February 2009
CellBook, a Cape Town-based mobile applications developer, has signed an agreement with Oxford University Press to distribute Oxford dictionary products on mobile phones in Africa.
In this agreement, CellBook will be downloaded to users’ mobile phones when they send a text message for access to one of Oxford’s dictionary products. The downloads are within seconds and one of Oxford’s dictionary products will be stored on the phone itself or its memory card, whichever the user chooses.
CellBook technology works on about 95% of mobile phones in the market. CellBook has already signed content distribution agreements with some of South Africa's largest book publishers such as NB Publishers, Jonathan Ball, Pearson Publications and Random House Struik and is in the process of developing a range of new technologies that will change the face of mobile book publishing.
"We are excited about the latest CellBook technology developments, our reader experience goes beyond the normal book reading experience with cutting edge developments enabling interaction through Web2.0 and Social Network applications bringing authors, publishers and readers even closer together, we have been the first company in the world to make use of Over the Air Installation of books via sms-text and have been very busy over the past 2 years developing away from purely a book reading experience,” said Bertus Preller Marketing Executive at CellBook.
"The possibility to distribute books on mobile devices opens up new and untapped revenue streams for Publishers and enables them to monetize content in a dynamic way in a world where the mobile phone has become the world's most popular digital device. Since 2007 more than 100 000 books have been distributed on mobile in South Africa alone and we engaged with some of the largest publishers to create CellBook versions on a host of exciting book titles, what makes CellBook so unique is that it now includes a number of cutting edge features, such as book search functionality and book review postings to social networks", said Pieter Traut CEO at CellBook.
Want to see what 24 hours of creative awesomeness look like? Click here.
This news message is supported by The Creative Finder, an online platform for photographers, illustrators, designers, and art directors to promote their portfolios towards new clients and collaborators. Creatives who wish to sign up for an account can save 10% off annual fees with promo code 'designtaxi'.
