Action Engine ODP (on device portal) for Sports Illustrated

Action Engine and Sports Illustrated (SI) Digital are announcing a subscription-free (ad-subsidized), downloadable mobile application that delivers personalized sports content from Sports Illustrated.com to consumer phones.

To download the MySI Mobile beta version, text “MYSI” to 58585 and receive a text message with a link to download the service or type http://www.mysi.actionengine.com/provision into your phone’s mobile browser and follow the download instructions.

From the press release
“Our leading-edge customers, like Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal.com and MSNBC.com, have embraced mobile advertising as a way to widely deliver high-value content to the phone without forcing consumers to pay yet another subscription fee,”  said Scott G. Silk, president and CEO of Action Engine. “As more companies build mobile applications that make their content easy to use and free to download, the wireless phone will become the premier location for driving brand awareness and loyalty with consumers.”

What we think?
A fews weeks ago I had dinner with the head of mobile search at one of the major handset manufacturers. He asked me, “Bena, what happened to Action Engine”. I told him that the company was fine and still in business and had a couple of new sales under his belt. He was surprised and said that he hadn’t heard from the company for ages.

Now, I think this is more because Action Engine doesn’t seem to be pushing in to Europe as much as it was a few years ago. (Anyone else remember the Action Engine huge stand outside in the AW isle of the Mobile World Congress?).

But in any case, the company seems to hitting the radar again, be it primarily in the US. ODP’s uptake seems to be on the up and up.