Mobile Digest

3 offers Pay As You Go from 5p per minute

Following on from Orange's new pre-pay tariff yesterday, 3 has announced a new pricing structure for its Pay As You Go customers, with calls now from 5p per minute - the cheapest any network any time call rate available from any UK mobile network, according to the company.

3’s Pay As You Go Top-ups are also now available in a wider range of
denominations - £10, £15, £20, £25, £30,£40 and £50 - and with no expiry dates. And customers can convert Top-ups to an Add-on. Voice Add-ons reduce the cost of calls per minute to any network from 30p to 5p and text Add-ons can reduce the cost of texts from 10p to 5p each. You can also surf the net for £1 per day and access seven TV channels for £2.

Pay As You Go users can convert Top-ups to Add-ons by going to My3 on their handset or dialling 444. John Penberthy-Smith, marketing director at 3, commented: “3’s Pay As You Go tariff demonstrates our ongoing commitment to delivering the cheapest deals on the market for our customers.”

3 website

Orange offers pre-pay overdraft facility

Orange has a new solution to running out of credit for pre-pay customers - an overdraft.

Customers signing up to the company's Speakeasy pre-pay tariff can get £2.50 worth of 'overdraft' (known as the Reserve Tank) to stay connected when credit runs out. But it costs £1 to take advantage of it.

Other benefits include three 'Magic Numbers' that are charged at 15p per hour and a flat rate of 15p per minute for other numbers.

Orange website

Vodafone encouraging family tariff, and business mobile recycling

Vodafone aims to encourage customers to sign up to its family tariff by selling two Samsung C300s, or two Nokia 1600s, in a single bundle.

The Samsung deal costs £75, and the Nokia deal costs £50. They'll be sold in Vodafone and Woolworths stores.

In other news, Vodafone has partnered with leading recycling company Fonebak to create awareness amongst UK employers about the importance of mobile phone recycling.

It will offer businesses a campaign pack including posters and a recycling box, plus digital initiatives such as emails, texts, and screensavers.

Vodafone estimates that each year in the UK, 11.3 million mobile phones are thrown away, and only a third of the UK population have ever recycled one.

As an extra piece of good news, Vodafone will donate money raised from this business mobile recycling scheme to the National Autistic Society.

O2 offers incentives not to upgrade

All those shiny new mobile phones - whatever handset we go for, we want another one a few weeks later. And certainly as soon as our contract allows us to. That's not good news for the phone networks or indeed the environment. Well, O2 are taking steps to encourage you to keep the one you have.

The company is to pay customers not to upgrade, offering £95 in phone credit and a £10 donation to the Energy Saving Trust if you agree to keep your handset on for another year. Or if you're feeling less charitable, £100 in credit and no money for the EST.

The money for the EST will be used to award grants to communities to implement carbon-reduction schemes.

So what's it to be? Keeping your handset and helping the environment or looking cutting edge? It's your call.

O2 website

Mobile phones, bees, and people. Radiation, nature, and health

The debate surrounding mobile phones and suspected health problems, has been rumbling on for years now, and whilst a Danish study has concluded that there's no cancer risk from mobile phone usage, a new study suggests that the increasing use of mobile phones could be having catastrophic effects on... the bumble bee.

You may already have seen on the news that beekeepers are noticing a decline in bee numbers, and while there are plenty of other environmental factors that are likely to be contributing to this, some scientists have suggested that radiation given off by mobile phones and other gadgets is interfering with bees' navigation systems. This in turn disrupts their pollination cycle.

The Guardian rather cruelly concludes that bees and other animals "are not made unwell by changing fields, they simply have their navigational abilities thrown out of line. That, in turn, can lead to death because they are insects."

In fact, the article is making the point that there's not yet any proven link between this and humans' sensitivity to Wi-Fi and other electromagnetic sources.

Regardless, I'm still very concerned about these poor bees - and not just because I'd be lost without Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.

Samsung and Nokia work together on DVB-H technology

Will DVB-H technology ever make it to the UK? Who knows - it's been talked about for years and numerous handsets have shown off its TV-playing capabilities. Samsung and Nokia are certainly keen - announcing today that they have signed an agreement to work together to accelerate the technology to market.

