A new mobile phone launched last week with an interesting proposition — two SIMs running on the same phone at the same time. While this idea is not actually new in the Philippines, Verzio wants to penetrate a the aggressive mobile market in the country.
Funny thing happened when I was heading for the press launch last week — got stuck in traffic due to a downpour and when I got the only remaining parking spot near the place, the security guard turned me away (he says it was reserved for another resto). So I headed back home. *heh*
Anyway, dual-sims have been around for ages. Enterprising mobile vendors in GreenHills have been selling them for years while others hack existing (esp. Nokia models) phones to be able to support two SIM slots. In fact, there have been mobile units which offer triple and even quad SIM (yup, 4 SIM cards in one phone!) from China spotted at VirraMall.
What Verzio is trying to do is addressing the growing market of dual-SIM culture in the Philippines. One model, the Duplii, is even 3G capable. Because of the eat-all-you-can promos being offered by Smart, Globe and Sun, consumers are encouraged enticed to carry an extra SIM card or sometimes even have two phones altogether.
So, it’s only economically sound to just get a single phone to hold your 2 SIM cards right? Well for most people, maybe yes. However, I can also see several reason why people have 2 numbers:
- One is a public number and one is a private number. (me!)
- Others have a personal number and another office number. (24/7 tech support, people working for telcos or related industries)
- Some have a dedicated number just for their special someone. Or, the other secret special someone (aha!).
- Hard core SMS users who only have Php15 a day budget for texting. (Text-chatters popularized by Sun Cellular’s All-Day All-Night Promo)
- And those who don’t actually need two numbers but are more gravitated to having two phone units because of specific features. (A QWERTY or Smart phone and a regular slim phone.)
The Verzio Duplii retails for P14,990 (US$ 350) while the Verzio Twinn, P11,990 (US$ 280). As for me, the benefit of having two phones is that I can turn off the other (public) one when I don’t want to be disturbed. *guilty*
It will be interesting to learn how much percentage of the market segment can Verzio attract — the selling point being it’s a cheap dual-SIM capable phone. So, let’s take a quick poll from our readers here who have 2 mobile numbers. Will you go for a Verzio or stick with your 2 mobile phones.
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Abe, you forgot to write about the prices.
Wow! One nice m-phone I’m looking forward to. For me, it’s always better to have and enjoy 2 m-phone numbers which is functioning at the same time. Using different networks is an advantages for my mobile consumption. People will be more interested on this stuffs in days to come…
akala ko sabay mo magamit ang dalawang sim at the same time…meron kasi na feature sa TV na ganon…back to back ang lcd screen.
Ako nga rin muntik nang itaboy ng guard because I parked in front of the driveway (*typical female). But I lied and said I’ll only be in a Fiamma for a few minutes. Well I guess in this case, resourcefulness pays. Regards Abe
That is nice actually so I don’t need to use two phones or switch sim cards. While I am here in the Philippines I use 2 sims like one Globe and a Norwegian sim which i usually use when I call back home.
Solid Broadband Corp’s myPhone,
http://www.gameops.net/2007/08/philippine-broadband-company-to-launch.html
But verzio’s model is better with 3G
how much?
If the dual sim system really works, then I’d go for it. My past experience with dual sim phones isn’t exactly that wonderful.
I haven’t tried the Verzio, though.
I’m hoping someone will share their favorable experience with this dual sim wonder.
Now I don’t feel bad coz I’m not the only who missed the 7.1 megapixel digital camera they were giving away. Hehe