The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered Apple to stop running an advertisement for the new iPhone 3G.
The ad claims that the new handset can access “All of the web” - not so, says the ASA, as the iPhone cannot run Flash or Java apps the claim to run ‘all of the web’ is misleading.
“Because the iPhone doesn’t support Flash or Java, you couldn’t really see the internet in its full glory,” said ASA spoeksperson Olivia Campbell.
“They made a very general claim that you can see the internet in its entirety,” continued Campbell, “and actually that’s not quite true.”
Apple’s rather bare-faced counter-argument was that Flash & Java are proprietary technologies and that their claim was based on being able to access web pages, rather than being able to correctly display their contents.
The full adjudication is available here.
Blyk, the yoof-oriented MVNO, provides free voice minutes and texts to its 16-24 year old demographic in return for watching targeted adverts via their handsets. Once the free balance is used up, or if the user want to browse the web, the phone can be topped up like a regular pay-as-you-go SIM.
The UK Mobile blog SMS Text News has spotted a questionnaire on the Blyk website that suggests the company are considering extending their free service to include data.
Blyk want to know how important free data is to their customers, while making the point that other services might have to be sacrificed to fit the current advert/pricing model. They also want to know want kind of services are likely to be used the most - web access, social networking, chat etc.
Although Blyk are unlikely to be able to provide a huge amount of free data via advertising, this could still make a big difference to the amount their customers try to use and might even encourage some digital holdouts to give the mobile ‘net a try.
Here at Pocket Picks we are all far, far too old to be on the Blyk network and no amount of vitamins and moisturiser is going to change that. If you have given the service a whirl, why not take a break from drinking cheap cider and performing urban street dance and let us know what you think in the comments? Would the prospect of free data make putting up with adverts worthwhile?
Blyk, the virtual network for young people offering free minutes and texts for adverts, has been officially launched in the UK.
Blyk is aimed solely at mobile users aged 16-24, and promises 43 free minutes and 217 texts a month to subscribers. All they have to do in return is to accept MMS adverts from mainstream brands like Borders, Coke, JJB Sports, Xbox and Adidas being sent to their phones.
The service is apparently ‘invitation only’, but people can get invited by sending a text to a shortcode number. They’ll then receive a free Sim card to put in their MMS-enabled phones.
When signing up, users must enter a demographic profile of themselves including personal information and their tastes in fashion, music and so on. They’ll then receive targeted adverts from up to 40 brands that have signed up so far.
The free allowance is cross-network but only in the UK and if they go over their allowance, they’ll pay only 15p per minute for calls and 10p per text. Browsing the mobile Internet (Including Blyk’s own site) will cost 99p per MB.
[Blyk website]
