O2 confirmed for UK iPhone launch, coming soon - again

In the latest round of “deal, or no deal” uncertainty surrounding the UK release of Apple’s iPhone, we’re hearing reports (again) of confirmation that Telefonica-owned O2 has clinched the iPhone exclusivity contract for Great Britain.

Forbes says that Telefonica will pony up 178 million stg for the right to launch the iPhone in the United Kingdom - which is slated for launch sometime “soon.” But, Apple is keeping their European iPhones close to the vest - with France, Germany, and the UK being the only countries fortunate enough to have Apple grace then with an iPhone this Autumn.

The rest of Europe and Asian will get their chance at the iPhone in 2008.

We can’t say we’re all that surprised that O2 is getting the iPhone hat-tip from Apple - what, with Vodafone reportedly unwilling to bend to Apple’s demands. We’re starting to think O2 was indeed playing coy when they officially denied the initial iPhone-contract rumors. Oh, O2. Why must you play these games with our hearts? You know we’re fragile.

[Via: Forbes]

Nokia Top Commercial Brand in the UK

A survey by the UK brand consultancy, 35 Communications has reported a 10-ten of UK brands, which put Nokia at position 2 - and the top commercial brand-name. Nearly one third of UK consumers distrust organisations. 35 asked them if they lost their wallet would 'brand X' return it. While 58% thought they would have it returned, 27% said 'no' based on their perceived lack of trust or confidence in the organisation.

The report found that in finance, travel and telecoms, consumer trust ratings are high (between 60 and 70%). 59% of consumers feel they are treated like adults, but 41% feel they are patronised or insulted by brands. In only a third of situations do consumers expect organisations to show real interest in issues that they have with them. In a significant minority, 17% of the brands surveyed are perceived to show no interest.

Says Thom Newton of 35 Communications: "The questions were designed to probe key factors such as trust, reliability, responsiveness, customer relationships and appeal - the components that determine the reputation of an organisation.

"For the survey, 35 chose only key business sectors that feature in the daily lives of British consumers: insurance/pensions, banks, telecoms, travel, transport, public sector and energy.
Into the mix, we added Citizens Advice. We felt the organisation was an anomaly, there to advise you when you're in need. If Citizens Advice performed well in the survey, this would further validate its integrity."

The Top 10 Most Liked Brands and Organisations:

1. Citizens Advice (volunteer group)
2. Nokia
3. Churchill (car insurance)
4. Scottish Widows (personal finance)
5. Nationwide (bank)
6. Virgin Trains (transport)
7. Standard Life (personal finance)
8. Thomas Cook (travel)
9. Prudential (personal finance)
10. British Airways (travel)

The Least Liked Brands and Organisations:

1. Local council (government)
2. Transport for London (public transport)
3. Thames Water (utility provider)
4. The Home Office (government)
5. London Underground (public transport)
6. BG (formerly British Gas) (utility provider)
7. HM Customs & Revenue (government)
8. Ryanair (transport)
9. DTI (government)
10. Npower (utility provider)

Vodafone Live launches cheaper mobile Internet portal in the UK

Vodafone Live has announced cheaper web browsing rates and has launched its new mobile internet portal in the UK that will make it easier for customers to access the mobile Internet.

The Vodafone Live portal became available on UK handets yesterday, and will be launched in Germany, Spain and Italy later this month.

Vodafone penned deals with Amazon, BBC, eBay, MySpace and Yell and others for content-sharing. This included an interim, exclusive content deal with YouTube.

These sites will be assessable directly through the Vodafone Live! portal instead and the rest of the net can be searched through a Google-powered search tool. Vodafone said that 10 million of their UK customers already own a 3G or GPRS-enabled handset, the new service enable customer to get onto any site they want and access web services such as Hotmail and GMail.

Vodafone main aim is to grow an audience for these services and sell advertising to companies.

Half of the company’s data revenues from 2006 were from non-text services such as mobile Internet browsing. Vodafone also announced cheaper mobile ineternet rates for contract clients: £7.50 a month up to 120 megabytes.

This significant move will no longer charge customers extra for leaving the Vodafone Live! portal and surfing the web. comScore Europe's managing director, Bob Ivins commented: "The mobile web is at an early state of development, but we expect mobile web usage to grow as operators fine tune their tariffs, enabling consumers to take full advantage of mobile phone capabilities, content and convenience."

Vodafone’s launch may mark the dawn of a new era in mobile Marketing and advertising as Mobile advertising seems on track to breach $3bn.