There’s always something happening in the wireless industry that makes the RCR Wireless News editorial staff stop working on our stories to comment, clap or kvetch about issues affecting the industry. We suspect that you all are as obsessed with all things wireless as we are. Anyway, here’s what got us chatting-or hedgehogging as we like to say-last week.
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The big surprise in the Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest DVD? The bloopers section is sponsored by Verizon Wireless. We haven’t seen that before. While we applaud the creativity involved to get your logo on a DVD that sold 5 million copies its first day available, we question the limitations of the sponsorship. Why not go full board and offer a text code to win a Pirates ringtone or something to showcase wireless in general and Verizon in particular? In the sneak previews section of the DVD, Disney does a whole bit on becoming a Disney Rewards member-which involves finding a code on the outside of the DVD that you have to enter online. Why not integrate text messaging into that? It’s a heck of a lot easier to grab your cell phone during the introduction to a two-and-a-half hour movie than jump up and find the laptop. Don’t be afraid Disney, wireless will work for you. (Which brings up another point: Why didn’t Disney use that vehicle to promote its own MVNO offering?)
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Good news from RCR Wireless News Online Editor Mike Dano: First the RCRNews.com website is new and improved and you should all go visit it. He’s just waiting for big breaking news so he can show you his fancy-pants coding. Specifically, we’ve introduced more news categories to help you find what you’re looking for more easily. Look to your left and you’ll be able to find stories about mobile TV, handsets, MVNOs and other hot topics.
We’ve also introduced a new feature, Today’s Free Story. Updated regularly, these stories are from the weekly paper edition of RCR Wireless News. Look below to find today’s free story.
In the coming weeks we will be introducing additional features and functions, so please stay tuned.
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The other big news: Mike Dano got a new cell phone. Here’s his take:
“Amazingly, the move from my former carrier to my new carrier was relatively painless. The most surprising part was that my number switched seamlessly from one carrier to the other-I was getting service with one phone one minute, and the next minute I was getting service with the other phone. I mean, I know stuff like that is advertised as working automatically, but when tech people tell me stuff like, “Don’t worry, it’ll happen automatically,” alarm bells immediately start ringing in my head.
But in this case, it actually did happen automatically. Can you believe it?
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Despite the mutual contempt, Managing Editor Dan Meyer gifted Dano a sweet ringtone (Cypress Hill’s “Superstar”) to test out Sprint Nextel’s gifting service. The process was easy on the gifting end, though the message received did not clearly explain that a new ringtone was available for download.
