Polar Mobile has a holiday gift idea for last-minute givers: Free apps for mobile phones. Unfortunately, the so-called BeMobileSanta program isn’t so mobile.
First, the good: It doesn’t matter if the person on your list has a BlackBerry, iPhone, or Windows Mobile-powered device. And if you’re worried about pleasing a picky recipient, note that the applications are categorized under a variety of topics: Finance, sports, news, business, lifestyle, and real estate. Plus they’re free to send and receive, supported by ads.
However, in order to send the the apps and greeting card, you have to go onto Polar Mobile’s Web site and input an email address. That’s right–you send the mobile app dowloads via email.
Talk about clunky delivery. First, you have to wait for the gift-getter to log onto his or her email–not likely to happen too soon on Christmas, the first day of Hanukkah, or even Festivus. Then, the recipient has to figure out how to download the apps onto his or her phone. Maybe that’s not difficult for the tech-savvy, but it still adds an extra step to the process, thus increasing chances of abandonment.
What would be better is for Polar Mobile to send the holiday message and free download links via SMS or MMS. The person would receive the gift right away since he or she will have the cell phone right there. (I know I always eagerly await “seasons greetings” texts and calls from friends and family!) The recipient could then download the app to the phone quickly after clicking on said links.
Hopefully Polar Mobile is working on this solution already, at least in time for Valentine’s Day.
