Yahoo!, Yehey!, Yehba*?
Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | May 5, 2005 at 5:19 pm
Filed under: Science and Technology
FIRST, there was Yahoo!. Then, there was Yehey!. Now, there’s Yehba*.
Trust the Filipino’s penchant for spoofing just about anything to come up with an ingenious brand name. Obviously a take on two recognized online brands, at least as far as Pinoys are concerned, Yehba* is yet another mobile application — one that is being trumpeted by its developers as "a new mobile experience."
Upon the invitation of Pinoy web pioneer Jim Ayson, I attended Yehba*’s official launch today. Created by a local software development startup called D3Systems (the three Ds standing for dynamic, driven, dedicated), Yehba* — a Tagalog expression of approval or affirmation — basically offers PC-style chat and instant messaging (IM) to mobile phones. So one might be prodded to ask: "What’s new with that?"
For one, because it connects to chat networks (Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ) via GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), a standard that allows high-speed access to the mobile/wireless Internet, Yehba* is a cheaper alternative to instant messaging services like Chikka, which uses the short message service (SMS) for text messaging. Since GPRS access costs only 25 centavos per kilobyte (equivalent to 1,000 characters), this makes it possible to send more messages for less than a peso than what phone users are being charged at present — P1 to P2.50 per message (as in the case of replies to messages you receive on your phone sent via Chikka).
Another interesting feature of Yehba* is that it’s independent from your telco of choice, so one does not have to worry about interconnection issues. Whether you are a Globe, Smart, or Sun subscriber, Yehba* will work across networks. Chikka, on the other hand, is dependent on special arrangements with telcos here and abroad for its IM service to work.
Yehba*’s chat and messaging service is also accessible at no cost via Bluetooth, the wireless technology developed to interconnect personal computing devices within 10 meters (33 feet) of each other. For those using Bluetooth-enabled phones, D3Systems intends to soon set up BlueZones — Bluetooth access points similar to hotspots for wireless fidelity (WiFi)-enabled laptops — in places like malls, bars, cafés, schools, restaurants, hospitals, air and sea ports, and train stations.
Roger Delgado, D3Systems chief technology officer, says Yehba* is also short for Your Entertainment Hub and Business Access. Other features in the pipeline are mobile commerce to allow users to buy items and for businesses to use it as an advertising medium or a platform to deploy new mobile applications; multi-user mobile gaming; and "push-to-talk" capability to send voice messages over the Internet.
But since we’re in Nokia country, Yehba* currently runs only in Java-enabled Nokia Series 60 phone models. Delgado, however, said that work is already underway for Yehba* versions compatible with 13 other phone models and PDAs.
If you want to try it out, the beta release of the Java application can be downloaded for free at www.yehba.com.
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Somehow I don’t think messages will cost less than the usual PhP 1.00 (for regular SMS) or PhP 2.50 (for Chikka). For one, the overhead transfers usually associated with communicating via GPRS would mean that each 160-character message (the standard limit for a single SMS text) sent may actually amount to a few kilobytes, and hence more than the SMS charge of PhP 1.00.
And Bluetooth access points? Interesting.
Actually, a typical TCP/IP header would only be around 100-150 bytes. Add the 160 characters you have 260-300 bytes per message. That, I believe, would be more or less 3-5 messages for your peso depending on the length of the message.
Oops .. sorry my mistake …. it’s 25 centavos pero 1kb, not 1 peso …
so its actually 12-20 messages for every peso depending on the length of the message.
Although I’m proud that another Filipino product has been created to address our need for Texting, I think that it’s hard to compare Yehba (Y) to Chikka (C). Y is a mobile phone based while C is PC based. To send a message through Y, it’ll cost you 25c per KB while with C it’s free. It is cheaper to reply via Y as compared to C’s Php2.50. Lastly, the target market of Y are very different from C. The things that ties the 2 products together is that they both can use mobile phones, use messaging and are made in the PH.