The makers of the World’s “toughest” phone, the Sonim XP1, have officially announced their latest creation, the XP3. The XP3 has a more rugged specification than the XP1 and can withstand more shocks and drops than its predecessor. Most importantly, the phone can be fully submersed for 30 minutes within one meter of water. In addition, the XP3 boasts an IP-57 rating and is designated with a Mil-Spec rating of 810F against salt, fog humidity, transport and thermal shock. The phone is rugged in every detail – the keyboard touch buttons are tested to function beyond 500,000 pushes.

Bob Plaschke, CEO of Sonim Technologies comments, “When we launched the Sonim XP1 last year, it was with a clear goal in mind. We wanted to create phones for people who work and play in rugged environments.” Plaschke continues: “For these people, having a phone is a tool, not a fashion accessory. They need a mobile handset to withstand some of nature’s harshest conditions. The Sonim XP3 is capable of working at -20C or at +60C without breaking down. We are committed to the rugged consumer, and the XP3 further proves our dedication to this community.”

Since the XP3 is purposed to be a communications tool for use in rugged environments, it is equipped with a powerful 1180 mAh battery that delivers 5.5 hours of talk and over 9 days of standby time. As continued proof of Sonim’s confidence in its products, the XP3 comes with an unconditional, three-year warranty.

“It’s true, it doesn’t matter how you break it, or whether you get it wet during the course of your work, we at Sonim Technologies will provide you with a replacement, no questions asked,” says Plaschke. “In fact, we challenge the industry to match our warranty.”

He continues: “Our customers needs have been largely forgotten by the mobile industry. We have listened to the feedback from our core audience, such as plumbers, builders, and even first response and rescue teams throughout the world. The Sonim XP3 is our reminder to our customers that no matter how rugged and tough their environment, we can provide the phone that will withstand the stress.”

The Sonim XP3 is available either SIM-unlocked for £245 inc VAT or free on contract with Vodafone please go to www.sonimxp3.com or call 0845 459 2009.

The Sonim XP3 will be available in high street retailers in time for Christmas

Via www.cellfanatic.com

Brands who want to get the attention of social network site users need to think beyond the usual banner ads and widgets.

While those types of ads can work if they are creative and carefully targeted, in general we’re finding that interruptive advertising on social sites just isn’t as effective as marketing messages delivered in a format that dovetails with the things that people are doing on social sites — interacting with their friends and colleges.

One of the most interesting and measurably successful new ways for brands to connect with social network users is virtual goods, also known as e-gifts. It’s a business model that’s just starting to hit its stride in the US and Europe and is already a key business model in Asia. According to a recent article in BusinessWeek “Two-thirds of the $523 million in sales by China’s Tencent social sites comes from virtual goods such as pets; only 13% is from advertising.”

The BusinessWeek article Lucrative Alternatives to Online Advertising went on to note that “Virtual goods (also known as ‘e-gifts’) are a better fit than traditional advertising on socially oriented sites… That’s because ads are more distracting than alluring on sites where people are there to interact with one another rather than surf for information or products. By contrast, virtual goods are essentially social artifacts that people use to gain status among online peers.” …Read More…

Kevin Kelly recently gave a very thoughtful presentation on the future of the Web at The Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Mr. Kelly envisions a world where the semantic Web reins supreme and usage revolves around three areas:

1. The Cloud
2. Databases
3. Sharing

The semantic Web is an evolving extension of the World Wide Web in which the semantics of information and services on the Web is defined, making it possible for the Web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the Web content.