Three Mobile Buzz

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20 August, 2010.Misc.

The time has come to say goodbye to Three Mobile Buzz.

We’ve had a great time over the last 3 years, meeting a huge number of awesome people and getting some great insight and feedback on Three’s products and services through trials and events.

Although Three Mobile Buzz will be no more *sob* Three is still keen to hear your feedback and opinion, and the community is very much a part of their plans.

You can get in touch with them via email communityvoice@three.co.uk , on Twitter (@ThreeUKLatest) or on the blog http://blog.three.co.uk/

It was great getting to know you all and everyone here at Three MobileBuzz HQ has really appreciated all of your involvement.

If you have any questions, you can find me over at @michchapman – hopefully tweet you soon : )

I thought I’d leave you with a parting image…anyone remember what this was in aid of?!

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6 May, 2010.Misc.

As most of you will know, Three started their own blog at the end of last year and it’s grown quicker than they could have imagined.



They have really been listening to the people who have been commenting on the blog and a lot of their decisions this year have been made as a direct consequence of these comments.



This has been their first step into the world of social media and now they’re hooked and they want more! They’re currently looking to recruit a Social Media Producer to help establish them within the social media space, and be part of a step change in the way they talk to their customers.



On top of this, they are also looking for a Consumer PR Manager to join the Sales and Marketing team.



All these roles will be based in Maidenhead at 3HQ and you can find out more by jumping over to their blog or having a look at the job specifications.



Good luck to everyone who applies!


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Morning everyone! Wanted to let you all know that 3’s BigGiveAway is happening today, all day from 9am to 7pm.



Every hour 3 is giving away 100 dongles and 80 one month Spotify Premium subscriptions and it’s completely free to enter.



3 believes that the internet is for everyone and wants to give everyone the chance to use it. There have been other dongle giveaways, which had a good reception from customers at UKGadgeteer – but this one will be even bigger.



Good luck everyone – let us know if you manage to win anything!


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3 February, 2010.Misc.

Since last week, Craig of Geekcomputers has joined Stephen, Mark and Liam in sharing his thoughts on what was shared on the evening of our New Year meet up.



Craig enjoyed the opportunity to talk to various members of the 3 team and was impressed with the information they shared:



“From my experience there was not any dodging of awkward questions, they were extremely open, and as a three customer I think that this is very important.”



Criag was most impressed with the guys from 3’s customer service, Paul, Justin and Patrick – Justin has posted his thoughts on the evening on 3’s blog.



Pop over to geekcomputers and see what else Craig found out last week.


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2 February, 2010.Misc.





This morning I accompanied Steve O’Hear (@sohear) of last100.com to a press briefing with 3’s CEO Kevin Russell and CTO Graham Baxter.



Steve has posted his thoughts on the briefing on last100.com where he reports on the various things that were discussed, including 3’s ‘legacy perception problem’, the iPad, streaming services, data roaming, mobile termination rates and mobile number porting.



Jump over to last100.com to see what Steve thought of the morning and fire him any questions if there’s anything you want to know anymore about.


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29 January, 2010.MiFi Misc.





Last night was a great evening for catching up on the past few months and talking about the future – especially the future of 3 and its plans for 2010.



We had guys along that had been part of our trials and attended our events during 2009, as well as plenty of people from the 3 team for them to chat to about handsets, products & services, network and customer service.



Discussions mainly revolved around 3’s upcoming handset plans, the current network upgrade work and their customer service.



It was great to get everyone all together in one place to discuss 3’s plans with the people themselves and get an insight into the people behind the business. Liam Green-Hughes of greenhughes.com:



“The evening was really interesting. It was good to see some senior people form 3 UK who were very interested in the opinions and experiences of those who attended the event.”



Thanks to everyone for coming along and congratulations to @liamgh for winning the #3MBcreative award for his YouTube video demonstrating how to use the MiFi to stream last.fm whilst driving around the roundabouts of Milton Keynes!



If you have any questions for anyone that came along to the meet up last night, jump over to Twitter and use the #3UKNYmeetup #tag to see who was there and fire away!



UPDATE:

Stephen at UKGadgeteer and Mark at The Boulton Bugle have posted their thoughts on the evening, as has Justin from 3 on 3’s blog …some interesteing insights.


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20 January, 2010.Misc.

So, as most of you should have heard by now, we’re hosting a get together next Thursday 28th Jan in Central London to kick off 2010.



