March’s Mobile Monday Boston (#momobo) featured nine startups from both the Boston area and the UK, as UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) promoted its Mobile Technologies Mission to Boston campaign. The firms that presented included:

Fluent Mobile

Micah Adler, CEO led off by positioning UK-based Fluent Mobile as a firm focusing on app store optimization (ASO), marketing mobile apps to ensure they’re discovered within the app store, with interaction between the app store, search and discovery, and mobile advertising.  The company’s also developed its own app, Fluent News, to aggregate your news feeds.

Textaurant

Joshua Bob, founder and President of Boston-based Textaurant described the startup as an application provider focused on reducing your wait time at upscale casual restaurants, and eliminating the need for restaurants to use expensive pager-based systems. Their waiting list management solution extends table occupancy rates, and the firm hopes to tap into the more than 140,000 upscale casual restaurants in the US such as Chili’s and Olive Garden.

i-Migo

UK-based i-Migo, led by Saban Demirbasa, is a mobile security solution for mobile devices. Utilizing the Bluetooth 2.0 stack with EDR, i-Migo creates an audible alarm if you become separated from your mobile device within a certain range. The monitoring device is located on the person, can back up personal information on your mobile device, and monitors the location it over the air (OTA). If you mobile phone or laptop is out of range, it creates an audible alarm on the device, can put the device into lock down mode, and can send an OTA signal to the service provider as well to identify the theft.

Apollo Mobile

Rolfe Swinton, co-founder of UK-based Apollo Mobile presenting the firm’s Re4ctor mobile application platform that focuses on unlocking the potential of the 4.5 billion mobile phones around the world, 65% of which are not smartphones, but basic feature phones with web browsers. Apollo Mobile offers services such as data analytics, mobile commerce and payments, social media, video and audio synchronization, and targeted advertising to a full range of feature and basic mobile phones.

hello vino

Rick Breslin, CEO of Boston-based hello vino presented his Boston-area firm as a mobile wine recommendation engine for both consumers and wine industry establishments. The application’s  available on iPhone, other smartphones, and as a text-based app for feature phones, and includes 4 million brand recommendations for wine and food pairings. It also works with wineries to get their varietals discovered by consumers.

Celtra

Celtra’s focus is on improving the mobile advertising experience going forward, to make it more immersive, interactive, and fun! It has developed a mobile marketing platform behind the ad itself, and standards-based, cross-play, media-rich, native-capable, preloaded, and easy to create and reliable cross-platform mobile advertising content. Celtra supports iPhone and Android, and soon BlackBerry smartphones.

Tattu Mobile

Andy Press, COO of UK-based Tattu positioned its mobile division as a provider of mobile hardware solutions, providing products for mobile operators and major brands for over five years. He specifically highlighted the firm’s line of mobile phones with solar charging capabilities for emerging markets in Africa and the Caribbean, its mobile health solutions, and Android-based tablets.

Fluid Pixel

Stuart Varrall, Director at Fluid Pixel described the UK startup is a company focusing on mobile games and application development, coming from a rich history of work on gaming consoles. The firm specializes in working with brands that don’t have an in-house iPhone development team. Fluid Pixel’s also done work with Adobe on its Flash-based Animentals viral pets game that is cross-platform (web, mobile, desktop), and with IGT to develop its Cleopatra Million 21 game.

USTWO

Julian Ehrhardt, described London and Malmo, Sweden-based USTWO as a user interface design agency that can take the user experience from concept to design to implementation. The company works across a wide variety of mobile device platforms including mobile phones, digital cameras, sat nav, digital photo frames, in-car entertainment, laptops, mobile TV, and M-health applications.

Mobile Monday Boston had a very rich set of companies this month, to compare and contrast some of the development work being done on both sides of the Atlantic, and to highlight the work of UK Trade and Investment. Additional commentary on the evening’s presenters can be found at NewDigitalCafé.

Seating is limited so please RSVP:

http://momomarch2010.eventbrite.com

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

Chris Lanier from Microsoft will be presenting on the changing face of Microsoft Mobility: Windows Phones.  He will provide a quick overview of where things are today with the Windows Phone 6.x platform, and will share a glimpse of what is coming with the new Windows Phone 7 Series.  While there will certainly be some questions that cannot yet be answered, please join us for an exciting, interactive, and informative session!

MEETING DETAILS
————————————————————————-
Date: Monday, March 15, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Topic: Introducing Windows Phone 7 Series
Presenter: Microsoft Chicago
Location: McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff, 300 South Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606
Location Notes: Participants must register to get on the official attendance list. At the venue, please sign-in at the reception desk on the first floor. Picture ID required. Directions: Please see the McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berhoff web site for details. Union Station is a block away; Quincy/Wells is the nearest El, and the building is well served by buses.
Parking: There is parking across Wacker Drive immediately next to 311 South Wacker Drive. Less expensive parking is available near Union Station across the Chicago River at Jackson & Canal Streets.

