Page 11 - Sphere No.21 (Mar 2008)
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SPHERE
9
3G
THE neXt
CHALLENGE
How to get the best out of your handset
world,” says Mike Stead, the UK’s Project Manager of Global
Technology Strategy for 3neXt.
“Anybody can effectively be their own TV station. An SMS will
be sent to family and friends and they will be able to log on to a
page and watch the footage. It’s all about sharing the content in
real time. The application is sitting right there in your pocket.”
3neXt aims to help the mainstream customer rather
than the tech-savvy expert who keeps abreast of all
the latest applications. “Most people don’t know
that they have true Internet access on their
phones,” says Mr Stead. “All we’ve done is pack-
age it in a non-technical way for consumers.”
The process to access this technology is
simple.
3
customers simply visit
mobi to read about different applications and
then download them directly to their phone. Today,
there are 12 applications and six mobile Websites, with
more being added on a weekly basis.
A whole new digital world is unveiled before your very eyes.
There’s MyStrands, the site for music lovers that brings all
your favourite tracks and albums to your ears, complete with
blog lists and recommendations based on your listening hab-
its. And don’t forget Kyte. If you are a devotee of YouTube,
Kyte goes even further by allowing you to create your own TV
show from your mobile. Mobile Gmaps is a free tool to access
maps and satellite images, while scanR is a service that enables
people to scan, copy and fax information from handwritten
notes, printed documents, business cards and more, with
their camera phones.
3neXt is building a catalogue of links to soft-
ware and different sites and invites customers
to review and discuss any of the products
mentioned. It thrives on feedback, urging
customers to discuss and share “tips, tricks
or otherwise interesting things you do with
your Internet enabled mobile phone.” There’s
also a blog and a 3neXt group on Facebook, the
famous social networking site.
“This is a tool to drive people to get
3
and get more
subscribers,” says Mr Stead. “We see different countries hav-
ing specific pages in the near future. It’s a global initiative for
Hutchison Whampoa. It will take time, but this is the future
of the mobile phone. No one can guess what the next big con-
sumer application will be.”
A whole
new digital
world is unveiled
before your
very eyes