The two companies will work together on DVB-H-enabled mobile devices and the open standards based Nokia network services system. The handset manufacturers will work together to support solutions based on the open OMA BCAST standard.

"Nokia warmly welcomes the collaboration in accelerating the adoption of DVB-H based mobile TV services to the market. We see that the OMA BCAST standard is essential in launching mobile TV services on a global scale," says Harri Männistö, Director, Multimedia, Nokia. "Further, the well-defined service and content protection profiles within the OMA BCAST standard such as the already now available OMA DRM, provides the ideal path towards standardized solutions enabling a coherent and open market for successful worldwide mobile TV deployments."

DVB-H technology offers high quality mobile TV broadcasts, but with low battery consumption and with the option to to simultaneously receive broadcasts while using other mobile services such as telephony and internet access on their device.

Nokia website
Samsung website

O2 offer limited edition Ice Black candy bar mobile

O2 has announced a limited edition Ice Black mobile phone.

It's a candy bar style design, fully 3G, with inbuilt MP3 player, 1.3 megapixel camera with zoom, Bluetooth, 32MB of internal memory, and a microSD card slot.

Available for £59.99 on prepay from O2 shops, it's not the most advanced phone around, but it probably won't break the bank and could add a little bit of shiny black style to your summer.

O2 Online

Orange to bring Samsung i600 smart phone to UK say reports

I'm sure the official announcement will follow in due course, but details of the Samsung i600 smart phone on the Orange network are already out in the wild.

The details of the Windows Mobile-based device aren't linked from the Orange site, but are listed on an Orange web page, spotted by Coolsmartphone.com, with a launch date of later this month a strong possibility.

But we do know what the device will offer - 3G connectivity, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, QWERTY keyboard, 320 x 240 display, Micro SD card storage, a 1.3 megapixel camera with 2x digital zoom, and a 0.3 megapixel camera for video calling.

We'll keep you posted on it.

Orange website

Via The Register

Orange offers two-year contract deals - with added benefits

I'll be honest, I'm tempted by a new mobile handset every single month - because every month, something new hits the market that seems that little bit better than the handset I carry in my pocket. So it's interesting that Orange want to tie us into contracts that little bit longer - although there are benefits if you go for it.

The reasons for a longer tie-in are obvious - it gives the company more value for their subsidised handset deals and cuts down the waste of perfectly-good handsets. But it has to be a two-way deal - and it is. Orange is offering voice and text benefits on top of its standard packages if you sign up for a two-year fixed term.

That could be between 50 and 450 voice minutes, depending on your choice of deal. What do you think? More minutes or more handset credibility?

It's a tough one.

Orange website

3 launches unlimited mobile internet for £5 fee

Where you tempted by 3's X-Series package? Many where - but whether this translated into sign-ups is open to question. So here's another offer to get you on-board - £5 unlimited mobile internet use, available for all recently-launched 3 handsets.

The new deal seems to have no strings and includes use of Windows Live Messenger. Actually, reading the small print, there is one catch - unlimited actually means 1GB per month "fair use", so it's not really unlimited, it's just a healthy limit.

John Penberthy-Smith, 3’s Marketing Director, commented, ”Building on the innovation and success of X-Series, our latest mobile internet package gives our customers freedom to use the internet on the move and to choose a handset which really works for them.”

3 website

Majority of business travellers don't want mobile phone use in-flight

A survey by Barclaycard Business suggests that any introduction of in-flight mobile phone use would be unpopular with the majority of business travellers.

Over 4,000 businesspeople were questioned, and found that six out of ten would not want such technology introduced.

62% of women were against it, compared with 57% of men, with chief executives being more keen on the concept (43%) than company managers (31%).

Flight operators planning to trial mobile phone use include Ryanair, BMI, SAS, and Air France.

Related stories:
Boeing Axes In-Flight Internet
Virgin to cure in-flight boredom with text Q&A
The £120k flight simulator set for take-off

Vodafone uses Sagem for own-brand handsets

Sagem annouced a couple of weeks back that it was designing entry-level handsets for Sony Ericsson. Now it has announced another deal - producing own-brand handsets for Vodafone.

Jens Schulte-Bockum, global director of terminals at Vodafone, said: "[Vodafone's] strategy is intended to use Vodafone's size and purchasing power to engage with the best white label handset makers and then use the power of the Vodafone brand to bring their products to market."

