Fox Mobile Group (FMG) is the world's leading mobile entertainment provider, with the potential to reach nearly one billion mobile users through partnerships with carriers and OEMs, and via its well-known consumer services. FMG has the industry's broadest array of mobile products available directly via mobile phones, and offers more branded popular content from around the world, more chart-topping ringtones from top music labels, more mobile games from renowned game developers, and more original content made exclusively for mobile phones than any other mobile content distributor. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany and Beverly Hills, Calif., Fox Mobile Group is wholly-owned by News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV).

One of Fox Mobile Group's most well-known services are the Jamster and Jamba portals in more than 15 countries worldwide. Jamster's content library includes branded popular content from more than 800 content providers around the world, content from popular Fox entertainment brands like The Simpsons, high quality music from top music labels, mobile games from renowned game developers and original, made-for-mobile content from its in-house creative team. The service supports more than 2,800 handsets and provides billing connectivity to more than 125 operators worldwide. Fox Mobile Group delivers innovative mobile content including fulltrack music, games, videos, ringtones, graphics, alerts as well as SMS and MMS push services directly via mobile phone to consumers around the world.  

Besides portals like Jamster and Jamba Fox Mobile Group runs the dating platform iLove. iLove was launched in 2003 and is by now one of the leading European portals for dating, flirting, finding friends with over six million members in German-speaking countries and is one of the top 40 websites in Germany in terms of reach. iLove has been recommended by Safer Dating as an initiative that promotes security for the users of online dating portals as a safe and responsible service. The target group is young, trend-conscious singles and non-singles between 16 and 30 years old. The portal is currently available in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Poland.

In retrospect

In 2000, three brothers, Marc, Oliver and Alexander Samwer, formed the company under the name Jamba together with certain resourceful partners from the "old economy," such as the business group Metro and debitel, a leading telecommunications service provider in Germany.

Since then, the company has become the world's leading provider of mobile content and digital entertainment services. Whereas at the beginning the company employed a staff of 30 in a 1,300 m² loft on the banks of the Spree in Berlin-Kreuzberg, it now employs more than 600 people worldwide.

In October 2008, News Corporation assumed full ownership of the company with its purchase of the 49 percent stake previously held by VeriSign, which took over the company in 2004. To mark the change, Jamba was renamed and reorganized into Fox Mobile Group. This move aligned the company's business strengths with the global market opportunities in mobile entertainment, enabling it to underline its leadership in mobile content distribution, licensing and production as well as offering its customer a broad and up-to-date portfolio of mobile entertainment content further on.

Other milestones in the company's history includes the launch of Brainstorm, an original, scripted mobile comedy series that creatively embeds Wrigley’s Altoids brand of mints into the story. Brainstorm was the company’s first branded entertainment endeavor. Further in 2010 Brainstorm was nominated for the Global Mobile Award 2010 in the "Mobile Advertising and Marketing" category.

In 2008, Fox Mobile Group created a whole new genre in mobile entertainment by offering mobile magic tricks. Another remarkable success in the same year was the company’s Schnuffel Bunny, which made it to the top of the German single charts and achieved platinum status with his Kuschel Song. Further success in the official music charts of various other countries followed. By now, Schnuffel Bunny is available in more than 15 languages; there are three albums and a wide range of digital products as well as "real" merchandise products such as bed linen, cups and much more.

In 2007, the company’s in-house music download portal Jamba Music (www.jamba.de/music) was launched and thereafter was shortlisted for several international awards including the Global Mobile Content Award in the category "Best Music Service." Also in 2007, The Simple Life mobisode® was launched on all Jamba/Jamster portals worldwide. And, last but not least, one of the early successes of the company: 2005 was the year of Axel F., also known as Crazy Frog. For the first time an original ringtone made its way to the top of the charts worldwide.