SmarTone introduces the first capture-and-send-anywhere MMS-enabled service in Hong Kong - picturemail™. SmarTone customers can freely create their own unique multimedia messages, combining picture, voice and text, with their MMS CameraPhones and send to anyone they want.

"SmarTone's picturemail™ allows our customers to capture those precious moments and share them instantly with their friends or families wherever they are," said Douglas Li, Chief Executive Officer of SmarTone. "Always bearing our customers' needs in mind, our service requires only a very simple, one-step phone setup and registration. Our service not only takes care of customers with MMS phones, but also ensures that any picturemail™ sent will not be lost without trace. Only SmarTone customers can send their picturemail™ to anyone they want, assured of message delivery."

SmarTone customers can activate their picturemail™ service in the most convenient way, without going through tedious registration and phone setup procedures. By simply keying in *108*21# SEND, and completing the confirmation steps, all settings and registration for the picturemail™ service are done automatically over the air. Customers can enjoy the picturemail™ service straightaway.

To ensure that picturemail™ sent by SmarTone customers will reach their recipients, irrespective of the GSM phones they use or the networks they subscribe to, each recipient will be sent an SMS message containing an internet address (URL) and a unique message ID. The recipient of the picturemail™ can then access and view the message via the internet or a WAP handset within the next 48 hours. This applies to all recipients who are not picturemail™(registered customers in Hong Kong or mobile phone users of overseas GSM networks.

picturemail™ customers can also send their multimedia messages to email addresses, further extending the flexibility, reach and ubiquity of the service.

There are no subscription or monthly fees. The charging method is a simple two-tier pricing structure - $3 for each message sized less than 30 KB, and $8 for each message sized between 30 KB and100 KB. During the promotional period, charges to recipients are waived.

To compliment the service, SmarTone customers can print out their favourite pictures taken with their MMS CameraPhones in photo-sticker format at any SmarTone shop. A set of 16 photos (4 versions x 4) is priced at $25.

Being part of SmarTone's suite of smartmail( messaging services, picturemail™ is SmarTone's first messaging service that employs MMS technology.

In addition to picturemail™, SmarTone has launched a wide range of content rich downloads for MMS-handset users. Pictures include popular local artists, celebrities, cartoons and animated icons.