As the industry’s official benchmark for measuring success and rewarding innovation, the Meffys aim to mark out the most influential members of the industry for the next year. Patrick Parodi, MEF Global Chair, called the 2006 Meffys “a fiercely contested event with a wealth of high-calibre entries ... The winners reflect the hot trends which will be shaping and driving the mobile entertainment industry forward in the coming year”. “Driving mobile entertainment and increasing user value lie at the core of the Meffys,” he said.
The Mobile Games Award
Winner: Digital Chocolate, Tower Bloxx
Tower Bloxx is an addictive puzzle game that invites users to test their reflexes and their puzzle skills by quickly constructing skyscrapers while dodging fierce winds and crazed tenants. “Digital Chocolate’s Tower Bloxx game is the most successful combination of innovative game play and quality content that we have seen in a mobile game,” said Rimma Perelmuter, Executive Director of MEF.
The Mobile Content Award
Winner: Chooz, Foreplay
Foreplay is an edgy made-for-mobile animated series about the life of a single girl searching for love in the big city. Foreplay’s format includes 18 episodes per season, each up to one minute in length. The Foreplay brand has also been developed to include a blog, clip-tones, wallpapers and screensavers.
The Mobile Entertainment Handset Award
Winner: Nokia N70
The Mobile Entertainment Marketing Campaign Award
Winner: France Telecom/Orange
& Warner Music, Madonna: Confessions on a Dance Floor
The Mobile Music Award Winner: Warner Music, WAMO Packs
WAMO Packs are a package of audio, video, graphic and textual products in a single downloadable file. They include material such as an artist’s video commentary, information about artists and their music, photos, cover art and access to additional information online when the WAMO Pack file is opened on a mobile phone. Consumers can save any of the content for use on their phone as audio or video ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, or for playback.
The Mobile Entertainment Operator AwardWinner: 3 UK
3 UK was recognised as operator of the year for its consistent innovation and success as a mobile media company – specifically for its music service which recently saw a million downloads in a month, and for SeeMeTV.
The Mobile Services Award Winner: Bango
The judges said they selected the Bango Service – which enables brands of all sizes to promote and sell their content to mobile users – “because of its significance to the wider entertainment industry and in recognition of its impact in educating the market over a number of years”.
The Mobile Innovation Award Winner: 3 UK & Yospace, SeeMeTV
SeeMeTV has generated over 1m downloads a month and has created a new mobile content model based on user-generated content.
Special Recognition Award: Jim Brailean – CEO, President & Co-Founder PacketVideo
The Award recognised his “unique combination of technical and entrepreneurial skills” and “pioneering work on mobile video.” Dr Jim Brailean (right) withMEF Chair Patrick Parodi