Are Pinoys Ready for Mobile Instant Messaging?
Posted Wednesday, March 29th, 2006 6:00 pm by Miguel Paraz
Viewed 4910 times | Related entries: Mobile
While Pinoys are leading in local text traffic, mobile instant messaging (IM) is taking off in other parts of the world. This is not SMS or MMS, but messaging where you can show and set presence (online/offline/available/busy status).
In other countries and markets, this is taking off. Plus factors are: using the same mobile IM system on the phone and on the PC, high Internet penetration, and high end phones. Mobile IM needs custom programs on the phone (such as Series 60, Symbian OS, or J2ME). Some IM systems can use the Open Mobile Alliance’s Wireless Village standard built into some phones (such as the “My Friends” in Sony Ericsson phones).
Chikka has the mindshare when it comes to “mobile instant messaging. The popular IM clients in the Philippines may build their own phone clients in the future. Until then, mobile IM vendors have a market, selling to telcos and to retail users. They need to interoperate with the popular desktop IMs - Google Talk federation makes it easy.
Does mobile IM have a chance in the Pinoy mobile market?
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18 Responses to “Are Pinoys Ready for Mobile Instant Messaging? ”
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[...] The company is only 18 months old, but has over four million subscribers, mostly in South East Asia — for many, it is their only form of web access, and compliments existing mobile usage patterns in some countries, like SMS in the Phillipines. [...]
Most of mid-range phones nowadays have a built-in IM applications. Our network operators should start implementing new services to us. Don’t be like US operators that dictates what to offer to their subscribers which influence phone makers so they either remove some phone features or stop release the phone.
I forgot all about YehBA. I had a N70 and I could have tried the Symbian version, but.. not anymore.
Now I’m downloaded it on a Nokia 6070 on Globe. “Could not connect to server.”
We wrote about another mobile IM: Globe’s IMEVRYWHR. It doesn’t seem very successful, maybe because it is only for S60 phones.
I want to know more about yehba IM. would be so kind to give me an idea how to use this. Thanks!
That’s right, prepaid services generally have limited features like web using the WAP gateway. Direct Internet access through the APN is restricted.
About the Chikka issue: Hope someone from there is checking this post.
Re: Yehba, I now got a Nokia - a N80 - but this is Series 60 3rd Edition so not supported yet.
Hey,
for IM services, GPRS must be working in a way, that IP traffic is allowed. The Globe Prepaid-SIM I have, when visiting the Philippines from time to time, only allows WAP via GPRS, no IP traffic at all!
Regarding Chikka: is somebody using Chikka Txt2Mail? (http://www.chikka.com/txt2mail/)? When someone has a mobile, which can send e-mail (for example Blackberry), one can send e-mails to the philippine recipient which he or she can receive as SMS. Unfortunately, this is not working reliably. Such kind of messages are delayed, normally up to 2 to 3 hours, sometimes also more. Only during philippine night-time (midnight to 5 o’clock A.M.), messages are sent in real-time. This obviously show that the problem is related to heavy traffic during day-time? I wonder why Chikka does not improve their server and this service. It is going like this since more than 1 year. And Chikka does not answer e-mails regarding this issue….
Regards from Germany,
Marco
Globe and fastmobile (a mobile IM company) are coming up with a mobile messenger for Globe.
Looks like you’ve changed the product.. it used to focus on Bluetooth I recall.
Too bad I’m not using a Nokia phone.
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