|
TheBuzz Erika Engle |
AT&T Wireless rolls out
new high-tech Ogo
AT&T Wireless rolled out a new tech toy yesterday. The wireless, opens-like-a-clamshell, message-sending micro-mini laptop can be used for instant messaging, text messaging and e-mail via AOL, MSN and Yahoo!
It's called Ogo.
Hah?! Oh, like dakine seaweed you pu in sai da poke?
Well, no. Local AT&T Wireless officials informed mainland counterparts of the association we local folk would make, in case the brand marketing people wanted to rethink the name. They don't. Ergo, it's still Ogo.
"Ogo has no meaning, per se, but the name implies mobility, connectivity, effortless functionality and fun," was the response that came back from corporate, according to Lissa Guild Eveleth, marketing and public relations manager.
Still, it would be weird to hear "Try wait, I gotta get my Ogo outta my pocket." One might surmise one's friend was using unconventional methods for harvesting marine vegetation.
Ogo costs $99 after a $30 mail-in rebate with messaging plans starting at $18 each month.
The company is targeting the youth market, but it will also spell out its message to parents.
"With Ogo, parents no longer have to contend with those endlessly long IM sessions of teenagers and 20-somethings," said Andre Dahan, president of AT&T Wireless Mobile Multimedia Services.
"Today's youth no longer have to choose between 'logging on' or 'heading out,' since Ogo lets them do that both at the same time," he said.
Merger, interrupted
The Big Island's Oda/McCarty Architects Ltd. and Honolulu's Durrant-Media Five were surging toward merging this Friday and sent out a media statement to that effect. Then came another one stamped "canceled."What happened?
Nothing bad, assured Durrant-Media Five Marketing Coordinator Stacy Warner.
"It's just a matter of preparations and ground work," she said. Things like assembling new employee training manuals will require more time to be put together, delaying the merger to Nov. 1, as opposed to canceling it.
The companies have enjoyed collaborating on projects including the Hilo Judiciary Center and the Mauna Kea Astronomy Education Center, so the decision was made to join forces, she said.
The Oda/McCarty Architects office will become the Hilo office of Durrant-Media Five when the merger becomes effective.