Lakeside Bluetooth Promotion

On my visit to Lakeside recently I received a Bluetooth message on my Nokia N95 (Bluetooth is always on on my handset) from Lakeside. Upon accepting the message and installing the Java application I was presented with some promotional content which was obviously a way to advertise products to the modern shopper using the latest technology and in this case Bluetooth.

The company being used seems to be Bluepod, which have a lot of experience in distributing content via Bluetooth to handsets, but the key thing here is it's all FREE and quick. The only negative is when the handset is out of reach from the Bluetooth station, which I would presume would be nearer to the exits of the confined shopping centre. So when I was at home perusing the application, most of the content isn't available for download. But it does include a free Tetris game which can be accessed when out of reach.



This new initiative for using the latest technology and one which is pretty prominent on modern handsets is a good way to get content to the intended audience quickly and for free, albeit the audience needs to have their Bluetooth turned on for it to work - which seems to be the other negative factor in this sort of promotional advertising.

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Terminate The Rate Is Murder For Call Charges

In the giddy heights of the BT Tower on the 34th floor (150m above ground) BT and 3 Mobile launched the Terminate The Rate initiative, which aims to bring down Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs). The move has backing from quite a few organisations which include MoneySupermarket, The FSB, Carers UK, NUS and the General Trade Union (GMB) who have all voiced their opinions on the matter.

The main aim here is to make aware the extra charges being paid by the consumer so Ofcom (the independent regulator and competition authority) can help enforce lower MTRs charges and in turn reduce costs incurred from calling mobiles from landlines. The current rate of 4.7p was set by Ofcom until 2011, but getting Ofcom to look into this now and setting guidelines to reduce this will help reduce the cost of calling in the near future. The aim is to make Ofcom reduce this charge to less than a penny which is a more accurate cost of MTRs.

What you can do for now is spread the word and get your friends and families to sign up for the petition which can be found on the TerminateTheRate website as well as key useful information and latest developments.

What are MTRs?
MTRs (Mobile Termination Rates) are charges for making calls to mobiles from landlines or cross network calls from mobiles.

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Mechanics Touch Released on Android

World of Mechanics have released Mechanics Touch for Android, which is a simple puzzle platformer where the aim is to lead the mechanics from one point to another optimizing the touch capability on Android handsets.

Use your fingers to tap on the screen and take control of various “Tools” spread around the levels. These tools will interact with your Mechanics and save them from harm as they happily walk around. Your main task is to figure out when and how to operate the tools and keep your Mechanics alive.
Short feature list:

• Android
• 3 worlds, 45 levels
• music and soundeffects
• unlockable achievements (RumbleX.com)
• online highscore rankings (RumbleX.com)

Visit the Android Marketplace to download the game to your device.

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