The first of the Sagem handsets, scheduled to be launched in June this year, features a slim case and 65K colours - and that's about all we know. But with such a quick turnaround, chances are that it's an existing model with a Vodafone badge.

Sagem website

Via The Register

Vodafone to open Connectivity Centres in PC World stores

Dixons Store Group (DSG), the parent company of high street names Currys and PC World, seem to be in mobile mode at present. Last month we reported that Currys would sell mobile phones in up to 500 of its stores, and now Vodafone has inked a deal with DSG to open up 30 Vodafone Connectivity Centres in PC World stores.

If successful, they could eventually roll out to all 155 stores next year. The first stores would open this summer.

The stores would primarily focus on mobile phones and services for small business customers, backed up by The TechGuys, PC World's support service started in September last year.

Vodafone want to increase their share of the small business market from 31% to over 40%, and see PC World as an extra distribution channel that can provide 3G cards and modems to people buying laptop PCs.

Vodafone has UEFA sponsorship covered

Vodafone has signed a three-year deal to become the official technology sponsor of the UEFA Cup. It already sponsors the UEFA Champions' League, and the deal also allows them to put their name to the UEFA Super Cup for two years.

Highest phone call world record attempt

Mobile phone coverage in your home might be difficult to achieve, but spare a thought for Rod Baber, who is attempting to set a world record by making the world's highest phone call - from the summit of Mount Everest.

Weather permitting, the attempt will take place in late May, and is made possible thanks to a mobile base station installed in China that has line of sight to the north side of the mountain.

His phone has been tested to work in low temperatures, and of course he will be training so that he can scale the north ridge to the summit.

Let's hope that his mobile battery doesn't conk out halfway up.

Bebo Mobile to launch on Orange

Unsurprisingly, Vodafone were very chuffed when they got an exclusive deal to feature MySpace on mobile handsets. But Orange has struck back in the social networking battle with an exclusive deal with Bebo.

The media giant has struck a deal that will allow Orange customers to access Bebo with their phone, specifically to edit profiles, message online friends and update blogs. But it's not all good news for Orange - this is an exclusive deal for a limited time. After that, it's expected to be rolled-out across other networks.

Bebo access with an Orange handset is expected to launch over the summer months. Check with Orange for exact details.

Bebo website
Orange website

EU mobile phone subscriptions now outnumber population

For the first time, mobile phone subscriptions in the European Union outnumbered its population, according to a European Commission report issued yesterday.

"With 478.4 million mobile phones in use, penetration in Europe is now at 103 percent of population," the Commission said in its 12th annual report on the EU's telecom markets.

That's up from 95% in 2005.

Luxembourg records the highest penetration, at 171%, followed by Italy (134%), and Lithuania (133%). France had just 82%.

The report also focused on broadband take-up, showing that the Netherlands and Denmark, with 29.8% and 29.4% of their populations signed up, now have the world's highest broadband penetration. Seven member states have higher broadband penetration than the US.

Mobile users become contortionists in bid to improve signal strength

According to the zBoost Cell Phone Signal Survey, mobile phone users aren't shy about doing weird things and getting themselves into strange positions for the sake of improving their signal.

69% of mobile phone users who made phone calls at home say they've missed or dropped calls thanks to poor signal reception or dead zones in their home, and 62 said they'd done something special to improve their signal reception.

Fairly ordinary responses you'd expect include going outside (46%), standing by a window (42%), or using their landline phone instead (30%).

Of course, there are always the wacky ones. We have no way of knowing whether these are genuine, or not, but they make for entertaining reading nonetheless.

Verbatim responses included:

* "Stood in the closet with the light off"
* "Stand in my daughter's room touching the chain from her ceiling fan"
* "Stand on higher things like a couch or chair"
* "Stood by metal [stuff]"
* "Lay perfectly still without moving"
* "Run back and forth"
* "Moved my arm around"
* "Held my head at a funny angle"
* "Gone upstairs"
* "Hang out the window"
* "Kept moving my cell phone until I got a signal...and ended up pulling a matrix move as I tried to keep the signal"

Not surprisingly, zBoost offer a range of products that are supposed to improve indoor cell phone signal strength. Still, some of those contortions sound quite fun.

