• The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) announced its call for nominations for its Annual Global Awards Program. Now in its fourth year, the Annual Global MMA Awards acknowledge individuals, campaigns and companies that lead the global industry in the development of campaigns that showcase brand adoption of mobile and encourage consumer adoption and interaction. Winners will be selected by a judging panel of industry, association and media leaders. Visit the MMA Website at www.mmaglobal.com for more information on the competition and how to submit a nomination. Winners will be announced during the Global Awards Ceremony and Dinner in November in San Diego.
• Silicon Valley-based Comunidad M and San Francisco-based Tribal Glu teamed up to launch a Spanish social mobile community. Tu Yo Ahora will launch its direct-to-consumer network via cell phone in Puerto Rico and later expand to the rest of Latin America. Subscribers will be able to log in using premium SMS. Tu Yo Ahora will offer its subscribers a variety of services in which they can get together in private or open chat rooms, access mobile content and create and share unique profiles.
• Info Directions submitted an application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a business-method patent related to its Guided Assignment feature developed for telecommunications service providers using its CostGuard.NET/XG billing and operations solutions. Business-method patents are a class of patents that disclose and claim new methods of doing business. Guided Assignment leverages the flexibility of CostGuard’s .NET architecture to create an order entry process that gives customer care representatives a “guided path” for assembling today’s complex product and service bundles.
• Cardo Systems, developer and manufacturer of wireless Bluetooth devices for the consumer electronics market, hired Mark W. Salt to serve as the company’s vice president of sales and marketing for North America. Prior to joining Cardo, Salt served as vice president of national retail and accessories sales with Brightpoint.
• FindWhere, provider of precision tracking and location services, announced the beta launch of Livecontacts, its free buddy finder service. With Livecontacts, individuals’ mobile phones make their current location known to their trusted contacts using GPS tracking. They also can track the location of friends who also are using the service. A user can turn the finder on and off as needed to hide or show his or her location. Livecontacts works on any GSM mobile phone network.
