MSN attacks UK mobile Internet market

REINFORCING ITS drive to become a major participant in the mobile Internet, Microsoft's MSN Mobile service has launched a new 'fun' SMS (text) based service, MagicTXT.

It will be available to the 49 million or so mobile phone users in the UK through a single shortcode number - 86101.

The idea is that MagicTXT automatically adds a fun graphic to enhance ordinary text messages. Most new handsets now support the addition of icons - such as smilies - to standard SMS messages.

However, initially the MagicTXT will only work with a restricted range of Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets [No Sendo then? Ed.]. The service has been put together by FunMail of California and Convisual of Germany. Each text will cost the sender £1 a go - even if the sender screws up and doesn't actually get the codes to generate specific icons right.

On the plus side there are graphics from South Park and Garfield. More details available here. The service illustrates how major players, like MSN, can put together a package which acquires the same short code over all available networks and how the low 'out payments' (revenues for the content generators) are only really acceptable for those with existing content.

However, in order to grow such services, the mobile operators with have to address both the shortcode issue and the out payment issue, according to Rob Ellis, MD of iTouch UK. µ