MEETING AGENDA
————————————————————————
6:00 pm - Sign-In / Light refreshments
6:30 - Featured Presentation: “Microsoft Mobility - From Windows Phone 6.x to 7″
7:30 pm > Refreshments / Networking

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Lanier is a Mobility Solution Specialist who has been with Microsoft for over six years.  He primarily works with enterprise customers in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, and helps them navigate their mobility strategies in concert with deriving value from their various other investments in the Microsoft stack.

IMPORTANT NOTES
Please remember to RSVP by noon on the day of the presentation in order to get on the official registration list for our host’s security system.

Special thanks to our generous host and sponsor, McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff!

Date: Monday, March 8th. Doors open at 6:00 PM PST, event starts at 7:00 PM PST

Cost: Free - but registration is required to attend.

Agenda:

6:00-7:00: Arrival Registration

7:00-8:00 Panel Discussion

8:00-8:15 Open floor for Announcements

8:15-9:00 Mixing

Cost: Free - but registration is MANDATORY! Nokia is a secure building and requires a guest list and photo ID.

Moderator:

* Doug Garland - Formerly Google and Yahoo! http://twitter.com/douggarland

Panelists:

* Cyriac Roeding - Shopkick, Inc, Co-founder and CEO  http://www.linkedin.com/in/cyriacroeding

* Reno Marioni - Nokia Strategic Internet Partnerships  http://www.linkedin.com/in/renomarioni

* Tristan Walker - Foursquare, Head of Business Development http://www.linkedin.com/in/tristanwalker

* Christian Wiklund - Skout, CEO and Founder http://www.linkedin.com/in/cwiklund

* Blair Swedeen - 1020 Placecast, VP, Market Development http://www.linkedin.com/in/blairswedeen

Venue:: Nokia Mountain View MAP
Nokia
323 Fairchild Drive
Mountain View, CA 94043
Building One – Nokia Café
Enter through the main door for registration and security clearance

Sponsor:

Nokia - www.nokia.com
Nokia is a consumer led company. There is a progressive and continuous increase in consumer involvement with technology and communications globally. People are broadening their modes of communication to include the web and, social networks are becoming central to how people communicate.

People want to be truly connected, independent of time and place, in a way that is very personal to them. And, Nokia’s promise is to connect people in new and better ways.

Nokia’s strategy is to build trusted consumer relationships by offering compelling and valued consumer solutions that combine beautiful devices with context enriched services.

Think of how much fun we’ll have coming up with amusing cultural differences! Will I embarrassingly imitate an English accent on stage? You’ll just have to come to find out.

Registration is required.

Monday, March 8
Doors at 6:30, event starts at 7:00pm
Intercontinental Hotel Boston, 510 Atlantic Ave.

UK Companies

Apollo Mobile
Apollo has developed a cutting-edge mobile content management platform RE4CTOR which uniquely enables real-time user interaction with most types of content (audio, video text and image).

Tattu Mobile
Tattu creates, develops, manufactures, and supplies niche consumer electronic products.

i-migo
Compatible with any Bluetooth-enabled phone with SyncML, i-migo is a portable device which backs up all data on the phone, and notifies the user if their phone goes out of a 10m range of the i-migo. This prevents the phone being left unattended and at risk of being lost or stolen.

Rummble
Rummble makes it easy to find people and places nearby you’ll love. Rummbles enables users to find personalized recommendations for a location very quickly. Instead of a traditional search, Rummble uses an algorithm that creates a personal ‘trust network’ for each user by calculating who they trust for different types of content.

ustwo
ustwo is a creative design studio based in London and Malmo specialising in pioneering graphical user interfaces that drive the services and products of some of the world’s leading brands.

Boston Companies

Textaurant
Textaurant aims to create a dialogue between restaurants and patrons through the use of technology. Beginning with text messages that update patrons waiting for a table, and extending both before and after the meal, Textaurant connects restaurants with their customers for a more satisfying experience.

Fluent Mobile
Fluent Mobile, a pioneer in mobile content organization and delivery, develops applications that bring the speed, reliability and convenience of desktop Web browsing to handheld devices. The creators of Fluent News.

Celtra
Celtra’s “software-as-a-service” provides a web-based, easy-to-use, on-demand platform for integrated mobile marketing. Celtra gives clients a wide range of creative flexibility, improved mobile distribution, and world-class optimization and analytics tools. Celtra offers managed services in addition to their SaaS platform for agencies and brands that need a deeper contribution for their mobile marketing campaigns.

