It's now Digicel 1, Cable & Wireless 1, MiPhone 0

Mobile News, Jamaica - Digicel has come out swinging with a counter offer for its customer base by reintroducing its $1 per minute rate at nights and reducing the cost of sending text messages to $1 until November.

Additionally,Digicel's Commercial Director Harry Smith announced that his company will also offer "C&WJ customers with old TDMA technology (handsets) the opportunity to come in and get a brand new Nokia 1108 GSM handset at 50 per cent off (with) a free SIM card."

Digicel's response which came in swift with a news release issued late yesterday, also gives it's customers the ability to earn discount points, which will be redeemable for discounts on purchasing new handsets as of October 1. Smith added that Digicel spends more than $130 million per month in rewarding its customers.

Trini student caught for Internet idendity fraud

Internet Fraud, US - The twenty year old Trinidad & Tobago-born student, Shiva Brent Sharma,could face two to four years in prison when he's sentenced on October 19 for running an Internet identity theft scam again after being caught twice before.

Sharma, who lives in Queen's New York admitted his guilt of the crime he had now committed for the third. He was already warned twice before by a judge, in both instances previous, He also pled guilty on two counts of identity theft in the first degree and money laundering in the fourth degree.

The Trinidadian student admitted that he fraudulently obtained the personal identity information and credit card numbers of various individuals and used and that information to buy thousands of dollars in auto parts,computer and jewelry. He also confessed to using the stolen credit card numbers to send $50,000 in money transfers to himself using Western Union and bought and resold over $10,000 worth of merchandise.
by Adreana Anderson

Cable & Wireless 1, Digicel & MiPhone 0. Let the Mobile Price War Begin!

Telecom News, Jamaica - Cable & Wireless(C&WJa) in effect has started a price war, announcing a 41 per cent cut in what it charges its mobile phone customers for peak time calls into its competitors' networks.

With what it called its 'Anyone Plan', C&W will now have a flat $10 per minute rate for inter and intra network calls between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm, its peak hours. For off-peak periods, the rate will be $8 a minute, a reduction of approximately 54 per cent.It used to cost Cable and Wireless' customers $17 a minute for calls into other mobile networks.

These prices were up to 45 per cent cheaper than the cheapest rates offered by C&W's competitors, Digicel and MiPhone. C&WJa has been languishing in second place since Digicel began operating in Jamaica four years ago and copped 1.3 million subscribers more than double Cable and Wireless' 600,000,with MiPhone having 100,000 subscribers. This aggressive and strategic move by Cable & Wireless has been the second such in as many months, since the new CEO Rodney Davis came in.Two-and-a-half months ago, Davis served up a more than 40 per cent cut in Internet broadband rates in a bid to sign up 50,000 new broadband customers by next March.

Diddy pairs Marley and Biggie

Technology in Music, US - Bad Boy Records, owned by Sean "Diddy" Combs has resurrected Bob Marley,the Jamaican reggae legend and digitally paired him with the Jamaican-American rapper, Notorious B.I.G for a new single that was released exclusively on AOL music yesterday.

"Hold Ya Head," features the two doing a "duet" with Marley's contribution being a sample from "Johnny Was." The song begins with Marley’s infamous voice singing, "Woman hold yah head and cry 'cause your son has been shot down in the streets and died..." Then along comes Biggie Smalls, rapping "When I die I wanna go to hell..."

The single will also be included on the album, "The Notorious B.I.G. Duets: The Final Chapter," set to be released on Nov. 29. Smalls was shot dead in March 1997. His shooting death remains unsolved. Marley died in a Miami Hospital on May 11,1981 after battling cancer.

Bandwidth gets better in the Bahamas

Telecom News,Jamaica/UK - Bandwidth is about to get better in the Bahamas, with the signing of the contract between NSW (Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke), a world leader in the field of repeaterless fiber-optic submarine cable systems and Global Marine Systems Limited.

The build out of the point-to-point telecom infrastructure, will span 120 km and links 8 Mile Rock on Grand Bahama Island to Alice Town on the Island of Bimini. The project will begin late September and cover the marine installation and support of the Grand Bahama to Bimini submarine network.

