From Singapore bloggers Tech65.org comes what is most probably the first INQ Mini 3G unboxing video on the internet.

Thought we’d share this: the rarely seen fail whale captured in the wild on an INQ Mini 3G.

We have some great news today: INQ is now in Singapore too, with the INQ Mini 3G going on sale this Saturday (19 September).

Our new Social Mobile will be available exclusively through SingTel, the country’s biggest and most innovative network operator.

We’ve been working closely with the team at SingTel, and would like to say thanks for making this happen.

We’ve also been spending time on the ground in Singapore and have got to know the place well over the last few months, so we’re looking forward to seeing the glossy covers of the INQ Mini 3G in the hands of Singaporeans and hearing our new ringtones (more on these later) ring out across the island from Orchard Road to Haji Lane, via Clarke Quay and the city’s many malls.

To find out more about SingTel’s offer, check out their INQ page here.

Nielsen has just published “Global Faces and Networked Places” a report  on the momentous rise of social networking. Describing the trend as “the global consumer phenomenon of 2008″, it highlights how two-thirds of the world’s internet population now visit a social network or blogging site.

The report is stuffed full of interesting stats. One in particular caught our attention. Many think that social networking is the preserve of the young, and yet:

“Facebook’s greatest growth in global audience numbers has come from people aged 35-49… now almost one third of its global audience is aged 35-49 years of age and almost one quarter is over 50 years old.  In the UK, for example, if the average month-on-month audience changes over the last six months were to continue; by mid-June 2009 there would be as many 35-49 year olds on Facebook as 18-34 year olds.”

If you want to find out more, You can download the report in PDF here.

 A while back, a technology blog wrote some lovely words about the INQ¹ packaging, and threw in a question too:

  ”This is undoubtedly the coolest phone box we’ve ever seen. What on earth has a DJ/geisha got to do with a mobile phone that offers integrated Facebook and Skype? It makes no sense, but you will stare at it for longer than is healthy - as you will with the colourful instruction cards inside.”

 Thought we’d tell you why today.

At INQ we make a new type of handset - the Social Mobile -  designed for the way people communicate today. The services we’ve built into the device are there to be used, and not sit stranded and unwanted in some obscure sub-menu. 

Communication is at the heart of everything we do. We express this in our brand through one of its most striking and creative aspects: art. Not in any lofty way, but in vibrant and streetwise forms: illustration, comics, film - whatever we like really, whatever catches our eye. 

With the INQ¹ box we wanted to create an object of beauty - something to cherish not chuck. All too often, packaging needs up in landfills, or recycling bins at best. While we’d like people to keep it, use it and treasure it.

When we design our handsets we remix and edit internet services so that the play best on a mobile. Similarly, we remixed the idea of a box and made it into a place to display artwork.  The box art, and the illustrations on the help cards, come from people whose work we really like. You can check them all out here.

 A big shout out to Yuko Shimizu, our box artist. Her name and URL are rightly credited on the box. 

 Yuko, we love your work. 

It’s Red Nose Day in the UK today, and we’re supporting the Optimist Society in their attempt to set a new Conga Line World Record.

They’re setting off from the GLA building on Southbank at 2pm, along to Festival Hall for 3pm, across Lambeth Bridge and through Westminster to St James Park, then up the mall, across Hyde Park Corner then round the serpentine to Lancaster Gate, up to Notting Hill, down Holland Park and through Westfield finishing at BBC TV Centre at 6.30pm (for a total of 17KM).

If you happen to be in London and bump into them along the way in their INQ t-shirts cheer them on and don’t forget to make a donation.

We’re happy to announce that 3 Hong Kong has just launched the INQ¹. Look here & here for the details.

When asked if anything caught their eye and captured their interest at the Mobile World Congress, Walt Mossberg and Katherine Boehert single out the INQ¹. Brilliant.

« Older Entries

Newer Entries »