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November 14, 2006
Renzoo Launches Voicemail, Email, Messaging Freemium Services
Getting email and other popular Internet applications onto cellphones is high on the agenda at handset manufacturers like Motorola, which just paid half a billion for Good Technology's push email tech, and Nokia, which acquired Intellisync, last year for similar reasons. It looks like the cellphone-makers have their eye on the service revenues that email messaging can bring them on top of selling the hardware.
A London-based startup, Renzoo, also has its eye on mobilephone messaging services but ones that are not yet being offered by the big names.
Renzoo is all about keeping up with what's in multiple email and voicemail accounts.
Renzoo was founded in London in 2005 and is a spinoff of a Croatian company called Alterbox, which develops messaging solutions for telco customers. According to Renzoo founder, main shareholder, and CEO, Denis Kotlar, Alterbox has more than 150,000 subscribers using its telco based messaging solutions.
That market know-how and experience, Koslar is applying to Renzoo, his third startup but first consumer-oriented venture.
Prior to founding Renzoo and Atlerbox, Kotlar founded Envox Group, a voice solutions developer for VOIP and the Web software developers, where he was CTO. Envox raised over $8 million in VC, including an investment from Intel Capital and has more then 90 employees, operating in Boston, Sausalito, London, Stockholm, and Zagreb, said Kotlar.
Renzoo supports email but is best suited to those that only want some of their email coming through to the handset - not power mobile emailers that cannot live without their Blackberry. It supports users with multiple email accounts and multiple voicemail accounts - putting fixed line, Skype, and mobile voicemail all in one place. The company says that users can also open attachments, such as PDF, audio, MSOffice, and video files on their phones.
We didn't have time to try it to see how easily it is to open, play, and store files once received.
Renzoo is based in the UK, where it is having its initial launch, while its software development division in Croatia.
The service is free to start with and comes with 200 credits (£2 worth) when users sign up. Its Premium package costs £6 per month, comes with 5GB of storage and 1000 credits, which is the equivalent of receiving 100 mobile alerts, it says.
The plan is to sell directly to end users, as well as through ISP’s, alternative telcos and system integrators. A WAP (wireless access protocol)-enabled phone is required to be able to use Renzoo, which is pretty standard nowadays and the advantage to that is that no client download to the phone is required.
Zagreb Is Located Inland From Croatia's Attractive Adriatic Coastline
(Image Sources: Croatialifeproperty.com
Read - Under The Radar Profile : Renzoo
Read - Renzoo Features
Read - Renzoo Launches (press rel.)
Posted on November 14, 2006 01:34 PM | Posted to Wireless | Permalink
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