INQ Arrives in Canada to Spark a Social Mobile Revolution

The inventors of true Social Mobile bring their mission of affordable wireless internet for the masses to North America

TORONTO, July 28 /CNW/ - A global movement is underway as internet social media forever changes the way we communicate. Immediate access to online information, from any place at any time, has gone from a luxury to a necessity. In fact, many Canadian youth in the Net Generation increasingly use social media such as Facebook and Twitter as their main mode of communication.

Yet for most young and constantly on-the-move people who use these social media sites, the high price of handsets keeps mobile access to the internet out of reach. That's why in 2008, INQ 'remixed' the phone for the Net Generation and revolutionized the wireless industry with the first-of-its-kind, award-wining INQ1 - an affordable, highly-functional handset custom-engineered for wireless internet that was named "Handset of the Year" at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The pioneering INQ Social Mobile phones have spawned a series of copycats and shattered the cell phone status quo around the world.

Now, INQ is using Canada as the launch market to bring its mobile internet revolution to North America with the new INQ Chat 3G.

INQ's ground-breaking platform was built from scratch to offer unprecedented integration with mobile internet. Unlike handsets designed primarily for talk and text, INQ Social Mobile devices embed popular internet applications such as Facebook and Twitter in the phone's underlying software. This allows INQ to eliminate many of the cumbersome steps required to access social mobile sites on other phones. Applications are always running and accessible with just one click from the home screen. In addition, INQ phones offer a seamless multimedia experience courtesy of media sync software for MAC and PC that allows users to sync music, photos and video without giving up their preferred media player.

"We focus on what our core consumers want to do most with their mobile phone and deliver it at a price point that's affordable, especially for the youth that are driving the social media revolution," says Frank Meehan, Founder and CEO of INQ. "Our mission here in Canada is to bring a great mobile internet experience to the masses."

    
    INQ Chat 3G coming soon in Canada
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Appealing to the increasingly savvy Net Generation, the INQ Chat 3G, will soon be available from TELUS on Canada's fastest network* and from Koodo Mobile, Canada's decidedly different, pay for what you need wireless company. The INQ Chat 3G is the company's first QWERTY phone and comes equipped with INQ's renowned Facebook app: a proprietary widget on the home screen that shows real-time updates, integrates the onboard camera and creates a unified Inbox.

"We know there's a whole generation of people out there with no 'off button' - they are messaging, texting and uploading and updating 24/7. We exist for them." adds Meehan.

INQ, known for its award-winning packaging and collaborations with up and coming artists from around the world, has developed a customized phone back unique to the TELUS or Koodo Mobile, version of the device.

    
    The INQ Chat 3G - the one with:
    -------------------------------

    -   A multi-tasking platform with 'always on' access to Facebook, Twitter
        and Instant Messaging - a log-in to any one application is required
        only once.

    -   An active address book that consolidates contacts with Facebook and
        provides real-time status information at a glance.

    -   Video and photo syncing.
    

The INQ Chat 3G will be available soon from TELUS and Koodo across Canada.

*Comparing TELUS HSPA+ network service to Rogers HSPA+ network service, based on TELUS' tests of data throughput speeds in large Canadian urban centres. Internet access speed provided by the network operator may vary due to the device being used, network congestion, distance from the cell site, local conditions and other factors. Speed on the Internet is beyond the wireless network operator's control and may vary with your configuration, Internet traffic, website server and management policies, and other factors.

    
    About INQ Social Mobile
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INQ Mobile, a standalone company wholly owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited, is pioneering the development of Social Mobiles. The company was founded to address a growing need among operators across the world for advanced mobile internet handsets for the mass market that drive data revenue, minimize subsidies and minimize network load. INQ draws on the strengths of its parent company, which made an early investment in global 3G networks. INQ designers are based in London supported by offices in Rome and Silicon Valley plus regional sales office in Singapore, India and China. In February 2009, INQ1 won 'Handset of the Year' at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. For more information visit: www.inqmobile.com or follow us on Twitter @inqmobile.

For further information: or to schedule an interview with a spokesperson: Please contact Maximilian Nchama, Strategic Objectives, 416-366-7735 ext. 241, Email: [email protected]