Click below to
find interesting
information from our
September 2010a
newsletter
relating to:
Roaming
Travel
Mobile phones
Roaming
Customers
don't
realise
roaming cost
Whilst we
have long known
many travellers
and businesses
tend to ignore
global-roaming
costs
(unless they
experience a
"bill-shock"), a
survey from
Finland shows
that only 4% of
consumers paid
attention to
roaming costs
when selecting a
mobile network.
Only 10% knew
the roaming
price when they
were actually
roaming.
Whilst
these are
figures from
before EU
regulations came
into effect
(which means
awareness in
Europe would be
higher now),
they will be
representative
of Australia
(where roaming
is less
understood and
international
travel less
frequent).
Not helping
awareness are
networks
complicated
pricing
structures and
poor
transparency
(for example no
Australian
network yet
publishes
roaming
voicemail
prices), which
stymies many
travellers
attempts to
analyse roaming
costs.
vRoam
does publish
its voicemail
rates.
Travel
Australian
travel
habits
The
start of
the
working
week is
‘rush
hour’
for
travel
research
and
booking
in
Australia.
Around one
third of
Australians log
on every Monday
and Tuesday,
particularly
after lunchtime
and peaking
between 4pm and
5pm, and in the
evening between
8pm and 9pm.
Australians are
less likely than
the rest of the
world to log on
over the
weekends, with
Saturday being
the quietest day
for booking
activity.
An Expedia
Travel Bookings
report provides
an insight into
the travel
habits and
profiles of
different
nationalities
and how they
book their
trips.
Australians
stay for an
average of more
16 days per
trip, the
longest duration
of any country.
More than half
of Australians
book their
flights and
hotels at least
a month out,
with around a
fifth booking
hotels and
flights more
than 3 months in
advance.
Italians are
the most likely
to book
last-minute
flights, and
Americans are
the most likely
to book hotels
less than six
days before they
travel.
In spite of
the recent
strong
performance of
the Australian
Dollar against
the Euro and
Pound Sterling
in recent
months, only one
European city -
London – made
the top 10 most
popular
international
travel
destinations for
Australians.
US
destinations
such as Las
Vegas, New York
and San
Francisco make
up half of
Australia’s top
10 favourite
international
travel
destinations.
Mobile phones
Tablet mobiles
The big noise
in mobile
devices these
days are
tablets. The
Apple iPad
started the
latest craze
(although tablet
devices based on
Windows have
been around for
many years), but
with the
resurgence of
interest in
media-consuming
devices a slew
of new products
are either
already
available or due
on the market
soon. The
differences this
time around are
touchscreens,
faster CPUs,
longer battery
life and apps.
By our count,
around 32
tablet-style
devices will be
on the market by
Christmas.
Manufacturers
include HP,
Dell, ASUS,
Lenovo, Fujitsu,
and many new
start-up
companies.
The
distinguishing
features include
the operating
system (many use
Android, some
the new Windows
7 Mobile) the
mobile
connectivity
(they use WiFi
or mobile-phone
networks) and
the size. In
particular there
are devices not
much bigger than
the current crop
of smartphones
(such as the
Dell Streak with
a 5-inch screen)
designed to fit
into a (large)
pocket, up to
iPad-size or
larger.
One we like is
the Samsung
Galaxy Tab
(right), at 7
inches a
medium-format
Android device.
It was first
seen in the wild
here in August,
where a Vodafone
engineer was
spotted checking
its performance
on a Sydney
train.
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