Conduit Ltd., together with several major content providers, plans to launch within a couple of weeks specialized apps for the lock screens of Android-powered devices, to enable users to directly consume designated content from the first screen they see when they open their mobile phones. This will result in branded lock screens based on content providers that offer constantly updated information such as news, sports, weather, or other content, including video clips.
Conduit VP mobile strategy Ori Lavie told "Globes" that the idea is to enable content providers to create higher consumer engagement. Although there are already scores of applications that present lock screens with various options, Conduit's is to enable content providers to brand users' lock screens. "The product is a saturated window, which saves the user several clicks to reach preferred content quickly," he said.
Brands such ESPN will be able to package the application with a design identified with the brand, and which will include options for viewing content, such as basketball, football, or baseball games directly on the lock screen.
To test the waters before officially launching the product, Conduit has released a generic product, called LockView Lockscreen, which can be downloaded from Android Play stores. Although it is intended for the use and operation of content providers, Conduit's house product offers especially high operational capacity, compared with current lock screen apps on sale at Android Play stores.
For example, from the lock screen, it is possible to open other apps, call the most recent callers, directly open the camera, silence the phone, or use the search engine. This last feature is apparently also the economic model on which the new product will be based.
Lavie said that Conduit will not yet charge for use of the app, saying, "We're offering another service for the content provides that work with us, and the monetization will come later." However, as a company that makes most of its money from collaborations with search engine companies like Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Bing, search fees are presumably the direction that the new app is headed.
Lavie said that the content providers can choose the features provided. One content provider can decide to offer various camera features, while another content provider might prefer the direct application of its own features on the lock screen. Lavie concluded by saying that the main aspect of the lock screen where the content providers' branded content will be located, is a matter of costly real estate, especially when the user can download one lock screen and choose one content provider for the upper and most personal screen on the phone.
The service will be integrated with Android smartphones and tablets, and later with Window Phone devices.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 29, 2012
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