Docomo says The two devices, available only in Japan, are the first to kick off a new phase for Disney Mobile, as it partners with Docomo on a “Disney Mobile on docomo” venture.

But it appears that Disney Mobile will also continue to work with Softbank: the two announced their own two Android devices in October 2011.

In both the cases of the Softbank and docomo devices, it looks like Disney Mobile has gone down the forked OS route, as so many other device makers in Asia have before it.

In the two new devices launched today, gone is the Android Market, which has been replaced by Docomo’s own dmarket. Mickey and other Disney iconography figures strongly throughout, from the clock and other icons on the homescreen to prioritized links through to Disney mobile content. The services also put Docomo’s mobile payment service, Osaifu-Keitai, front and center.

The content element is particularly eye-catching part of this deal: Docomo says that those who take the devices will get free access to movie services, live wallpapers, puzzles, games and other Disney entertainment. By “free” that means the content itself comes without a charge; users still have to pay for data usage.

Still, you do have to wonder if we will see more brands trying to do something like this in the future as the cost of making customised smartphones becomes even cheaper.

Other benefits include offers for Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, both of which are already sponsored by Docomo.

Given how consumer-friendly this all looks, it’s surprising that Docomo is launching the devices with pretty clunky names. One device, the F-08D, will go on sale February 17; the equally-catchy P-05D will debut in March. Perhaps those names will change to different brands by the time their debuts roll around.

The latest date is 2013, the latest market is Hong Kong. And, this time, the company itself is making bold on-the-record plans…

“Disney (NYSE: DIS) is worth around $60 billion. That is our goal and there is no reason why we could not build a company that size,” Rovio marketer Peter Vesterbacka tells business paper Tekniikka&Talous in Rovio’s native Finland.

Rovio’s parallels with Disney are clear. Each has a very popular franchise in Angry Birds and Mickey Mouse respectively; Rovio is creative the interactive-age version of pioneering cartoon entertainment. But the differences are obvious, too…

• Disney got an early hit with Mickey Mouse’s Plane Crazy and Steamboat Willie but quickly expanded its portfolio with a broad lineup of other characters and franchises.
• Rovio, however, had developed a whopping 51 under-the-radar mobile games and nearly fell bankrupt before finally finding its Angry Birds hit in December 2009.

Now the game-maker finds itself essentially a single-franchise company, churning out update upon update and new products like plush toys of the pigs and birds.

The amount of interest consumers have left in Angry Birds will be a critical factor in the timing of Rovio’s IPO ambition, which has now been pushed farther back and which the company had previously said would take place on Wall Street.

Vesterbacka tells Tekniikka&Talous Rovio is planning five or six new games based on Angry Birds characters in 2012. But Walt Disney might have seen fit to develop new animations with entirely new characters, at the same time as growing the core franchise.

It would be surprising at this point if the money Rovio is making can’t support new developments. But this may be why it is seeking a floatation fundraising.

The sportscaster will this weekend launch Extra *Time*, a web-only post-match live soccer analysis segment running for 10 minutes following the end of its live TV transmissions.

The theory is, TV viewers will go online to get Extra Time’s additional interviews and discussion.

It sounds a lot like the Q&A forums the BBC airs on its red button following Six Nations and Formula 1. But ESPN will have to work harder to encourage soccer fans to open their laptop.

ESPN trialled Extra Time on some recent matches. The segment will run to the soccer season’s end this summer.

ESPN holds live broadcast rights to some top-flight UK soccer league matches. Its product roster includes ESPN.co.uk, ESPNCricinfo.com, ESPNSoccernet.com, ESPNScrum.com, ESPNF1.com, ESPN Player (broadband). the ESPN Goals VOD app and an ESPNCricinfo live coverage app.

It is also thought ESPN due to unveil iPad apps in the next few months.

In an interview, Tim Weingarten, the CEO of Visage, said that the company currently has 150 enterprise customers covering over 100,000 devices. The financing will be used to invest in product R&D and customer acquisition.

Weingarten says that Visage’s business is growing because of the “consumerization of IT”: that is, more employees are going out and buying smartphones themselves, rather than using devices bought for them by IT departments. This has resulted in bigger, more fragmented fleets of phones that need to be managed and tracked. Visage’s software works as a cloud-based service and with all devices.

Weingarten says that evidence from Visage’s software confirms one trend we’ve been hearing a lot about: there are a lot more iPhones and Android-based handsets being used by workers. He says that while Blackberry devices still make up the majority of handsets (around 80 percent, he estimates), he also notes that the others are appearing more frequently, on the back of individuals buying them and adding them to the network. “I think the picture is going to be very different in six month’s time,” he says.

Before Visage Mobile moved into enterprise applications two years ago, it used some of its intellectual property in a completely different line of business: helping MVNOs like the now-defunct Disney (NYSE: DIS) Mobile MVNO sell their services to consumers. At the height of MVNO hype, Visage had managed to raise some $90 million in VC funding.

In addition to Qualcomm Ventures, other investors in this round included Worldview Technology Partners, ATA Ventures, Vesbridge Partners and Emergence Capital Partners. Total funding raised to-date has been $8.1 million.

The new releases from Disney (NYSE: DIS) Interactive Studios were for the movie tie-in with Toy Story 3 and racing game Split Second. In Q209, the only major gaming release was for Hannah Montana. Higher marketing expenses offset the revenue gains.

Despite the marketing efforts put behind those two games, Disney’s investment in the interactive segment was reduced by 13 percent in Q2. Still, costs were held down in the much more lucrative cable segment, as cap ex fell nearly 40 percent. In fact, operating income at the cable networks soared 200 percent thanks to ESPN — not because of any major growth in advertising, only because previously deferred revenues were counted in Q2. That said, ESPN’s affiliate ad revenues did growth nicely in Q2, but part of that was balanced out by higher production costs. On broadcast, though, despite higher CPMs and higher ratings amid an ad recovery, sales numbers were flat.

Disney also benefited from the box office success of Iron Man 2 and related products from its Marvel Publishing unit.

In addition to the apps, Disney Online has also built a custom iPad version of its flagship website, which focuses on exclusive video content. iPad videos featured at launch include new scenes from Disney classics like The Sorcerer

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