This is a chance for the people we’ve worked with throughout 2009 to come together for a drink and a chat with us and various people from 3’s HQ to discuss all that 3 has coming up this year. Find all the details here: http://bit.ly/3UKNYmeetup



To celebrate all the cool / interesting / different stuff that people have done over the past year with the products and services that 3 has provided and we have loaned out, we at 3mobilebuzz HQ have selected a shortlist of nominations for the #3mbcreative



The below is just a starter for 10. If you want to add anymore to the list that you think deserve to be recognized, drop me an email at michelle@3mobilebuzz.com and we’ll publish the final shortlist on Friday along with details on how to vote. And the winner will receive their prize at the Meet up next week.



UPDATE The shortlist is now closed. Let voting commence! All you need to do is tweet @3mobilebuzz with the name of the person you think has been the most creative / interesting with the content they have produced from their work with us last year. Good luck to all!
So, in no particular order…



James Body – MiFi
James went all out at the Spotify Party in terms of his fancy dress (rivaled only by our very own @SiobhanC)
He also showed off his MiFi case that he’d had made especially for him!



Liam Green-Hughes – MiFi
We loved Liam’s idea of testing the MiFi by streaming last.fm whilst he was driving.



Stephen Wing – General Expertise
Stephen offers his expertise and insight to all with his posts about handset tips, help & advice



Abul Hussain – MiFi
Abul also had the idea of demonstrating the MiFi in a car, but this time at breakneck speeds *We do not condone driving at 120mph! :)



Tahir Ahmad – Feedback from 3
Tahir has been great at feeding back the information he has gained through meeting reps from 3UK. With a blog specialising in all things 3, we think it’s great that he’s sharing all these insights.



Simon Pollock – MiFi
Simon has been using the MiFi to help him with his love of photography. It’s great to see it being used to facilitate so many different passions.


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5 January, 2010.INQ Misc. Tariffs

A happy new year to all our readers, we trust you had a fantastic Christmas. We got a little festive ourselves, but we’re over it now don’t worry.




A quick summary of some of the interesting recent goings on, starting with an INQ Chat 3G review by Mobile Choice UK. A positive experience overall with usability and social networking integration especially good, the processor and camera areas stated as needing improvements.


“Verdict: The INQ Chat 3G achieves all it sets out to. An excellent ‘affordable’ social networking phone that could just do with a little extra oomph”



Something for the Android and Google fans, as reported by Engadget there will be a press conference held this morning in California where the Nexus One is rumoured to be the focus. The Nexus One will only be available in the States to start with, but will be available unlocked, how about this as the perfect accompanying SIM for anyone thinking of importing one? Check out the Twitter buzz on Nexus One here.




The BBC and IntoMobile have reported on a small increase in the number of UK drivers who talk on the phone whilst driving. Personally something I’ve never done, why would you need to when there is such a range of Bluetooth headsets available?



Slightly older news, but maybe you missed it, 3 now support the UK Twitter 86444 shortcode, more info and set up details can be found on Twitter.



What is the most interesting piece of mobile related news you heard over the holiday period?

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10 December, 2009.Misc.

Tomorrow Radio 1 want to see your face. They are partnering with The Mobile Data Association and working together with 3 and other major UK mobile operators so that you can send picture messages (MMS) to them all day for free. Radio 1 is asking their listeners to send in pictures of their faces, with a select few appearing on the website. Don’t know how to? (Silly question – we’re sure!) Check out this video by Chappers and DJ Scott Mills for a brief guide:







Here at 3mobilebuzz we like taking pictures, and we like sharing pictures as you can see from our newly started Dailybooth account, so of course we’ll be getting involved. Everything we send into Radio 1 will be Twitpic’d, Flickr’d and Dailybooth’d using the hashtag #BBCMMS, why don’t you join us – it’ll be great to see what you’re sending in. We’re going to try our hardest to get our faces on that website – let us know if you manage it.

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3 has asked us to share some important information with you, which will affect coverage in the London area in the short term, but will benefit the wider network of UK customers in the long term.

The improvement work is scheduled on 3’s London network, and is due to start on November the 2nd.

The work is part of 3’s ongoing drive to keep network standards as high as possible across the UK.

3 already have the UK’s biggest 3G network, and clearly this is a position that it wishes not only to maintain, but to improve upon still further.

The work is due to be completed by Christmas, and disruption to customers should be minimal. As the work is carried out, each site being worked on will be out of action for up to 8 hours. During that time:

  • Mobile Broadband users won’t be able to connect
  • Phone customers may notice an increase in the number of dropped calls

To minimise any disruption, 3 has provided a service where you can sign up for free text alerts about engineering taking place in your area. Just go to www.three.co.uk/london and follow the on page instructions.

