Yahoo!Xtra Bubble Doesn’t Blow

“Yahoo!Xtra Bubble” – sounds like a kind of gum, doesn’t it?  But it’s actually a new service that should soon become available to customers of Telecom New Zealand, and it’ll “offer a suite of premium services accessed through a personalised homepage – all at no extra cost.”

“Free” and “premium services” don’t usually go together (in reality, even if press releases promise the world), but in this case, Yahoo and Telecom NZ might deliver.  Users of Bubble will receive “a personalised home page with best of breed email storage, online photo storage and sharing with Flickr Pro, a 1GB online briefcase, and to launch shortly an all-in-one free security suite featuring Norton AntiVirus,” according to a release.

As for why Telecom and Yahoo are being so friendly . . . this appears to be a simple (read: not nefarious) plan to draw in fresh users and make the current ones happy.  “We expect strong uptake from both existing and new customers,” explained Adrian Littlewood on behalf of Telecom.  “The service will act as a compelling differentiator and a great reason for customers to be with Telecom.”

From way over in America, I’d tend to agree.  Potential users who are much closer seem to think so, as well; Linka (“for new zealanders by new zealanders”) made note of both the impending release and its “awesome features.”

Hat tip to Geekzone, and a questioning look to whoever came up with Yahoo!Xtra Bubble’s name.