MEGA ‘09 _ Mobile Enterprise Growth Alliance

What is MEGA?

MEGA is a ground breaking initiative that grows the size and capability of the mobile and allied industries through an entrepreneurship development program. MEGA takes participants from the mobile, digital content and ICT industries through a journey to build their creative, technical and business skills for the development of new products and services for global markets.

Participants form project teams and, guided by industry experts, develop and pitch new products and services to investors, buyers and business identities at a high profile Pitch Day in each state.

Application Closing Dates :
- VIC : C.O.B. this Friday 24th July 2009
- NSW : C.O.B. next Friday 31st July 2009

More from MEGA

One minute challenge for filmmakers

The competition is for filmmakers to produce an original and imaginative film that works within the confines of sixty seconds. The categories for submitting your film are Film, Animation, Mobile File, Documentary, Machinima, Experimental, Title Sequence, Film Trailer, Ident, Advert. Each month we will show the films sent to us which are open for a public vote to decide which film wins each month and goes into the grand final of the twelve best films of the year. At the end of the year the best 12 selected films will be judged by the public to decide which film is the Winner of the prestigious Renderyard 1 Minute Challenge award. You can submit as many films as you like. Your film must be no longer than 1 minute in length.

To submit a film please click the link.

Threadless.com Touring Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane…

THE PORTABLE FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS THREADLESS.COM IN CONVERSATION

Threadless.com is one of the world’s strongest and most profitable online design communities. Launched in Chicago in early 2000, the company has over one million registered users and continues to shape and influence designers and illustrators internationally.

This May, Ross Zietz, Art Director for Threadless, touches down in Australia to share his knowledge of the online design community, advice for upcoming and established online businesses, and the latest in social networking and online trends. Ross Zietz will make appearances in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Places are limited so book online now.

WHAT IS THE PORTABLE SYMPOSIUM SERIES?
The Portable Symposium Series brings groundbreaking international cross media practitioners to the Australian and Asia Pacific creative communities. In an intimate and open conversation, these events promote innovation, risk taking and dialogue between creative communities throughout the region.

Touring all major cities of Australia, as well as Singapore and New Zealand, the Portable Symposium Series attracts an audience of technology minded professionals, filmmakers and creative industry practitioners interested in trends and innovation in online video and content. Portable Film Festival® has previously toured the makers of online serial hit LonelyGirl15, which has over 100 million viewers, to Australia. In 2008, the festival produced an Asia-Pacific tour with Ezra Cooperstein, VP of User Generated Content from Al Gore’s Current TV network.

WHAT IS THE PORTABLE FILM FESTIVAL®?
The Portable Film Festival® is Australia’s premier online film channel, offering audiences the chance to download an entire international film and video program for free to their iPods, mobile phones and laptops. Now in its fourth year, the festival works to liberate the film viewing and filmmaking process, making story accessible to everyone regardless of his or her experience, location, or technical proficiency.

MELBOURNE
Tuesday 26th of May
Village Roadshow Theatrette
State Library of Victoria
(Enter on Latrobe Street)
6:00pm

BRISBANE
Wednesday 27th of May
State Library of Queensland
(By invitation only)

SYDNEY
Thursday 28th of May
Museum of Sydney
Corner of Bridge & Phillip Streets
6:00pm

HOW MUCH ARE TICKETS?
$45 Adult
$30 Concession

HOW CAN I BUY TICKETS?
Tickets will be available online for purchase at the Portable Film Festival® website www.portablefilmfestival.com/symposium.php

Saving Gorillas with your old mobile phone

Gorillas and mobile phones are not often associated with each other but unbeknownst to many people the humble mobile phone is having a dramatic impact on the survival of Gorillas and many other primates in West Africa.

It’s what inside the mobile phone that’s the problem: coltan. Coltan is a metallic ore and its illegal mining in West Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is leading to an alarming decrease in Gorilla and other primate habitat.

As the land is cleared for mining of coltan, roads are paved which expose the once protected Gorilla populations to poaching, and many fall victim to the bush meat trade.

While this is a serious environmental issue, it is also one that most people can do something about. It only requires a small action; recycling your old or unwanted mobile phones. This will help lessen the demand for coltan and, if enough people recycle their phones, can help ease the pressure on Gorillas and other primates in West Africa.

Melbourne Zoo has partnered with Aussie Recycling to create the mobile phone recycling campaign.

They’re Calling On You! You can download a postage paid label from the website www.zoo.org.au/ or drop off your phone to Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary or Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Source URL: http://www.zoo.org.au/Calling_on_You

Article cited at Pure Green website

Go Green on Earth Day – April 22

In recognition of Earth Day on April 22, Fox Mobile is offering the Go Green mobile application for free to consumers in Australia through April 26, 2009, via its Jamster service. The mobile application offers tips and tests to help users live greener lives.

The application also features an SMS function which enables users to send green facts and challenges to  friends. The Go Green mobile application, developed by AMA, can be downloaded directly from the Jamster Web site, or users can text the keywords “earth day” or “earth” to 194000.

Here’s some tips!

