Marko Ahtisaari sent me a press release for Blyk. Blyk plans to support its mobile service on the revenues from advertising on the handset. It will be interesting to see how this will be pulled off. Blyk is supposed to launch in the middle of this year.
There is an article in the Guardian about Blyk and its new advertisers too.
Votetube has been rocking along recently – as well as the media coverage, we’ve been seeing a steady stream of videos coming in, mostly from political candidates, but now we are beginning to see some from ordinary citizens as well. That’s what Simon and I had in mind with VoteTube originally – help people to realise that they have the means in their hands to make a strong statement about what they think and feel. All it takes is passion, combined with a tiny bit of planning and imagination. Businesses and business lobbies are also getting into the game – I think this video about global warming entitled “Energy” is a great use of the medium – it’s got it all, the script, the narration, the use of imagery and the music. (There are others available from the same source , but they aren’t as good.
Who says there’s no money in the wi-fi business? – This guy has made fifty dollars in his first week and a half as a Bill with a FON router.
If you have an Internet connection within 50 yards of a Starbucks, Costa or other cafe in Ireland (or the UK for that matter) leave a comment and I’ll see if I can get you a coupon for a free Fonera.
Credit card surcharges by retailers are set to be outlawed. This is going to actually create some strange waves if it goes through. Ryanair won’t like it, for instance. They like to charge a supplement for credit card use (and it’s understandable, given that credit card commissions are pretty hefty). Also, trade suppliers will be less inclined to take credit cards. I suppose what they will do is to resort to giving a 2 percent discount for cash, rather than charging a 2 percent supplement for credit cards.
The reason this is being introduced seems to be in response to Ntl‘s hair-brained decision to charge their unloved customers extra if they did not wish to pay by direct debit from their accounts. However, the real scandal of electronic payments in Ireland isn’t being addressed at all.
Continue reading
EDRI-gram article, or read about it on the Dutch Data Protection Officer’s website. And don’t forget to support Digital Rights Ireland’s challenge to the directive.
Eoin O’Dell writes about data retention, US style
An interesting story about FON. If you are near a Starbucks and want a fon router to start levelling the wi-fi playing field, let me know.
Fon wants you to help steal business from Starbucks and T-Mobile – Engadget
There was an item on Marian Finucane’s radio show today about loyalty cards. I was disappointed that the knowledge of all of the people on the show about how loyalty cards actually work in economic terms, and how the data collected is actually used was very weak indeed.
The Irish Independent and other newspapers report that the Gardaí didn’t bother to investigate leads passed on to them by their Austrian counterparts. The leads are said to have included IP addresses of the people allegedly involved.
What is the point in data retention, if you don’t bother following up leads?
If you are in the US, you can get a free Fonera Router to celebrate FON’s first birthday.