If you need any further advice then we’re happy to help. We’ll also be compiling questions for the 3 team, so let us know if there’s any additional info you’d like to know – just drop us a line in the comments or email phil@3mobilebuzz.com

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22 October, 2009.Handsets Misc.

This week to herald the launch of their new T715 phone Sony created a new Twitter presence, Twentertain Me, in association with 3.

The concept is simple: Twentertain Me brings together a host of entertaining Tweets in one place so you can instantly browse some of the most interesting, cool, funny or odd stuff being tweeted about. Think of it as an off the shelf way to separate the entertainment wheat from the dull chaff.

For example, this morning I found these jewels:

“Forearm of The Day. Skinny guy is arm wrestling world champ. Is his arm photoshopped? http://bit.ly/NfvpG (via @aplusk)”

(more…)

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15 October, 2009.Misc.

Last night the great and good of the technology industry gathered to celebrate what has been an excellent year in the world of gadgets.

After a champagne reception guests made their way to their tables in the grand hall. Each table was furnished with details of a twitter competition, which immediately induced an eerie silence as attendees tried to come up with the funniest/most sycophantic tweet to clinch the prize of a Smartphone.

Alongside members of the 3 team and the 3mobilebuzz guys we were joined by @bensmithuk and @adonisdemon who launched into the twitter competition with aplomb:

“Main course finished, is there dessert? When is the show getting started? I’m ready to jump on stage!”

The evening’s host Johnny Vaughan broke the silence in his own inimitable style – his opening joke, “my grandfather may have been a bitter, selfish, violent and angry man…but he loved a gadget” set the tone for the rest of his evening’s work. (more…)

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6 October, 2009.Misc.

Reported at Yahoo is the news that Ofcom has suggested mobile phone users should be offered a ‘try before you buy’ get-out clause. This will allow consumers to check the network coverage in their area, ensuring that reception is up to the standard they require, and if it isn’t they can then return the device.

This would stop the danger of consumers purchasing handsets only to find that at the home or office they are subjected to a coverage ‘not-spot’. The Ofcom survey prompting this recommendation found that,

“Reception, particularly at home, was more important than the cost of the phone, quality of the customer service and the type of handset on offer…”

Reacting to this news Nick Cosgrove, Five Live’s money expert, spoke to Hugh Davies director of 3UK’s corporate affairs during the Richard Bacon show. You can listen to the discussion via the BBC iPlayer here. The interview begins at 1:16:40 and addresses the ‘try before you buy’, as well as coverage and customer service issues.

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2 October, 2009.Misc.

It has been announced that Spotify will be offering those with premium accounts the option of caching music tracks. Those that pay the £10 per month for premium status are now able to make their playlists available offline.

The Guardian and BBC have covered the story and each raises the issue of DRM, as the Beeb points out,

“The firm has not said whether the music will be protected by digital rights management (DRM) software that allow rights holders to control how their music is used.”

The tracks from the downloaded playlists will be stored on the hard drive of the user’s computer, but will not be able to be played by other music players. Also, should the user stop paying the Spotify subscription the ability to listen to the tracks offline will cease.

In terms of further details on the service the Guardian article gives you what you need to know in a post script update,

“The offline feature is now live, and Spotify has specified that you can store up to 3,333 songs on up to three devices including your phone. You have to have the latest version of Spotify, and may need to log out and in again to see it. Premium only, of course.”

The question now is will Spotify really challenge the 70% market share of digital music held by Apple?

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30 September, 2009.Misc. Tariffs

3UK has launched 3 Free Agents, a programme that asks consumers to give free 3 PAYG SIMs to their friends and colleagues alike, with a cash incentive of £5 paid into a paypal account when a friend uses their SIM in a 3G handset and tops-up. The new SIM card holder also receives £2 extra credit.

The initiative encourages the ‘Agents’ to use their social networking presences as Ash Roots, head of online at 3 states,

“There is nothing new in giving away free SIMs as SIM only is a growing section of the PAYG market. But 3 Free Agents is the first UK initiative available now that rewards customers with cold hard cash for promoting and distributing SIMs using the internet.”

Numerous sites have posted about the project; the Guardian tweeted towards their article, with other news sites Mobile News and MarketingMagazine featuring the initiative. Pocket-Lint has more from Ash, GoMo divulges all the details around the tariffs involved and The Register has been quick to put it alongside O2’s giffgaff to see how it fares.

If this isn’t enough, 3g.co.uk, iXplora, Money Saving Woman and Mobile Choice have also all posted on it. And, should you want to get involved with the 3 Free Agent scheme you can do so here!

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