two are going to collaborate in creating the first feature film based on... user generated mobile content.

"The future of filmmaking is changing and mobile-generated art is fast becoming the next medium for film," Lee said in a prepared statement. "In five years, I believe we will be watching films in movie theaters that have been shot on a mobile phone. Today, with state-of-the-art multimedia devices like what Nokia has to offer, you are seeing firsthand the democratization of film."

5 years? well, that's a bit optimistic. But Hey! it's good to see Spike Lee gets the future of content. Can you imagine Spike Lee directing a full feature film based on MMS though? I just hope this is serious and not a Nokia publicity stunt or evidence of something bad happening to Spike Lee's career.

According to Fierce Mobile contestants can submit content consisting of text, music, video or images in any combination through August 21 at http://www.nokiaproductions.com. The final collaborative film will premiere this fall at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

I've taken a few minutes and put together my own submission candidate, a collection of Spike Lee user generated clips. Hey Spike Lee! Count me in!

HooQs Launching User Program

2008-04-22T12:50:00.004+03:00

What's the best way to get the users involved in developing an innovative service?

Err....Can we simply ask you?

HooQs is launching the new HooQs Mobile VJ program. If you've got passion for digital internet media - we'd love having you on board!

Here's the brief: HooQs is a user centric service where users create and share media channels for mobile devices. Channels are created and edited online using the HooQs Studio. Video clips and audio tracks can be fetched from the open internet and uploaded from personal computers. Each channel is accessible on the web as well as on every internet connected, media enabled mobile phone. Forwarding to mobile phones worldwide is easily done for free from HooQs. Registered users get access to Clips4U - a personalized video feed based - and can easily build their own personal mobile portal. Everything is free, no installation required anywhere.

Our channel creators are called Mobile VJs. Active and successful VJs will be featured on HooQs, will be rewarded and will get a chance to monetize their content in a variety of ways. We are in the process of putting together the exact details of our VJ reward program and the best way is to do it together with the user community.

We designated 100 spots for VIP users. 50 of them have been reserved to our existing users. We are now looking for 50 new VIP users. The typical VIP user is a heavy internet user with passion for digital media and an internet connected mobile phone. Our VIP user will be asked to create several channels on HooQs and provide us with feedback. That's it. The level of involvement will be totally up to you!

If you find this interesting and believe you fit the profile - please do not hesitate to contact us at VJ@hooqs.com. You can always contact me directly as well at aner@hooqs.com, I'd love to hear from you.

HooQs 2.0 Alpha - Take it Outside!

2008-04-21T11:17:00.008+03:00

We are pleased to announce that our latest version is now ready to go out of the oven and let you have a taste...

We would LOVE it if you could try it out and give us some feedback! We truly hope you enjoy our major upgrades to the service:

1. Personalized Recommendations Channel – Introducing a significant upgrade to the quality of digital entertainment! Clips4U is an automatically updated channel based on your own viewing habits.

2. Your Personal Portal as it would always look on your phone. Check out our latest mobile version on your mobile device.

3. Check out our new studio where you can Search, Upload & share personal stuff on mobile! Our studio introduces additional improviments. Now you can easily edit your existing channels daily to add new stuff. No more need for multiple channels.

4. Producer packages – Coming soon: Make HooQs your content distribution arm, while generating revenue from mobile traffic with us. If you have interesting content you wish to monetize on mobile phones please contact us at content@hooqs.com

We plan to pick the best channels in the Alpha period and promote them and their VJs in the HooQs re-launch campaign - don’t be shy!

Few tips and disclaimers:

1. This is an ALPHA version - we haven't ironed out all the bugs and flows yet, but we plan to. Honestly.

2. Registration is required to get personal recommendations. You would also need to watch a clip or two before you get meaningful recommendations.

3. Our personalized mobile portal works well on all 3G devices and on iPhone. We haven't finalizedporting to Blackerry and Windows Mobile yet, this is coming in a couple of weeks.

New HooQs-MySpace Widget !!!

2007-12-03T10:15:00.000+02:00

There's a lot of fun you can have on MySpace, especially with widgets. So, we created a cool HooQs widget you can put on your MySpace profile or add to your blog.

