EarthVision Newsletter Archive
Back to Archive Home PageSent: Wednesday, November 1, 2000
Subject: EarthVision Cellular Consumer News! Issue #22 Vol. 2Another issue of the EarthVision Cellular Consumer Newsletter. This newsletter is for the soon to be educated cellular phone user community. If you know of anyone else that may have an interest in our newsletter, make sure to forward them a copy. Now we move forward at Mach II speed!
[Note: This newsletter is delivered Bi Weekly on Wednesday.]
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A STUNNING UK ELECTRONICS MAG NOW IN US - GET A FREE ISSUE
PREPAID PACKAGES GET EVC FEATURED IN PHONE PLUS MAGAZINE
VERIZON AND OTHER CARRIERS ATTEMPT TO BUILD CUSTOMER LOYALTY
EMAIL COMPANION DEVICES NOW AVAILABLE AT EARTHVISION CELLULAR
JAPAN DOES IT AGAIN! A NEW PHONE USING THE HAND AS ANTENNA?
SPRINT PCS TO EXPAND COVERAGE FOR ROAMING INTO MEXICO
PREMIUM REAL ESTATE ON EVC, AND OTHER NEWS
AT&T CORP, VERIZON, & AWS TO CHARGE INTERNET FEES TO MERCHANTS
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EarthVision Cellular Consumer News Digest Issue # 22 Volume 2
A STUNNING UK ELECTRONICS MAG NOW IN US - GET A FREE ISSUE
This is probably one of the most exciting electronics magazines we have ever seen. It was a UK magazine that was just this month introduced to the US with its premiere issue. It is action packed and geared especially to the consumers and techno junkie.
A subscription only costs $14.95 for 12 issues. Money well spent if you sign up. Before you decide you can hit their website and request a free issue to see if it is for you. The free issue covers quite a bit to include virtual reality, product reviews, and features of numerous products coming out.
They cover an array of camera type devices such as those that are only 2 and 1/2 inches long and weigh less than an ounce to the wristwatch type camera. Even a personal (one person) aircraft device currently in testing and development by Millennium Jet. Never seen anything like it.
I was floored when I read this magazine. It is definitely a one of a kind magazine and I have seen no other that could match this one. You should do yourself a favor and at least pick up the free issue just to see some of the cool stuff they have collected for featuring here.
I nearly forgot. Here is the website for ordering the free issue http://www.t3magazine.com
PREPAID PACKAGES GET EVC FEATURED IN PHONE PLUS MAGAZINE
The number one magazine in the telecom industry featured our company because of our innovation in creating multiple prepaid cellular phone packages. This is a major milestone for the company to be written about by such a prestigious magazine.
You can read the full article by hitting our main page. The link to the article is listed on the right hand side of the page. We must be doing something right though because it appears as if this specific article is going to be our stepping stone. We have been talking to a Public Relations firm that was willing to work on consignment to promote our site to the media. This just isn't a typical arrangement with a PR firm.
We don't plan to hit the TV for at least another year right now. Mostly we will be hitting the newspapers, magazines, and probably the radio airwaves until that time. The one thing we have no intention of doing is the cellular phone spam.
Perfect timing too. We watched and learned from our counterparts online to see what mistakes they made and learned from them. It took us a little time to make sure that we were in a position for solid growth without the errors made by dot com companies. This coming year should get interesting not only for EarthVision Cellular but for our visitors and customers too.
Main page URL: http://www.earthvisioncellular.com
VERIZON AND OTHER CARRIERS ATTEMPT TO BUILD CUSTOMER LOYALTY
We talked about shortages in components in our last issue. Well, carriers seem to be willing to fuel this problem even more with their attempts to retain customers. Verizon Wireless and Alltel are going to be promoting an incentive where subscribers are guaranteed a new cellular phone every two years.
Verzion Wireless is already offering this service and Alltel plans on doing the same in April of 2001. Alltel will be going a bit further by analyzing customer usage to let them know if there is a wireless plan more appropriate for their needs every six months.
