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SNOOZLE
BHAM_ (Page 64) business:Layout 1
18/7/18
13:40
Page 64
Until 18 months or so ago, Phil and Dan Neale were half or Britain’s Got Talent hit family group, the Neales. Now they are waking up the nation with a whole, new sound…
hil and Dan Neale hit stardom with fellow brother James and dad Laurie after the foursome took TV’s Britain’s Got Talent by storm, famously reducing Simon Cowell to tears. After hitting the right notes and seeing their self-released single peak at number six in the Official UK Music Charts – which had them sandwiched between Rihanna and Drake – the Neales eventually decided to call time on their music careers. “It came to a natural conclusion, we don’t take bookings for the Neales now,” said Phil. But as one door closed another very different one opened for the youngest of the brothers and band manager, Phil, and Dan. The Birmingham boys pulled back the covers on the dreaded mobile phone ‘wake-up’ ringing tone by officially launching an alternative – their own, fun and social alarm clock app called Snoozle.
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SOCIAL ALARM CLOCK Snoozle is a new connected social alarm clock app that lets users wake up to personalised audio content, such as
64 birmingham living
special messages from loved ones. Available in Android and iOS, the new app replaces the persistent, piercing ringing of most smartphones with ‘Snoozles’. Snoozles are 12-second voice messages which, when sent to friends, will play at the time the recipient has set their alarm clock. Whether funny anecdotes, love notes or daily reminders, Snoozle personalises how users wake up. “Based on banter not beeps, Snoozle makes getting out of bed on the right side much easier,” said 28-year-old Phil. After the Neales stopped performing, each returned to ‘proper’ day jobs – something which they had always intended to do as Britain’s Got Talent fame came totally out of the blue and they knew the group has a finite shelf life. Phil worked as brand manager for Tesco Finest in Welwyn Garden, but was saving furiously to ‘bootstrap’ the Snoozle project. Phil and Dan put in every effort and endured sleepless nights of their own to ensure that Snoozle was a crowdpleaser. That became a reality when the pair set up a
august 2018