At Nokia World, Ricky Cadden (the Maemo Guru — and Symbian Guru) sat down with me and asked my opinion of the new Nokia N900.
Fly over to Ricky’s site to watch the video — replete with me wearing the effervescent Mobile Industry Review jacket.
Thanks Ricky!
For the avoidance of doubt and given I’ve been going off-on-one about SpinVox for the past few days, I’d like to point a few things out:
1) I was a delighted beneficiary of a SpinVox courtesy account. I *think* I used to pay for it but I’m not entirely sure what happened, when. Other than I stopped being billed. Then when I signed up with Vodafone, James Whatley — transferred the account. I say ‘was’ – I switched it off last week.
2) I know James Whatley, the SpinVox Social Media chap reasonably well. He’s worked for Mobile Industry Review as a contributor and on-camera chap up until about March of this year. We had an agreement that he’d never use his MIR position by publishing upon the virtues of SpinVox. This was rather dramatically put to the test when due to a schedule clash, I found myself filming James Whatley of SpinVox (but reporting for MIR) interviewing Andy Munarizz of HulloMail. You can still see the video interview here. The only mild exception to this policy is when I mercilessly demanded he give us a tour around the SpinVox stand on-camera at Mobile World Congress.
3) I’ve no particular beef of axe to grind with SpinVox except those I’ve voiced.
That’s how Mobile Developer TV is looking at the moment. I’m pretty pleased with the clean lines.
At least now we’ve got rid of the standard Wordpress theme. We based it on Kubrick — but hand-coded it to work exactly as we wanted from a text perspective.
Next up? Video. Production and integration.
I’ve got about 8 hours of Mobile Developer TV footage so far — all of it from Silicon Valley. I’ll have the first cut ready for uploading tomorrow I think.
Stay tuned!
I didn’t bother signing up for Wakoopa when I heard about it a while ago. I thought it was a cool concept — track the desktop applications you’re using (along with ‘web applications’) and then publish the data to let you track what your friends are using.
Now and again I’ve found myself on some obscure blog post from 2005 only to discover a genius application for uploading screenshots or something like that.
Indeed I think that’s how I came across ImageWell (uploads screenshots via FTP) and Mailplane (run Gmail / Apps as a proper application) and more.
I didn’t sign-up initially because, well… so much of my desktop usage is browser based. Looking at the applications I have open at the moment, it doesn’t really make for shocking or surprising reading:
* Safari
* Firefox
* Microsoft Word
* Skype
* Mailplane
* Spotify
* ImageWell
* MarsEdit
* Terminal
* Adium
* TweetDeck
Hardly earth shattering, eh? But then… you never know. So I signed up this afternoon and I’ve added two chaps already, Geetarchurchy and Ricky Chotai. Aside from the basic ‘what’s he using that for’ thoughts, it’s really quite interesting. I can see how this will/would really help with discovery of new applications.
Which brings me to the subject of this post. I’d really like to see something like this for mobile handsets. I’m sure the Wakoopa creators are considering something like this. Of course it wouldn’t work very well on an iPhone in real time (no background apps on an iPhone… yet) but it would work reasonably well on Android and Symbian.
Nokia’s already doing this with the upcoming Ovi Store (just WHEN is it actually, actually launching?). Peer-to-peer recommendations. I should, theoretically, be able to see what my Ovi friends are buying/using/consuming via the Ovi Store. I’m looking forward to seeing how people react to that feature, I think it’ll be a winner.
I certainly find the iPhone application discovery process a little bit haphazard at the moment — indeed, it’s positively lonely when you’re sat looking at the App Store on your iPhone. I tend to hear more about applications when I’m not actively browsing, when I’m out-and-about or when I’m working. That’s fine, but it’s not necessarily when I’m most receptive to looking at new things.
I can imagine opening up the App Store on my Nokia with the intent of finding out what my friends have checked out recently.
I’m hoping that once all the kinks are worked out, the Ovi Store will reinvigorate the desire to install new apps… We shall see.
People I know from London keep asking me, “Are you in San Francisco?” and, people from San Francisco keep asking if I’m in London.
The where-are-you question is very, very relevant in the context of business so I’ve been trying to solve that with the use of a Where Am I function on my personal site, Ewan.net.
I was previously using BlogLoc for this function… but it was getting a little bit annoying having to manually update every time I remembered.
So instead I’ve decided to try out Google’s Latitude facility. Latitude allows you to see the locations of your friends on a Google Map (either on your phone or online) and it works pretty well.
Recently the Google Latitude team announced that they’ve added a public ‘badge’ facility that you can place anywhere on the web to show off your current location. This definitely isn’t for everyone, especially if you’re a little bit suspicious or concerned about your privacy. But I like the concept myself and I thought it was worth a try. Google have been particularly direct with their warnings — which I heeded — so I haven’t displayed by actual street level GPS location. Instead I’ve displayed my general ‘city level’ location.