With that comes a little catch, you have to sign a 2 year contract in exchange for a $100 credit towards a new phone. Carriers are more aggressive with customer retention because we now change carriers at the drop a hat. Getting a better pricing plan and a new phone is the reason 30% of us switch carriers.
Alltel would be the better choice of the two since they will tell you of other plans that will work better for you. They could become a trend setter in offering this service to customers. Which then leads us to the cell phone manufacturers.
Who is going to reap the rewards of a new customer retention program like this one? Nokia is obviously doing well but we shouldn't discount Motorola and the other manufacturers either. This will be a golden opportunity for the manufacturer who steps up to the home plate and can offer cell phones to a carrier on a consistent basis.
An advantage that Motorola may have is that they are currently working on a prototype battery that uses a chemical reaction to charge a battery at room temperature. It will be a few years before we will see anything of this type of battery available on the market but it is an advantage.
EMAIL COMPANION DEVICES NOW AVAILABLE AT EARTHVISION CELLULAR
Have you seen the commercials by MSN on the MSN email companion device? We found out that they are going for $119 each. It turns out that one of our vendors was able to procure devices similar in design by Vtech. Two models will be available to send and receive email. They are as follows:
Email Express. A compact and lightweight device that will basically fit in the the palm of your hand. You can read more about it on our website. The other one is the Email Companion which comes with a larger display screen and a full-sized keyboard. When you sign up for service with the manufacturer, they also give you a $30 rebate. The service is very low cost too because you are only getting a service for email. Both devices will connect to any standard telephone line.
It would make a nice Christmas gift for a teenager, business traveler, or even grandparents to keep in touch with grandkids. Neither of these devices cost as much as the MSN companion. It is the device that will probably keep SMS (short messaging service) and two way text paging from becoming very popular in the US.
Don't be too surprised if you see us bring out a variety of product lines. As a company, our focus is on communications first and we will sometimes branch out into other product lines that help to achieve our customers' ability to stay connected.
We are always adding new products that aren't always mentioned in our newsletter. If it has been a while since your last visit, you may want to take a minute and explore our site and our shopping cart. More products have been added over the few months.
JAPAN DOES IT AGAIN! A NEW PHONE USING THE HAND AS ANTENNA?
The Japanese people are just too amazing with the innovative products they seem to manufacture at a non stop pace. This is the next electronic item they have manufactured. NTT DoComo has created the first finger phone. Yes, a finger phone just like it says.
This new phone is called the Whisper. Think of a James Bond movie when you read this article because it certainly fits the profile to a T. Using the anatomy of the human body probably isn't something that we would normally think of as a conductor but NTT DoComo did.
Here is how it works. The wireless phone consists of a wristband, microphone, and a component to convert sound into vibrations. You hand acts as the receiver! The only thing you have to do is to stick your finger into your ear to hear an incoming call.
The caller's voice is transmitted into vibrations that are transmitted through the hand, the finger, and then into the ear canal. Commands such as hanging up and answering the phone is done by tapping the finger. Yes it would really work. Read up on audiology some time and you will find that vibration is actually what we hear and not sound. These devices should be available on the commercial market in or around 2005.
If you were really bored, you could look into researching the wireless devices that can be found in Japan. They are definitely ahead by light years to most other countries using advanced technologies. it would be really nice to get some of those cool toys over here in the US.
SPRINT PCS TO EXPAND COVERAGE FOR ROAMING INTO MEXICO
Sprint PCS may have a problem with thousands of customers disconnecting service but they do have vision. A 200 million dollar vision to be exact. The money was used to invest in a Mexican wireless company using CDMA Technology. Users will have the option of a cross border service with Sprint PCS. The cities covered in the service will be Tijuana, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City. More will be added as time goes on.
This will give wireless users a coverage of all three countries to include Canada, the US, and Mexico. The per minute rate will range from 39 cents to 69 cents depending on where you are located as a local subscriber. Some west coast subscribers will be paying a lower rate. The rates do not include long distance charges.
