I caught up with Manish Jha, SVP-mobile for ESPN, after his keynote at iHollywood’s Mobile Entertainment Summit this morning for an update on ESPN Mobile. The first MVNO announced by the Walt Disney Company is in system trials now, will go into limited cities and online later this year and will roll out national early next year. He wouldn’t get more targeted but given that ABC has the Super Bowl rights and ESPN is already marketing a contest tied to Super Week, I’m thinking Super Bowl — potentially the sports and advertising equivalent of a holiday launch.
Some other highlights of our conversation:
Usability: The user experience remains a priority.
Handsets: — ESPN Mobile’s emphasis is on sophisticated avid sports fans so look for some high-end handsets with the latest features as part of the offer. ESPN Mobile will be all EVDO and Java. A deal has been signed with one handset manufacturer.
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