Digicel has launched DL600 and Blackberry Q10 in Jamaica on Thursday 30th 2013 - The Purge of Features phones in a gradual ramp-up towards Data Services and smartphone in Jamaica

Telecom Provider Digicel has finally launched the much anticipated Digicel DL600 as predicted in my blog article entitled “Digicel to launch the DL600 smartphone in Jamaica on Thursday 30th or Friday 31st of May 2013 - Digicel DL600 is coming Fast and Furious 6 to make smartphones accessible to all”. Digicel DL600 as listed on Digicel’s Official Website is priced at JA$4,760 on Digicel Select (Postpaid) and JA$5,950 on Digicel Flex (Prepaid), which are prices not inclusive of Tax.

Telecom Provider Digicel apparently also launched the Blackberry Q10 smartphones but with a little more fanfare as can be seen from the nice pictures on Digicel’s Facebook Page. Also check out the photo Gallery in the Jamaica Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer’s Photo Gallery.

No pricing’ available at the time of Publication but Digicel’s Blackberry Girls looked nice as usual.

 

On this account, I decided to do this preliminary blog article based on what’s really very flimsy evidence as reported to me by overly exuberant friend on Facebook. I say “overly exuberant” as the evidence above is really insubstantial but an indication of what’s possible. Thus I also write this article with a very large lump of Salt sitting on my Laptop keys.

As of the time of posting of this blog, there’s no Official Press Release or even a newspaper report in either the Jamaica Observer or the Jamaica Observer, making it almost as quiet as the Blackberry Z10. However, there’s some solace here: news of the launch of the DL600 came via Telecom Provider Digicel’s Twitter Page as well as via their Facebook Page.

Please note, Telecom Provider Digicel’s Twitter Page and Facebook Page are not verified Twitter or Facebook accounts (no little Blue badge with a white Sticker!!), so unless you’ve visited a Digicel Store recently and seen the phones for yourself, take these links with a very large grain of salt as it may not be available at the stores just yet.

Worse, with a sub-US$100 (approximately JA$10,000) price tag based on the pricing for the DL600 in Trinidad and Tobago which went live on Thursday May 17^th 2013 as reported in my blog article entitled “Digicel to launch the DL600 smartphone in Jamaica on Thursday 30th or Friday 31st of May 2013 - Digicel DL600 is coming Fast and Furious 6 to make smartphones accessible to all”, they may already be out of stock by the time you read this article.

Going to Telecom Provider Digicel’s Solar Powered headquarters downtown on the waterfront would be your best bet should this indeed happen to you and you are really, really interested in finding out about this phone.

I say this, as if this is indeed real, it would thus verify my predicted launch date of Thursday May 30^th 2013 as spelled out in my blog article entitled “Digicel to launch the DL600 smartphone in Jamaica on Thursday 30th or Friday 31st of May 2013 - Digicel DL600 is coming Fast and Furious 6 to make smartphones accessible to all”.

The price, however, is another thing. The Digicel DL600 as listed on Digicel’s Official Website is selling at prices way lower than US$100 and even lower than in Trinidad and Tobago, not including Tax:

1.      Digicel Select (Postpaid) - JA$4,760

2.      Digicel Flex (Prepaid) - JA$5,950

That’s basically JA$7000 including tax for a smartphone with the specs as mentioned in my blog article entitled “Digicel to launch the DL600 smartphone in Jamaica on Thursday 30th or Friday 31st of May 2013 - Digicel DL600 is coming Fast and Furious 6 to make smartphones accessible to all”. Still no info on the Blackberry Q10, save for some nice pictures on Digicel’s Facebook Page. Again please remember these are not verified Digicel’s Twitter Page and Facebook Page so grab than sack of salt quick!

Very tempting, even for myself, save for the fact I’m really looking for a Dual-SIM Smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy Y Duos. Not interested in a phone that’s basically a marketing gimmick to drum up more sales and interest in smartphones among Millennials (ages 18 to 28), the age range of my Facebook compadres who keeps me informed on what’s poppin.

This is exactly as I’d opined was for Digicel 4G Network growth in my previous blog article entitled “Digicel to launch the DL600 Smartphone by Mid-May 2013 starting below US$100 - Alcatel One Touch running Firefox OS marketed like The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”. More on this on the Geezam Blog and my personal blog when a Press Release becomes available. Ditto too for Telecom Provider LIME’s launch of the Blackberry Q10, which is expected next week.

Also awaiting info on the Blackberry Q5 as predicted in my previous blog article entitled “Blackberry launched Budget Q5 at their Annual Blackberry Live Conference - Possible no Contract US$199 makes Q5 the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D”.

If you wish to buy the Digicel DL600, please be advised there are no sales for the device in the Western Hemisphere because it’s really a budget phone that’s earmarked for the Far East, China and India. It really was never intended for resale in Jamaica and as such, purchase from non-Amazon websites at your own risk. Still this is a The Purge (2013) of Features phones in a gradual ramp-up towards smartphone ubiquity in Jamaica.

@Snapchat Leaked @Facebook page shut down but Snapchat Leaked website still live

Snapchat, the Social Network that’s big on oversharing nude selfies, has hit a reef. This as a group of British Millennials (ages 18 to28) have created a website called Snapchat Leaked that’s dedicated to posting those supposedly self-destructing snaps that got screen-captured as noted in the article “Oh Snap! Snapchat Leaked is a site full of scandalous ‘secret’ Snaps”, published May 28, 2013 By Kate Knibbs, DigitalTrends.