Got an emergency mobile phone? Check it's still got credit

The Inquirer reports on the possibly mean-spirited contracts imposed on Pay As You Go mobile phones by Vodafone (and probably other operators as well).

The small print on many contracts will often stipulate that if the phone is not used to make a billable call within 90 days, the credit will be taken back, and after 180 days, the SIM card will be disabled and the number reallocated.

Seems fair enough, you might think, given that these operators are running a business, not a charity, and that we should all be reading the teeny print on our mobile contracts.

Whilst the demographic of the Tech Digest readership might suggest that we're a load of mobile fanatics, and would barely go 90 minutes without using our phones, it's worth sparing a thought for those who have specifically been given a mobile phone to use in case of an emergency.

Thankfully, emergencies tend not to happen too often, but they could be made a lot work by finding that the potential lifeline has ceased to work.

Andrew Thomas got his money back and had his SIM card reactivated, but has a sneaking suspicion it's because he's a tech journalist and it's good PR.

It may be worth checking out with anyone you know who has an 'emergency' mobile. Even if they have to make a short telephone call every 3 months, it could be a lifesaver.

Ofcom forces mobile phone operators to cut call costs

Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, has used its powers to order that Britain's five mobile operators cut the cost of mobile calls routed through their networks.

3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone, will all have to cut their rates by as much as 45 per cent.

It will apply to both 2G and 3G networks. 3 will have its charges forcibly reduced by 45% to 5.9 pence per minute, whilst Orange are likely to have to cut prices by around 20%, with Vodafone and O2 reducing costs by about 10%, to 5.1 pence per minute.

The ruling, which comes in at the end of March, covers the next four years and should ensure that consumers who call other networks from their mobile phones will face significantly cheaper bills.

Ofcom said that the "charge controls remain necessary to protect consumers from unduly high prices".

Vodafone favoured for European iPhone contract

As reported over at iPhonic, Apple may well be looking for a single mobile operator to launch the iPhone Europe-wide towards the end of 2007.

We've been wondering which UK network would get the iPhone, and whilst we've favoured T-Mobile in the past, some experts think that Vodafone is currently in the lead.

This isn't confirmed, and there's a long way to go before we reach a European launch of the iPhone. It would appear to rule out an unlocked iPhone, though. Apple will no doubt be keen to get as much of its own way as possible.

If Apple don't release a 3G iPhone in time for the launch, I wonder if the networks will be fighting over a contract deal.

London Underground to trial in-train mobile phone service

London Underground has announced that it is to begin a six-month mobile phone trial on trains and platforms on the Waterloo & City Line.

Though it's not due to start until at least April 2008, the trial will provide mobile coverage for Waterloo and Bank stations, as well as in the tunnels. The line was chosen because it is at a deep level, and isolated from the rest of the Tube network.

The primary aim of the trial is to see whether it's technically and commercially feasible to extend mobile coverage to the whole Network.

"Should the trial prove a technical and commercial success, then London Underground will consider how to provide mobile phone and telecommunications services across the Tube network. This would enable passengers to enjoy the benefits of the same mobile and new technology services that are available on the overground sections of the Underground network. If the trial is not a success then London Underground will not proceed with plans to extend mobile phone coverage to the Tube," said Richard Parry, LU Strategy and Service Development Director.

45% of the Tube network is currently underground and cut off from mobile signal reception. If the trials are successful, it could also lead the way to providing other services such as Internet access.

As well as the personal and business benefits mobile access on the Tube could generate, it would also be highly useful in the case of an emergency.

(Via PublicTechnology.net

Related stories:
< href="http://techdigest.tv/2006/07/advanced_wirele.html">Advanced wireless communications system successfully used on London Underground
Turning the Tube into a viral music network? Undersound plans to

New survey suggests UK mobile phone users seek value for money and good customer service

A survey of 1,031 UK residents aged between 16 and 80 has shown that advertising does very little to persuade them to choose a particular mobile phone operator. Only 3.98% were influenced by marketing.

Of the 29.4% who switched providers last year, 73.2% said that a better tariff lured them, whilst 9.4% said that they were unhappy with customer service. 7.6% of people changed provider to be on the same network as their friends and family, while 5.8% changed due to poor network coverage with their existing carrier.

