Have a lick at this…
Footy/animal Fail
Even South Africa’s animal kingdom have little faith in England winning any goals. Check out this bird which decided to perch itself on Algeria’s goal mid-way through play…
In case you missed it…
In case you missed the England v USA match, here it is in brief… lego-style
Here’s another Apple related blog for good measure.
It would appear that fourth time’s a charm as Apple has relaxed its exclusivity rules for the iPhone 4. All the major networks – O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and Three – are ranging the much heralded device and most have announced June 24 as the sale date. iPhone 4 has some quirky upgrades and much needed improvements to the screen quality and battery and Apple fan boys swooned in their seats when Steve Jobs announced the phone now enables video calls through the Face Time feature. Looking forward to getting my hands on one.
The iPad cometh
The Apple iPad is one of the most talked about devices in recent history. Apple’s brand strength has really helped spur on media coverage of the desirable slate and the easy-to-use iPhone user interface has made it a hit in the States, where it’s currently available.
The iPad has been available in the States since April 3rd and scaled back the launch in Europe a couple of times due to high demand for the device across the pond.
It is finally going to be available in the UK tomorrow (May 28) and is expected to be a sell out here too.
The major mobile networks have unveiled data plans which are bundled with the micro-SIM compatible with the iPad offering customers the chance to connect the device through the mobile internet.
Three UK announced its tariffs earlier this week, which undercuts the majority of its competitors and further promotes the fact it is home to the mobile internet.
Tariffs are as below:
Three UK plans for iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G
| Data | Monthly Fee |
| 1GB | £7.50 |
| 10GB | £15.00 |
Data plans do not require a term contract.
Here’s some of the coverage Three received after announcing the data plans:
- http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2010/05/three-to-undercut-rivals-with-ipad-plans.html
- http://mobilenews.omio.com/mobile-phone-news/three-announces-competitive-ipad-data-plan-pricing/
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7764367/Mobile-network-3-announces-iPad-tariffs.html
- http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1650274/three-ipad-prices
- http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/News/492170/3_announces_ipad_tariffs.html
Spring bounce
We just wanted to put a quick post up because, contrary to how it may seem, there are a few regular visitors to this blog who have been met with no new content for a few days. This is due in no small part to the fact that we have seen a considerable spring bounce and have been really quite busy.
Parys Communications may not exactly be a bellweather of the economy, but it has made us hopeful enough to start hiring a few people.More details over on Gorkana jobs here. For more news watch this space, which we promise will be filled more regularly now.
Russian roulette with the UK tabloids
Reading the tabloids recently it looks like new social-media superstar Chatroulette is currently running the gauntlet of the UK press. The variety of stories published on the emerging phenomenon vary enormously from the traditional UK tabloid fear angle right down to the fact that Kate Moss is apparently ‘addicted’ to using the site (she obviously couldn’t just ‘like it’). I would imagine the prospect of seeing Kate Moss on the other end of the camera has just driven the number of hits amongst the adolescent male market through the roof. It will be interesting to see how the site handles its reputation, going from small start-up to worldwide web megastar is probably quite daunting for a 17 year old.
In the mean-time, the site has already started generating people who will doubtless be hailed as Internet superstars, including the guy below who is using Chatroulette for far more innocent and entertaining purposes.
It’s all OK
Two small words currently strike fear into the hearts of many who work in the communications industry, social media. The fear that somewhere a competitor is secretely working on an insanely clever campaign to gather a baying horde of Facebook friends is something that keeps the more anxious comms professional up a long time after Paxman has crucified his latest victim. To make it worse, graduates with more Twitter followers than you (your cousin at uni and a few journalists) are chucking around words like ‘WOM triggers’ and ‘influencer ripples’ like they are secret language which only people with a vanity URL can understand. If all that doesn’t start the beads of sweat forming, then a single look at the fit-inducing graphs is enough to send you back to your desk clutching nice friendly trade magazines, written by people who you can have beers with.
Relax. Deep breaths. Hug.
It doesn’t need to be like this. Social media is actually not all that different from traditional PR, in fact a well respected blogger put this quite clearly to me the other day – saying it was ‘just PR without the meals.’ It’s still about making sure you are telling a colourful story in a compelling manner to the right people. Do not spam, do not assume importance and make sure you are being useful and relevant to the people who you are talking to. Sure, some of the rules of engagement and the content is slightly different, but it’s not the dark art that it is being made out to be.
When PR people first started contacting journalists many lunches ago there must have been a period of awkwardness before the two learned how to be useful to each other and this is where I think we currently are now. There is no need to panic, whatever the growing number of gurus tell you.
When comedy becomes reality
The differences in editorial policy between various news outlets are no more evident than in some of today’s reporting on the quibble emerging in the Falkland Islands.
The Sun’s article reads like an armada from the British Navy is already pulling off the dust covers on its howitzers in preparation for the bombardment of Buenos Aires. According to the paper HMS York is ‘spearheading a new task force’ and they even go as far as ‘revealing’ that there are more than 1,000 armed forces personnel in the region (who have been there for 20 years or so, you would have thought that this is probably past the expiry date for a revelation). By contrast, on Radio 4 this morning a spokesperson for The Government said the ship was in the area anyway and it was just popping in to say hello. Whoever’s right, The Sun article gives me an excuse to link to the Day Today sketch when Chris Morris brokers war between Australia and Hong Kong and that can only be a good thing.
the Price of fame
Katie Price’s publicist has definately got one of the easiest jobs in PR. All she has to do is post a picture up on Facebook nowadays to get nearly 650 Google News hits, which is currently a higher ranking than if you search for the word Iraq in Google news.