This widget featured our recently added channels. You can see all the latest channels and then you are one click away from sending those cool clips to your mobile phone for FREE.

Here's how the widget looks like:

You are more than welcome to have fun with it! Stay tuned - there are more surprises coming your way!

eSpew teams up with HooQs

2007-10-18T17:46:00.000+02:00

This week eSpew took 'music on demand' a step further by joining forces with HooQs (TM) (http://www.hooqs.com) to release a new innovative feature allowing audio enthusiasts to share music for free via eSpew.com, using The HooQs' Web to Mobile service.

eSpew, the world's largest online Free Audio MP3 Music Search Engine, displaying over 19 million MP3 songs and attracting over 1.3 million unique visitors a month and growing.

"Sending music to your mobile is as simple as selecting a song, entering in your friend's telephone number and clicking the websites 'Send to Mobile' option," say's Daniel Cohen, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at eSpew.

The eSpew Search Engine allows users to Search & Play Music for Free, Chat with Friends, Share Music, Create Multiple Online MP3 Music Play Lists, Save Favorite MP3 Music, and more without users being required to download or install 3rd party software on their computers or provide personal information.

According to Itay Gissin, founder of HooQs (TM), the music found on eSpew.com can immediately be accessed by any web-enabled mobile device worldwide. Users are not required to provide any personal details about themselves to send music via HooQs (TM). "HooQs makes sure users get what they want on their phones. Leveraging the wealth of music content on the Web, while offering a truly personal mobile experience will revolutionize mobile media. Media companies use HooQs (TM) to set up an effective, targeted mobile channel, directly from their website." explains Mr. Gissin.

We're Hiring! We're Hiring! We're Hiring!

2007-10-16T16:03:00.000+02:00

Syncho (the strange group of people behind HooQs, or in other words us), is now hiring. We are looking for good, talented, professional, competitive, happy, team-playing-individuals who look forward to joining a startup at the right moment in time and be a part of something that blends professional challenges with fun.

Oh yeah, and we need these individuals to fit the following positions:

Lead Software Developer - Java (position 11375)

- Experienced java developer (5 years).
- Required experience: J2SE/J2EE, networking, database, multi-threading, knowledge in HTTP, sockets, server side development, knowledge in linux.
- Experience with core / server side programming

Lead Software Developer - Web (position 94110)

- Responsibility - developing the HooQs.com site as well as tool for our partners.
- Experienced web developer - web sites as well as applications (minimum 3 years)
- Good command of state of the art web technologies.
- Required experience: HTML, JavaScript, Servlets, Flash (plus), PHP (plus)

User Experience and GI Designer (Position 90210)

- A strong user interface designer with experience in designing and in implementing interactive web applications.
- Familiarity and passion for the most up to date web and mobile trends.
- Required Experience: PhotoShop and other graphics editing tools, Flash( programming a plus).
- A designer! but one who can also cut graphics when needed.

Interested? drop us a note at jobs@syncho.net. We look forward to hearing from you!

Embed Away!

2007-09-23T17:27:00.000+02:00

We are very happy to announce that an embedding option has been added to each of our video channels. Now you can add our fully functional video player to your blog or site. Just grab the code at the bottom of your favorite channel, and embed away!

Here's how it looks like:

Have Fun!

The Word on HooQs

2007-08-27T10:49:00.000+03:00

HooQs is being mentioned and reviewed in many places over the net, and of course - we love it!!!

Here are some of the places where we were mentioned:

MobileCrunch: "...We’re following the beta launch of HooQs, which is a portal for all your video needs. The company has been partnering with various media companies for distribution of mobile video content..."

Mashable: "...With HooQs, you can create your own channels, or browse the site to watch those that have been created by others. You can add other users to your watchlist, and subscribe to each channel’s feed..."

the.co.ils (Hebrew)

Ouriel Ohayon: "...The service is young but good enough to interest me and my friends at TechCrunch..."

inbabble: "...HooQs has made a good decision in trying to differentiate through personalization and relevance..."

msearchgroove: "...Kudos to them for working on personalization – an element many other offers have ignored entirely…"

KillerStartups: "...HooQs makes it incredibly easy to create and share channels. It’s a good point of departure for anyone just starting to experiment with feeds, since the site is really user-friendly and not full of complicated terminology..."

