Olá and welcome to our portrait of Lisbon SHiFT conference! SHiFT (Social and Human Ideas For Technology) really shows how Portugal is becoming a great place for International Tech Conferences.

Who are the people behind SHiFT? Viktoria interviewed some of the organizers - amongst them Henriette Weber, André Ribeirinho and Pedro Custódio.

„SHiFT is about technology but not in a traditional way“ says Pedro, „we put together people that normally aren’t interested in technology and mix them with tech geeks. SHiFT is trying to be something entirely different than the very commercial, academic and closed Portuguese conferences. We take a little bit of every field and put it together with a focus on the role of technology in social issues. We are trying to achieve something that is very uncommon in Portugal: Rethink the past and plan for the future and last but not least provoke engagement! “

SHiFT09 is happening on October 16 and 17 in the beautiful city of Lisbon: Two days packed with great speakers, interesting discussions with new and known people from all over Europe and inspiration by the stories people share on and off stage. Check out SHiFT’s website to learn more about the speaker lineup and the highlights of this year’s edition. For any questions you can write to info@shift.pt

„Spread the word, spread ideas, spread joy, spread technology“ - following the motto of SHiFT...See you all in Lisbon!

One of the „older“ companies in the mobile games market is exozet games. The Berlin-based game developers started in 2004 with mobile java games for a handful of handsets. Nowadays, exozet is developing on quite a wide array of platforms and offers mobile, PC and console based games internationally for hundreds of devices. The games company’s specialties are adventure games and boardgame adaptations like Ingenious or Settlers of Catan from Klaus Teuber.

In his interview with Viktoria, exozet’s head of mobile development Matthias Hellmund talks about the hot trends in mobile gaming: „Platform-wise every developer has been jumping on the iPhone wagon already. The iPhone is a very appealing platform but our core platform is still java. Content-wise you probably will see more games in the casual area but also in the high-end, high definition area where games are connected with console titles because that’s also where the game sales are. That might change again with upcoming markets like India and China where there are more entry phones.“

Because of its background and experience, exozet helps other developers to bring their titles to the hundreds of distribution channels there are for the java world. With the ability to target so many handsets, exozet also does hire projects like advertisement games which are almost business applications...

Click here to learn more about exozet’s mobile gaming expertise by watching Matthias' presentation. An overview of all videos from Mobile Monday Berlin can be found here.

Games, games, games: In his presentation from Mobile Monday Berlin, Matthias Hellmund introduces exozet games. The Berlin-based unit of exozet group not only develops games for mobile devices but also for platforms like PC and consoles. IT developer and Head of Mobile Matthias explains: „Exozet started in 2004 in the mobile java world with basic games on handsets. We’re now developing on a variety of java flavors covering BlackBerry, iPhone, Nintendo DSi and the upcoming Google android platform. Since Bluetooth is included, lots of games work with multiplayer mode across Nokia, Motorola and SonyEricsson handsets.“

For exozet games, internationalization is a huge topic and quite important for its distribution partners: Titles and in-game text as well as the game visuals are adapted to the corresponding markets. For the tricky Japanese market characters were changed to a more manga-style version. But one of the trickiest part for developers is to adapt games to the more than 600 handsets supported by exozet games. Therefore, the game development company developed a specific in-house tool which enables them to profile and test game-specific features on new handsets. Aside from premium commercial games, exozet also develops marketing games and applications for well-known top brands which include Bluetooth multiplayer and delivery as well online features.

For screenshots, video and more info on exozet's mobile version of the legendary board game Catan click here.

Come back tomorrow: We’ll be posting Viktoria’s interview with Matthias! To check out all videos from Mobile Monday Berlin click here.

Hochaktuell ist der Start von gimigames.com: Die Plattform für Multiplayer Skill Games ist in der letzten Woche offiziell gelaunched worden. Angeboten werden zunächst drei Spiele: Eine Memory-Version sowie ein Wort- und Rechenspiel, mit denen möglichst viele Personen gleichzeitig ihre Geschicklichkeit messen können.

Im Interview mit Viktoria erklärt Geschäftsführer Christian Weiß, was an dem Konzept von gimigames so überzeugend ist und warum er versucht, sich gemeinsam mit erfolgreichen bestehenden Anbietern im Skillgaming-Markt aufzustellen: „Alle Gamingangebote konkurrieren zwar um die Zeit, die die Nutzer im Internet mit Entertainment verbringen. Ich sehe mich dennoch nicht im Kopf-an-Kopf-Rennen mit GameDuell oder King, die sich teilweise auch in einem anderen Segment positionieren. Unser Spielekonzept ist einfacher, interaktiver und mit einem höheren Live-Erlebnis. Ausserdem ändert sich das Medienverhalten grundlegend, so dass Raum ist für neu hinzukommende Spiele – beispielsweise für ältere Menschen. Während immer weniger Leute fernsehen, wächst das Internet als Entertainment-Kanal.“