Another reason this is unusual is because nearly 70% of the Mexican wireless subscriber population uses prepaid service. Not because they can't afford post paid but because they fear that they will not be billed correctly and will be forced to pay a bill two and even three times.
This could be an obstacle for people in the US and Canada who find that their billing is incorrect based on how much time they used in Mexico. How that problem is to be resolved is yet unknown. Even so it was enough of a vision that even Citicorp decided to invest in the Mexico network in conjunction with Sprint PCS and a couple of other companies.
It is estimated that 16 million US residents travel to Mexico each year. Add our neighbors in the north and you have a fairly good sized market share available to a wireless carrier. In total, Pegaso (the carrier in Mexico) hit it big with an initial investment of 1.6 billion dollars to build out the digital network.
The reliability of the network remains to be seen. Some areas of Mexico only have a 20% coverage area and dropped calls or losing a call on a digital network is fairly common due to the lack of coverage. It is too bad they haven't used that money to build out their network here in the US.
PREMIUM REAL ESTATE ON EVC, AND OTHER NEWS
With the disposable cell phone comes the disposable laptop. We have no idea who would want them but they may be coming out soon. The disposable cell phone is still the elusive item. We may just have to set up our own deal and begin having them manufactured just to bring them to market. It is something we are seriously considering.
Premium real estate. We are now going to be accepting advertising on our main page of our website and on other informational pages located on our website. To ensure that it isn't an annoyance to visitors of our website we do have some restrictions. In an effort to accommodate advertisers for the restrictions we have added a little something more of value. To learn more about advertising on our site please click on the button ad that says "advertise here".
We learned that having the epublic eye logo on our website was a major irritant to our customers. We intend to remove the logo and the other actions required of consumers when making the purchase. A survey we conducted indicated that most people could care less about it and the service is of little value if nobody cares..
Explore our website! We have added new products including a floating device that can be used to carry a cell phone and other essential items to prevent water damage. To tell the truth we don't even know how many changes we have made. Too many to count lately.
We are officially changing our corporate logo to read: "Don't have ESP? We have the next best thing." The green cell phone sun man will stay as always. Has anybody bookmarked our site and then went back to it to see what pops up on the link before you actually click it? Try it out and see. Our green man is going to pop up in miniature size.
AT&T CORP, VERIZON, & AWS TO CHARGE INTERNET FEES TO MERCHANTS
AT&T and AT&T Wireless are chips of the old block. AT&T Wireless has put out a plan to charge online merchants. The fee is assessed for each customer that visits an online e-commerce website. They may even take a commission on each sale made on that merchant's website. Merchants must also pay an extra fee to get a premium listing on the phone's screen. Verizon Wireless has also implemented a similar fee structure.
Supposedly the wireless carriers charge these fees to assist them with building and paying for broadband services. However, AT&T Corp is a land line company so where do they come up with the justification for doing the same? One word for you. GREED! What value is offered by AT&T Corp. simply because a merchant uses their service instead of another ISP. A supposed e-commerce expert's comment to this was that merchants would be riding the coat tails of a well known company. I would have used that comment too if I were in the pocket of a mega corporation.
They have been inundated with complaints from both retailers and AT&T customers already. Online retailers are saying that this practice pushes out all but the mega online companies, and customers are stating that it is a violation of their privacy. Online retailer comments backed the customers' concerns over privacy issues.
The very reason why we don't offer AT&T wireless service is because they want to harvest more information than we thought was necessary simply to offer their service. We aren't allowed to go into detail but one look through the application was enough for us to toss it straight into the trash can.
With the recent break up of AT&T services, AT&T Corp is going to need to really work to show a profit in light of a declining long distance customer base. Ah. Now it makes sense as to why a landline phone company would be looking to charge a fee to online retailers and then having that cost passed back to online consumers.
Because I am paranoid to some degree, I think it is a conspiracy by Mega Corporations, the CIA, brick + mortar companies, and Interpol to run the internet into an obsolete method of shopping. If I were fired and forced to work for a dot com company, this would have a major impact on my meager paycheck if I were lucky enough to get one.
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