BarMax
A start-up company bringing bar exam prep to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Creators of the famous $1k iPhone app.

Hello Vino
Available on any mobile device, Hello Vino is a free wine pairing and recommendation guide that assists the beginner wine consumer with advice in the store or restaurant. Using a simple, step-by-step question and answer process, Hello Vino delivers wine recommendations based on your meal, an occasion, favorite tastes and flavors, or a country and region. Hello Vino will provide a specific brand recommendation for the perfect bottle of wine – anywhere, anytime. www.hellovino.com

The Mobile Premier Awards event took place on February 15 in an unusual cold and rainy Barcelona. With over 500 attendees, 11 awards and 26 startup presentations it is was once again the great showcase of mobile innovation.

The Mobile Premier Awards are the point of reference in startup premiers during the Mobile World Congress and are organized by dotopen in collaboration with some of the main networks in the industry including MobileMonday, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), MEX, MobileActive.org, Women 2.0 and the Women in Mobile Data Association.

It should be noted that PercentMobile’s co-founders Stan Wiechers, Alexis Rondeau, and David Harper (former MobileMonday NY organizer/chapter co-founder) met for the first time in person at a MobileMonday NY event.

About PercentMobile
http://percentmobile.com
PercentMobile, a New York-based mobile analytics company, brings simplicity and accuracy together, to create people-friendly experiences that help you understand your mobile audience and turn findings into action. | 7 Reasons to Consider Mobile Analytics by PercentMobile.

Request an Invite to Mobile Analytics by PercentMobile
Jump to the head of the line as a MobileMonday member.
Click here to request an invitation code to Mobile Analytics by PercentMobile.

enjoy

–mario

http://momofeb2010.eventbrite.com/

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
Brian will speak on how to make mobile workers more productive. He will discuss how specific elements of a large scale mobile deployment can impact the end user experience. He will address best practices as well as how Mobile VPN technology is being deployed in today’s large scale mobility projects.

Technical elements in this discussion will cover the following:

• Networks (cellular data, WiFi, ethernet, satellite)
• Modems (USB, PC Express, embedded, Gobi, external)
• Applications (web-based, client/server, data sync)
• Security in a mobile environment (SSL VPN, PNsec VPN, Mobile VPN)

This is a great presentation for anyone who wants to learn more about today’s enterprise mobile security technologies, especially business leaders, IT staff, and anyone who uses their phone is a key mobile productivity tool. Plus, VCs and entrepreneurs continue to be focused on mobile security technologies as a key area of opportunity and growth.

MEETING DETAILS
————————————————————————-
Date: Monday, February 22, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Topic: Enhancing Mobile Productivity with the Latest Security Technologies
Presenter: Brian Ferguson (NetMotion Wireless)
Location: McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff, 300 South Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606
Location Notes: Participants must register to get on the official attendance list. At the venue, please sign-in at the reception desk on the first floor. Picture ID required.
Directions: Please see the McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berhoff web site for details. Union Station is a block away; Quincy/Wells is the nearest El, and the building is well served by buses.
Parking: There is parking across Wacker Drive immediately next to 311 South Wacker Drive. Less expensive parking is available near Union Station across the Chicago River at Jackson & Canal Streets.

MEETING AGENDA
————————————————————————
6:00 pm – Sign-In / Light refreshments
6:30: Featured Presentation by Mr. Ferguson
7:30 pm > Refreshments / Networking

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Prior to joining NetMotion Wireless in 2006, Brian Ferguson held a number of senior level sales positions with leading telecom and wireless companies including Nortel, Xacct Technologies, SBC Communications, Ameritech and AT & T. His extensive background in telecom and wireless technology includes global sales responsibility for developing new business and channels for companies’ products and services, selling complex software solutions to carriers, establishing an international customer base and building relationships with Fortune 1000 companies.

Working with highly respected institutions including St. Jude Medical, Travelers Insurance, The Chicago Department of Public Health, First Energy, and Integrys Energy Group, Brian delivered wireless technologies and applications to improve productivity, reduce costs and increase security to the Fortune 1000 companies.

Mr. Ferguson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from DeVry Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree from Northwestern University in Technology Management.

IMPORTANT NOTES
Please remember to RSVP by noon on February 22, 2010, in order to get on the official registration list for our host’s security system. Once again, special thanks to our generous host and sponsor, McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff!

Please feel free to send this event information to friends & colleagues and other relevant news & events lists in Chicago. The more the merrier!

We look forward to seeing you there!

- Anthony