Für gimigames steht der Abschluss der ersten Finanzierungsrunde unmittelbar bevor: Ungefähr zwanzig Parteien sind daran beteiligt - darunter Business Angels, VC’s sowie Vehikel, über die investiert wird. Dabei profitiert Christian von seiner jahrelangen intensiven Beschäftigung mit Internet-Startups: „Ich bin froh darüber, mit vielen Leuten zusammengearbeitet zu haben, die schon während des Praktikums viele Dinge besser konnten als wir. Das Schöne an der Startup-Community ist ja, dass es eine Gemeinschaft ist, wenn man es so lebt. Ich bin kein grosser Freund davon, dass Ganze sehr kompetitiv zu sehen. Dafür ist der deutsche Markt noch zu jung und zu frisch.“

Doch wie kommt man an die wichtigen Leute heran? Christian rät: „Die klassischen Wege wie XING funktionieren natürlich, aber das Allerbeste ist immer der persönliche Kontakt. Mit Abstand der beste Weg, an die grossen Fische heranzukommen ist es, bei den einschlägigen Veranstaltungen Kontakte zu knüpfen. Allerdings muss man sich darüber im Klaren sein, dass das Internet-Geschäft genauso hart ist wie jedes andere auch. Reichtum an sich ist die völlig falsche Motivation – auch hier wirst du nur erfolgreich sein, wenn du viel und hart arbeitest und durchhälst - auch in schwierigen Zeiten. Alles andere ist eine Romantik, die die wahren Herausforderungen verkennt...“

Do you ever struggle for inspiration...the spark you need to be innovative? Here are five bold authors and visionaries and their thought-provoking books: Jeff Jarvis, Don Tapscott, Rafi Haladjian, Henriette Weber and Tara Hunt.

Jeff Jarvis’ exceptional book „What would Google do?“ isn’t really about Google but about the major changes that we are going through right now both in society and in the economy. It offers valuable insights for anyone seeking to participate in the Internet culture and to maximize the opportunities that exist in the Google era.

Don Tapscott’s „Wikinomics“ is a brilliant guide to one of the most profound changes of the twenty-first century: Mass collaboration and the growth of massive online communities. It illuminates how collaboration and communication technologies are democratizing the creation of value: The more you share, the more you win.

French-Armenian businessman Rafi Haladjian is passionate about pervasive networks and smart objects: His company Violet created the first internet connected rabbit Nabaztag and intends to connect every single object surrounding us to the network thereby building the Internet of Things.

Social marketing rebel extraordinaire Henriette Weber from Toothless Tiger draws parallels between rockbands and businesses, rockstars and employees. Her e-book „Why every company should be a rock band“ has been filmed by Andrea Vascellari and can be downloaded for free here.

„Whuffie“ is Tara Hunt’s word for social capital in the Web 2.0 landscape. With „The Whuffie Factor“ the cofounder of community-marketing consulting firm Citizen Agency offers a strategic guide for anyone interested in using the power of online social networks for business success.

Female entrepreneurs have it tougher than men: Next Monday we'll be introducing "The Five Most Promising Female Entrepreneurs". Stay tuned!

„Inside The Scene“ is another great new format offered by Tiburon-TV: Follow Viktoria as she takes you inside the TechCrunch Berlin Event and introduces you to inspiring web entrepreneurs and their exciting startups!

Among others, the German startup scene was represented by Björn Behrendt - co-founder and CEO of mobile question & answer portal hiogi (click here for Viktoria’s interview with Björn), Nico Hagenburger from Service Marketplace Susuh, Phillipp Berner from Video Shopping Portal ViCommerce as well as Thomas Hessler from Affiliate Network Zanox.

Christian Geissendoerfer – CEO of mobile coupon platform YOOSE – offered inspiration and practical tips on the art of bootstrapping, while Fabienne Serriere - CTO of Online Consultation Platform doctr – impressed the audience with an outstanding pitch.

The TechCrunch Berlin Event also attracted „King of Networking“ Sarik Weber from Mobile Communication Services Company cellity (here’s Viktoria’s interview with Sarik). Winner of the event’s startup competition was Social Gaming Network platogo.

Alexander Jung and Eric Wahlforss from SoundCloud sponateously hosted the TechCrunch Europe afterparty on their large roof. The guys behind the Music Platform proved that even in times of crisis there’s good news: They just received two and a half million euros for their startup :)

Mobile gaming is THE new trend sport according to Tom Nicolai, co-founder of Bremen-based urban team. The company’s pilot project FastFoot-Challenge is certainly not a couch potato sport: The Protagonist of the GPS Multiplayer Action Game is chased by four other players equipped with a GPS enabled mobile phone. While the FastFoot-Challenge players have 25 minutes to catch the Protagonist, their friends can watch them running around on Google Earth.

