Commentary from Datasharp Telecom, one of the leading independent telecoms companies in the UK focusing on emerging technologies from within the telecommunications sector. VoIP, IP telephony, PABX, hybrid IP systems, hosted solutions, convergance technologies.

Friday, April 27, 2007

WHAT $250 MILLION DOLLARS LOOKS LIKE!!!

TALKING AND DRIVING MORE DANGEROUS IF YOU'RE ALONE

Mobile phone use twice as dangerous as talking to passengers

A new study published in the latest edition of Accident Analysis & Prevention has found that talking to passengers in the car is less dangerous than talking on a hands-free phone.

The study is a follow-up to one published two years ago that established that drivers chatting on the phone were more than four times more likely to have an accident than those driving in silence - but that study made no comparison with talking to passengers in the car.

Now researchers at The George Institute for International Health, Sydney Australia, have filled that gap by talking to 274 drivers attending hospital in Perth, and asking them what they were doing just before their accident.

The results show that driving with two or more passengers more than doubles the chances of having an accident, but using a mobile phone increases the chances of having an accident by a factor of more than four.

The effect of trying to get directions on the phone while being screamed at by two children wasn't established, but it's probably worth taking extra care over the weekend.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

PROXIMITY BASED DISCOUNTS VIA MOBILE TEXT

Volunteers sign up for adverts

Mobile advertising can work. In a trial with 1,000 volunteer customers, Singapore operator M1 has launched a location-based marketing drive. Having opted-in, a user walking along Orchard Road, a main shopping street in the city- state, receives messages offering discounts in stores or restaurants as they approach them.

Shopkeepers, who are typically cutting 10 per cent off prices, capture customers who might otherwise have passed them by. Restaurants can offer discounts to attract early and late diners, extending their full-capacity hours.