[London, ENGLAND] Never mind the ups and downs of computer
manufacturer Apple or mobile operator Orange, on Tuesday it
was Speedy Tomato setting the pace in Europe with the launch
of a new portal in Finland.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Nordic communications company
Telia, Speedy Tomato began life in September 2000 with the
aim of becoming a user-friendly mobile portal. It has largely
achieved that objective, being a service that develops
in close dialogue with its users.
Tuesday’s launch in Finland is the third in northern
Europe for Speedy Tomato, which already operates mobile
portals in Denmark and the U.K.
Zeth Nystrom, Speedy Tomato’s chief executive, said that
Finland was a big challenge, being one of the toughest markets
in the world for mobile phones. Finland, he said, is always
competing with Sweden over who comes top of the mobile Internet
usage tables.
“I have good hopes we will succeed on the Finnish market as our
concept regarding social technology is unique,” added Nystrom.
Among the services offered on a fully operational Speedy Tomato
portal are personal calendar and address book, e-mail direct to
mobile phones, individually tailored news, adverts from personally
selected companies, and news about finance, sports, and other
topics.
The Finnish site will start with a limited range of services
initially, but will add further services over the next three
months, taking into account users’ comments and requests.
Conceived as a tool to help people in their everyday lives,
Speedy Tomato can be accessed in several ways, via the
Web, or by WAP or PDA. Its ringing tone applications are
being developed by Finnish Akumiitti Oy.
As for the portal’s catchy name — it appears to be an
example of the company’s inscrutable sense of humor.
Prospective users can download an animated cartoon that
demonstrates the service, but the final frame with its
option to “Watch Again” is the only part that makes you
laugh out loud.
