bbc

From Bollywood to BBC, Bubbly is a Voice in the Audio Blogging World

Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Aug 20, 2010
From Bollywood to BBC, Bubbly is a Voice in the Audio Blogging World data sheet 8141 Views

Bubble Motion, a provider of mobile messaging and social media applications, launched Bubbly this year in India, making strides in the mobile audio blogging world. Audio blogging is a form of blogging in which the medium is audio content. Bubbly works by call and record, and thus can be adapted in areas with high mobile penetration and low Internet access, such as India.

A Bubbly user calls the service and through an integrated voice response (IVR) menu can record a name and message, usually less than 30 seconds. When other users choose to follow a user’s posts (or “Bubbles”) they receive an SMS message every time new audio content is added. A video by Pi Social Media on YouTube demonstrates how to record and listen to a Bubble; this one about an office party meet-up.

MobileActive.org spoke with Bubbly and the BBC, a user of the service, to find out how it works.

Basic Information
Organization involved in the project?: 
Project goals: 

Bubbly is a mobile-based service that allows users to record voice content and follow the voice content of others.

Brief description of the project: 

Bubble Motion, a provider of mobile messaging and social media applications, launched Bubbly this year in India, making strides in the mobile audio blogging world. Audio blogging is a form of blogging in which the medium or main content is audio. Bubbly works by call and record, and thus can be adapted in areas with high mobile penetration and low Internet access, such as India.

A Bubbly user calls the service and through an integrated voice response (IVR) menu can record a name and message, usually less than 30 seconds. When other users choose to follow a user’s posts (or “Bubbles”) they will receive an SMS message every time new audio content is added.

Target audience: 

Because it works in close partnership with mobile operator providers, Bubbly users must be on a network that offers the service. Bubbly is currently deployed in India. The Bubble Motion group plans to expand next to Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan.

Detailed Information
Status: 
Ongoing
What worked well? : 

The Bubbly service works closely with mobile operators, so it is able to leverage the billing systems of providers to have a built-in business model and collection system. It also allows people in regions with high mobile phone penetration and low Inernet access to participate in social communication via mobile phones.

What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

Use is restricted to subscribers of specific mobile networks. Users also incur either subscription fees or the airtime costs required to record or listen to an audio message. Another challenge is the discoverability of the service, requirig extensive maketing investments. 


India Bans Pre-Paid Mobiles in Kashmir - Security or Suppression?

Posted by samdupont on Nov 11, 2009

This post was written by Sam duPont of NDN and the New Policy Institute, and is cross-posted at Global Mobile.

For eight years, the Indian government dragged its feet until, in 2003, it finally permitted mobile phones in conflict-torn Kashmir. Intelligence officials had feared that Kashmiri and Pakistani militants would use the phones to plan attacks on Indian army outposts throughout the region, but in '03 they relaxed the ban, and the past six years have been the most peaceful since the conflict began in 1989. Causation? Probably not. But correlation, anyway.

India Bans Pre-Paid Mobiles in Kashmir - Security or Suppression? data sheet 3557 Views
Countries: India

Streaming Video From Your Mobile: When the Mobile Becomes a Television

Posted by admin on Mar 24, 2008

Streaming video from your mobile almost feels like magic. A video taken on your mobile phone appears, in real time, on the web and even allows users to interact with the mobile phone user through real-time chat functions. "It's immediate, it's there, and it's one click away," Flixwagon CEO Eran Hess told the BBC in a recent video interview. "It's very easy to do."

MobileActive tested two streaming video applications, Qik and Flixwagon, to see how they measured up for use by nonprofits and advocacy organizations that want to document and feature video content in real time. Lastly, we discuss how streaming video can be used for social impact.

Mobile phone lifeline for world's poor

Posted by Simon Pavitt on Feb 23, 2008

There's a great article about spread of mobile phones in India and Africa on the BBC News website.

For instance, it mentions how migrant Zimbabwean workers in South Africa send money back using M-banking and avoid having to pay bribes to border guards when they go home.