SmarTone-Vodafone first to deliver the true Internet on your mobile

SmarTone-Vodafone first to deliver the true Internet on your mobile

Customers can now enjoy the freedom of the Internet as they do on PC

(3 July 2007, Hong Kong) SmarTone-Vodafone today unveiled a revolutionary customer

experience for exploring and enjoying the Internet on mobile. A wealth of rich and up-to-theminute

Internet content is now made available to SmarTone-Vodafone customers, on

demand and wherever they may be.

SmarTone-Vodafone is enabling customers to enjoy the freedom of the Internet to the full.

They are now able to browse web sites and watch Internet videos on their mobile real-time,

just as they do on their PC. This unique convenience is also extended to a huge range of

multimedia content on the Internet, available as RSS and Podcast feeds as well as Internet

radio broadcast.

The true Internet experience is enabled for all HSPA and 3G phones, equipped with HTML

browsers, offering customers a wide range of devices to choose from and enabling them to

enjoy SmarTone-Vodafone’s full range of Internet services on their mobiles.

“We are the first operator to bring the true Internet experience on mobile, demonstrating our

commitment to offer unbeatable customer experience and further extending our leadership in

service innovation and quality,” said Mr. Douglas Li, CEO of SmarTone-Vodafone.

“Customers will no longer suffer from a trimmed-down, delayed, jumbled-up or mobile edition

of the Internet.”

SmarTone-Vodafone has collaborated with The Chinese University of Hong Kong in the

development of the ground-breaking technology that makes it possible for customers to

enjoy Internet multimedia content, including videos, RSS, Podcast and Internet radio

broadcast, live on mobile.

“We are very excited to see SmarTone-Vodafone launching the first ever real-time Internet

multimedia streaming service for mobile customers. The new service, which is built upon the

ground-breaking technology developed by Professor Jack Lee of the Department of

Information Engineering, enables mobile customers to view video available on the Internet at

any time anywhere,” said Professor Yum Tak-Shing, Peter, Dean of Engineering, The

Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“This is an excellent example demonstrating the synergy of university-industry cooperation in

technology and product innovation. It is our pleasure to witness such a successful

technology transfer from the University to the industry, which, at the same time, can bring

new services to the society, and contribute to the industrial and economic development,”

Professor added.

Customers can access the true Internet on mobile through a one-stop entry point at

SmarTone iN!, the popular mobile portal of SmarTone-Vodafone. A number of new features

have been introduced to provide a unique Internet experience:

Original View of Webpages – Using the native HTML browsers in their mobiles, customers

can browse Internet web sites with layout and context presented in the original format as on

the PC. Riding on the navigation and zooming capabilities of their mobile phones, they can

surf the Internet in a way familiar to them.

Videos on the Net – Videos have been the hottest trend on the Internet in the last two years.

However, watching videos on the real Internet, on a mobile, has not been possible –

regardless of the mobile phone model or network. SmarTone-Vodafone is the first operator

in the world to enable customers to enjoy Internet videos on-the-fly on their mobile, bringing

the most exciting Internet experience on mobile.

Tell A Friend – Customers can now enjoy the freedom of sharing and networking, an

increasing trend in the burgeoning Web 2.0 phenomenon. They can share Internet content

viewed on mobile with their friends instantly with dual notifications sent to the recipients via

SMS and email. SmarTone-Vodafone is the first operator in Hong Kong to introduce such a

feature.

Bookmark Sync – At SmarTone-Vodafone, there will be no more frustration at keying in

URLs made up of a large number of characters. Customers can now bookmark what they

view as they browse on their mobile, as well as synchronise their bookmarks from PC to

mobile and vice versa. First from SmarTone-Vodafone, Bookmark Sync enables customers

to access their favourite Internet content as easy as they do on PC. It works on Microsoft

Internet Explorer, the most popular browser in the world, and is compatible with all HSPA

and 3G phones with HTML browsers. Bookmark Sync embodies the convergence of mobile

and the Internet, making the mobile phone and PC complementary to each other.

SmarTone-Vodafone customers can now access the hottest Internet applications with an

unrivalled experience:

RSS, Podcast and Internet radio broadcast – RSS, Podcast and Internet radio broadcast

are increasingly popular on the Internet. However, some of these have been available only

on a very limited range of mobile phone models. Now, SmarTone-Vodafone customers can

enjoy a huge variety of content on the Internet using pre-selected feeds provided, as well as

importing their own favourite RSS, Podcast, Internet radio feeds from their PC. They can

also discover more compelling content through other customers’ recommendations and even

contribute their own – realising the benefits of an increasingly networked world.

Orb – With Orb, SmarTone-Vodafone customers can remotely access files stored in their PC.

They can stream video and audio files as well as view photos, enjoying the convenience of

accessing their PC from anywhere.

Web mail – SmarTone-Vodafone customers can enjoy easy and convenient access to Hong

Kong’s most popular web mail services – Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail and Sina. They can now

bring their emails with them while on the move.

Mobile MSN – Even away from their PC, customers can stay connected with their MSN

buddies wherever they are, checking their buddies’ availability, sending them pictures and

voice clips and enjoying the freedom of instant messaging.

SmarTone-Vodafone’s true Internet experience also comes with Yahoo! Search, Hong

Kong’s No. 1 search engine, adding greater convenience to customers’ Internet experience

on mobile.

“Yahoo! Hong Kong is delighted to cooperate with SmarTone-Vodafone to offer innovative

Internet experience and to bring the unparalleled convenience of Yahoo! Search to mobile

customers. We are excited that the announcement today will further extend Yahoo! Hong

Kong’s Search leadership position from PC to mobile where we see promising

growth prospects”, said Mr. , Managing Director, Yahoo! Hong Kong.

Customers no longer need to worry about expensive charges when accessing the Internet

on mobile. SmarTone-Vodafone offers true unlimited usage for browsing, email, Internet

videos, as well as for popular Internet applications including RSS, Podcast, Internet radio

broadcast and MSN. An introductory offer with daily usage of up to 20MB, good for viewing

around 70-130 web pages, 10 minutes of video or 1,300 emails, is also available.

“What we are bringing to customers is the true Internet on mobile. From now on, our

customers can access the latest and greatest on the Net, enjoying the freedom of the

Internet as they do on PC, and to do so at fantastic value,” Mr. said.

***

Pricing

Internet Browsing Plan (12-month Contract Offer)

Browsing, Email and Watching Internet Videos

per month for 20MB per day

If usage exceeds 20MB per day, customers will be automatically upgraded to

per month for true unlimited browsing

What you can do with 20 MB per day