Vodafone Goes Live!

Vodafone has launched its much anticipated Vodafone Live! consumer service. MMS is the core feature but the service is also a showcase for Vodafone's new strategy for more control in the handset software. From the web based demo, it looks like the company is trying to create as consistant a user experience across handsets as possible. That's probably why two of the three Live! handsets are from Japanese giants Sharp and Panasonic and look remarkably similar to i-mode handsets. The pictures of the Japanese phones show the Live! interface, but the picture of the Nokia 7650 only shows the standard Nokia hands-reaching-out-for-each-other logo.