Mobile Content Bits: Yahoo/ELLE, Orbitz Social Net For Travelers, Abu Dhabi/Bertelsmann
 
Sep 04, 2007

The phone-as-fashion-accessory takes another step down the catwalk: Yahoo is partnering with ELLE Magazine to provide coverage of the fall fashion weeks in New York, Paris and Milan (the NYC coverage starts on September 5). Content to be included: runway reports; notes on new trends and models (yes, some people really care about this); blogs from Elle staff, models and fashion blog celebrities; people watching; and features on new designers. This may sound uber-frothy to some of you out there, but the head of mobile for publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Olivier Griot, says he expects “millions” of fashion victims will use the service. It will be available off-portal through Yahoo’s oneSearch service and is free of charge, on top of normal carrier charges. release

-- Another iteration of the mobile social network, this time with a practical bend: online travel site Orbitz is launching OrbitzTLC Traveler Update. The mobile portal, also available off-deck, will be combining data from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration with reports from the front lines—that is, people who are actually travelling from one place to another. Included will be real-time data and information on security line wait times, traffic delays, parking updates, taxi lines, flight delays, weather information and more. Perhaps not the greatest endorsement of the service’s usefulness that Orbitz waited until the end of Labor Day weekend to launch it, but there will be other holiday rushes to put it to the test. release

-- Abu Dhabi Group is partnering with Bertelsmann to start offering more mobile content in Africa and parts of Asia. The holding company is owned by a member of the Abu Dhabi emirate and last month bought 50 percent of Bertelsmann’s Arvato Middle East Sales division, writes Reuters. The JV will first start with offering BMG music (artists cited included Christina Aguilera, Bob Dylan, Celine Dion and Elvis Presley) and will also extend into Bertelsmann-held publishing assets to be offered both on mobile and online. The Germany-based media company today reported that its Arvato division reported revenues of 2,243 million euros ($3 billion) for the first half of this year, up from 2,202 million euros (US$2.987 billion) for the same period a year ago.

Source: moco News.net