Check out the HooQs Flash Widget

2007-08-27T09:24:00.000+03:00

If you like flash like I do...

Add to your site

HooQs on RSS

2007-08-24T09:08:00.000+03:00

HooQs now supports RSS. You can now subscribe to our most recent channels and get a note of every new channel that was added by a HooQs user. You may also subscribe to our featured channels. We now plan to add a specific RSS feed for every category as well. Enjoy!

HooQs most recent channels RSS feed

HooQs featured channels RSS feed

Keep it Simple, Keep it Fresh

2007-08-19T17:16:00.000+03:00

Nothing is better than technology that's working for you. Time is a very precious resource, and every day we need to find new ways to handle the flow of information on the web and in the media.

Time is even more of the essence when you are surfing with your mobile phone. Trying to stay up-to-date on the mobile internet was almost impossible.

Impossible until now, that is, because HooQs provides you with an excellent solution - your personal, auto-updated, FRESH video channels.

Want to stay updated with news on the stock market? No problem - create your channel, mark it as "Fresh", and it will be updated once a day with the freshest videos about the financial world. Need to know the news about the Utah Mine Disaster or the Earthquake in Peru? Create a channel and it will keep you up-to-date.

It doesn't have to be all about hard-core news, by the way. If Scuba Diving is your favorite hobby, create a channel and enjoy the freshest clips on that sport - right on your mobile phone - no hassle and no software needed. Easy as pie. Keep it simple, keep it FRESH.

Roadside Assistance on your Mobile

2007-08-05T16:21:00.000+03:00

5min & HooQs have partnered to mobile enable the Life videopedia and extend Instructional "How-to" videos to mobile phones world-wide. Visitors to 5min can now instantaneously send any video clip directly from the site to any mobile device for free.

Examples of such mobile courses include Extreme sports tips, travelling guides & routine daily life tips, most relevant to you when you are at need for help and away from the computer. Additional options include spiritual guidance, business courses, visual cooking recipes & more clips which are perfect mobile companions.

5min powers Life videopedia, the a place to find short video solutions for practical questions and a place for people to share their knowledge. The idea behind 5min is very simple: any solution can be visually explained in no more than 5 minutes - a perfect fit for mobile use.

HooQs is offering media partners like 5min with an easy way to mobilize their media by embedding the HooQs "Send to Mobile" Widget. Partners can choose to distribute their media for free or for a premium charge. The widget is available for immediate use.

HooQs is also welcoming Daily HooQ partners. Such partners can offer the Daily HooQ directly to their users and power them with a free subscription to direct mobile delivery of the best the web has to offer.

Media partners and interested websites are welcome to contact the HooQs team at info@hooqs.com

The New and Improved HooQs!

2007-07-31T09:51:00.000+03:00

Good morning world!

This is certainly a very exciting day for us at Syncho. After a lot of hard work and effort, HooQs launched its new look and feel - with some major changes to the site and service!

As you can see, the Homepage and the entire site have been completely remodeled. You can now enjoy our bigger, sleeker, video player, which offers you a better viewing experience. Now you can watch your favorite channels and send them to your friends via SMS - in a much easier fashion.

Another huge change was made to the Search option. We implemented a more sophisticated search engine, which brings you faster and more varied results. For each search you get up to 50 clips to choose from, all from many different sources of video on the net.

If you feel the need to stay updated and entertained without working too hard - we have got just the thing for you! We have launched HooQ of the Day - subscribe to the service, choose your areas of interest, and we will send you short clips that match your taste. One time registration and you are into a world of fun!

People are coming to HooQs from all over the world, and we are enjoying a surge in site traffic. Of course, we are still in Beta, which means you might still encounter some bugs and glitches - in which case you are more than welcome to let us know about them. Please contact us with ANYTHING you might feel like saying!

We are working hard to continue and improve HooQs, and to make it a better experience for you all. So go on - have fun and don't forget - Go Mobile!

Barry Bonds Record - Sad News?

