Users fell 5% to 8.5 million in January from 8.9 million in December in the UK, according to data from Nielsen Online. BBC article.
Blip or trend?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Edited: "Three Skypephone, second-thought due to lack of customer service". Happy ending.
I had the opportunity to experience Three's (lack of) customer service today and I am not impressed. I topped up my account on their website and got an error message, informing me that I may have been charged and should contact customer services. The irony is that none of the option on their automated service deals with this kind of queries. I tried another number and here again, I was trapped in endless automated loops. No option to speak to a human being. I was left to send an email and to hope for a reply within a few days...
I will keep you updated.
Update: I had a call from Three at lunch time. The error is now fixed. The option to speak to a human being is there but quite hidden. The guy I spoke to was courteous and efficient though so that makes up for it. Case closed.
Update 2: I have receive an email from an executive at Three regarding my negative experience. The issue I highlighted above was fixed in a matter of 2 hours by phone. I will suggest that an option to speak to customer rep be made more prominent in the automated options for phone support. Apart from that, I am still happy with my Three Skypephone and I am happy to recommend it as well.
I will keep you updated.
Update: I had a call from Three at lunch time. The error is now fixed. The option to speak to a human being is there but quite hidden. The guy I spoke to was courteous and efficient though so that makes up for it. Case closed.
Update 2: I have receive an email from an executive at Three regarding my negative experience. The issue I highlighted above was fixed in a matter of 2 hours by phone. I will suggest that an option to speak to customer rep be made more prominent in the automated options for phone support. Apart from that, I am still happy with my Three Skypephone and I am happy to recommend it as well.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Cool Mobile Startups Products From the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
Article on BusinessWeek. It is not obvious but you have to click on the pictures at the bottom of their page to see each product.
My favorites: GestureTek (let you play games and use applications by detecting movements from your phone, like a Wii nunchak) and Audience, a noise suppression technology that recognizes your speech and filter out background noise for clearer voice chats.
My favorites: GestureTek (let you play games and use applications by detecting movements from your phone, like a Wii nunchak) and Audience, a noise suppression technology that recognizes your speech and filter out background noise for clearer voice chats.
Poor young people use Yahoo!, rich old people use Google
Intriguing research from Hitwise. Yahoo!'s users tend to be younger than Google too (which would partially explain the wealth gap). The size of the bubbles is the propensity to have spent $500 online.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Why Illegal Downloaders Will Not Face a UK Ban
There are been a lot of gesticulations from the music industry recently, culminating to a release about how ISPs could be forced to enforce a "three strikes" system and ensure that those found downloading copyrighted materials do not ever come close to an Internet connection again. Read the Telegraph among others on the subject.
I personally think that the music industry should be spending more time working out a business model that is in tune with 21st century consumers instead of threatening privacy laws and its customer base. For an enlightened viewpoint, read the Register: "ISPs are calling on the record industry to put its money where its mouth is on illegal file-sharing, by underwriting the cost of lawsuits brought by people who are wrongly accused of downloading or uploading music" and Matt's excellent analysis of why this is stupid on torrentfreak: "This idea makes as much sense as trying to ban people from singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to each other over the telephone network, or burning down libraries to protect the publishing industry."(...) "CD sales are falling because nobody uses them anymore, and Hollywood is in rude health despite the pirates. There should be no more talk about changing laws and spending tax payer’s money on this ‘problem’ until someone proves there really is one."
I personally think that the music industry should be spending more time working out a business model that is in tune with 21st century consumers instead of threatening privacy laws and its customer base. For an enlightened viewpoint, read the Register: "ISPs are calling on the record industry to put its money where its mouth is on illegal file-sharing, by underwriting the cost of lawsuits brought by people who are wrongly accused of downloading or uploading music" and Matt's excellent analysis of why this is stupid on torrentfreak: "This idea makes as much sense as trying to ban people from singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to each other over the telephone network, or burning down libraries to protect the publishing industry."(...) "CD sales are falling because nobody uses them anymore, and Hollywood is in rude health despite the pirates. There should be no more talk about changing laws and spending tax payer’s money on this ‘problem’ until someone proves there really is one."
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Monday, February 04, 2008
Our media are mass producers of distortion
Nick Davies, from the Guardian talks about his new book, Flat Earth News: An Award-winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media.
