Disqus - Latest Comments for deprimer

Re: Twitter kills SMS service in some countries over costs. Will someone kill SMS already?

deprimer — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:06:49 -0000

Carriers won't kill SMS for a very long time. Who wants to kill the goose that laid the golden egg? It's a significant part of their ever shrinking ARPUs, and outside of the US, where phone calls are far more expensive, it's the primary means of communication for most people on a daily basis.

Re: [bijan sabet] the personal tumblelog of Bijan Sabet

deprimer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:58:19 -0000

Location-based services are the physical manifestation of the william gibson cliche "The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed yet.". I think you've hit the nail on the head with the fact that the iPhone will be a catalyst for LBS, but in the same way that Apple has kicked the rest of the mobile industry in the pants - by making everything dead simple. If you make complex experiences (like web surfing or accessing location) easy to use and reduce the transaction costs involved - people will start using them, in droves. It's a no-brainer, but it's something the mobile manufacturers and carriers have struggled with for years. It's time to take the BS out of LBS [thanks - Brian! (from Useful Networks)].

Re: How Best To Be A Social Media Monster In Europe?

deprimer — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:32:14 -0000

I just came back from a week of travelling in Prague & the UK and I used an iPhone - mostly with WiFi (picked up voicemail on EDGE occasionally) and an N95 8Gb for everything else. I had an unlimited plan from T-Mobile which picked up the T-mo network in whichever country I was in. I wasn't paying for it, so I can't recommend this as your best option, and their International overview is low on details for their unlimited plans. I do know that ATT seems to have the most well documented list of options available for international smartphone users. Prices are still teh suck tho. It was really great to be able to just walk into any country, turn on my N95 and instantly be back on the grid.

If you've got a Mac, I would highly recommend tethering - using these instructions with updated N95 HSPDA scripts and setup details from Ross Barkman's page (ignore the hideous circa 1998 design).

Having a roaming login with a WiFi access provider is also extremely helpful. I've been using my dial-up account from South Africa (~$3 p/m) for the last few years which gives me roaming access through iPass http://ipass.com to many wifi hotspots around the world.

Re: Epok.mobi launches mobile restaurant reviews (and free meals!)

deprimer — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:48:08 -0000

You can do this today! We launched Socialight's Late London service last year to provide almost exactly this type of service - with a twist. The service is focused around solving the "11pm problem" - when you get kicked out of a pub and don't really know what to do next (what's open? where you can grab a bite? etc).

You can try it out by texting the word "late" to our shortcode 88811. You can also go directly to the site by typing in http://m.socialight.com into your mobile web browser.