Pajama Entrepreneur

Blyk has finally launched in the UK, with service coming to other European countries in 2008. I’ve been waiting for Blyk to begin its service because the model is totally different from that of other operators:

• only 16-24 year olds can get the service
• they get 43 minutes and 217 text messages free every month
• they agree to receive up to 6 messages per day from advertisers of their choice

Read more on Muniwireless.

This is a much more acceptable way of advertising that Pudding Media.

If there’s only one reason not to buy the iPhone when it launches in the UK in November, it’s the insulting price: $539 as opposed to $399 in the US. Adding to the insult is the fact that they will sell it locked, that is, you have to get a subscription via UK operator, O2. And there’s no 3G functionality in the phone. No, you have to be happy with crappy EDGE. Hey, why not sell a computer that works only on dial-up service and sell it to people who have broadband?

My prediction is that the iPhone will not be as successful as it is in the US. Residents of the UK should simply buy the phone from a US retailer and unlock it via one of the many iPhone hacks floating around the Internet today. If you buy it full price and lock yourself into an O2 contract, you are REALLY stupid.

(1) UK telecom company Noodle pays you when you use your phone (from the Times UK):

“Some customers are already making up to £100 a week, more than enough to cover a phone’s running costs, according to Noodle, the telecom firm providing the service. Noodle customers make 2p a minute if they make or receive a call during peak hours and 1p at other times. You can also make money by signing up a friend. You earn money each time you receive a call on your Noodle number, which is obtained by texting “Noodle” to 81025. Calls made by dialling the Noodle number first also earn money. There is no contract or monthly fee and you can keep your mobile number and any free bundled minutes you have with your existing provider.”

(2) Share an office, desks, Wi-Fi, coffee, everything: this is a trend I’m seeing in Amsterdam too, where you can rent a large desk in an office with other entrepreneurs for 300 EUR a month. It’s definitely for people who can’t work from home (because of kids, noise) or those who crave company. See this post on GigaOm about co-working spaces.

France: www.bureauxapartager.com

Boston-Cambridge, Massachusetts: www.betahouse.org

Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, has just released a report (The Communications Market 2007) that is hundreds of pages long but very interesting. Among the little tidbits of information in this report which covers TV, radio, broadband, Internet use, fixed and mobile telephony are:

• women 25-34 spend more than 20% online than men;
• of the 70 million mobile phone subscriptions in the UK, 64 percent are prepaid, 36 percent on contract;
• broadband speed doubled between 2005 and 2006;
• online advertising is one quarter of total press advertising;
• 78 percent of people who own DVRs (digital video recorders) skip the ads;
• 60 percent of 10-year olds own a mobile phone.

Click here to read more little tidbits I have picked out from this report.