This development is against a backdrop of increased telecom liberalisation and a growing demand for bandwidth across the Bahamas. This has led to the alternative cabling industry is playing a pivotal role in helping the region redevelop its existing telecom infrastructure to improve the quality and cost of its communication services for consumers, local businesses and the rest of the world.

Got Diaspora Management ?

TrendSPotting, Jamaica/Amsterdamn - If IMMI-MERCE shows the business potential of millions of immigrants traveling back and forth between new and old worlds physically and by the Internet, then DIASPORA MANAGEMENT is all about governments putting their former citizens to good use.

And we're not talking manipulative religious or political plots to use immigrants as evangelizing outposts to raise money, but establishing strong business and cultural communities that promote the best and brightest from the 'motherland' in their new countries of residence.

One nation exploring DIASPORA MANAGEMENT is India, whose government and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry recently invited 2000 extremely successful 'non-resident' Indians from 63 countries to New Delhi, to determine how the resources and achievements of Indians abroad might be used to uplift India. One juicy detail which hadn't escaped the Indian government, is that Chinese non-residents have invested about $60 billion in China, while that number for India is only $1 billion from non-resident Indians. (Source: NYT).

In the Caribbean, The Jamaican government staged a Jamaican Diaspora conference June 2004 and launched a website, www.jamaicandiaspora.org soon after. Jamaica also hosted a Caribbean. Additionally, Caribbean governments has sent missions to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to sell immigrants and their families on the benefits of investing back home.

The opportunities that DIASPORA MANAGEMENT has to offer are endless. Very few nations have an active, creative business strategy for getting the most from their non-resident citizens. Country-specific promotions abroad still tend to focus on setting up semi-diplomatic representations, not involving local communities of fellow country-men. Think foreign investment agencies or the Thai initiative to set up a government-sponsored chain of Thai restaurants in countries around the world to stimulate tourism to Thailand.

Whether it's a celebration of national culture, foreign investments, encouraging HOME TROTTING or improving ties in trade and manufacturing: nations from Hungary to Australia have a world to gain.

Joint reporting by TechwatchCaribbean.com and Trendwatching.com

It's all about di iPod!

Mobile News, US - Believe this! There are now more than 1,000 accessories made specifically for iPod. The iPod economy has flourished with over 21 million iPods sold and a wide range of companies creating products ranging from high-end fashion cases to speaker systems to automobile integration kits for iPod.

Apple also announced that there are more than 700 products bearing the Made for iPod logo on the market or in development, assuring customers that an electronic accessory has been designed specifically to connect to iPod and has been certified by the developer to meet Apple performance standards. And where in Jamaica sells iPods,check Kingston-based Inovative Systems and Watts News. By Adreana Anderson

Channeling Bob Marley by phone

Hot Mobile News,UK - Opera Telecom, a UK-based global provider of mobile media, billing, telephony and technology services, now offers its mobile subscribers reggae interviews as part of its information services.



For £.50 minute, a mobile user can call their Reggae Interview Line and listen to Bob Marley (24 mins 47 secs) recorded on New Year's Eve 1973, Peter Tosh (10 mins 20 secs) recorded in the mid 70's and Dennis Brown (22 mins 35 secs) recorded in 1979. The interviews were done in the 1970's by journalist Neville Willoughby.

Opera Telecom also just launched a downloadable mobile magazine called PopVid, that features music videos and realtones from Universal's stable of artists. When you send an SMS text and download this "magazine" a mobile user can buy "full music videos, full audio tracks, colour wallpapers, poly & mono ringtones and truetones".

Super Hacker Goes to Trinidad

News,Trinidad -Kevin David Mitnick, a "former" notorious computer hacker who spent five years in jail and has now "gone straight", will be coming to Trinidad next month for a half-day seminar to talk about "The Art of the Steal" on October 12,2005 at Queen's Hall.

The TT$3,000 per person event, will be sponsored by the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce and QM Caribbean Ltd will show how to mitigate the risk of hacking, social engineering and electronic scams and schemes. Mitnick, now 41, will share seminar duties with Robert J Rebhan, a former detective sergeant with the LAPD, an expert on credit card and identity theft.

