Netphone seen to revolutionize how Pinoys access Internet

MANILA, Philippines - Wireless leader Smart Communications said its newly-launched Netphone, touted as the country’s first, always-connected ‘cloudphone,’ is expected to help shape how some 30 million Filipinos access the Internet.

At a briefing recently held in Cebu City, Smart representatives bared the role of the Netphone  its own range of Android smartphones set apart by the SmartNet platform and its patented Safe Browse feature - in expanding the telco leader’s mobile Internet portfolio.

“You could call the Netphone 701  the first of many Netphone models  a ‘3-in-1’ device,” according to Gio Bacareza, head of Smart’s broadband Internet and data services team.

“It is a full-featured cellphone running on the country’s nationwidest network. It is an Android device which provides users access to a multitude of applications. Most importantly, it’s a cloudphone which provides users always-connected access to their social networks for free,” Bacareza added.

Officially introduced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain early this year, the Netphone has best-in-class Internet-capability specifications and is designed to perfectly suit both the Internet habits and purchasing power of Filipino mobile users.

The Netphone 701 retails for P9,900 and is available free with as low as an P800 postpaid plan.

With the Netphone, Smart expects to trigger a shift for some 30 million online Filipinos to start doing their favorite Internet activities such as social networking and chatting, primarily through their mobile device and in bite-sized amounts.

“Of these online Filipinos, we know that only about five million use their mobile device - which is what they have in their hands practically all day – to gain access to the Internet,” Bacareza said.

“The Netphone is the perfect tool to encourage more people to start taking advantage of mobile Internet, because the device itself is priced attractively, while the fully-integrated SmartNet suite of services allows them to update their Facebook and Twitter status, as well as chat, for free,” he noted.

The Netphone’s patented Safe Browse feature, meanwhile, allows users to have a worry-free mobile Internet experience, by avoiding unexpected data charges yet remain connected to their social networks via SmartNet.

“This is a feature offered by no other smartphone, and is a very user-friendly, affordable alternative for subscribers that do not want to avail of flat-rate, all-you-can-eat data plans,” Bacareza pointed out.

Other unique Netphone features expected by Smart to help drive take-up are the free Netphone-to-Netphone Messaging, the Global Directory which allows Netphone users to safely store and find contacts online, and FX messaging or rich, custom messages with special effects.