Annika Brinkmann from absichtbar adapted FastFoot-Challenge for the mobile web. She enabled the user to make everything around the game directly on his mobile phone: „Besides watching life games on Google Earth, the user doesn’t need to switch on his PC. New users can download and purchase the game and register mobile. As soon as they have their log-in, they access the start page with Quick Links to community features so they can tell their friends about the game and start playing with each other. The mobile community is running in the browser of the user’s phone“ explains Annika.

To get an idea of how fast and exciting FastFoot-Challenge can really be, click here for a mobile GPS game trailer or just watch the trailer in the presentation...

There’s more to come from Mobile Monday Berlin – so stay tuned! Click here to watch earlier posts.

Hamburg-based apprupt.com offers a performance-based marketing network for iPhone apps. Kjell Fischer - one of the founders of apprupt - explains: „We offer App Stores for partners and platforms with a specific user structure. It’s sort of a subpage, like an App Store in front of an App Store where users can see a selection of apps that are suited to their interests.“

Developers who can increase their sales with the help of apprupt don’t have to pay upfront but based on performance via a tracking tool. Apprupt offers the developer content and then takes a revenue share for each sale generated. The startup is focussing strictly on the iPhone: „We’re only at the beginning and there’s a lot to come with the iPhone and the iPod touch“ believes Kjell. „It’s still operator-bound and somewhat expensive but in terms of mobile entertainment the iPhone is just one of the most important devices out there, simply because there’s so much usability.“ Kjell raves about the new iPhone OS 3.0: „It adds some very cool new features that enable a lot more game development. You can now have multiplayers and offer upscale gaming i.e. with games which are free up to level 10 and have to be paid for from the eleventh level.“

Apprupt offers benefits for publishers as well as for developers: Anybody with a specific kind of user structure or with the need to market his app can contact Kjell.

Did you already watch Kjell’s presentation? Click here to check out all videos from Mobile Monday Berlin.

Kjell Fischer, co-founder of Jupidi GmbH, seems to be very convinced that the iPhone has caused a revolution in the mobile market: During his presentation he (almost) only talks about the huge hype behind the iPhone with no time left to introduce Jupidi’s apprupt solution.

Kjell recounts: „iPhone has cut out the middle man - the content aggregators and operators, thereby allowing developers to distribute their own mobile apps internationally. In the first six months of the existence of the iPhone Store, 500 million apps have been downloaded followed by another 500 million downloads in the next three months. The biggest players of the gaming industry are entering the market – Vivendi and Gameloft with over 40 high-quality applications. Also every brand wants to enter the iPhone market: VW has developed an application together with FISHLABS, iglo is offering memory games in its App Store.“

There’s no doubt that the potential for the iPhone is big: It’s very cool to have an iPhone app, every player has to have one – and there are multiple apps for every target group out there. Despite all these advantages, iPhone developers have a problem: They have to market their application...That is exactly when apprupt comes into play: Jupidi’s apprupt solution helps developers build App Stores to find their users and access their target group.

Want to learn more about apprupt? Come back tomorrow. We’ll be posting Viktoria’s interview with Kjell Fischer. Click here for other videos from Mobile Monday Berlin.

What’s hot in the cooler Northern European regions? Today’s edition of „The Top 5 Nordic Startups" includes ViaEuropa, CAMPFIRE A/S, HammerKit, XIHA Life and Scred.

ViaEuropa is the world’s leading Open Service Exchange Operator of Broadband networks. Based on the southern tip of Sweden, ViaEuropa is proving that next generation broadband infrastructure is best built by an Open Service Market Economy. It is therefore not astonishing that CEO Jonas Birgersson is one of the most hated people in the Telecom sector since many years...

Young adults are the primary target group of Copenhagen-based CAMPFIRE A/S: The global future company owns the brand Catooz - an interactive comic book brought to mobile phones. The above pitch with CEO and founder Glenn Lau Rentius is from Le Mobile 2.0 where the company won the Zapping 2009 award.

You can think of Finnish company HammerKit as the IKEA of the web: The HammerKit application assembly platform allows to build complex web applications without the need to know how to program code. Look out for sneek peeks of Version 4.0 in the coming weeks! To learn more about the web service development platform watch Managing Director Mark Sorsa-Leslie describing HammerKit in this pitch from Plugg conference.

XIHA Life, the world's leading multilingual social network last week launched a second-generation version of its platform. XIHA – co-founded by Jani Penttinen - allows you to communicate with your friends in not only one, but several different languages. The launch of XIHA Life 2.0 begins a wave of new feature announcements. Founded by Kristoffer Lawson, Scred is a Finnish company building tools and services to help friends, groups and communities simplify their money management, wherever they are. Scred’s cost balancing tool is great for less formal groups like bands, code crews, indie film producers and developers as well as trip organizers.

Next Monday’s edition of "The Top 5" is all about inspiration: Tiburon-TV introduces five great authors and their inspiring books.

Click here to check out earlier episodes of „The Top 5“.