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Vodafone to Allow Customers to Change the Text Font in Their Phones
Vodafone UK is to start selling an application which allows mobile phones to have their default text fonts changed by the customer to one of their preference. With Monotype ImagingÃ's new FlipFont solution accessible from Vodafone live!, Vodafone becomes the first operator in Europe to offer downloadable, mobile-optimised fonts to replace the factory-installed, default font.
"FlipFont has the potential to springboard fonts into the forefront of mobile personalisation," said John Seguin, executive vice president of Monotype Imaging. "As mobile phones become more of an indispensable part of our lives, itÃ's natural for us to want to reflect our personality in these devices, and font choice provides an attractive avenue to do this. Together with Vodafone UK, weÃ're introducing a new level of creative freedom. FlipFont is a significant entry for both companies to empower consumers to personalise their own handsets with fonts."
Julie Strawson, director of marketing Europe at Monotype Imaging said, "Users have tried to change their phone font and have ‘brokenÃ' their phone in the process, so weÃ've collaborated with Vodafone UK to ensure FlipFont is safe, fun and easy to use."
The initially supported phones are based on Symbian OS and the Nokia S60 platform which support Monotype ImagingÃ's iType scalable font engine. Typeface designs range from the ITC Stylus font, with its hand-lettered feel, to the attention-grabbing Musclehead design, starting at £1.99 for a single font. Additional fonts are expected to become available on an ongoing basis.
As part of the inaugural FlipFont solution, Monotype ImagingÃ's iType technology enables the downloaded font to be linked with the default font, providing users with the ability to access non-Latin characters, such as Greek or Cyrillic, which are not contained in the downloaded font. While sufficient in most cases, as each FlipFont typeface supports Latin-based European languages, this feature preserves the ability to use characters from the wider character set available from the default font.
Lets just hope they don't introduce the universally derided, but oddly popular, Comic Sans font.
Posted to the site on 29th October 2008