Seminar attendees will hear about the early life of how Mitnick began "beating the system" from age 13 by learning how to punch bus tickets and get free rides to when he gained American notoriety when he hacked into the North American Defense Command (Norad), a feat that inspired the 1983 movie "War Games."
Source: Trinidadian Guardian

BWIA launches e-ticketing

News, Trinidad -Since September 15, the 60 year old national carrier of Trinidad and Tobago has been issuing e-tickets, a paperless electronic document used for ticketing passengers.

The airline said it is first step towards the airline meeting the IATA (International Air Transport Association) mandate for the new industry standard of a paperless ticket environment by 2007. The service will be available throughout the BWIA network except Manchester and Suriname.

Nokia launches phone for emerging markets

Mobile News,US - Nokia today launched the low-cost Nokia 2652 foldable mobile phone. It is expected to reach global emerging markets by October 2005 for a price of around 100 EUR.
Targeted primarily to Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Great China region, Nokia’s 2652 cell phone will be available in dark grey and pearl white designs for consumers to choose from.
The company said that the main factor of its release is the affordability and design, as they would like mobile carriers to be able to offer a handset with service to consumers for as little as US $5 per month. It does seem unreal at this point in time, especially in North American markets with average carrier service fees over the US $45 mark per month. However, if it is part of Nokia’s agenda, they are bound to make it happen.

NB:Company Infor: - Earlier this summer, Nokia sold their one billionth mobile phone - a Nokia 1100 sold in Nigeria.

-Nokia has introduced around 400 phone models to all major analogue and digital standards.

- Nokia's first iconic product, the Nokia 2100 series that was introduced in 1994, sold nearly 20 million units in its time.

- The world's best-selling phone, the Nokia 3310 / 3330 sold 126 million units from its launch in 2000 until its "retirement" earlier this year. For comparison, the combined total of all Nokia phones sold between 1991 and 1998 is 100 million.

- If all the Nokia 3310/3330 phones sold were laid end-to-end, the line would stretch from Helsinki, Finland to Santiago, Chile - over 13,500 kilometers.

- In 1991 Nokia sold 800 000 phones. In 2004, it manufactured 207.7 million phones, which equals 6.5 phones per second.

- Nokia consumes 100 billion components on annual level. On average, one phone includes up to 400 components.

Source:mobilemag.com

IMMI-MERCE-what is that?

Trend Spotting, JA/Amsterdam - There are vast amount of business opportunities linked to immigrant populations traveling back and forth, in large numbers, between their 'ancestral' and adopted countries. But what about the new commercial opportunities whenever these home trotters choose to stay put? What about the increasing flow of money linked to selling and buying goods in, or from, immigrants’ countries of origin? Trendwatching.com have dubbed this phenomenon IMMI-MERCE.

One excellent example of IMMI-MERCE is being propelled by the large number of South American immigrants living in the US, many of whom use South American websites to order goods for their relatives and friends back home, primarily as a substitute for sending money. A recent WSJ article described how US citizens of Argentinean descent use Discovirtual.com.ar, the website of an Argentinean supermarket chain, to have food and presents delivered instantly to their family.

The same goes for the large number of Caribbean American immigrants living in the US, 2-2.5 million is the estimate - 70% in the New York tri-state area, 20% in South Florida and the remaining 10% scattered throughout. According to Techwatch Caribbean's research and sources from about 3 years ago, approximately 15% of those are online. A number of them already use offline and online methods of sending the over US5 billion in remittances (sending money back home by check or transfer) a year,a red hot aspect of IMMI-MERCE,using Western Union, Credit Union money transfer brands like Jamaican National, as well as online options such as xoom.com and senvia.com. This is in addition to shopping online to order goods for relatives and friends back home on sites like superplusfoods.com and courtsjamaica.com

The same concept works for US-based Peruvians who order at the E.Wong website in Peru, and Brazilian immigrants who shop on behalf of their relatives at Brazil's second largest retailer,Paodeacucar.com.br. Strictly Peruvian, E.Wong even advertises its service in Florida,California,New York,and Washington DC – areas with large populations of relatively prosperous Peruvians. Not surprisingly, Visa Card, always on the look-out for new e-commerce initiatives, is encouraging this trend, and has closed a deal with E.Wong to streamline foreign payment issues. (Source: WSJ.)Joint reporting by techwatccaribbean.com and trendwatching.com

Job hunting in the Caribbean?

