For immediate release:
Free To Use Cloud Mobile Management Platform Now Available For Android Phones
Berlin, Germany – 3rd April 2012 – Cloud-based mobile phone management platform Phonedeck has today announced its public release, allowing users to curate and store all of their phone contacts, manage SMS activity, monitor usage statistics and much more from a connected web browser. Following its invitation-only soft launch at the tail end of 2011, Phonedeck is now openly available for free download from Google Play for Android handsets, with plans to launch on other mobile platforms soon.
Helping to bridge the gap between phone communications and the web, Phonedeck brings the principles of social networking to mobile by giving users more flexibility and greater insights into how they use their handset. After downloading the free supporting application and registering with the web client, phone contacts are uploaded to Phonedeck’s SSL encrypted cloud servers where they can be viewed and edited in a fashion that will be familiar to social network users, all changes being instantly synced to the host phone. SMS can be composed, sent and received remotely, while visual usage insights will reveal most-contacted people, the number of calls and messages sent in a chosen time period and more, to build a complete picture of personal phone usage.
Phonedeck can be optionally linked to business-related social networking platform LinkedIn, from where contact information can be pulled from those members within a user’s network and synced with the host phone. This ‘auto-curation’ of phone contacts ensures that listed numbers, email addresses, profile pictures and other contact information are always up to date, with plans to add further integrations from other premium social networking services to follow shortly. Upon receiving a call, contact information, profile picture, messages and interaction histories are displayed in an overview screen on the host computer, from where calls can be answered or rejected remotely as desired. Entire histories by contact are logged, making it quick and easy to scroll through earlier message and call records to recover vital information. Misplaced handsets are also easily recovered with a remotely activated chime that will sound even with the phone placed on a silent setting.
“The idea for Phonedeck was born out of a vision of combining the strengths of two devices many people in business use every day; the portability and connectivity of mobile phones and the relative large screens and keyboards of personal computers,” commented Frank Fitzek, Phonedeck CEO and co-founder. ”After our successful invitational phase we had reels of invaluable feedback that have helped shape the platform into what it has become today. Now that we have such a stable framework in place, we’re looking forward to sharing the many new features planned for the platform in the near future.”
An adapted version of Phonedeck is also available as an S40 application for Nokia feature phones, where it currently enjoys considerable pick up in the Asian market in particular. Updates to the Phonedeck Android platform since the end of the final invitational phase include:
–Redesigned activity stream – streamlined visual design for each available function
–‘Top contacts’ – those people in users’ phonebooks that the platform recognises as the most important based on behavioural insights and previous call data. Listed information such as birthdays and other such events will bring these top contacts to the top of users’ lists
–Revised Caller Overview Screen – Call notifications now display on-map caller registered location (typically office or home address), social network activity and interaction insights alongside profile shot, call and SMS history
–New Google Chrome browser extension – the extension will show desktop notifications on incoming calls and SMS, allowing users to answer and reject calls or click over to the the Phonedeck website for more information. This runs continually in the background, even with the browser closed
–Drag and drop contact merging – no more duplicates; simply drag one contact on top of the other to combine information and create a single phonebook entry
–Sharing calls and SMS to Facebook and Twitter – optional sharing of call information and messages to social networks from the phonedeck web platform
For more information and to sign up for a free Phonedeck account head to phonedeck.com