The most striking fact is a research on 2,000 UK news stories conducted by Cardiff University:
The most striking fact is a research on 2,000 UK news stories conducted by Cardiff University:
- Only 12% of the stories were wholly composed of material researched by reporters.
- 80%, of the stories were wholly, mainly or partially constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry.
- On stories written from press releases only 12% had their facts thoroughly checked.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
Microsoft to buy Yahoo! for $44.6Bn?
It if happens, Yahoo's shareholders won't believe their luck... Tim Weber, business editor of the BBC News website: "It is a shotgun marriage, but the person holding the shotgun is Google." That sums it up nicely. BBC News.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
How to present like Steve Jobs
A 10 parts framework written by Carmine Gallo for Business Week. Black turtle neck and NB sneakers are optional.
First read on Damien Mulley's fluffy links.
First read on Damien Mulley's fluffy links.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Qtrax, first music major endorsed P2P service... NOT!
Qtrax, a new free music P2P download service, backed off claims that it has deals with all four major music companies after they publicly denied agreed terms with the start-up.
Guardian
Choosing forgiveness over permission is a risky PR strategy. Qtrax got huge amount of coverage, especially after the majors denied their agreements. They will always be able to make further announcements when deals are finalized and blame their over-enthusiastic nature for their first release: Now there is media interest to hear what they have to say and users know they exist. On the other hand, it adds unnecessary pressure to their negotiations with the music industry and their credibility will be dented. The end result: A lot of confused users will check-out Qtrax.com. I hope that their PR strategy was planned and that they provide some explanations on their website to capture this spike in traffic.
Guardian
Choosing forgiveness over permission is a risky PR strategy. Qtrax got huge amount of coverage, especially after the majors denied their agreements. They will always be able to make further announcements when deals are finalized and blame their over-enthusiastic nature for their first release: Now there is media interest to hear what they have to say and users know they exist. On the other hand, it adds unnecessary pressure to their negotiations with the music industry and their credibility will be dented. The end result: A lot of confused users will check-out Qtrax.com. I hope that their PR strategy was planned and that they provide some explanations on their website to capture this spike in traffic.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Happy Holidays, Best Wishes for 2008
I hope you enjoy the holiday season and I wish you a happy, healthy and
prosperous new year.
prosperous new year.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
I tried Three’s new Skype phone and I liked it
Before leaving for California, I was approached by Matt from 3mobilebuzz.com to test Three’s new Skype phone. I don’t usually bother reviewing products (albeit for a few books) but I live in London and my new company is in Mountain View, California. I am on Skype daily with our partners over the world, and often with our family and friends in Singapore. A phone plan that integrates Skype sounded like a godsend to me.
Two months later, upon my return to the UK, I received as promised 2 phones for a month long trial.
The phone
The silver ring around the Skype button is borderline bling but overall the phone is sleek and elegant in its simplicity. And it has a really nice feel when you hold it. I guess Three must have spend weeks with focus groups just to get the right weight, not too heavy, not too light resulting in this smooth feeling handset that fits nicely in the hand.
The specs
Decent colour screen, 2MB camera, takes pictures, videos and many other things that I could not be possibly bothered to mention, as I am not that geeky. Specs are there if you are interested (select a phone and click on "Mobile details").
The interface
Among the phones I used, Motorola consistently ranked worst in terms of clunky, non-intuitive user interface. Nokia is doing a pretty good job but I always had a soft spot for Sony-Ericksson. I am adding to my favourites Three’s interface which is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. Good job for people like me who would rather never use a functionality than opening a user manual.
Skype
This is the crux of the matter. You can call and receive calls on Skype using Three’s network, which means you don’t rely on finding a wifi connection. Finally, I could talk to my Skype friends without being glued to my laptop. Because I am using Three’s network , voice quality was much better than my normal Skype calls. When logged-in to Skype (just press the “Skype” button), you will see your contacts and their status. To call, just select a contact and you are on. You can use Skype chat as well but the Three Skypephone does not support Skype Out or Skype In.
Live TV
The picture quality of live TV is impressive. Sharp and good streaming. On offer: BBC1, BBC3, BBC News, National Geographic, FHM, MTV…
Facebook, MSN, eBay and the likes
It has all that if you need it. There is a handy shortcut to Google Search on Three’s launcher (like a “Start menu on Windows). There is a direct link to Youtube as well so instead of spending too much money on video calls, post your clip on your Youtube channel for your friends to watch and reciprocate.