Asked about the influences that caused them to choose a particular network, 51% were influenced by price, 54.4% by functionality, and 34.3% on the phone brands available.

Contrary to what I had previously thought, this survey suggested that older customers were more likely to switch providers than their younger counterparts.

The most important phone capabilities mentioned were the ability to send text messages, followed by upgradability, MP3 capabilities, video, web browsing, email, and gaming.

Tim Ogle, Group Marketing Director at Retail Eyes, said, "The results of this research demonstrate that, although pricing is the biggest influencer in making a decision about a new mobile, customer service is a big enough influencer that providers and retailers need to take notice. The fact that nearly 10 per cent of customers switch providers due to poor service and 27.9 per cent would not return to a phone retailer if the sales staff were too pushy means service has a huge impact on their bottom line."

(Via UTalk Marketing)

More Mobile phone news

30 things we learned at 3GSM 2007

Phew. As ever, 3GSM was tiring both physically and mentally, with a barrage of new products and companies, plus an enormous venue to walk around. Honestly, if we believed in wearing pedometers, they'd have exploded by Tuesday.

So now the Shiny team is back in Blighty, what did we learn from this year's 3GSM? It's a chance to spot the hottest new mobile phones and technology, as well as suss out the most important mobile trends for the next 12 months. Here's our main thoughts.

1. There was no big theme this year

3GSM 2006 saw immense hype around mobile TV, with companies queuing up to proclaim it the Next Big Thing in mobile entertainment. The fact that it's since disappointed means that the lack of a single big hype this year isn't necessarily a bad thing. There was lots of buzz, but spread around a bunch of subjects, which is a healthier state of affairs.

2. Mobile social networking is a hot topic

There were lots of companies - many of them startups - promising to create MySpace-like communities for mobile. Meanwhile, the big players - the actual MySpaces, Bebos and so on - were undoubtedly at 3GSM, even if they weren't talking about their plans.

From our chats with companies like Cerkle, FunkySexyCool, Clicmobile and others, it's clear how new an area this is. People aren't sure if mobile-only social networks will succeed, for example, or whether mobile is just an add-on to existing web communities. 2007 should give some clues.

3. LG's Prada phone is better than you'd think

Don't take this the wrong way. We weren't expecting the Prada phone (right) to be awful. Just a bit gimmicky. Yet as Susi's video verdict makes clear, it looks and feels like Prada's been involved from the start. And that touch-screen is mighty purdy.

4. Mobile music is a bit rubbish

It seems us mobile users aren't as keen on downloading full tracks to our phones as the music industry would like us to be. Warner Music head honcho Edgar Bronfman Jr told 3GSM attendees that "it's expensive, it's complicated and it's slow", saying the iPhone will hopefully force operators and manufacturers to up their game.

Meanwhile, mobile firm Omnifone was trying to do just that, unveiling what it reckons is a truly mobile iTunes-beater, which it'll be running for operators around the world.

Meanwhile, the music industry continues to rumble about whether it should scrap copyright protection for digital music - if it does, it would certainly have a positive impact on the number of people downloading tunes directly to their phones.

5. Cool new handset designs

Motorola's new Z8 phone has a 'kick slider' design, which is the first handset type to sound like it should be a trick in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. We're looking forward to Nokia launching a triple-back-kick olley grinder phone at 3GSM 2008...

6. Bring on the five-megapixel camera phones

By and large, we tried to steer clear of the really techy companies at 3GSM. After all, the chips and servers they make are only interesting to the likes of us once they're actually in products we can buy.

But a firm called OmniVision announced a five-megapixel auto-focus camera module, which it'll be flogging to handset manufacturers, and which it says is affordable enough to be put into mass-market mobile phones. We can't wait.

7. Don't hold your breath for a roll-up mobile display that can play video

Philips spin-off Polymer Vision got plenty of deserved buzz at 3GSM for its Readius roll-up display for reading e-books and RSS feeds (left). Both Susi (video) and I (interview) were impressed, although the company's goal of putting one in every mobile phone seems ambitious, given they're not expecting the screens to be capable of video for a good five years.