Here’s what it looks like on the blog:
Nifty.
If you’d like to do the same, get your Google Latitude Public Location Badge here.
Would you like to see thousands of people singing ‘Hey Jude’ together in London’s Trafalgar Square?
Yes? Good. Because that’s what T-Mobile UK have cooked up for your delectation. It’s the next in the series after the rather amazing T-Mobile ‘Dance’ at London’s Liverpool Street Station that saw hundreds of apparent commuters all of a sudden break into a series of co-ordinated dance moves. Brilliant advertisement, compelling viewing. If you haven’t seen it, take a few minutes and check it out here:
And here’s the Hey Jude one in Trafalgar Square:
The good looking girl who appears now and again, singing in tune, is popstar Pink.
I think.
I’ve been wondering all about this particular video after I kept seeing it playing on all the electronic screens around the London Underground/Tube. Know I know.
I’m pretty impressed at T-Mobile UK’s advertising geniuses. The first video, The Dance, definitely underpins the company’s ‘Life’s For Sharing’ message — and, whilst the ‘Hey June’ one does too (load of folk, all singing-along mostly out of tune), I think The Dance is going to remain their most compelling ad for some time.
You read that right.
Fluck me sideways.
From June 1, pay as you go and pay monthly consumer customers can talk, text and send picture messages from over 35 countries across Europe this summer for the same price as at home.
From May 15, calls from the UK to friends and family overseas from as little as 5 pence per minute.
Businesses also benefit from cost savings on roaming.
What a challenge to the industry. I’m really pleased to see this rather sweeping, surprising and exciting move from Vodafone:
So much so, I’m going to post the whole release:
Vodafone UK is abolishing roaming charges this summer and bringing in great value prices for international calls, making it easier for customers to phone home while abroad and make calls abroad from the UK. There are cost savings for business customers too.
From 1 June to the end of August, Vodafone Pay as you Go and Pay Monthly customers will be able to call, text and send picture messages to friends and family back home from over 35 countries knowing that it will cost exactly the same as if they were in the UK. For example, a customer on a plan with 600 minutes and unlimited texts who opts in to Vodafone Passport would use these minutes and texts when they are on holiday with no extra charges.
Existing Vodafone Passport customers automatically benefit from the three month promotion. From May 15, customers who don’t currently use Vodafone Passport can sign up for free by texting the word ‘Passport’ to 97888 if they pay monthly or to 2345 if they use Pay as you go , or they can visit vodafone.co.uk/roaming.
In addition, from May 15, Vodafone Pay as you go customers on the Simply tariff, will find that calls they make from the UK to friends and family overseas will be even better value. International calls will cost from as little as 5p per minute to both landlines and mobiles. Customers can opt in to the new Vodafone International call plan by calling 36888 or texting the word ‘international’ to 2345 from their handset, visiting vodafone.co.uk/international or speaking to an adviser in one of Vodafone’s 400 stores.
“These are two great value offers for our customers this summer. With our Vodafone Passport promotion you can sit on the beach with your phone switched on knowing you can take and make a call just as you would if you were in your back garden,” says Ian Shepherd consumer director for Vodafone UK. “Vodafone International is good news for the millions of UK pay as you go customers as they can now make calls to family and friends around the world from just 5p.”
Reducing the cost of roaming for businesses
Vodafone UK business customers on Anytime or Your Plan price plans will also benefit from the same three month Vodafone Passport promotion from June 1. Customers on these plans and already on Vodafone Passport will automatically qualify for the promotion. Non Vodafone Passport customers can opt in by calling their account manager or visiting www.vodafone.co.uk/businessroaming for further information.
And the countries included?
Countries included in the Vodafone Passport summer promotion: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Channel Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroes, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Vatican City, New Zealand, Australia.
More thoughts and analysis later!
Well then. What a total waste of time that was. If you recall, I recently wrote that it was high time I visited a Vodafone shop.
I’ve got five lines on the account, all at crazy price plan levels. I don’t know which-is-which, apart from my main number. And Vodafone UK’s online account management is so dire that I decided I’d go into a shop and sort it out.
I liked the idea of perusing my account screen with the helpful Vodafone sales chaps. I didn’t like the idea of phoning up customer service because I couldn’t easily visualise the accounts. I figured it would take 3 times as long to go through the changes I needed to make via voice. I didn’t want to wind up the customer services agent and I reckoned, if I picked a Vodafone shop in London when they were reasonably empty, I could spend 10 minutes sorting things out in person.
That’s the beauty of Vodafone. It’s all connected. Setting aside the fact you can’t really *do* much with your online account management (i.e. change price plans — I always get errors), I liked the fact I could walk into any Vodafone shop, the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, and be able to discuss my account within seconds. It’s all so smart. All so connected.
