Gossip

Portable too tight to buy domain name; changes company name instead

It's no longer unfashionable - maybe! - to name your company after its Web site. Portable Add-ons has never had www.portableaddons.co.uk or even www.portable-addons.co.uk - and now, rather than buy those domains, it's renamed the company.

Portable Add-ons is "a leading UK supplier of mobile computing software and hardware," and has been found at www.portable.co.uk for as long as we can remember. And now, to avoid confusion, as from May 1st, it is called simply: "Portable Plc."

Well, yes; and also, www.portable-addons.co.uk has been "parked" by some guy who wants money for it. A cynic might suggest that the company is just reluctant to part with the dosh for the site. What is the official explanation?

The company has the usual complex management-bollox-speak explanation, of course! Count the "forefronts" and "solutions" and "positionings" in this lot:

"When Portable Add-ons started we were very much an ‘add-on' vendor and distributor," says Steve Muttram, Managing Director. "More recently though, we have moved into many new areas of mobile computer solutions. We have recognised that as the market changes and matures, hardware and software devices themselves often form an integral part of the total solution. So rather than simply adding to a product, we are now developing the market and launching the solution into it."

Oh, and "strategic alliances," of course: "Recently Portable Plc. have made a number of exciting alliances positioning themselves at the forefront of the US mobile computing revolution, as well as opening distribution offices on both the East, and West coasts of America. Portable Plc. have also been at the forefront of corporate Bluetooth integration throughout the UK, having organised seminars for IT professionals, with the aim of providing a background to the technical features and applications of the Bluetooth standard," the announcement continues.

In September 2001, Portable Plc. (it says here) also launched a new Services division to help its resellers and corporate customers understand and develop their mobile enterprise portfolio, technology knowledge, and solutions provision skills. Portable Services provides technology training, and education around the Portable Plc. enterprise solutions portfolio, focussing on new technology areas such as Bluetooth, handheld devices, and wireless data communications.

It's a shame, really. The Portable web site is one of Sniffer's favourite sources of inside news, early product announcements, and useful information about mobile IT. You'd never guess from this announcement, would you?