Last night smart voicemail saved my life!!

Ok a touch dramatic I know but seriously what a life saver the service is.

I use the HulloMail service on my iPhone, one of the main benefits for me, personally, was being able to listen to my messages in the order I want and not listen to that annoying announcer telling me to press 3 and then 4 blah blah.

This past weekend I went away for a lovely break, on the journey home however I realised I had left my iPhone at the hotel!  I was too near home to turn back but I couldn't be without my iPhone.  I use this device for work and I was also in the middle of a particularly challenging game of solitaire!

That's where the caped crusader I like to call HulloMail came in.  I quickly realised that the situation was not as dire as I originally thought because everything, missed calls, voicemails and Hullos, gets sent to my email as well as to to my app, because I have set up my email as my message store so I wasn't going to miss any important calls or messages. 

Other plus was no-one in the office realised I had left my phone behind which gave me enough time to arrange to collect it!  Good excuse for another weekend away...

HulloMail urges football fans not to return home to an own goal!

Travelling to World Cup in South Africa?  HulloMail offers you an alternative way of keeping in touch while away, for FREE!

With UK-based watchdog, Consumer Focus, issuing a warning to football fans travelling to the 2010 World Cup regarding potentially huge bills for mobile phone usage, HulloMail™ (www.hullomail.com) is encouraging individuals to download its free smart voicemail app in advance, in order to access voicemails and send voice messages home, at no cost.

Users of HulloMail can give friends and family their personal HulloMail UK number allowing them to leave voice messages without calling them directly. Travelling fans can then listen to messages using the HulloMail mobile app whilst roaming in a free WiFi location and can quickly and easily reply using a ‘Hullo’, which is a short, instant voice message.

The Consumer Focus watchdog found that rates for making calls from South Africa were as high as £1.70 per minute, whilst the worst culprit was for receiving calls, charging £1.50 per minute.

Andy Munarriz, our founder and CEO,said: “It would be a real own goal to return from the World Cup to find a hefty mobile phone bill waiting for you. It makes sense for fans to access our free HulloMail smart voicemail app. They can give contacts their unique HulloMail number so voice messages can be left for them, saving expensive roaming costs. Messages can then be retrieved simply via the app, online, or by email; it’s up to the fan which they prefer.  Fans can also send a Hullo, short voice message, to their mates watching back home for free, using a free WiFi hotspot.”

Until recently free WiFi has not been the norm in South Africa, however, many shopping centres and leisure complexes in the host cities are providing free WiFi for the duration of the tournament: http://bit.ly/freewifiza. 

HulloMail victorious at Red Herring Europe 100 Europe awards

We're pleased to announce we have been named a winner of the prestigious Red Herring 100 Europe Awards; an award that is given to the top 100 private technology companies based in the EMEA region each year.

According to Red Herring, technology industry executives, investors, and observers regard the Red Herring 100 lists as an invaluable instrument to discover and advocate the promising start-up businesses that will lead the next wave of disruption and innovation.

Andy Munarriz, our founder and CEO, said: “To be acknowledged by the Red Herring 100 Awards for our innovation is amazing, particularly when you consider past winners of this accolade include the likes of Google, Yahoo!, Skype and Netscape.  At HulloMail, we are focused on extending our voicemail and voice messaging apps for BlackBerry, Android and iPhone to match our user’s needs, in addition to expanding into new geographical regions. It’s an exciting time for our business and this award is great testament to the work the team has put in to awakening the voicemail and voice messaging space.”

We launched HulloMail a year ago and are passionate about revolutionising the way people use voicemail by developing the most innovative and user-friendly way to send, manage and share day-to-day voice communications. 

Shortlisted for Innovative App Award

We're proud to announce we have been selected as a finalist for the 2010 Meffys Awards, in the ‘Innovative App’ category.  The awards, which recognise global brands, dynamic start-ups and visionary individuals in the mobile entertainment and media industry, will announce the winners, 21st June 2010.

We launched a consumer service a year ago and are revolutionising the way people use voicemail by developing the most innovative and user-friendly ways to send, manage and share day-to-day voice communications. We are selected as a finalist for the ‘Innovative App’ category, which celebrates technical and creative innovation, UI design and quality of experience, in addition to taking into consideration how the new technology adds value for the consumer.