Site Guide, Jamaica - Well let's give you a quick and comprehensive guide. Whether you live inside or outside of the region, whether you're anticipating opportunities or threats from the Caribbean Single Market (CSME), let our list be your jump off point. The jobsites we found are varied, some are industry focused e.g tourism jobs, but most are general and come from varying Caribbean countries. From Curacao and Anguilla to Trinidad and Jamaica.

Here there are: Mr Job Jamaica - www.mrjobjamaica.com
Jobvacany - www.jobvacancy.com
The Job Bank - www.jobbank.com.jm
Jobs in the Sun - www.jobinthesun.com
Caribbean Career - www.caribcareer.com
Caribbean Job Net - www.caribbeanjobnet.com
Tropic Jobs - www.tropicjobs.com
Best Caribbean Jobs - www.bestcaribbeanjobs.com
PWC Jobs - www.pwcjobs.com
CRSIT Jobs - www.crsitjobs.com
Caribbean Hotel Jobs - www.caribbeanhotels.new-jobs.com
Splash Jamaica - www.splashjamaica.com
Dot Personnel - www.dotpersonnel.com
Trinidad Career Net - www.tntcareernet.com
JobLink - www.joblink.an

HomeView sites back online !

Site Review, Jamaica - Yep, after implementing their subscription-based revenue model too late, falling from favour of their American investors for missing the IPO window, falling from grace in the eyes of Jamaican content partners who refused exclusivity as part of their contract- HomeView is gunning for a comeback with new Trinidadian and Jamaican owners and a new vision after its predecessors US$8million dot com death in 2000.

The sites HomeViewguyana.com, HomeViewtnt.com and HomeViewJamaica.com are back online. The idea here- creating a concept of returning home online for the Caribbean diaspora to access live radio, tv, music video clips, chat, message boards, links, email and more for monthly charge of US$5.95 as seen on Homeviewguyana.com.

Industry experts have said that the concept was too early in 1999 when it started, but now, the cost of technologies such as streaming live have come down, broadband internet access is more ubiquitous and affordable in The United States, Canada and Europe. The one thing I don't like is, the visual look of the sites seemed not to have changed much from back in 1999/2000. by Adreana Anderson

Laqtel Communications to buy Sunbeach Barbados

Telecom News, Trinidad – LaqTel Communications, a Trinidadian Telecom Company is buying majority share interest in Barbados-based Sunbeach Communications Inc. and promising to launch the cellular service by year-end there.

Owners of Laqtel said that final approval by local regulatory authorities was expected this week and that US$2.59 million for the sale had already been deposited in escrow with Caribbean Money Market Brokers Barbados. The news comes a full year since Sunbeach was suspended from trading by the Barbados Stock Exchange following concerns by the company's auditors about its ability to continue doing business.

Laqtel added that the board of directors would remain almost entirely Barbadian and that the company would continue to trade as Sunbeach Communications, Internet services. The Trinidadian company added, that there was a three-year roll-out plan for its services which included the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) service, considered more advanced than GSM used by Cingular, Cable & Wireless (C&W) and Digicel.

Background info: Barbadian Michael Barrow, former C&W vice-president of mobile services, is the chief executive officer of LaqTel. Sunbeach reported a pre-tax loss of $2.5 million at the end of its 2003 financial year and a net loss of $3.94 million in 2004. On August 7, 2003, Sunbeach, AT&T Wireless and Digicel were granted cellular licenses to compete against Cable & Wireless.
Source: Barbados Nation

British Mobile marketing booming

Mobile News, UK – The British mobile telephony market is projected to exceed the 2004 figure of US$24 billion, which accounts for approximately 40 percent of total telecommunications revenues there.

It is reported that text messaging (SMS) services and multimedia messaging services (MMS) are particularly popular with a one-day record of over 133 million text messages sent on January 1, 2005, eclipsing the U.S. record by a wide margin. The British mobile phone penetration is now in the mature 100 percent range.

Timbaland launches album of ringtones

Mobile News,USA - Timbaland, the studio maven behind Missy Elliott among others, has launched Get By, a "mobile album" of seven specially crafted ringtones. Get By is the inaugural offering from Made Hear, a ringtone provider launched by mobile media company Zingy Inc (www.zingy.com) with MTV.

