Mobile phone makers identify the true killer app

The Mobile Entertainment Forum has awarded Taneli Armanto with "special recognition". Armanto's ingenuity and vision have made a significant contribution to the growth of the mobile entertainment industry, according to the MEF.

The feat that Armanto should be laurelled for of course is the embedding of game Snake in the Nokia 6100 series in 1997.

Nokia estimates that by now there are 350 million phones worldwide equipped with the nerve wrecking game where a line of dots eats blurbs on the screen, growing taller and becoming harder to navigate as he eats more.

Armanto himself could hardly control his emotions upon receiving the recognition that he had been waiting for so long:

"I'm truly honoured to receive this recognition. When we created Snake for the Nokia 6110 in 1997, we wanted to give people an entertaining experience, but we never imagined that it would become the classic mobile game. It showed people that you could create a great game for a mobile phone. In particular, we wanted to take advantage of the infrared link in the Nokia 6110 - a first at that time - which would allow people to play against each other."

In recognition of the highly successful game, Nokia has release a special 3D version for its failed Ngage mobile gaming platform. Just in case an Ngage owner stumbles upon a fellow owner, he can share the game via his Bluetooth connections and engage in a Snake battle.

Also make sure you check out www.snakesoutbreak.com, a website that does a great job at confusing visitors about what they can do there.

Don't miss the special online chat session with Armanto on Tuesday June 28 at 10 AM Pacific Time (6 PM GMT) on http://forums.arena.n-gage.com/.

Make sure you ask him about Nintento or all those mobile games that came out after Tic Tac Toe really started the mobile gaming revolution in 1972.