ROK Entertainment and WeFi have partnered to release a mobile services application called WeROK, that works on free WiFi. The WeFi application is a service that allows your mobile to automatically connect to the web through the best, nearest WiFi portal – without you having to search for it. Every time WeFi connects to a hotspot, it records it’s location on a global database. WeFi claims a global network of over 20 million access points now – and the new WeROK application simply integrates mobile services from ROK Entertainment into the application.
Now when you connect to WiFi through a WeFi hotspot, you will be able to use a large variety of ROK services through it. Examples include low-cost SMS, mobile email services, free mobile TV and mobile social networks.
The application is currently available for download free at www.werok.net, and can be used on PCs and Wi-Fi enabled Symbian S60 devices.
From the release:
“WeROK is a unique development and a giant leap forward in mobile and web convergence,” said Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman and CEO of ROK Entertainment Group. “It’s an advertising-funded mobile services application which enables handsets to automatically and seamlessly access Wi-Fi zones in order to route mobile activities via the Internet. In our testing of WeROK, we have seen savings of up to 85% being made on text services compared to the cost of using traditional network-based texting and through combining WeFi’s highly innovative Wi-Fi technologies with our suite of web-enabled mobile services, we are very excited to be launching WeROK on a global scale.”
“Increased Wi-Fi availability is incredibly useful in unleashing mobile Internet applications and services,” said Zur Feldman, CEO of WeFi. “WeFi is thrilled to be working with ROK Entertainment on WeROK, enabling users to enhance their mobile entertainment and communication activities, all the time utilizing a PC-like Internet experience over a mobile phone.”
What we think?
This is an interesting step, that essentially transforms a simple app into a mobile portal. With a selection of built-in services, and it’s own method for connecting to the internet, WeROK is the application equivalent of the operator front page you encounter if you use your network to access the mobile Internet. Which begs the question – is a front page what people really want? Given the choice, I believe people would rather jump straight into the mobile web without having to wade through a carrier portal first. So I’ve got to assume that people won’t optionally force a portal page onto themselves either. Whether or not the services on WeROK are good or bad, people tend to prefer to be able to choose their own services. For a WeFi user who already subscribes to a different mobile SMS service (for example), suddenly having WeROK pop up in your face everytime you log-on will be a major turn off. I’m not saying that this deal will push anyone away from either WeFi or ROK, I’m just not sure that a collaboration between the two is what the WeFi community will really want.
