Archive for Patrick
I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard the following exchange:
- Presenter: “I’ve got a futurologist with me tonight. So that means you’re an expert on the future.”
- Futurologist: “Well, just technology in my case, not the whole future, that’d be rather a lot.”
And it got me thinking. Isn’t that the [...]
I recently did a little teaser about ScreenReach, which generated a few comments. Well here’s a fuller profile following my conversation with Paul Rawlings, the CEO.
The Company
ScreenReach talks about itself as a ‘Screen 2.0′ company, which means that it offers an interactive display system that can deliver personalised content to screens – both big plasma [...]
Here at SMS Text News towers we love the mobile phone industry - but we rightly criticise it when it doesn’t get things right. One of the areas that comes in for the most criticism is the general retail experience. Let’s be honest it can be pretty poor - handsets chained to the display, uninformed [...]
Continue ReadingBut wait, what is this … a positive outcome from the iPhone 3G launch. It just goes to show that it’s not all bad - maybe it was Dan’s fault after all (only joking Dan ;-))
This time Lauren from Sonus PR - who’s promise of a new iPhone couriered to her didn’t materialise - got [...]
After the awful experience of our intrepid reporter Dan, we have more reader woes to report.
This is from Ben:
- - -
It was strangely reassuring to read someone else having a similar degree of pain! After O2’s site crashed and burned after 10 minutes of people trying to use it, I placed an order on CPW [...]
It was interesting that Ewan was using a reference to the film Minority Report to emphasise his latest rant about the industry. At about the same time Ewan was ranting I was chatting to Paul Rawlings the CEO of Screenreach – a company that may just be bringing Minority Report to life.
Unfortunately Screenreach doesn’t work [...]
Sat on the train down to London this morning I saw a great piece of normob behaviour. A little bit like Ewan’s recent ‘Does your phone do numbers?’ post, it made me smile, so I thought I’d share it with you.
An older gentleman (possibly 65 ish) got an old Nokia out of his jacket pocket [...]
Next Thursday we’re in Dublin for the Irish edition of our now (in)famous Unlimited Drinks and if you want to come along there’s still time to get your name down. Just send Ewan an email (ewan@smstextnews.com) with UNLIMITED DRINKS = YES in the subject line.
You can find out all the details here, but all you [...]
An interesting survey has just been published thanks to ACCESS Systems Americas, Inc. It found that 73% of US consumers buying a new handset said that text messaging was an important feature.
The research was conducted by independent research firm Amplitude Research and other features that scored highly were having a camera (67%), having email capabilities [...]
For a number of years now there has been a feud between two of the biggest basketball stars in the US - Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. It started when they played together at the LA Lakers and escalated when Kobe accused Shaq of ‘paying women for personal services’ … whatever that may mean.
Shaq took [...]
As you know SMS Text News is coming to Dublin … and we’re really looking forward to meeting Ireland’s mobile community. I have some more details about the evening, so here goes.
Critical Info
The date: July 10th (Thursday)
The venue: Magic Glasses Bar, The O’Callaghan Stephen’s Green Hotel, Dublin (map)
The time: 6pm onwards
Get on the guestlist: Email [...]
If you’re planning on going over to Beijing for the Olympics then you might need to buy a new handset when you get there. It has been reported in the Wall Street Journal (here) that although China is planning to have 3G available to users, it will be based on the TD-SCDMA technology standard - [...]
Continue ReadingAlltel Wireless has announced that it has signed a deal with Boingo Wireless that will allow anyone to access to its more than 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in the US.
The deal with Boingo means that you can sign in and pay for usage without having to have a contract with Alltel. The rates are $19.99 for [...]
If you’re planning to go out for the night in any of the major US cities then you might want to try out buzz’d. By texting your zipcode to buzz’d’s shortcode you can be told the answer to the question on everybody’s lips - “What’s going on around me right now?”
There are now 1.2 million [...]
If you run a small or medium-sized business in the UK and are confused about how to get the best deal on your telecoms then help is at hand. The snappily titled ‘What To Look Out For And What To Watch Out For: Hints And Tips Guide To SME Telecoms & Mobile Procurement’ has now [...]
Continue ReadingAt SMS Text News towers we love to hear about new ways of using your mobile phone in every day life. This story fits that bill. Now, thanks to Mediaburst and DSI UK voters will be able to register themselves on the electoral roll by text message.
The service will be launching in August and it [...]
Blyk has announced that it is hoping to repeat the success it has had in the UK and will be expanding its operation and moving out into more European countries next year. It already told us that it was moving into the Netherlands in January of this year and today it has announced that the [...]
Continue ReadingWithout resorting to obvious stereotypes, this is not about Siemens executives always putting their towels on the sun chairs by the pool first thing in the morning, or about them being ruthlessly efficient in penalty shoot-outs. Instead, it is a comment from Peter Löscher, the head of Siemens (and himself an Austrian), about the company [...]
Continue ReadingWhen I was little hand-me-downs were all about getting your older brother’s old clothes. Now according to this article in PocketPicks it can mean iPhones as well.
Anyone who upgrades from the 2G iPhone to the new 3G one can simply pass the old one to family or friends. It seems if the recipient is an [...]
Ricky and your Blykwatch mates - this one’s for you …
NatWest has announced its new student deals and they include a £50 voucher off 3’s Mobile Broadband. They also include £100 off an ASUS laptop.
Fear not though, they are still offering a student railcard.
The deal is obviously trying to attract the more tech-savvy students who [...]
A company called Mapesbury Communications Ltd has announced that it has signed a deal with Spectrum Interactive (UK) for the rights to broadcast a GSM service from payphone kiosks.
It says that this will be the start of a new mobile phone service called UK01. According to Magnus Kelly, the CEO of Mapesbury, the agreement is, [...]
A report in the Wall Street Journal today talks about how Google is having to revise its plans regarding the release of the first handset powered by Android.
T-Mobile USA is hoping to release a handset in the fourth quarter, while in Europe talk is of “Christmas time”. The world’s largest operator, China Mobile, is also [...]
A recent service by GPS in Barking and Dagenham to target people who want to give up smoking has apparently seen great response rates from patients when targeted by text message.
The service, run by iPLATO, is being used to ask patients what there current smoking ’status’ is. The idea is that those who have been [...]
Over the past few weeks the two major networks in Afghanistan have both announced that they have hit the two million subscribers mark. Afghan Wireless Communications hit this mark in May of this year, while its main Roshan rival caught up last week.
This all sounds pretty impressive given the stories we hear of bombs, terrorism [...]
A little task for all you avid readers … I need some advice.
I’m just about to leave my current phone contract and I need some advice about what I should do next. I’ve currently got an E61 on Nokia and it’s being paid for by work, I’ll be paying for the new contract myself, so [...]
Constantine on 