2007-07-28T13:46:00.000+03:00

Barry Bonds is a remarkable athlete, no doubt. His achievements are extraordinary under any circumstances. But Barry Bonds is also (most probably) a product of steroids. I don't care what the investigation committee ever comes up with, nobody starts excelling so steeply at the age of 38. It just doesn't happen. Not naturally.

The debate sort of quieted down as Barry Bonds approaches 756 (if you missed number 754 last night, here is it). There seems to be a growing media consensus around respecting the moment now. No one wants to be accountable for spinning Baseball into a vertigo that one can only see the beginning of. Bud Selig, for example, clearly doesn't believe Barry Bonds "not guilty" pleas, but he will attend his games from now on out of "respect for the game". If you ask me, "respecting the game" means getting to the bottom of the investigation quickly and, if needed, tossing Bonds out of the record books. Ben Johnson broke an amazing record once during the Olympics, got caught, got tossed, and no one remembers the damage he did to the 100M race by now. The immediate action restored fan support and healed the wounded sport. The same should be applied with baseball or else we are most probably looking at the Tour de France in no more than a few years.

Barry Bonds is a remarkable athlete, no doubt, which is why he should be used to set the example of how that doesn't stop justice.

HooQs Featured for the First Time in the Media

2007-07-24T10:56:00.001+03:00

Yep, we got our first-ever feature in a leading Israeli newspaper - TheMarker. HooQs is famous!

It's in Hebrew, so I guess most of you won't be able to read it. Still, it's nice to be out there, and we hope more and more people will come and enjoy our great service.

While you're at it, you are more than welcome to try out HooQs, which enables you to create your own personal mobile portal - without being dependent on your local cellular provider. Just register (20 seconds and it's FREE), search for something you like and create your own cool media channels.

By the way, despite all the Harry Potter madness, our most popular channel is, by far, the Kittens channel! I guess cute pets are cooler than annoying boy-wizards.

The Secret is Out: Harry Potter Ending Revealed

2007-07-16T14:15:00.000+03:00

Relax, I am not going to blab. But it's out. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has leaked into the net - in the funniest format. It's not a PDF file this time, but a bunch of pictures taken by someone, revealing most of the pages in the 7th Harry Potter book.

So, the end is now known to the public. The spoilers are everywhere. Everyone knows who died and who survived, what happened to all of the characters (annoying and tacky epilogue at the end) and who won the war. I'll give you a full count of it all soon enough - after July 21st, of course. Still - I say: Don't buy the book. It is not worth the trouble. That's my guess, if you know what I mean.

The spoilers are out there - all over the net. If you are interested in finding the files and the info, all you have to do is digg a bit, or search in p2p networks, if you know what I mean.

I don't really think this will hurt the amazing sales. Rowling won't lose money because some kid photographed the pages of the book and put it on the net. Still, it's amusing to see, that despite the protection and threats - information (albeit not very important one) has once again broke the chains of gold, and has become free and accessible to all.

>> More News Reports on the Leak

The New 7 Wonders of the World

2007-07-08T11:37:00.000+03:00

100 million surfers have chosen the New Seven Wonders of the World. Was it really democracy in action? Doubtfully. Anyone could have voted a number of times, so it wasn't a "clean" vote.

Naturally, countries whose monuments weren't chosen are already complaining. Seems like a campaign that no one will be happy about.

...And the winners are:

* Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer
* Peru's Machu Picchu
* Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid
* Great Wall of China
* Jordan's Petra
* The Colosseum in Rome
* India's Taj Mahal.

I never saw any of those in person. Maybe it's time to plan my new vacation. Still, thanks to user-generated content, anyone can see the New Seven Wonders, at least online.

Greg Oden or Kevin Durant?

2007-06-25T21:58:00.000+03:00

This could prove to be the best draft since 1983. Greg Oden and Kevin Durant Reported to training camps at Orlando and Portland last week and we already have them HooQed!

Watch the Greg Oden and Kevin Durant channels and make your own judgement. Then take another look at Michael....can they ever get to that level?

YouTube Mobile or Mobile YouTube?

2007-06-19T14:39:00.000+03:00

Thank you YouTube, for your rapid & effective launch of your mobile version! Following what seemed like a typical operator-approach exclusivity model with Verizon, looks like you really mean mass-market.