Reviews have said that the ringtones album sounds pretty decent vven through phone speakers, but previewed on a computer they're fantastic. The sinuous Snake Charmer is a bite-sized sequel to Timbaland & Magoo's Indian Flute single, The Showdown and The VIP Room are strident mob dramas, and Block Party is meaty, beaty electro. Almost all of them could be extrapolated into Missy Elliott hits.
Source: The Guardian

US$50M TECH UPGRADE FOR RBTT BANK

News, Trinidad - THE RBTT Group will be spending US$50 million on its business transformation initiative to upgrade the technology used by the bank. Called 'Recast', the initiative which will begin to roll out in October, was launched this week together with a signing ceremony with Temenos, a Swiss based technology company that will spearhead the upgrades in the bank's computer systems.

The Group said that the bank’s tech upgrade is about simplifying business processes throughout the RBTT Group and replacing all of RBTT's core banking computer systems with one common platform. The plan is to implement Recast sequentially throughout the Group’s 81-branch regional network, beginning in Trinidad and ending in the Dutch Caribbean, with full completion is expected in three years.

The Group also promised that its customers will begin to see positive changes in their transactions servicing within approximately nine months from project start. They added that the upgrading has already begun with the launch of NetBank, an Internet Banking platform for corporate customers and a new mutual fund client interface system.

ROAD BLOCKS NO. BOYCOTTS YES.

News, Jamaica – Jamaica’s activist spirit is getting a boost by technology-email to be exact.In the past week I’ve received two emails from people who are the middle of organising company boycotts for Jamaica Public Service, the light and power and the oil/gas companies Shell and Petcom because of recent price increases.

About the email-led boycotts: Don’t pay your light bill month is October: I think in 2005 we have gone past blocking roads and disrupting public life, so I think as consumers, if we refuse to buy or pay the increased prices of goods/services,the companies will get the message. Our style has to be adjusted in what can be considered a consumer-driven economy. While I know that some increases are driven by international effects, I am sure prices can be more friendly to consumers. Also, proper audits need to be done on billing methodologies for e.g. why when a consumer moves from one area to another with the same equipment, the bill goes up - even with the same rate of exchange. Hence my charge for us NOT TO PAY.

Don’t buy gas from Shell or Petcom. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $48 - $50, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace...not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas!

How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war. For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one),Shell and Petcom. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)...and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have thousands of consumers!If those thousands get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then tens of thousands of people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it...THREE MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people and DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from Shell and Petcom. That's all. PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $40 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

The people who have signed on have removed themselves from the typical Jamaican Road block protest culture. They believe it's messy and ineffective. They are relying on email to energise people and generate support because they do believe as one emailer said that "acting together we can make a difference." My cynical voice cautions that the latter boycott wasn't organised by the competitors of Shell and Petcom competitors. by Adreana Anderson

SIRIUS Wearable Satellite Radio Comes In October

News, USA - SIRIUS Satellite Radio will launch in October its first wearable satellite radio, the SIRIUS S50, which allows users to capture and store up to 50 hours of SIRIUS content, or a mix of SIRIUS programming and MP3/WMA files, enabling listening on the go.

The SIRIUS S50 measures a 1.9 x 3.9 x 0.7 inches, and includes a full colour display, sleek black exterior and voice-assisted channel navigation. When attached to a home dock, car dock or executive docking station, the SIRIUS S50 provides easy access to live content, and captures and stores both scheduled and unscheduled SIRIUS programming. The SIRIUS will retail for about US$359.99. Sirius satellite radio service is available in Jamaica from the Kingston-based company Auto Traders.

Your Carnival Bands Now Online

News, Trinidad - The National Carnival Bands Association of Trinidad and Tobago officially launched its website www.ncbatt.com at the National Library in Port of Spain yesterday. The site is dedicated to the promotion of the art form and offered information to anyone who wants to discover and lean more about the history and true essence of Carnival.

The website is a first for the National Carnival Bands Association, as they felt that something had to be done to keep the art form alive and to teach young Trinidadians about the richness of their heritage-and what better way to reach them than through the internet.

The site features video clips of Carnival 2005, traditional characters, information on Carnival around the world and it also serves as a link to our various mas bands.

Teens love texting, study claims.

Trendspotting, USA - nearly as many teens bought their cellphones primarily for text messaging as for talking, a study from the consultant firm IDC, Corp and text messaging provider SMS.ac.

