Page 25 - Sphere No.26 (Mar 2010)

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The range of wireless BlackBerry devices gained much credibility by championing push e-mail,
which is used to describe always-on connection to an e-mail system – either based on a user’s a
personal account with a service provider or one maintained by a company for its staff.
Mr Meehan says an average of 65 per cent of INQ users are on Facebook, with the
majority of users accessing once a day or more. About 30 per cent use their INQ device
frequently for e-mail, while Windows Live Messenger activity is three to four times
greater than on other 3G handsets.
That level of mass-market data usage on INQ’s network-efficient, low-cost social
media device means higher margins and average revenue per user for carriers, who in turn benefit
from lower handset subsidies and network load costs. “We have completely broken the hold that
high-end smartphones had on great mobile Internet experiences, and made them available to every-
body,” says Mr Meehan.
But online social networking applications have now reached the stage where they will be more
than consumers’ communications tools. By developing social media programmes into essential
capabilities that support automated business applications, such as a customwer relationship management
system (CRM), telecom network operators can also expect increased data usage from the corporate
sector. “There will be many innovations in this market segment,” says Mr Meehan. “You will soon find
more localised and specific social-networking functions for the enterprise.”
In November last year, cloud-computing service provider Salesforce.com announced in the United
States the high-tech industry’s first known secure enterprise collaboration platform called “Salesforce
Chatter”. It will be commercially available this year, providing corporate CRM users with the ability to
set up the familiar social media profiles, status updates, news feeds, group affiliations and connections
through the service, which is accessible via desktop computer and mobile phone.
In the local market, Mr Ho says 3 Hong Kong is eager to expand use of the INQ social-networking
devices into the small and medium-sized enterprises. “This is one of the major reasons why we’re very
optimistic about the potential of the new INQ Chat 3G,” he explains.
The INQ Chat 3G was developed in response to consumer and operator demand for a QWERTY-style
keypad on an INQ device. It features a generous 2.4-inch display, 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera,
built-in support for Global Positioning System, and an active address book that shows the status of a
user’s contacts at the office, home and social networks.
It also contains new e-mail client software created by INQ that incorporates free push Gmail,
which removes a cost for push e-mail typically borne by operators or passed on to consumers. In
addition, the new model has Facebook, Skype, Twitter and various messaging applications.
Mr Ho expects a steady growth of social media acceptance in Hong Kong, noting that even local
politicians and educational institutions are increasingly becoming as active as the young, early adopters in
online social networks to share ideas, meet friends around the world and keep up with their interests.
Established in 2006,
Twitter was reported
to have had more than
60 million users worldwide
at the end of last year
Below: INQ Mobile
has already sold
more than a million
handsets worldwide.
Issue 26