Good news - No client needed, just come and get it with any internet 3G phone! That's exactly what this industry needed for a long time - an Internet giant meaning business & leveraging the Web's open model on the mobile industry. Most other internet content players view the operators as the "plug number" in their broken revenue model, trying to sell OPC (Other People's Content) in traditional content models, overlooking the end-consumer reluctance to pay premium for content mobility.

Way to go, with respect to the general business strategy of going it alone! However, in the even more important part of the strategy - product-wise - YouTube still has a lot to learn about the mobile space, its past failures and mainly - the mobile life of users. The standard portal experience on mobile has made it hard, even for the most advanced users, to become addicted. Generalized & thin content lineups make it impossible for service providers to cater to all segments & individual tastes, which is needed to make a product truly mobile.

The products that DID succeed on mobile were those that enabled deep personalization & uniqueness to its users (Phone decoration, ringtones etc.).

Heavy browsing requirements for little content is something every mobile user has on his operator portal. At least there the content is local which means it is somehow targeted to its audience. With YouTube , its the same popular stuff consumed by all, with no value-add for mobility.

When I am on my mobile, I normally have a minute. Maybe two. The only way I will choose to go on the internet is if I know I am 2-3 clicks away from something that will Hook me up, and will be unique & forward-worthy. For that to happen, content sources will have to be much more varied than a YouTube. A community system will have to be working for me - Scouring the web, fetching content, filtering it for mobile consumption, connecting me with peers' content, and more.

In some sense, YouTube will always remain YouTube - an eclectic mix of user-generated & commercial content, targeting mainly the young and the bored. To truly mobilize the internet video revolution, a new type of access mode is required - one who puts the user in the center!

Hackers Delights - Video Tutorials

2007-06-19T06:17:00.000+03:00

Even needed to hack a Nokia Phone? Even wondered how you could free your Motorola RAZR from an operator program? Got some MSN Tips and Tricks? Check out these latest HooQs and don't be shy of creating your own!

Real Madrid - La Liga Champions!

2007-06-18T08:22:00.000+03:00

Real Madrid captured a record 30th Spanish League title with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Real Mallorca. The victory also sent David Beckham away to Los Angeles with a league championship medal. Barcelona, though they gave a valiant effort, didn't make it.

Madrid ended its longest major trophy drought in 53 years with wild celebrations and a lap of honor before throwing coach Fabio Capello into the air as the Italian won his second title as coach at Madrid.

"This team has recovered its spirit, this was a fantastic victory," said Real coach Fabio Capello.

Congrats to all of the fans! Have TONS of fun!

Bye Bye Barker!

2007-06-17T18:47:00.000+03:00

If you lived in the US during the 70s, 80s or 90s you must know and love Bob Barker.

Now, at 82 and After 6,482 (!) shows, Bob Barker is retiring from the Price is Right and we pay him a Tribute.

Oh, no need to guess of sending the Bob Barker Channel to your mobile. It's Free!

Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and The Spurs - On Your Mobile

2007-06-15T17:50:00.000+03:00

The Spurs won their 3rd title in 8 years last night and we've got it HooQed. I have a confession - I am a die hard Knick fan and in this series I rooted for the Cavs. Still, I must admire the Spurs, undoubtedly the best basketball team in the world today.

Don''t forget to get it on your mobile!

iPhone vs. Prada

2007-06-14T08:58:00.000+03:00

So which one do you take? The iPhone collection or the Prada collection?

Personally, my heart goes for Prada. LG is a device manufacturer which means mass distribution and fewer growing pains. The Prada phone itself is much sexier and I already have an iPod. Two caveats stop me though - lack of 3G support and the price - oh the price! - about $750.

Still, I bet demand will be at least 10:1 in favor of the new iPhone. What power a good brand has!

Paris Hilton in Jail: The Music Video

2007-06-12T15:42:00.001+03:00

Paris is everywhere. It's been a while since I have seen such a successful PR offensive. This one has it all: tears, jail, parents, corrupt sheriffs and blond hair. Well done, Paris - you are in the center of attention again. I wouldn't be surprised if it were all a big, fat SETUP.

MEM2007

2007-06-10T21:43:00.000+03:00

The following was published yesterday at DeGardener.