Phone up and they can help you. Walk into any store and they can call up your account there and then and woosh, you can walk out with a new handset if you like. All you need to do is confirm your primary phone number, name/address or show some ID and bish, bash, bosh, you’re done.
It may not sound *that* amazing, but remember o2 stores can’t help you unless you can remember your account number. You literally have to stand in the shop phoning o2 customer service to retrieve your account number, THEN the chaps can help you.
And 3… don’t get me started on 3. They’re better now, but they used to be completely 100% unable to service existing customers. It was a dire experience if you were already a customer. You’d walk in, hoping to upgrade, then be told to phone customer service and do the deal via phone because their systems weren’t setup. Thankfully they’ve rectified that.
But something strange has happened to Vodafone recently, if today’s experience is accurate across the whole store network.
I walked into the Oxford Street (near Soho) branch this evening. They weren’t too busy and I was approached by a helpful chap within seconds.
“I’d like to make some changes to my price plans,” I said, “And possibly upgrade one of the lines — I’ve got five on my account.”
The chap did a ‘let me stop you there look’ before telling me, “Sorry sir, I’m afraid you have to call up for that.”
I looked at him.
In fact my look said: “YOU WHAT?”
“Yes,” he continued, “If we do it in-store, you’ll have to add an extra 6 months to your contract if you change price plans?”
I looked at him again.
You what?
“Er, well, can you tell me if any of my accounts are free of contract yet?” I asked, crestfallen.
“Sure!” he snapped with efficient politeness.
We headed to the back of the shop. I gave him my details. Within seconds he was telling me that one of my 12-month lines was out of contract.
“You can get a G2 for £90 on an 18-month contract,” he said.
Riight, I said, considering the 600 a month I’m spending. That’s a whopping 7,200 pounds a year. If you assume a G2 costs an arbitrary £400, I could buy 18 of them a year for what I’m blowing with Vodafone.
He came up with another option, “Or, if you’d like a 24-month contract on that line, the G2 would be just £5?”
Right.
I saw the manager — or a ’suit’ was standing nearby so I thought I’d try out the entrepreneurialism.
“So I’m spending at least 600 a month with you,” I prompted.
My sales guy looked at my recent bills.
“Er, yeah,” he said.
I glanced in the direction of the manager, standing next to him not paying any attention.
“So, you can’t change my price plans here…”
- “No sir,” he interrupted again, “You have to phone 191 [Customer Services]. Unless you’re upgrading, we can’t help [smile].”
“And despite the fact I’m paying 600 a month, you can’t just give me a G2, you need to charge me five pounds?”
“As I said,” he replied patiently, “You do need to talk to customer services.”
Right.
So it’s cookie-cutter time.
I’m exactly the same as someone paying Vodafone £15 per month. In fact given the amount of attention my brother gets on a month-to-month £25 contract (he’s getting how-are-you-doing-sir calls each month urging him to upgrade to a contract with special terms), I think he’s getting a better service level.
What’s the point of a branch network if you can’t service me and my £7,200 expenditure.
And at what point do I sit back and think seven grand is just a stupid, stupid amount to be paying.
That amount is a reflection of my relationship with Vodafone. I was hugely delighted. I didn’t mind the expenditure. It is certainly a business expense for the company — indeed, the Bold, the Dell Mini laptop, those weren’t entirely necessary for me personally but they were super-necessary for the business, to make sure I could deliver decent reviews and competent reporting.
But now, well, I think I could get by on £20-30 per month. Give me 600 minutes, unlimited texts and ‘unlimited’ data and you know what, that’ll work.
And it just takes one experience to really change your perspective.
What the hell am I doing paying them that amount of cash?
Well, obviously, I was going into their shop to reduce that down — to remove and reduce the unnecessary 65, 80, 90 and 45 (or whatever) price plans that I’ve got running. Throw in some unnecessary (but previously useful) Blackberry service plans on a few of the lines. It all adds up. Plus VAT. Add in a bit of international roaming and before you know it, you’re at 600 quid.
Deary me.
It used to be blowing this kind of money on an operator, you’d be sent phones, devices, whatever in order to keep your head in the sand so that you didn’t actually do anything. Indeed if Vodafone had called me last week and offered me a G2 for free, along with something else, and something else… you know, ‘goodies’, I’d have reacted emotionally: Yes please and er, don’t worry about those price plan changes. That’d have been worth the cash to me. I understand the commercial realities that the operator has to face. But I also recognise that I’ve been giving them a heckuvalot of business and… well… it’s the age old customer issue isn’t it? I now think I’m paying a lot, lot more than I need to be and can’t see a reason to continue.
Tomorrow, Vodafone Customer Services and I have a date. A rather boring and extensive date where we go through each account in sequence and reduce them down to their (roughly) 15 quid/month minimums. And I need to cancel that 12-month one that’s already expired.
Like many of the UK’s contracted mobile customers, I’ll take note of the contract expiry dates on each line and start clock-watching.
|
