Page 15 - Sphere No.24 (Mar 2009)

WHAT MAKES INQ1 SPECIAL
SPHERE 13
“In the current economic environment,
people will not give up all the benefits of
having a mobile but they will be much
more careful about where and how they
spend their technology dollar.”
The new phone highlights how the
way people use theirmobiles has changed.
Mobiles were about pure communication
before applications like games and music
were added. While these remain benefits
that people want, they are a step away from
the original idea.
“The INQ1 is about taking the things peo-
ple love most about the Internet and build-
ing them into the very heart of the phone
without them having to learn any compli-
cated new applications,” said Mr Meehan.
“Mobile is still mostly about voice and text
for the vast majority of users, but those same people use
the Internet to communicate every day with Skype, instant
messaging, Facebook and e-mail.”
To say that the new phone has been warmly welcomed
by the industry is something of an un-
derstatement.
CNET, a leading technology Website,
was full of praise, commenting: “We’ve
had a lot of time with the INQ1 and we
remain as impressed with its perfor-
mance as we were on the day we took it
out of the box. Even with Facebook and
Skype opened in the background, the pro-
cessing performance is first rate. The INQ1
is easily the most impressive phone we’ve
seen at this price point. Even without the
excellent social networking integration, the
INQ1 is fantastic value for money, with its
solid, stylish construction and HSDPA Web
access. Facebook fiends really need to check
this phone out.”
Praise indeed in a highly competitive
market. Meanwhile, in the Irish Daily Star, reviewer Gavan
Byrne described the phone as a “groundbreaking device that
will probably change the way you use your mobile.”
With reviews like that the future for INQ looks very
bright. But it is not just the customer who benefits – the
business model also drives positive economics for the op-
erator. Currently, operators are burdened with providing
heavy subsidies to bring high-end smartphones to market,
or features such as escalating camera megapixel that don’t
generate revenue opportunities. INQ’s devices, on the other
hand, are engineered to drive the sale of data packages to
the mass market.
The phone is already available in the UK, Ireland, Austra-
lia and Hong Kong, and will soon be launched in Italy and
other markets around the world.
People
are tired of
paying a fortune
for phones that
are unusable
3G
The new phone includes these
great features:
■ Facebook
Fully integrated in the handset, INQ 1 introduces ex-
clusive features that make Facebook a joy to use. A
widget keeps you up to date with what friends are
doing at a glance and notifies you each time some-
one sends a Facebook message.When your friends on
Facebook call you their photos automatically appear
with caller ID.
■ Address book
From a static destination visited only to initiate a
call, the address book becomes a live, thriving hive of
activity. With information drawn from Skype, Face-
book and Windows Live Messenger, status updates
and the latest details of your friends’ online activities
are all gathered together in one place.