I spent the week in Monaco at MEM2007. From the personal perspective it was a very exciting show, after all, first time HOOQs was on display. From that perspective we had an excellent show - great feedback and lots of users and leads. We have work cut out for us, but the good news is that the market is HOT! The need for personalized, open, operator independent web to mobile services is all over the place and is welcomed by users, operators, content providers, analysts and bloggers.

MEM2007 is not really a classic exhibition, it's more of a conference. Participation is nearly exclusive to industry insiders and the tracks, therefore, are very professional. To a start-up-ist, these represent rare opportunities to take a 30,000 feet view and collect some insights that extend beyond the daily challenges. My own personal climax was not a single industry lecture or panel, even though all were very interesting at their own merit. To me, the most insightful session was a focus group with 10 different teenagers. These young adults were gathered from different countries - Australia, England, France, Italy, Finland, Germany - and were all surveyed about their digital lives. Here is some of what they told us:

1. The key elements teenagers look for in their mobile phones is appearance. Then come ability to play music, quality of camera and feature richness.

2. Nokia is the most popular handset brand. Out of the 10 participants, 5 had Nokias, 2 had Samsungs, 2 had LGs (Chocolate) and 1 had a Sony Ericsson. 7 out of 10 devices were 3G.

3. They don't do mobile clients - only 1 participant ever downloaded a mobile application. A game. Used it a couple of times and ditched it.

4. Teenagers are smart shoppers. They don't mind paying for Internet content, but hate buying stuff they can easily find for free. In other words, they will not buy songs for 3 Euros a pop. Contrary to popular belief, they buy a lot of CDs in addition to downloading free music. They know how to manage their music collection and how to get their favorite music on their mobile device.

5. On they other hand, all participants testified they would gladly buy new content if only they could find it easily. All participants agreed that the mobile operator portals are close to impossible to navigate through.

6. On top, the differences between operators and handsets make it impossible for users to share experiences. Not tracks or clips - pure information about where and how to find them!

7. They things they on their handsets are better Internet browsing and memory. They really don't get why MP3 and Video enabled phones come with such little memory.

8. They don't mind advertising if it makes content free. They are already used to online ant TV advertising, why object to mobile ads?

9. They all tried Google on their mobile and didn't like it. The mobile experience does not provide anything close to the internet experience.

10. They don't do MMS. All of them tried and all of them claim that "it doesn't work".

11. If they had to give up their TV, Mobile Phone or PC, 9 out of 10 would give up their TV (the only other answer was PC). None would let go of their mobile phone.

These young adults were not screaming in a vacuum. It was great to hear executives from operators presenting plans to further breakdown their walled gardens and push flat data rates. It seems like it's only a question of price points now. This is music to the ears of user centric service providers. To me, however, getting the bartenders in front of our booth excited and HooQed was most rewarding than anything!

Taking on the Mobile Internet

2007-06-06T00:39:00.000+03:00

HooQs is in Beta!

The Syncho team have worked quietly (& very hard) over the last year on building an open & personal environment for the mobile media user. We are still ramping up with enhancements but it's out and we would love to hear what you think and how we can make it work better for you.

The mobile Internet is full of hurdles (we overcome daily!), but it is still the same Internet!People tend to forget it & operators are not helping to explain it very well. So against the odds & with all of the wealth of Web 2.0 on our side, we are taking it on & directly offering it here (& on your own mobile Internet device).

We would like to start a conversation on how YOU would like to use the Internet on your phone. So give us a minute, we will make it worth you while!

Stay Tuned!

We'll Always Have Paris, Hilton

2007-06-06T00:22:00.000+03:00

Paris Hilton is getting familiar with her inmates and according to her lawyer is "busy reflecting on her life".

I respect reflecting, which is why I started my own Paris Hilton in Jail HooQ.

I am definitely not the only one considering how easy that was!

Cleveland Cavaliers reach their first NBA final!

2007-06-03T10:52:00.000+03:00

The Cavaliers are on their way to the NBA Finals. The Cavs, who won only 17 games the year before LeBron arrived, will meet the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the finals on Thursday night. The fun just begins. Check out the Cleveland Cavaliers channel on HooQs!