The website of Alex Kinch, live from London
Archive for March, 2009
Rumour: New Skype/3 INQ phone(s) tomorrow?
Mar 31st
Yes I know, it’s another piece of Skype news – but this time it’s not related to the iPhone 
I’ve just been talking to @jamesbody on Twitter about a possible announcement of some new lovely Skype/3 INQ handsets tomorrow. Whilst I appreciate it’s April Fool’s Day in less than 12 hours time, and any announcement timed to coincide with April 1st should always be looked at with a slightly pessimistic eye, this one might just be right.
According to James, 3 (or H3G as we know them in certain parts of the industry) have got no stock of the S1 or S2 handsets in their stores. The INQ1 has been on a stock-clearance style special offer recently, bundled with a six month tarif for just £15 – which curiously ends today. In addition, James’s local H3G store has been busy clearing its shelves.
Of course, it could be just a coincidence all these things are happening at once – but like when Apple take their store down for maintenance, there’s usually no smoke without fire..
UPDATE 01/04: James reports that the offers that were supposed to end yesterday have been extended, and there’s nothing new on 3′s website. Perhaps they figured today was a bad day to launch something.
Have Yahoo! tamed the social networking holy grail?
Mar 31st
So many social networking services, so many apps – and only so much your poor mobile (and brain) can handle at once if you want access to all of them on the move. However, this might be about to change if Yahoo! have their way.
The Yahoo! OneConnect app, which is expected to launch in the UK in Q2, can be downloaded onto your phone and is compatible with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Bebo and other social networks.
By using the app you’ll be able to see the latest Tweets on Twitter, alongside images that your friends have recently uploaded on Flickr and even messages left on your wall on Facebook, all without having to navigate to the different sites.
via @NorthLondon and Yahoo unveils new social networking mobile app News – PC Advisor.
Text donations bring £7.8M to Comic Relief 2009
Mar 31st
According to New Media Age, £7.8m was raised via SMS donations for this year’s Comic Relief Red Nose Day charity event.
The service, which ran from 27th February until the closure of the event itself in the early hours of 14th March, was managed by mobile agencies MIG and Buongiorno, and generated 4.75m mobile interactions over the period.
Where charity donations via SMS normally go wrong is deductions: the operators take a large chunk, as do the government with VAT charges. However this time both were waived, allowing the charity to receive the full amount of each £1 or £5 donation.
Canadians won’t get Skype iPhone love
Mar 31st
Just in case you hadn’t got the message by now, Skype have launched their long-awaited app for the Apple iPhone. So far, so good. But if you’re in Canada, it’s not so good – Skype won’t be launching it there.
According to Skype PR Chaim Haas, there’s “patent-licence restrictions” in play that’s stopping them offering the application on Apple’s iTunes Store in Canada.
Chaim Haas, a public relations representative acting on behalf of Skype, said the application is available in every country in which the iPhone is on sale and in which Apple has an iTunes Store — with the exception of Canada. There’s been no elaboration on what exactly this issue is, except that it’s related to Skype, not Apple.
Skype don’t appear to be very loved in Canada. According to CBC, the forthcoming BlackBerry Skype app will only support incoming calls from Skype users and IM – and not outgoing calls to either the regular phone network (Skype Out) or other Skype users. In addition, Skype In isn’t supported in Canada because local telecoms regulator restrictions require enhanced 911, which Skype doesn’t support. Ironic really, considering Research In Motion, the company behind BlackBerry, are head-quartered in the country.
via Skype app for iPhone to launch Tuesday, but not in Canada.
To 3G or not to 3G; that is the Skype question
Mar 31st
It’s Tuesday, and already the Twitterverse is jam-packed full of references to the new Skype iPhone application – mostly from people exclaiming excitedly that they’ve managed to install it without their handset turning into the technological equivalent of a Norwegian Blue parrot.
