So it looks like the wheels are in motion. A number of local bloggers and friends have started to take advantage of matchstick’s seeding process and are being rewarded with a new cellphone upgrade. Even the mainstream media is catching on, such as this article in the National Post, Nokia ‘seeds’ bloggers with free camera phones.

If you think you might be able to qualify for a phone and wouldn’t mind a free upgrade, let me know and we can see if I can hook you up.

* Must live in Toronto or Vancouver
* Hosts a popular blog with 400+ visits a day
* Between the ages of 22-35
* Keeps his/ her blog updated on a regular basis with pictures and video
* Very socially active

I think they are pretty flexible with the criteria, however you must be in one of the two geographic areas they are covering and you MUST be on Rogers with your current cellphone.

It’s unfortunate that they are strict on the Rogers criteria as I think they are losing out on some key bloggers in both cities. Even we here at photojunkie don’t qualify because we are currently with another mobility company and locked into a contract with them until November. Although, someone suggested, I pick up a pay as you go package with Rogers to bridge the gap.

On the upside, those that are signing on to the program are being hooked up with a pretty cool phone, the Nokia 6682 (for North American Standards). It features a 1.3 MP camera, video capture capabilities, email and a whole slew of other functionality which you can add in and accessories.

Raj from Ohmpage has this to tell me about the phone.

Well its kind of like a computer – It comes with the operating system, demo versions of some games, and some sample wallpapers. You can get lots of fancier programs for it though like things that let you record calls, or do odd things. addon software. I just installed a program to auto-lock the keys after a designated amount of time (so I dont accidentally hit buttons when the phone is in my pocket and I forget to lock the keys).

Over at Marmalade, Kelly, one of the first I got hooked up with a phone, and describes on her blog how Matchstick really kitted her out.

“In addition to the phone (which you can’t see because I’m using it to take the picture), they gave me a 512MG memory upgrade (the phone comes with a 64MG card), a Bluetooth headpiece, earphones so that I can listen to MP3s, and a USB cable so that I can connect the phone to my computer. Also bundled up nicely in a paper carrier bag were the standard accessories such as a charger, various manuals, CDRom with Nokia’s software on it, and other cables and bits and pieces.”

Currently, I think they have seeded about a dozen bloggers, a good chunk through me, but I know for a fact that they are looking to give out plenty more in the coming weeks, 45 in Toronto and 45 in Vancouver.

So drop me a line if you think you might qualify and want to give one a go.

Related Postings

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