The O2 mixipix cartoon messaging service will allow users to create and send animated text messages to other people’s mobile phones. Users can choose from hundreds of different animations, from cute little ‘hug me’ cartoons to wild night out invitations, add their own text and send the cartoon message to any colour wap-enabled mobile phone. Even better, the cartoon can be saved by the recipient and used as a wallpaper or screensaver.
However, the fun doesn’t stop there. Budding animators and movie makers can edit the O2 mixipix library of cartoons or even create their own for the ultimate personalised content. Characters, background and props can be combined and edited to create unique messages which can be shared with friends and family. The O2 mixipix cartoon messaging service is compatible with all wap-enabled colour phones – the animation autofits to the specification of the receiving handset.
Lesley Keen, the managing director of mixipix, said, “We are very excited to be working with O2 to bring our cartoon messaging service to users of the O2 web portal, one of the biggest providers of mobile content in the UK market. Cartoon messaging is a brand new service for mobile phones which goes way beyond simple text messaging and gives the recipient something special and unique to save on their phone. With today’s great new colour handsets, mobile phone use is opening up to whole new dimensions of communications. Adding a cartoon to a text message can be used to create everything from a simple ‘hello’ to party invitations and special greetings – like e-cards for phones. With a little imagination the sender can easily create mobile content unique to them which their friends will treasure.”
Angus Cormie, Head of Portals O2, agrees, “The O2 mixipix cartoon messaging service is simple, fun and creates something genuinely new for our customers, a perfect match for the re-launched Fun zone. Messaging in the form of SMS or text messages remains a global phenomenon and we believe that cartoon messaging will prove to be very popular once phone owners find that they too can create and send their own cartoon messages in no time at all.”
About Mixipix
Mixipix was founded in 2002 by Lesley Keen, a veteran of the new media, animation and interactive industries.
The company has created a unique technology which allows animated cartoons to be created and sent to all colour, wap-enabled mobile phones. The mixipix service is powered by the Cloverleaf platform which renders animated content on demand, optimised to the specification of the receiving device. This allows users to modify existing ready-made cartoons or create their own unique animations. Once the cartoon content has been created, users can add a text message to create a personal cartoon message, which can then be sent directly to a mobile phone. Unlike a text message (SMS), O2 mixipix cartoons can be saved and used as wallpapers, screensavers, ring alerts etc. to personalise the user’s phone.
Mixipix operates across the consumer and trade markets. In addition to the consumer facing messaging service, the company works with marketing and media companies to offer a customised solution to companies wishing to deliver animated content to the mobile market.