Electronics Boutique to Offer Wireless Game Downloads For Mobile Users

[Mike Temporale]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/26/technology/personaltech/eb_downloads.reut/

"Video game retailer Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. will offer downloads for cell phones in some of its stores starting this holiday season, the company said Monday. While wireless carriers have embraced gaming and game downloads as lucrative sources of revenue, the games to be sold through the EB kiosks are larger and more complex than those typically sold via network download."



They are planning to do this over Bluetooth, which means any compatible (Windows Mobile or Series 60) Bluetooth enabled phone within 30 feet of the store/kiosks will be able to connect and download games. In fact, they mention that the system will detect your phone and you will get a message asking if you want to download a game. Free media and movie trailer downloads are scheduled to start in December, while actual games will begin in January.

[Mike Temporale]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/26/technology/personaltech/eb_downloads.reut/

"Video game retailer Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. will offer downloads for cell phones in some of its stores starting this holiday season, the company said Monday. While wireless carriers have embraced gaming and game downloads as lucrative sources of revenue, the games to be sold through the EB kiosks are larger and more complex than those typically sold via network download."



They are planning to do this over Bluetooth, which means any compatible (Windows Mobile or Series 60) Bluetooth enabled phone within 30 feet of the store/kiosks will be able to connect and download games. In fact, they mention that the system will detect your phone and you will get a message asking if you want to download a game. Free media and movie trailer downloads are scheduled to start in December, while actual games will begin in January.

[Jerry Raia]

Will this work with the BT crippled phones like the MPx 220?

[Mike Temporale]

Hrm... not sure. I wonder what BT profile something like this would use?

[Jerry Raia]

I would think file transfer, the one of many BT features gutted from the phones. :bad-words:

[Beowulf]

Retailers have been talking about using BT to send ad messages for awhile now... In Japan they even have a dating service that detects other BT phone users that could make a good love match

I've never read any technical documents on how they plan to do it..

It was so much trouble getting active sync hooked up via bluetooth... I doubt that it would work so easily with EB kiosks.. Particularly with the mpx220's stealth BT serial port.

[Jerry Raia]

Originally Posted by Beowulf

It was so much trouble getting active sync hooked up via bluetooth... I doubt that it would work so easily with EB kiosks.. Particularly with the mpx220's stealth BT serial port.

That is a good point. Even those of us with the right hammer had to struggle to get BT to work.

I wonder if the serial port is really there and can be awakened with a registry tweek.
:microwave:

[Kris Kumar]

What is the world coming to...Caller ringtones..and now Games/Ads via BT. I am glad that Cingular crippled the BT serial profile.

[Mike Temporale]

Originally Posted by Lasher

I would think file transfer, the one of many BT features gutted from the phones. :bad-words:

I don't know about that. They initiate things, and you have to respond and then find a game you want to download. So you'll need some way to move through a list and select a file. Seems to me that you would need some way to surf a web site over Bluetooth before it downloads.

[Jerry Raia]

Originally Posted by Mike Temporale

I don't know about that. They initiate things, and you have to respond and then find a game you want to download. So you'll need some way to move through a list and select a file. Seems to me that you would need some way to surf a web site over Bluetooth before it downloads.

In that case it might work the way active sync does using a DUN connection.

Otherwise they would eliminate a lot of handsets.

[Kris Kumar]

I found the WideRay website, but the information on the site does not talk about the BT version. Sounds like they are talking about the IR version. :?

http://www.wideray.com/user/index.htm

I think they are using file transfer profile to push the file to your device. Another hurdle. If I don't have my BT setup as discoverable, then how can the EB games kiosk pick up my phone?