Unplugging unused chargers: Always unplug mobile phone chargers when the phone is fully charged or when not in use, eliminating “standby” energy waste.

Deactivating unnecessary connections: Even while Bluetooth, WLAN and GPS aren’t being used, they still automatically connect. Activate these features only when needed, as it can help reduce the energy consumption process, reduce vulnerability to intrusion and also optimize the mobile phone battery life.

Avoiding vibrate mode: Vibration alert is a physical support of the mobile phone to get attention while ringing and is quite energy-intensive. Activate the vibration alert only when necessary or when the phone is set to mute and you need to be available. If the ringtone is audible, there normally is no need for further alerts.

Adjusting display settings: High-resolution and high-quality displays consume higher amounts of energy. To conserve energy, turn on the power-saver and turn the light time-out settings to a shorter period of time.

Running applications, even if it’s an open message, should be closed to conserve energy. Switch the mobile phone off if it isn’t in use or in an out-of-service area.

The Go Green application is available to both current and non-subscribers of Jamster, and non-subscribers do not need to sign-up for a subscription to download the application. While the application is free, standard carrier messaging and data charges will apply and the offer is not available on all carriers or mobile phone models.

The Sealed Section for girls via web or mobile

The Sealed Section is a short form series of 1-3 minute episodes made specifically for mobile phone & web delivery. Each episode enlightens young girls with practical advice on topics like health, fitness, beauty, relationships, fashion, and the social realities of being a girl in the 21st century. With humour and honesty, our host and team of experts help demystify the things that can confuse, enchant and worry a girl.

You can view the pilot episode here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRivz9AumY

The 1440 Team – info@1440productions.com

Reznor’s Innovative Run Continues With Nine Inch Nails iPhone App

Trent Reznor was backstage one afternoon last summer, fooling around with his iPhone to stave off  boredom before a show, when he realized that fans standing in line outside were broadcasting photos from the scene using their iPhones.

So he took the obvious next step: Using Twinkle, the same Twitter app the fans were using, he started sending out photos from backstage. And so an idea was born.

“We started thinking, ‘Hey, this could be pretty cool,’” Reznor recalls. A few days from now, the results should be up on Apple’s App Store for anyone to use.

The Nine Inch Nails app, scheduled for release as soon as it gets final approval from Apple, is a mobile window on all things NIN: music, photos, videos, message boards, even — thanks to a GPS-enabled feature called Nearby — the fans themselves.

Nearby is “kind of like Twitter within the Nine Inch Nails network,” says Rob Sheridan, Reznor’s long-time collaborator. “You can post a message or a photo by location, and if you’re at a show you can see conversations between other people who are right there.”

Fans have had their curiosity stoked by hints about the iPhone app that have shown up on Reznor’s Twitter feed.

More from Wired> …

Portable Film Festival – Call for entries

The Call for Entries for the fourth annual Portable Film Festival is now open!
 
PFF is currently taking entries across all festival categories: Short Film, Music Video, Look at Me (online video including serials and webisodes), Get Animated (a dedicated animation category), First Hand Capture (for content shot on mobile devices like cell phones), and full Feature Films. The PFF will award prizes over 6 categories, as voted by users plus a grand prize across the entire festival as voted by PFF.
 
Entry is free.
Entry deadline:  April 30
Contact: info@portablefilmfestival.com 
Visit http://www.portablefilmfestival.com for further information.

Cell phone novels hit big time

An interesting article from CNN discusses the success of author “Yume-Hotaru” (his pen name) in publishing a novel for distribution on cell phones. Apparently he wrote the novel on the cellphone as well, typing with just his thumb, and posting to his Mobage-Town SNS site between classes and while traveling on the train and bus. His first story was called “First Experience” and after being recreated in print became a Number One bestseller in Tokyo. CNN says that in 2007, 5 of the nation’s best-sellers were written on cell phones, and that the market size for cell phone novels and manga reached JPY24bn — about 5% of the overall market for cell phone digital content. It appears now, though, that the trend is cooling, and in 2008, fewer best-sellers were written this way — but nonetheless, the top cellphone novels can still sell more than 1.7m copies. (Source: TT commentary from cnn.com, Feb 27, 2009)

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/25/japan.mobilenovels/

Applications for Project NEXT are now open.

*Project NEXT*, is the working title of a new topical 10 x 30min program which will be on your screens later this year – on ABC1, ABC2, the web, mobile phones and online.

Seeking applications from creative people between the ages of 18 and 30 to work as reporters, producers, camera/directors, editors, graphic artists, researchers and web content producers.

Applications to work on Project NEXT close at 5pm Monday, 16 March 2009.

If you want to apply or find out more information go to:  <http://www.projectnext.net.au/

Brought to you by ABC TV <http://www.abc.net.au/tv/> and Zapruder’s other films <http://www.zof.com.au/>, the people who brought the Chaser team to TV, and the creative force behind *The Gruen Transfer <http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/>*, and *Enough  Rope <http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/>*, are looking for creative young people who are original thinkers with a view about what’s happening in Australia and the world, to work on *Project NEXT*.