8. We should start getting a bit worried about mobile viruses

Worried you'll look like a n00b if your phone gets hax0red? You should be. Bubbling under the surface at 3GSM was growing concern about the possible impact of viruses in the mobile space - even if some of it was fuelled by the companies looking to flog technology to protect against them.

McAfee claimed at the show that there are now around 350 mobile viruses, worms or other malware, and also said that 83% of mobile operators have been hit by mobile infections.

9. Next-generation phone interfaces will look amazing

We swung by the NVIDIA stand to check out some of the demos running on the company's new mobile chipsets, which will be making their way into millions of handsets in the next couple of years.

One demo featured a user interface for phones that included multi-tasking windows, a 3D interface with snazzy transition effects, and 'fully accelerated translucent window compositing'. Want to know what that is? Watch our video.

10. The operators need to sort out their data-tariffs

If we're all going to be downloading music, video and games onto our phones from sources other than the operator's own portals, we don't want to be paying through the nose in data charges. Yet although T-Mobile and 3 have launched 'flat-rate' tariffs in the shape of Web'n'Walk and X-Series, the other operators are dragging their heels a bit.

Who wants to download a music track if it's going to cost you an extra £3 in data charges? Or, as Yospace CTO David Springall pointed out to us, who's going to upload their cool cameraphone video to YouTube if it costs them £12 to do it? Even Nokia and Sony Ericsson united to criticise the operators' complex tariffs at 3GSM this year.

11. Transformers RAWK!

The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift might be the best mobile game of 2006, according to 3GSM's Global Mobile Awards judges, but I'm more excited about the chance to play as Optimus Prime in the upcoming Transformers mobile game. Even if it is a bit unwise to turn into a truck midway through a platform game.

Mobile games were a bit quiet at 3GSM, with only a few publishers booking their own stands to show off new stuff. However, there's a quiet momentum building behind smartphone games - for example with a new Symbian version of Project Gotham Racing.

12. We still can't tell the difference between all the mobile VoIP companies

There are loads of startups aiming to be the mobile Skype. And speaking as a consumer, it's hard to a.) tell them apart, and b.) figure out why we shouldn't just wait for Skype to roll out a mobile application that provides ALL the features you get on the desktop version.

Rest assured, Tech Digest is going to be looking at this whole area very soon, to figure out who's who and what it's all about. For now, we remain confused. Which is why we haven't raced to sign up to any service.

13. Mobile TV is still underwhelming

Research firm M:Metrics surveyed 22,000 European mobile users before the show, and found that former mobile TV viewers now outnumber current mobile TV users. 45% of the people who've turned off say pricing issues were a factor, while 24% cite concerns over service quality and reliability.

From the technical demos we saw at 3GSM, mobile TV will be great. One day. But for now, it's provoking a lot of people who are interested in watching programmes on their phones to switch off.

14. Mobile blogging is growing, with photos and videos the focus

The problem with moblogging was always the assumption that people would type posts on their mobile keypad to upload. However ninja your texting skills are, it's not very appealing.

However, talking to a couple of blogging tech providers at 3GSM (including Motorola), people have twigged that moblogging is more about instant posting of photos and videos as (or just after) you capture them. Which when you think about it, makes way more sense.

That said, the Shiny massive are also converts to SpinVox's Spin-my-Blog technology, which converts your voice blatherings into proper text posts. So wordy moblogging could make a comeback soon.

15. If you want a phone with a full keyboard, you're spoilt for choice

All the manufacturers had the QWERTY bug at this year's 3GSM, including the usual suspecs (HTC), but also the likes of Nokia, Motorola and Toshiba. We blame the rise of mobile email.

16. It's quite seedy to hang around a stand leching on Russian booth babes

Although, yes, it's probably even worse to film them. Sorry about that.

17. YouTube and MySpace have work to do on mobile

The two biggest Web 2.0 brands clearly see mobile as an important part of their future, but mobile types aren't convinced they've got their strategy right just yet. YouTube has signed deals with Nokia and Vodafone, but mobile video-sharing site Yospace reckons it still sees mobile as simply a case of shoving its web vids onto phones.

