Sponsored by Motorola, Advanced Info Service and Moby Elite, Thailand's MobileMonday was officially launched on Monday, with executives from Software Park, Filter Group and Show No Limit sitting on the advisory board.

MobileMonday consists of monthly gatherings of mobile professionals, creating an open society promoting the mobile industry and fostering cooperation among its participants.

The first gathering is scheduled for first Monday of next month at 7pm. It will be held on the first Monday of every month thereafter at venues in central Bangkok.

"Motorola recognises the industry need in Thailand for a platform where mobile professionals' visions, technology and know-how can be freely exchanged.

"To truly foster innovation, this platform needs to be accessible for all, free of charge, such as with MobileMonday now.

"This could only have been possible with the support from the mobile industry leaders.

"And with no hesitation, Motorola got engaged in bringing its full support for the idea to be imported to Thailand," said Peerapol Chatanantavej, business development and product marketing manager of Motorola (Thailand).

The first MobileMonday gathering on June 5 will focus on the topic "music on the mobile".

The July 3 gathering will discuss "games on the go" while on August 7 "TV on your phone" will be the topic of the day.

Topics from September onwards will be announced soon.

Participation in any MobileMonday event is free of charge and open to all, though participants need to register in advance at www.mobyelite.com/momo.

Wichit Permpeankeat, head of AIS's Future Lab, said the Monday gatherings would be the first opportunity for everyone - from large or small organisations - to meet and discuss trends or share their ideas in an informal setting.

"In the past, mobile phones were only used for voice calling, so people involved were only the mobile-phone companies and their sellers.

"Now, as content plays its role, news companies, music, television or TV feature producers, for instance, can also join our events," he said.

Wichit said MobileMonday would open up access for small partners who might find it difficult to reach key players in the mobile industry through formal forums.

Pichaya Changsorn

The Nation