Yesterday, however, the Facebook page for Snapchat Leaked, which at the height of its supremacy had almost 500,000 likes, was closed after reports of bullying and most importantly, due to the page repeatedly violating Facebook’s Community Standards as reported in “Snapchat leaked photos page closed over bullying claims”, published Wednesday, 29 May 2013 18:08 UK By Jonathan Blake, Newsbeat technology reporter, BBC News.

As a Public Service, I’d done an article pointing out that Snapchat wasn’t safe and how it could be made safer as explained in my blog article entitled “Facebook gets Mission Impossible serious with Poke as the Snapchat bringing “Sexting” back”. In the article, I’d mentioned the fact that the supposedly vanishing photographs and videos could be easily recovered or captured via screen-capture feature built into most smartphones and special software and I also dropped tips on what to do to prevent it from happening.

DigitalTrends Kate Knibbs interviewed the founders of two unconnected versions of the Snapchat Leaked Website and published her findings in “Inside the scandalous, confusing, twisted tale of Snapchat Leaked”, published May 29, 2013 by Kate Knibbs, DigitalTrends.

 

One of the main persons behind Snapchat Leaked is British Web designer Jack Landel, who runs a Facebook page for Snapchat Leaked. He has an unwitting and unrelated accomplice in the nome de plume of Joshua, who merely runs a Twitter account SnapChatLeaked via which he dispenses his pictures collected by soliciting them from smartphone users.

This website wasn’t a surprise and in fact many saw it coming. Despite having a few silly and possibly embarrassing photos, at least to Millennials (ages 18 to 28), Snapchat Leaked is very tame, roughly the equivalent of a Playboy Lingerie Shoot with the odd breast here or weiner there. The photos apparently manually examined, despite the claim of the owners using an “algorithm” to spot questionable pictures, as really no such algorithm exists for contextual evaluation of pictures.

They, the administrators of these Websites and Social Networks for Snapchat Leaked, basically manually examine the selfies themselves, pun not intended. What bothers me personal is this: what they do with the ones that are of persons below the age of 18 or are explicit full frontal nudes? Are those discarded or do they become fodder for another website or resale to a Pornograpby site? Or worse, used to blackmail persons or even Snapchat themselves, as after all, the mere presence of the pictures will make many users of Snapchat realize that the Mission Impossible 10 seconds self-destruct switch isn’t working?

British Web designer Jack Landel  is philosophical in his defense, quote: “It’s early days, if enough hate occurs we’ll scrap the nude side……..If you’re concerned with privacy you should really look into how Facebook handles the data, especially Google. They hold stuff that is very personal!”

True. Facebook’s lack of Privacy is more worrying, the main reasons I suspect many opted to go with Snapchat than have their nudes exposed to all their friends online. But as noted above, Snapchat Leaked has various Social Networking portals run by various unconnected people, so they have your pics sharing with thousands upon thousands of their friends.

Snapchat rides the Fail Whale thanks to the very same Facebook and Twitter lackluster sharing and Privacy policies.

Plus, in their defence, you can get nudes and selfies quite freely online if you know how to download Torrents as described in my blog article entitled “UWI'splanning to increase all Tuition by 5.5% come the new Academic Year 2013-2014 -How to Download ANY Video, including Facebook Videos, Convert and Free VideoHosting Online”. Worse, there are free Video hosting for Pornography, Tumblr Sites and Facebook Groups and Pages I’ve visited.

So long before Snapchat came along, the problem of nudes and pornographic videos getting out of control had already existed. Snapchat merely made a claim that was essentially false; they are no better at guaranteeing that your pictures would be permanently deleted. Thus they created a false sense of security and in essence, set up Millennials (ages 18 to 28) for something worse: being unemployable thanks to that one thoughtless post.

It’s a very compelling and strong indication that revealing selfies are a bad idea as stated in the article “Facebookers, beware: That silly update can cost you a job”, published May 29, 2013 4:05 PM PDT by Dara Kerr, CNET News.

Research by analyst On Device Research reveals after surveying 17,657 people  in China, India, Nigeria, Brazil, the U.S., and U.K., that 10% of Millennials (ages 18 to 28) and Generation X's (ages 29 to 40) have been turned down because of less-than-flattering pics they've posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other Social Networking sites.

The stats breakdown in the article above is quite convincing as can be seen from the Graphics below:

Thus the remedy, though simple, is painfully clear. Snapchat need to improve the app as I’d originally recommended in my blog article entitled “Facebook gets Mission Impossible serious with Poke as the Snapchat bringing “Sexting” back”:

1.      Make pictures PERMANENTLY disappear

2.      Disable the screen-shot capture feature while the App is running

3.      Remote Delete Request features to allow the sender to delete all copies of themselves online as well as on any smartphone running Snapchat

This latest development is a potent reminder that what you post online via any means, be it an app or a website will come back to haunt you. Hopefully too, after the closure of the Facebook page for Snapchat Leaked, the other Social Networking leaks and eventually the website Snapchat Leaked may be closed down as well. Fragile Millennials (ages 18 to 28) and Generation X's (ages 29 to 40) Social life restored!

So in truth, Snapchat’s not the problem; it’s the kind of friends you keep who may decide to stab you in the back after you opened up your bosom to them, so to speak and pun not intended deliberately as per the article “Snapchat isn’t broken, your friends just suck”, published May 30, 2013 By Molly McHugh, DigitalTrends.

Thus, fellow Millennials (ages 18 to 28) and Generation X's (ages 29 to 40), be careful with nude selfies and other types of erotica you post online, as this Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) is really Much Ado About Nothing (2012).