(13 October 2007 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: CellSerf has launched its mobile application for multimedia instant messaging, global multimedia mobile messaging and multimedia email that allows users to go beyond the traditional style of communicating in text.

The application and service is free to use which means with CellSerf application on the phone, users can exchange multimedia (MMS) and text messages for free.

The instant messaging service of CellSerf enables users to connect to their Yahoo (http://messenger.yahoo.com), MSN (http://get.live.com) and Google Talk (http://www.google.com/talk) accounts together.

There are several IM applications for mobile. However, the unique feature of CellSerf IM is 'Multimedia Instant Messaging'. Mobile users can send voice, picture and video instant messages to their friends on Yahoo, MSN and Google Talk.

The features not only add convenience to mobile users who find typing messages difficult and slow, but also enable users to share their world more creatively with their friends and family. The interesting part of CellSerf IM is that it does not require VoIP or 3G network to send multimedia IM from mobile. The application uses innovative technology to communicate multimedia content over 2.5G network.

As India is still in the planning phase for the deployment of 3G, CellSerf IM can offer a big difference to the Indian mobile community.

Similarly, the CellSerf mobile messaging and email allows users to send video, picture, voice and text messages as SMS and emails to their friends on mobile and desktop respectively. Video and voice email service is very popular in developed mobile markets such as Europe, Japan and China.

CellSerf is pleased to launch this service in the Indian market. On signing up with CellSerf, users get a mobile email ID that is based on their phone number.

For example, a user with mobile number +919810780061 in India gets the mobile email ID 919810780061@cellserf.com . The mobile email ID is useful for friends on computer to send emails that are received instantly on the mobile and which can be replied to. The mobile messaging and email services are also free to use.

CellSerf's founder Vishal Batra said, "With CellSerf application we are envisioning the VAS 2.0 era where mobile value added services and content are user initiated and community driven. The content producers can reach out to mobile users the same way they reach out to the users on the internet with a computer.

"For example, our application supports the delivery of multimedia content on mobile which can be a MP3 song or a short video script. To get multimedia content on the phone, the users can simply provide their CellSerf mobile email ID to content providers and the rest is as simple as sending an email with an attachment. The application also provides support for mobile transactions."

Batra added, "We also offer mobile media solutions to advertisers who can reach out to young mobile users in their geography to get better returns for their advertising money by doing personalised advertising on a medium as intimate and focused as the mobile phone."

The beta version of the application was released in March 2007 and already there are a few thousand beta users of CellSerf around the world. After today's launch, CellSerf hopes to grow its user community quickly and is aiming that the application should be on every internet enabled handset in India by 2009.