Finally, the price…
Now this is where it gets complicated, there are lots of information on rates and plans but it is a bit all over the place on Three’s website, and the small print is hard to find.
Pay As You Go (no contract)
You can buy a handset for £59.99 that includes a £10 top-up. You can use Skype for 30 days with a “fair use” policy (4,000 Skype minutes and 10,000 chat messages per month) but you need to top-up again with a minimum of £10 every 30 days.
Contract
Contracts are 18 months, which is far too long to consider for someone like me who spend months abroad. The cheapest plan is £12 a month and gives you 100 minutes or text messages. The phone comes free with the same “fair use” policy for Skype.
Live TV is £5 a month and add another £5 for unlimited web surfing. This will go on top of PAYG or contracts.
Verdict...
I showed the phone to a couple of friends and they all agreed that it is a looker with great functionality, with Skype, Live TV an mobile web among their favourite features (in order). As far as I understand, rates are competitive but my hunch is that you need to spend lots of time on Skype at time when you don't want to be at home to make it worthwhile. Otherwise you may be better off sticking to Skype on your laptop and a cheap call plan for calls/texts. The 18 months contract is a no go for me but I may look into the PAYG option after I speak to Three’s sales reps to clarify call rates for that option.
Overall, the Skype Phone is on top of my 2008 must-have list and I am glad I tried it.
Two months later, upon my return to the UK, I received as promised 2 phones for a month long trial.
The phone
The silver ring around the Skype button is borderline bling but overall the phone is sleek and elegant in its simplicity. And it has a really nice feel when you hold it. I guess Three must have spend weeks with focus groups just to get the right weight, not too heavy, not too light resulting in this smooth feeling handset that fits nicely in the hand.
The specsDecent colour screen, 2MB camera, takes pictures, videos and many other things that I could not be possibly bothered to mention, as I am not that geeky. Specs are there if you are interested (select a phone and click on "Mobile details").
The interface
Among the phones I used, Motorola consistently ranked worst in terms of clunky, non-intuitive user interface. Nokia is doing a pretty good job but I always had a soft spot for Sony-Ericksson. I am adding to my favourites Three’s interface which is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. Good job for people like me who would rather never use a functionality than opening a user manual.
Skype
This is the crux of the matter. You can call and receive calls on Skype using Three’s network, which means you don’t rely on finding a wifi connection. Finally, I could talk to my Skype friends without being glued to my laptop. Because I am using Three’s network , voice quality was much better than my normal Skype calls. When logged-in to Skype (just press the “Skype” button), you will see your contacts and their status. To call, just select a contact and you are on. You can use Skype chat as well but the Three Skypephone does not support Skype Out or Skype In.
Live TV
The picture quality of live TV is impressive. Sharp and good streaming. On offer: BBC1, BBC3, BBC News, National Geographic, FHM, MTV…
Facebook, MSN, eBay and the likes
It has all that if you need it. There is a handy shortcut to Google Search on Three’s launcher (like a “Start menu on Windows). There is a direct link to Youtube as well so instead of spending too much money on video calls, post your clip on your Youtube channel for your friends to watch and reciprocate.
Finally, the price…
Now this is where it gets complicated, there are lots of information on rates and plans but it is a bit all over the place on Three’s website, and the small print is hard to find.
Pay As You Go (no contract)
You can buy a handset for £59.99 that includes a £10 top-up. You can use Skype for 30 days with a “fair use” policy (4,000 Skype minutes and 10,000 chat messages per month) but you need to top-up again with a minimum of £10 every 30 days.
Contract
Contracts are 18 months, which is far too long to consider for someone like me who spend months abroad. The cheapest plan is £12 a month and gives you 100 minutes or text messages. The phone comes free with the same “fair use” policy for Skype.
Live TV is £5 a month and add another £5 for unlimited web surfing. This will go on top of PAYG or contracts.
Verdict...
I showed the phone to a couple of friends and they all agreed that it is a looker with great functionality, with Skype, Live TV an mobile web among their favourite features (in order). As far as I understand, rates are competitive but my hunch is that you need to spend lots of time on Skype at time when you don't want to be at home to make it worthwhile. Otherwise you may be better off sticking to Skype on your laptop and a cheap call plan for calls/texts. The 18 months contract is a no go for me but I may look into the PAYG option after I speak to Three’s sales reps to clarify call rates for that option.
Overall, the Skype Phone is on top of my 2008 must-have list and I am glad I tried it.
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