Rating: neXt to nothing?

My initial reaction when I received this email from 3 UK launching neXt is that the name sounded familiar. I looked in my files and next is the same name used by Orange a few years ago for its converged strategy. Strange but true.

Anyway. 3’s version of neXt is part of the X-Series evolution. neXt is a website community built to promote mobile Internet resources. It’s a free service and users globally can use it to find mobile applications. Basically the web and WAP site will provide a place where all the latest mobile apps or internet services and best start-up services in the social network space come together and can be picked up, used and downloaded by mobile users. Existing apps include: Jaiku, Mapsolute, Wikipedia and Shozu. The site will compliment the services of X-Series users – but is also available to all mobile Internet fans.

What we think?
Apart from the name of the service (which is a has been) the benefits of the new web and WAP site are evident. Basically 3 is positioning itself as a thought leader in the mobile Internet space and this is part of its strategy to educate, promote and guide the uptake of the mobile Internet.

We believe that the fact that the site will review and explain the applications is essential for take up and success. The mobile Internet remains a grey area because users make basic and simple mistakes such as forgetting where they have saved an application or get confused about the billing when downloading and app and cancelling too soon. These issues are headaches for mobile operators and 3 is doing well to address them.

No doubt the web and WAP sites will become self-evangelising machines for 3 as well which will work as a valuable tool to convert users to 3’s services (globally).

This is the icing on the cake and if 3 wants to become the mobile Internet leader next has to be the start and not the end of a long campaign.

Anyway – we have just signed up and here is our welcome email below:
Welcome to3neXt benaroberts,
You are now able to write reviews of products, rate products and take part in 3's exciting new X-Series and mobile broadband community.
What would you like to do next?
• Go to the home page
• Check out new software
• Discover some made-for-mobile internet sites
• Suggest software you like that we haven't written about yet
And don't forget, when you are out and about, you can still keep using 3neXt at 3next.mobi or if you want to read more about the mobile internet visit our blog.
Thanks
The 3neXt team