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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

O2 and the iPhone 5: when is a a pre-order not a pre-order?

Mark Bridge writes:

I’ve made a career out of choosing and using the best words… and using mobile phones. Such is the life of a technology writer.

However, I’m not obsessive about language. Lynne Truss has a point - yet her style isn’t my style.

But that’s not really relevant. You’re not here for my musings about greengrocers’ apostrophes. TheFonecast.com is all about the mobile industry.

Last week I pointed out that picking the best bits from other people’s tech reviews didn’t look good when the full version was pretty uncomplimentary. It’s often unwise to use words that don’t mean what people think they mean. Being economical with the truth can give the impression of being deliberately deceptive.

And today I’ve discovered another mobile network guilty of tripping itself up with words.

The Advertising Standards Authority has just upheld a complaint made about O2 UK’s website. A set of FAQ about iPhone 5 availability said “If we get your pre-order before 4pm the day before launch, we’ll get it to you on launch day.”

Unfortunately this didn’t happen for a number of people who’d pre-ordered an Apple iPhone 5. The problem wasn’t a delivery failure. That, to an extent, would be understandable. No, the problem was O2’s definition of a pre-order.

You see, if you ordered the iPhone 5 from O2 before the launch day, you might think this was a pre-order. That’s what regular English usage would suggest. O2 had a different definition. It had a pre-order - oops, no, a Pre-Order - and a Standard Order. If you had a Pre-Order then, well, you had a pre-order. If you had a Standard Order, it meant O2 had exhausted its allocated stock and might take up to three weeks to deliver the phone. Customers with a standard order - sorry, done it again - a Standard Order would have been told they had longer to wait.

The ASA wasn’t happy with that. It said the online FAQ answer gave a misleading impression regardless of what customers were told when they ordered, leading it to conclude the claim was misleading.

In its defence, O2 said the FAQ was only online for nine days and admitted that “in hindsight it appeared that some people making Standard Orders while the FAQ was online may have been confused by it”.

It seems O2 meant well - but its choice of words has left it in the ASA’s hall of shame.

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Tags: advertising o2 uk iphone

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Opinion Articles

Top tips in Mobile Device Management

David Akka writes:

The issue of choosing the right MDM solution has become more and more pressing, especially for companies implementing a Bring Your Own Device policy. The market place is becoming increasingly crowded with 50 or so vendors who now position themselves as MDMs. Some vendors offer application sharing, some multitenant management, other vendors have a heritage in security or a different strength all together. For organisations considering which option is best it is important to discern between the best known names or the most expensive solutions and select an MDM solution that is fit for purpose.

Author: The Fonecast
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Article rating: 5.0

Sensum audience insights tool wows at Mobile World Congress 2013

Tracy Dempsey of Sensum writes:

Northern Irish start-up Sensum gave audiences a taste of the future at the world's largest mobile industry conference in Barcelona last week.

Sensum co-creator Shane McCourt was invited to present the Sensum audience insights platform to a 1,000-strong crowd at the “Back to the Future: Mobile Innovation 2023” conference session at Mobile World Congress 2013.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 11th March 2013

Thrills for Tesco customers, chills for Android users

Mark Bridge writes:

As Mobile World Congress 2013 disappears behind us, so the frenzy of news releases about new products and services returns to relatively normal levels.

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4 mobile security tips for every smartphone owner

Satish Shetty of Codeproof Technologies writes:

Don’t underestimate the security of your smartphone. Here are 4 important but easy security tips to secure your iPhone, iPad, Android phone and Tablet devices.

Author: The Fonecast
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Article rating: 5.0

Smartphones are about to get smarter - in many different ways

Mark Bridge writes:

At Mobile World Congress 2012 I spent quite a bit of time talking about quad-core smartphones. The year before had seen a fair amount of 3D screen technology. Back in 2010 it was the growth of apps. This year I wasn’t hearing so much about mobile device innovation.

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

Podcast - 30th January 2015

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

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