The study polled 8,000 teenagers, and 36% of the respondents bought their phones to send text messages, while 49 percent said chatting with friends was the main reason they got their phones. . The study also found that boys were more inclined to use text messaging than girls, while girls were more likely to have purchased their handsets to call family or to use in emergencies.

Who will be Jamaica's eBay?

Trend Spotting, Jamaica- Yardsalejamaica.com (YSJ) was the first and now reggaebay.com (RB) has joined in, as eBay like fever, at least on the part of the companies who offer the online marketplace service, make a go at cashing in on this global online trading trend.

Both Jamaican focused websites owned by Jamaican companies are online marketplaces that enable the trade of practically anything by anyone who has an Internet connection. Following in the success trail of the 10 year old American company eBay branded 'the world's online marketplace', Yardsale.com was launched in January this year and reggaebay.com though live will officially launch on May 31st.

But companies and concepts like eBay thrive in environments such as the United States, where there is an internet culture that has millions of people online at affordable access rates, using affordable computers and where shopping online using a credit card, is second nature to mall roaming.

Here in the Jamaica, however, there is still a low percentage of people online -in Jamaica the estimate is between 20,000 – 200,000 out of a population of 2.6 million, in Trinidad the official figure is 150,000. What will create a change in those figures is telecom market liberalization that started in Jamaica 4 years ago, so now there 15 ISPs offering dial up, DSL,Cable and wireless Internet access. Additionally, the construction of fibre optic cable links from US to Jamaica, by two consortiums before year-end, will give consumers and companies even more and cheaper choices of getting online.

Further, shopping and trading online in true eBay style is hampered in Jamaica, as there is still no ecommerce legislation in that enables Jamaicans to shop online for items in Jamaica using their Jamaican or USD credit cards. This being the case, even though a couple of banks (NCB and Scotiabank), have been engaging in closed circuit trial ecommerce for blue chip clients or those who can afford the high set up rates and, companies offer online bill payments by credit card, there is limited online banking and payment of taxes online are on its way.

In the meantime, yardsalejamaica.com pitches the following message 'Nowhere better than Yard' for quality used goods at excellent prices. They add that they offer “ a way to beat the high cost of new goods with a wide range of used items at excellent prices and in lieu of Jamaicans not being able to use their credit cards to buy anything online in Jamaica as yet, YSJ YardsaleJamaica.com is at this time a facilitator of sales between parties.” Still YSJ leaves themselves open for monetizing the site later however by saying that 'currently, all services are offered free of charge.'

Reggaebay.com on the other hand has monetized its site services from the start. They sell themselves as ‘the new online marketplace for people to buy and sell items in Jamaica,' allowing sellers to list an item up for auction and have buyers bid on it or simply 'Buy It Now'. With Reggaebay.com registration and listing is for free, for buyers the service is always free. For sellers however, there is an 'end of auction' fee in place ranging from JA$150 to JA$1,800 depending on value of item. They also have minimum fees for certain value added fees such as highlighted and bold features. Sellers only pay when an item is sold. Who will become Jamaica's eBay remains to be seen, as more competitors will no doubt throw their hats into the ring in time. by Ingrid Riley

Booming speakers for your laptop

Product News,USA -Sometimes you want the kind of business and travel companion that doesn't talk back, but can give you some aural pleasure at the push of a button. Then welcome Logitech V20 laptop speakers.

They just came out this month, are compact and lightweight as well as PC and Mac compatible thanks to its USB powered connectivity. They feature a collapsible stand on each satellite, and come with a protective travel case for easy organization and protection. Logitech claims that the bass deliverance is outstanding - which would be a performance, given their size. For US$79 a pair,it better be.