Commenting on the news that we've been selected as a finalist, Andy Munarriz, our founder and CEO, said: “The Meffys is a highly regarded event in the mobile industry’s calendar, and we’re extremely excited to have been shortlisted for an award. The news comes only a few weeks after also being nominated for the Red Herring 100 Europe Award, so we are very pleased to be receiving such recognition for our innovative voicemail and voice messaging applications.  It’s certainly an exciting year for us at HulloMail as we continue to develop and expand.”

The winners will be announced at a gala evening reception, 21st June 2010, at the Great Connaught Rooms in London.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

HulloMail™ launches Hullo technology for Android phones with its latest release

We are pleased to announce the launch of our version 2.2 Android app. The enhanced app builds on the existing voicemail and features the new Hullo instant voice messaging technology, which has already been a big hit with our iPhone and BlackBerry users. 

‘Hullos’ are short voice messages that enable users to reply to a voicemail or to send new instant voice messages without having to make a phone call.  As a HulloMail subscriber, most Android Smartphone users can now enjoy this powerful two-way digital messaging capability free of charge, both locally and overseas*, when they download the enhanced HulloMail app.  

Andy Munarriz, our founder & CEO, said: “Our goal at HulloMail is focused on building out voicemail into two way voice messaging. We are driven by impulses to speak. All modes of communication have their uses but voice is still up there as one of the clearest, if not the clearest form of communication. Hullos streamline voice messaging for the SmartPhone generation making voice as simple as texting or emailing.” 

In addition to incorporating Hullos, the Android app also offers users the option to display missed calls, the opportunity to copy messages directly to registered email addresses and also the ability to access existing messages whilst offline. The service continues to offer unique message syncing capabilities with email compliant accounts, such as Gmail. 

The HulloMail Android app is currently available to both UK and US users and can be downloaded for free from the HulloMail Web site at www.hullomail.com or from the Android marketplace. 

Awards, Awards, Awards

It's turning into a great month here at HulloMail. We ended April and began May with our BlackBerry App being featured app on BlackBerry App World, which resulted in a surge in registrations especially from our 83xx and 85xx users.

AND...

We're pleased to announce we've been selected as a finalist for the Red Herring 100 Europe Awards, which honours the 100 most innovative and promising technology start-ups from across Europe.

Red Herring analysed hundreds of cutting-edge companies and technologies and selected those who they felt are positioned to grow at an explosive rate. The resulting two hundred finalists have been invited to attend an Awards dinner in Paris, France on 27 May 2010, where the Top 100 winners will be announced.

Andy Munarriz, our founder and CEO: “Since we launched HulloMail to consumers a year ago, we have seen a massive increase in appetite and downloads of our apps for BlackBerry, Android and iPhone. Ultimately, we have created a service that suits the way people want to interact today – quickly, without fuss and, ideally, for free. Therefore, to be recognised by Red Herring as one of the most innovative technology start-ups is amazing and I look forward to hearing the outcome of the Awards on 27 May.”

"This year was especially difficult," said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. "Despite the global economic situation, there were many great companies producing really innovative and amazing products that we had a difficult time narrowing the pool and selecting the finalists. HulloMail shows great promise therefore deserves to be among the Finalists. Now we’re faced with the difficult task of selecting the Top 100 winners of Red Herring Europe award. We know that this year’s crop will grow into some amazing companies that are sure to go far."

Wish us luck next week!

The Future of Voicemail - sponsored by HulloMail

As posted by Ewan this morning, the Future of Voicemail Video Series is coming soon to Mobile Industry Review, which HulloMail are happy to sponsor.

Ewan approached us about the series, as he had for a long time been pondering the possibilities of the medium of voicemail, which he felt had been over looked for years.  We all rely on it daily and according to a recent article in The Times, us Brits alone spend more than 25 billion minutes each year leaving or listening to voicemail.  Which begs the question why do so many of us put up with the archaic service we've had for years.

This question and more we will aim to answer through the upcoming Future of Voicemail Video Series.

The format will be this: Ewan will be interviewing five leading minds in the mobile and technology field on camera over the next few weeks. He'll be asking them to comment on the history of the industry, the technology in use today and to speculate on what they see as the next steps for the medium. We're aiming for one video each week, starting in the next few weeks.

If you’ve any questions, drop Ewan a note: ewan@mobileindustryreview.com.

Watch this space for some behind the scenes exclusive insights.