Absence makes the heart grow fungus

It's been a month since my last post.

I'm sorry. I really am. 30 days of waiting for something new must have really put you off.

The real story: I've been swamped with work in the run up to MNP.

But here's one real new thing:



A brainchild I'm kickstarting called Marketingly.com

Why?

I've always wanted to document the things I've learned in consumer marketing. Marketingly.com is a quick way to start. I'm also getting other marketing experts in my network to come on board as guest bloggers.

The aim is to post one lesson every day for the next 100 days. This starts from October 10.

In the meantime: please add this site to your list of RSS feeds, or sign up for an email newsletter. Tell me what you think.

Two other things:

• For mobile users: if you're still spending your hard-earned ringgit to sustain a Prepaid / Postpaid line with Maxis, Celcom or U Mobile - it's time to switch to DiGi. With MNP you get to keep your number, e.g. use 012-YRNUMBR on DiGi. Seriously, you will save money and enjoy more.
• For music lovers: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus is a real song. Not my type though.

Would you bite the carrot?

There's intense competition in Singapore as they approach full number portability which kicks off June 13th. (Malaysia will enjoy this in August) Everyone's throwing 'carrots' here. Lots of roadshows to build awareness.

Given a choice, what would make you switch to another telco if you could keep your number?

Samsung BlogMob(ber)

So here's the deal. I'm one of 16 bloggers in the BlogMob programme organised by Samsung and Mobile World (the magazine).

They gave me the Samsung SGH-i450, after I drew a black 7 of spades. Had it been a red card, I would have gotten the SGH-i550 which has GPS, WiFi and a 3.2MP camera. I wanted the latter, but luck is quite a rotten thing.



What do I have to do? I've been asked to use the phone and blog about it, although I am not obliged to (mmm hmm). I think this will be a tough task. For me, the mobile phone = Nokia (remember subsets in Math class?)

This is a form of peer-to-peer marketing. It's great to see brands such as Samsung experiment with these type of initiatives. It takes a little bit of guts, as the average human being (blogger) will always have something negative to say. Multiply that by 1,000 readers, and you might end up with a Marketing Massacre.

For more about the BlogMob, and the other 15 bloggers, check out:
http://blogmob.mobileworld.com.my/

Everybody has somebody

Are you Happy?



Happy is a no-frills prepaid service by DiGi that was introduced on December 7th. Here's a gist of what it has to offer:

• Per second billing at 1 sen - so your short 5-second calls will only cost 5 sen
• Maximum of 99 sen per call - so your long 20 minute lovers quarrel will only cost 99 sen
• 10 sen per SMS to any operator - so you can keep in touch with ALL your friends
• 60 days validity - so that you can spend your money over a longer period
• RM5 starter pack with RM2 preloaded airtime - so that you can have fun playing with it right away!

Sounds fantastic? Well, it gets better - buy it online, and have it delivered to your door step for FREE.

It's nice when things work.

A dream can only become reality if you chase it

What a powerful line! Here's the Lewis Hamilton + Vodafone ad that Prashant highlighted:


Go ahead, make the most of now!

How to hack WAP portals

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NOTE: This post is based on my personal experience and is not intended to cause any malicious harm. I strongly believe that transparency is a necessity on the Internet, and will gladly post comments (and other view points) surrounding this topic in the interest of educating others on the need to plug security loopholes.

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Quick tip on how to hack your way through WAP portals using Firefox.

Install the following Firefox add-ons:

• Modify Headers: used to add, modify and filter http request headers
• wmlbrowser: used to emulate a WML browser, although most mobile sites these days should be compatible with XHTML-MP

After restarting Firefox, both add-ons should be active.

To spoof your way through, do as follows:

In Firefox, click Tools > Modify Headers.

Add: x-up-calling-line-id, followed by a mobile number, e.g. 60128889999:


You should now see the header entry, and it should be "enabled" (green circle):


With this in hand, you can spoof your way through to initiate content downloads such as ringtones, wallpapers, and more. What's scary is that you can initiate downloads for random mobile numbers. Unless an SMS acknowledgement is part of the process, this random user will be charged the cost of the download. Screenshot below shows my spoofing experience with a content download via the Maxis WAP Portal. Thankfully, this one required an SMS acknowledgement:

Why nobody uses voicemail in India

Here's an excerpt of Rashmi Sinha's post on voicemail and missed calls in India. It's interesting to note how the mobile phone is used across the globe -- something that we often take for granted:

Sitting at the Uzanto Delhi offices, I would often hear a ring or two on someone's phone, they would look at the phone and then continue what they were doing. Its a system that works quite well. In fact, its brilliant: communication without explicit communication. What the missed call means seems to depend on who it is from, time of day, and number of rings. I wonder if cell phone providers can build some type of an offering that facilitates this?

We are indeed living in an advanced society!

Do you want a Nokia spy phone?

Prashant pointed this CNET article to me back in December '06:

The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone's microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.

This means that it is possible to spy using mobile phones, even when they are turned off. Here's a link to a promoter of Nokia spy phones -- Endoacustica.com -- amazing spying capabilities, don't you think so?

We are all living on the edge, so be cautious of everything around you.

Related links:

• CNet News: FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool
• Endoacustica: Nokia spy phones

Apple unveils the iPhone

Apple Inc unveiled the iPhone at MacWorld 2007. Awesome innovation that I believe is bound to rock the market.



Excerpt of specs from Engadget:

Sweet, glorious specs of the 11.6 millimeter device (that's frickin' thin, by the way) include a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display with multi-touch support and a proximity sensor to turn off the sensor when it's close to your face, 2 megapixel cam, 4GB or 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth with EDR and A2DP, WiFi that automatically engages when in range, and quadband GSM radio with EDGE. Perhaps most amazingly, though, it somehow runs OS X with support for Widgets, Google Maps, and Safari, and iTunes (of course) with CoverFlow out of the gate.

Price (based on 2-year contract with Cingular):

• 4GB: $499
• 8GB: $599

Availability:

• US: Q2 '07
• Europe: Q4 '07
• Asia: Q1 '08

Related links:

• Engadget: Photos & coverage of the iPhone launch
• Apple: iPhone official site
• Apple: MacWorld 2007