Email marketing getting popular here

Product Review,Jamaica - Yes, the most successful party and event promoters have and use them. Fat lists of email addresses belonging to people they market directly to. And a few companies bother to keep those of their customers/clients and mine them to generate more revenue from the minds in the market they serve. But beyond that online network of friends and friends of friends, the more commercial aspect of email marketing is growing up in Jamaica.
Jamaicanlifestyle.com First there was Jamaicanlifestyle.com (JL) started by Thalia Chung three years ago and now there is Digitaldirectjamaica.com (DDJ) by Jamie Ranston. JL boasted an email database of high single digit thousands that criss cross industries and dominated the fledgling market and charged US$100 per mailing for primarily music and entertainment events and places. And their sales pitch to potential advertisers is- 'The Jamaican Lifestyle.com's journey direct thousands of individuals in Jamaica and all over the world by linking all to have further access to other avenues of the Jamaican Lifestyle.'
DDJ, few months old, came out with a business edge in how they marketed themselves on their website. Their pitch,'DigitalDIRECT offers a superior email marketing solution dedicated to maximizing your sales dollar and building your business.' They offer their service for US$80 per mailing and an opt in choice to be part of their mailing list. They claim a database of 7,000 email addresses.
JL built their database primarily by asking people to send names and email addresses of friends, people they think would want to receive the JL mailings. The send-to-a-friend approach. But by virtue of the six degrees of separation effect, some people owning many email addresses got multiple mailings and others simply didn't wish to be on the list yet mailings persisted, spawning credibility issues for JL. They have recently changed things with an opt in or out choice for potential and existing subscribers.
Tracking and reporting crucial In terms of tracking mailings to give advertisers a detailed report on who their message may have hit, to yes, determine some return on investment is being offered by DDJ but not JL at this time. Email marketing is about using the highly effective and targeted tool of email to connect with potential consumers who may want to buy your product or service. But with any other marketing medium, an advertiser wants to know who they are reaching and if it's worth it.
So it's one thing to have an email database of thousands of email addresses, it's quite another to know who they are and what they really want. The owner of the email database who can tell you more about whom they have in their database and what they want,will in the end win. by Adreana Anderson.

eBay Acquires Skype

News,USA- It's official, eBay will acquire Skype For US$2.6 Billion in Cash and Stock. If Skype hits its performance goals this it could add a further US$1.5 Billion to eBay's bill.But it's worth it.
The three year old company and its founders have been a moving target for envious telecom companies worldwide,as Skype been doing the unthinkable-allowing PC users to call other PC users online for FREE.
Here's their pitch." Download, register, install, plug in your headset, speakers or USB phone and start calling your friends. The calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption. You don’t even need to configure your firewall or router or any other networking gear." And they have 246,000,000 million downloads worldwide.
And for us in the Caribbean with friends, relatives and lovers scattered all over the globle, Skype.com has been of great service. by Susan Campbell

Speaking from the Grave?

Product News, USA - Well a Florida based VIDSTONE company is helping people and their loved ones do just that - create and deliver tributes and messages from the grave. The company has created a suite of “memorial products” ranging from a tribute video production service, specialist multimedia software for creating life tributes at home and a solar-powered, weatherproof multimedia system inside the gravestone.

The VIDSTONE Serenity Panel as it is called plays a 5 – 7 minute personalised multimedia tribute via a 7-inch solar-powered LCD screen built right into a stone monument or mausoleum. The Serenity Panel is housed in weatherproof enclosure for protection against the elements and includes security features, simple touch-button operation and only needs four hours of sunlight per day to remain fully charged. The Panel also features a self contained sound system to allow for privacy accessible by 2 standard headphone jacks.

A PDA on your wrist ?

Product Review,USA - It's not to be strapped to your belt, clipped to your ear,or slung around your neck. It's for your wrist and yes, it's a PDA. So now you can check more than just the time with this Fossil Wrist PDA watch. It's a personal organiser is powered by Palm OS platform. You can store hundreds of contacts,create a calendar, and make a To-Do list from it's surprisingly big 8MB of memory. And there's more: drop-down menus, alarm reminder window for recurring appointments, a memo pad, and a selection of different time and date displays. A stylus is integrated into the buckle.And it's just under US$200. I say yeah!!!! Source: fossil.com by Adreana Anderson

Talk Time vs More Time. Talk Time Wins.

Product Review, Jamaica-International Talk has gotten cheaper since competition came to the telecom industry, but you still have to be smart in choosing a service provider. The newest international calling cards screamed unto the market with full page newspaper ads and radio jingles. They are TalkTime by Telecommunications Alliance Ltd as a GraceKennedy affiliated brand powered by the US based telecom IDT and More Time by Cards Jamaica, powered by Mytel Communications.

