THE PHILIPPINES, SEPTEMBER 2011: Wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. has announced that it will start offering the Netphone on September 10, a move which company officials say will allow the telco to help hike Internet access across a broader market segment.
Introduced in Barcelona, Spain last February at the 2011 GSMA Mobile World Congress, the Netphone 701 retails for P9,900 for a prepaid kit and free with postpaid plan 800.
Proudly designed by Smart, the Netphone 701 runs on Google’s Android mobile operating system (version 2.2 “FroYo”) allowing it to run the latest mobile apps. It has a 3.5-inch multi-touchscreen and an energy-efficient 600MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
Unlike any other Android device that allows users to simply run apps, the Netphone has a suite of Smart-branded apps via SmartNet, providing all users access to social networks and chatting – two of the most common activities people enjoy on the Internet. SmartNet also allows Netphone users to find contacts online, send custom messages with special effects (FX messaging), among other things.
“We have integrated into SmartNet one-touch access to the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo! Messenger, enabling its users — while on SmartNet – to stay online and keep tabs on their social activities, for free. This allows our subscribers to enjoy their habit yet save their airtime load,” said Giovanni R. Bacareza, head of Broadband Internet and Data Services at Smart.
Moreover, Smart’s patented ‘Safe Browse’ feature on the Netphone will allow users to choose when the device and the apps can and cannot access the Internet – a feature not yet supported by any other smartphone. With ‘Safe Browse’ turned on, using various apps and access to specific websites will be free.
“Smartphones, by default, connect to the internet. Users normally need to turn off the connectivity, which prevents them from truly enjoying the features of the device. Others choose to keep it on, then avail of all-you-can-eat data plans. Only the Netphone, with its ‘Safe Browse’ feature, gives users complete control and a worry-free Internet experience,” added Bacareza.
To create ‘stickiness’ among its users, various Smart services are also built onto the Netphone, such as Smart Money, and one-touch access to relevant customer account services such as balance inquiry and subscription requests.
“The Netphone – with SmartNet at its heart – is a key component of our roadmap to staying competitive in an all-Internet Protocol (IP) environment that, if operators don’t watch out, could be ruled by a bevy of Internet players like Google and Facebook,” added Orlando B. Vea, Chief Wireless Advisor and co-founder of Smart.
Smart also expects the Netphone to help ‘unlock’ new revenue sources amid the rapidly maturing local mobile market. The telco also envisions the Netphone to jumpstart an ecosystem of local mobile app development. Banking on the imagination and creativity of the ‘data generation’ (the successor of the ‘text generation’), the telco leader is upbeat on identifying potentials in other uses of mobile apps.Underpinning Smart’s attempt to advance its ‘Internet for All’ objective is the telco leader’s direction to start building its own ‘community’.
For more information about the Netphone and to view the complete menu of services, visit www.smart.com.ph/netphone.