However, once you filter out the noise there’s an interesting rumour abound. Apparently once Apple roll the long-awaited 3.0 iPhone firmware update, the Skype app will be able to make and receive calls over 3G data – and not just WiFi as it currently does. The clever souls over at 9to5Mac have already tried it with a developer release of the 3.0 firmware, using AT&T’s network, and apparently it works fine – if not with better quality than a normal GSM call.
Quite a few mobile operators don’t like VOIP – T-Mobile have already started blocking it in certain countries, and many already ban the use of it as part of ‘unlimited’ data plans. This could be an interesting show-down between Skype, Apple and the operators – unless of course Skype have bribed said operators with a financial cut based on number of downloads, annual revenue per user, or something similar. Now there’s an interesting rumour..
Vodafone launch Mobile Clicks competition to UK – €150,000 on offer to winners
Mar 31st
Got a great idea for a new mobile site or service? Perhaps you’re part of a start-up working on something really neat in the mobile space? If so, how do you fancy the chance to get your hands on a share of €150,000?
Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2009 is a joint Anglo-Dutch competion to inspire start-up businesses and individual developers to create and deliver a new mobile site or service. Run by Vodafone’s UK and Netherlands subsidaries, the the final will be held in Amsterdam in September and will feature three finalists from each country. The first three winners will be awarded a total sum of €150,000.
Last years’ Mobile Clicks’ winners included Nulaz, a location-based social networking service merging Google Maps and Facebook to allow people to see where their friends are, share locations and view local information, Tipspot a new online city guide service and Map the Gap, an idea-sharing application for mobile phones.
Interested? Head over to Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2009 – but hurry as the closing date for UK entries is 14th May 2009.
Why I banned my kids from texting
Mar 31st
Whilst nearly 25% of parents in Wales would quite happily give their ten year old a mobile, one mother in North Carolina decided to ban her 14 and 11 year olds from texting.
Text messaging is a dominant form of teenage communication, but reports of cyber bullying and texting-related driving accidents have some parents questioning whether to allow their kids to text. North Carolina parent Debbe Geiger writes about the challenges of banning text messaging and whether parents should even try.
via When Dad Banned Text Messaging – Well Blog – NYTimes.com.
10 year olds should have mobiles, says survey
Mar 31st
A survey by BBC Wales has found that nearly one in four Welsh children under the age of 10 would be allowed to have a mobile.
The research, by Beaufort Omnibus, asked: “At what age should children have their first mobile phone?” 23% of parents said they’d be quite happy with an under 10 having one, with 42% saying 11 or under.
via BBC NEWS | Wales | Wales childhood | Under-10s ‘allowed mobile phones’.
Zer01 Mobile – a curious offering
Mar 30th
I’ve caught a few bits of press coverage recently about an interesting organisation called Zer01 Mobile. So far all the stories seem to be along the same lines – unlimited calling and data anywhere within the US for just $69.95 a month. It’s sort of like an MVNO, but with a twist – as the calls it seems will be carried as VOIP over the existing AT&T network. No calls touch the regular AT&T voice network, just data.
From what I can glean from their website, they haven’t launched yet, but will be offering service for Windows Mobile handsets soon. How soon is soon? No idea. But they’re at telecoms show CTIA in Las Vegas later this week, so there might be an announcement then.
I thought I’d do a little digging to find out whether Zer01 is an actual offering, or a little vapourware. Why am I cynical? I don’t think anyone’s seen a working demo as yet. The website has a rather curious Frequently Asked Questions section, which seems to contain some strange questions (like ‘How do I locate a ZER01 employee, location, address or facility?‘ and ‘Where is ZER01 Communications?‘ (the answers to which are ‘we don’t publish that information’ and ‘we’re registered in Nevada, owned by a Delaware company, but we’re everywhere, baby’ – or something like that – respectively). In addition, having spent a bit of time during my stint at Truphone investigating the feasibility of VOIP over GPRS and UMTS, unless a minor miracle has happened it’s not exactly a reliable technology yet.
Know anything more about ZER01 apart from the various news articles out there? Have you met anyone from the company, or seen a demo? I’d be interested to hear from you – anonymously if you’d prefer – drop me a note.
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