More Time gives you 15 minutes of talk time for JA$100 and Talk Time gives you 11 minutes for JA$100. You have to use both phones from a landline. In terms of call quality Talk Time wins, I am still waiting to finish my More Time card-why ? the testing period over which I called, it was ridiculously busy and when I did get through, the called dropped 3 times and that was when I didn't feel like I was speaking underwater.

And if I mention customer service then More Time sinks even further. The guy I spoke to about the inability to get through was clueless and less than helpful. Further, where can you find More Time - ahh a veeddy good question. Talk Time's visibility on the ground as well as availability is pretty good. Yet still, while More Time gives four minutes more for your money over Talk Time, but I'd take Talk Time anyway, because of ease of getting through, clarity of the connection and availability when and where you want it.

Talk Time makes a good case for staying home with your feet up to chat to you best friend in Atlanta, relegating your Digicel, Cable & Wireless and MiPhone cell phone to local calling, text messaging, emergencies or in MiPhone’s case, a landline replacement.
by Adreana Anderson

Imation Swivel Flash Drive 4GB

News,USA - Just when flash drives are becoming a must have neck accessory and the 2GB flash drives have become hot, Imation decides to bring a 4GB model of its swivel flash drives. You wanted space, now you’re going to get it. According to Gizmodo, Imation is coming out with this model that will have 29MB per second read speeds and 24MB per second write speeds. But here is the trick, it’s flipping expensive…think about handing over about US$600.Hmmm, I don’t know about this.

Trinidad's Mobile Market remains closed

News,Trinidad - The highly anticipated opening up of Trinidad & Tobago's (T&T) mobile market is on hold because of delays in the ministry Government's internal processes.

Two alternative mobile providers Irish mobile company,Digicel,and local start-up, Laqtel were selected by the Telecommunication Authority(TATT) for the award of licences, but it has been a week now and no written recommendation by TATT has been sent to the Ministry of Public Administration and Information.

Former TATT chairman, Dr Ralph Henry said this was done at the request of Information Minister Lenny Saith. Henry said Saith's ministry was concerned that once the TATT wrote officially recommending Digicel and Laqtel,the process for granting the concessions would be on a 60-day timetable and they fear that TATT had moved faster,than the ministry was prepared for.

The Telecommunications Act gives Cabinet 60 days rom the authority's recommendation to award the concessions. If the authority had written the recommendation to the ministry following the auction that date would have been August 22.

The stop order by Saith delays the granting of concessions to the mobile companies who have already indicated their intention to launch by year-end. Both potential competitors are currently building their cellular networks,acquiring office space and recruiting staff.

Digicel had bid US$15,750,003 ($100 million) for a five-block licence while Laqtel had bid US$9,300,007 ($58.5million) for a three-block licence.There are currently 700,000 mobile users in Trinidad and Tobago.

The VOIP race heats up

VIEWS,Jamaica- The race to sell VOIP International calling packages to residential and corporate customers is OOON! Netsream Global came first, offering rebranded packages for Net2Phone.Then came Caribbean Net Talk about a month ago with similarly packaged international call rates zoning in on residential broadband users and small businesses.

And now we have Cable & Wireless with their eager telemarketing team, calling existing broadband users, enticing them with VOIP International calling packages. I guess they are about to launch their VOIP service. But the question I've been asking. How come Netstream Global got an exclusive reseller ship from Net2Phone for Jamaica and launched before Cable & Wireless, when Cable & Wireless also has a deal with that same American company and even launch their own VOIP international calling service in Cayman branded NetSpeak in May this year? Or am I hearing incorrectly.

More on Caribbean Net Talk: That is the brand name for the VOIP International claling service by Ja Jabber Limited headed by a fomer DIgicel Group brand director Marguerite Cremin and two local entrepreneurs. Their company is a distribution partner for Viper Networks, a publicly traded American Internet phone company. It seemed Ja Jabber Limited bought 1,000 Broad Band Phone Adaptors from Viper to resell them in the region. Interesting times ahead. Now that broaband is more affordable US$29.99 for 128k with Cable & Wireless finally giving the modem for free, we'll see what's going to happen.

PLUS:we hear Merit Communications will soon throw their hat in the ring. New and imported people have swollen the ranks and it might be as early as September 2005 when we hear them hollar.
by Neil Owens