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SingTel, the leading mobile operator in Singapore, has launched three innovative mobile applications to simplify the task of shopping and make it a lot more enjoyable experience for its subscribers.
Go! Shopping is a location based application that lets people find their way through the busy shopping malls of Singapore. It gives people access to indoor maps of various shopping malls in the country. With this app, people can find the details of particular stores at the click of a button. They can even save the details for future references.
Price Pal is a barcode based application that lets people find and compare the prices of various products easily. All a customer needs to do is scan the product barcode using his cell phone camera. The app will immediately display the prices of the product sold in various retail stores. This helps people compare the offers of various retailers and make an informed purchase decision.
Property Buddy is an application that gives valuable real estate information for people. If a customer needs to get a list of properties for sale or rent, all he needs to do is point his mobile phone camera towards the direction of the properties he wants to search. The app will display a list of for sale/for rent properties available in the area and their transacted prices.
SingTel has stated that these applications will be available free of cost for its subscribers. It, however, adds that it plans to generate revenue with the help of advertising. It says that the apps will come with standard in-app mobile ads that people will not find too intrusive. It also gives its customers the option of receiving targeted ads based on their preferences. These ads, however, are meant only for people who are interested in disclosing their preferences. The rest, who are not interested in the offer, can continue to enjoy these apps with limited ads.
Tags: Go! Shopping, mobile ads, mobile applications, mobile operator, Price Pal, Property Buddy, real estate information, shopping, singapore, singtel
Technorati Tags: Go! Shopping, mobile ads, mobile applications, mobile operator, Price Pal, Property Buddy, real estate information, shopping, singapore, singtel
Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Applications.
Hello folks,
It’s weekend time and as usual I checked out the feeds in my mailbox. One article stood out from the rest and caught my attention more than anything else.
Just when I thought mobile advertisers and operators will be more careful in the future to avoid unfortunate incidents like the China Mobile and Focus Media problem, I stumbled on to this news. Honestly, I was annoyed big time. Let me explain.
SingTel, a very famous mobile operator in Singapore, has the habit of sending mobile ads to its subscribers. What’s the big deal, you ask me? Well; here, the customers only have the option to opt out of the ads, not to opt in. Confused? Let me explain further.
With a mobile connection from SingTel, you automatically get ads on your mobile phone. You can’t do a damn thing about it. In other words, there is no opt-in option for people so that only those who want ads can opt in and those who don’t want can simply stay out. In this case, the operator only gives you the choice to opt out any time you want. In other words, you’ll get ads on your mobile phone whether you like it or not. If you don’t like it, it’s your duty to opt out of it.
Seriously, I cannot think of a better way to annoy the hell out of customers. But then, this has been a trend in some third world countries for quite some time now, and I know it better than anyone else. Airtel, the leading mobile operator in India, has been accused of sending unsolicited text message ads and marketing calls time and again in the past. Again, it’s the duty of the customer to opt out of these ads if he doesn’t want them.
This is plain stupid and someone needs to do something about it. At the end of the day, no matter how good your mobile ads are, there are still some people who prefer to stay out of them. And you have no rights whatsoever to poke your nose into their mobile phone. Like I’ve mentioned time and again, mobile advertising will be a success only if you respect the privacy of consumers and give them a choice to choose what they want and what they don’t want. Hope the powers-that-be realize this sooner than later.
Tags: advertisers, Airtel, china mobile, focus media, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile connection, mobile operator, mobile phone, rant, singapore, singtel, subscribers, third world countries
Technorati Tags: advertisers, Airtel, china mobile, focus media, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile connection, mobile operator, mobile phone, rant, singapore, singtel, subscribers, third world countries
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant.
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