http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/ Russell Buckley and Carlo Longino on mobile technology. Tue, 22 May 2012 09:13:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/comment-page-1/#comment-3228 40% of Mobiles Carry Virii at MobHappy Mon, 17 Apr 2006 09:47:12 +0000 http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/#comment-3228 [...] MobHappy’s April Fool spoof this year posited that Rentokil were to launch a sterilised and virus free phone and MVNO. Maybe they really should. [...] [...] MobHappy’s April Fool spoof this year posited that Rentokil were to launch a sterilised and virus free phone and MVNO. Maybe they really should. [...]

]]> http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/comment-page-1/#comment-3028 alan jones Sun, 02 Apr 2006 22:44:38 +0000 http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/#comment-3028 i especially liked the realistic Russ Beattie quote guys, it was like you were channelling the man himself! i especially liked the realistic Russ Beattie quote guys, it was like you were channelling the man himself!

]]> http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/comment-page-1/#comment-3016 TW Sat, 01 Apr 2006 10:19:11 +0000 http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/#comment-3016 And a Happy April Fool's Day to MobHappy too... And a Happy April Fool’s Day to MobHappy too…

]]> http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/comment-page-1/#comment-3013 MocoNews.net: mobile content news Sat, 01 Apr 2006 06:51:47 +0000 http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2006/04/01/1656/#comment-3013 [...] And the answer appears to be “No”…the latest company to announce plans to launch an MVNO is Rentokil, the international pest control company. Sure, they’ve got deep pockets, a global presence and good brand equity, but I’m honestly not sure this one is going to work. It’s got some interesting content — reminder alerts of when it’s time to fumigate your home, plague warnings for everything from locusts to rats to badgers, ringtones of the Rentokil jingle and the sound of poison being sprayed and wallpapers of…well…dead things. I’m not sure people are clamoring for such content. Perhaps of more use are the “Pest Profiles” of all the bugs and other creepy crawlies that infect the home, with handy tips of how to combat them. But this could have been done with a WAP site. Still Rentokil thinks it has enough brand equity to have a successful MVNO, and that’s the buzz-word of the day. The company has played to its strengths for the differentiating factor, steering clear of the dangerous “talk for 2c less a minute” territory. “Awareness and trust of the Rentokil brand is incredibly high,” said a spokesperson for the company. “Our research has showed that people are increasingly concerned about their phone’s hygiene and rightly so. Mobiles are shared more and more, especially in youth groups and it’s just too easy to pass round germs, bacteria and other potentially disease ridden material. The average mobile has 27 potentially illness inducing bacteria and 21% carry traces of urine and/or faecal material.” Rentokil’s handsets (made by a Taiwanese OEM) has an anti-bacterial coating. This might actually be an attracting feature for parents worried about the safety of their kids. The phones also come with their own anti-virus software (a Rentokil-branded white label job) that guarantees to keep the handsets free of viruses, worms and other malware. Obviously that’s not going to be strongly tested for a while, but Rentokil has offered a thousand pounds for an example of an infected phone. Not really that much money if it encourages 10,000 hackers to sign up… OK, so it’s innovative and different from other products. I still think it’s going to have a tough time in the marketplace. Ten out of ten for creativity but minus several million for good thinking. No matter the benefits, nobody wants a phone focused on dead bugs. Well, nobody I want to spend much time with, anyway. Of course, if it was iTunes compatible that would be a different story…(via MobHappy) Related stories: –Cool Mobile’s Motorola Relationship Ends –Disney’s $50 Million MVNO Ad Campaign; Hires Agency –More Funding For Amp’d? [...] [...] And the answer appears to be “No”…the latest company to announce plans to launch an MVNO is Rentokil, the international pest control company. Sure, they’ve got deep pockets, a global presence and good brand equity, but I’m honestly not sure this one is going to work. It’s got some interesting content — reminder alerts of when it’s time to fumigate your home, plague warnings for everything from locusts to rats to badgers, ringtones of the Rentokil jingle and the sound of poison being sprayed and wallpapers of…well…dead things. I’m not sure people are clamoring for such content. Perhaps of more use are the “Pest Profiles” of all the bugs and other creepy crawlies that infect the home, with handy tips of how to combat them. But this could have been done with a WAP site. Still Rentokil thinks it has enough brand equity to have a successful MVNO, and that’s the buzz-word of the day. The company has played to its strengths for the differentiating factor, steering clear of the dangerous “talk for 2c less a minute” territory. “Awareness and trust of the Rentokil brand is incredibly high,” said a spokesperson for the company. “Our research has showed that people are increasingly concerned about their phone’s hygiene and rightly so. Mobiles are shared more and more, especially in youth groups and it’s just too easy to pass round germs, bacteria and other potentially disease ridden material. The average mobile has 27 potentially illness inducing bacteria and 21% carry traces of urine and/or faecal material.” Rentokil’s handsets (made by a Taiwanese OEM) has an anti-bacterial coating. This might actually be an attracting feature for parents worried about the safety of their kids. The phones also come with their own anti-virus software (a Rentokil-branded white label job) that guarantees to keep the handsets free of viruses, worms and other malware. Obviously that’s not going to be strongly tested for a while, but Rentokil has offered a thousand pounds for an example of an infected phone. Not really that much money if it encourages 10,000 hackers to sign up… OK, so it’s innovative and different from other products. I still think it’s going to have a tough time in the marketplace. Ten out of ten for creativity but minus several million for good thinking. No matter the benefits, nobody wants a phone focused on dead bugs. Well, nobody I want to spend much time with, anyway. Of course, if it was iTunes compatible that would be a different story…(via MobHappy) Related stories: –Cool Mobile’s Motorola Relationship Ends –Disney’s $50 Million MVNO Ad Campaign; Hires Agency –More Funding For Amp’d? [...]

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