Wildseed scores deal with Kyocera

CDMA handset maker Kyocera Wireless has agreed to begin making phones based on Wildseed’s Smart Skins face-plate technology early next year.

The phones, code-named Delta2, are designed to appeal to the youth market, a segment Kyocera has increasingly targeted through a deal with MVNO Virgin Mobile. The youth-oriented phones will allow users to change the exterior style of the phone plus add new features such as ring tones, video clips, pictures, games and Web links that all are related to Wildseed’s Smart Skin’s theme. For instance, a teenager may snap on a new Smart Skin that displays a favorite football team. The content may include specialized ring tones, stats about the football players or video clips of the players in action. Each Smart Skin will cost between $25 and $35, said the companies.

Eric Engstrom, Wildseed’s CEO, said the face-plate industry alone is a $1.7 billion market today. Adding intelligence to a face-plate will drive revenues and create pull for wireless data content. The teen market is considered an underserved market, yet the number one item teenagers want is a mobile phone, said Engstrom.

Blake Isaacs, director of product management with Kyocera, said the handset manufacturer is ready to quickly roll out the Delta2 because of its advances in developing smart phones, in particular the QCP 6035 and its newly announced 7135 smart phone.