Meanwhile, social networking firm Clicmobile warned MySpace that it needs to get mobile right, or it could die! The fact that these two companies' are in some form rivals to MySpace and YouTube doesn't mean their views should be written off, either. Figuring out what will make a great MySpace or YouTube mobile service will be one of the biggest challenges in 2007. We're sure it's possible.

18. Don't spunk all your new product announcements the week before 3GSM.

It might mean Susi can shoot videos on your stand without being jostled by 717 men in suits, but it doesn't give her much to talk about...

19. Thin is in

The fashion industry may be (reluctantly) booting underweight models off the catwalk, but Size Zero phones go from strength to strength. Top dog at 3GSM in the 'looks really cool even though you have a nagging suspicion you might end up accidentally snapping it in your back pocket' stakes was Samsung's U100 (left).

20. Us Brits like a night at the movies

And we use our phones to do it too. M-Spatial chose 3GSM to release its latest research on what local services UK mobile users search for using their phones. Cinema was the most popular category, followed by Fast Food, Drinking and Taxi. No, Museums, Opera and Bowling Greens didn't make the Top 10...

21. Mobile GPS navigation is buzzing

Also in evidence at the show was mobile navigation technology, whether applications for phones from the likes of Telmap, TeleNav and ALK Technologies, or GPS-enabled devices from Garmin, BlackBerry and Nokia.

Right now, it's mainly about providing the sort of turn-by-turn driving directions that you'd get in a regular satnav device, but the real potential is in using your mobile's data connection to provide live traffic info and updates, or at some point in the future, tying into mobile social networks (companies like Clicmobile and CityNeo are already looking to do this).

22. Techy mobile companies have a keen sense of irony

At least, I hope that's the case. How they come up with stand slogans like 'Shattering Tomorrow's Boundaries of Mobile Antenna Specification Solutions, Today!' if they're not having a laugh is beyond me.

23. Windows Mobile is gearing up for another big push

Microsoft launched Windows Mobile 6.0 at 3GSM, with all manner of on-stand demos showing off its new features, which we'll be looking at in more detail in the weeks ahead.

But equally importantly, Microsoft has signed up the likes of LG, Toshiba and HP to make Windows Mobile phones, with the first handsets using the new OS set to appear in the second half of this year, including some from previous licensors like HTC.

24. Creating your own mobile TV channel is more fun than watching what the operators are serving up

If mobile is such a personal device, why do I have to just watch simulcasts of terrestrial or digital channels, hmm? Some companies are exploring DIY TV, where you create a channel of video content to watch on your phone. One example is Vpod.tv, who'll have an interview going up on Tech Digest early next week.

Meanwhile, Dutch firm TNO unveiled a new tech called Farcast which works the other way around, taking video from your phone and turning it into a web-based TV channel.

25. DVB-H mobile TV is still frustratingly far away in the UK

We want it. We want it now. But despite the announcement of cool DVB-H handsets like Nokia's N77, don't expect to see them on sale here unless the powers-that-be in the UK broadcasting and mobile industries figure out how and when to roll the technology out here. Bah.

26. You can finally get Flash Lite content on your phone

You know Flash - it's ubiquitous on the Web. Adobe has had the Flash Lite tool for mobile phones for some time, which can be used for rich games and applications. Trouble was, nobody was really selling them, so you had to frequent developer forums to find stuff to actually put on your phone.

That's changing. At 3GSM, Adobe signed a deal with website Handango, which will be one of the first to sell Flash Lite content to mobile users. Hopefully more will follow.

27. Short films on your phone are cool

At 3GSM, the people behind the Sundance Film Festival unveiled five short films shot especially for mobile, which were immediately made available for download to mobile users.

You can have a gander by texting FILM to 07624 807 811, to get sent a link to their WAP site. Better still, you can freely share them with friends via Bluetooth. The idea of sitting down for three hours to watch King Kong on a phone is horrendous, but short, arty movies like this should find a healthy audience.

28. We quite fancy a simple mobile phone

All these cutting-edge whizzy multimedia handsets can get a bit much at times. Remember the old days, when your phone could make voice calls, send texts and.. well, that was it. Those days don't have to be in the past.

The mobile industry is putting lots of effort into low-cost handsets too, albeit mainly for countries such as India and China, which are expected to provide explosive mobile growth in the coming years. Motorola's F3 won an award at the show for being the 'Best Ultra Low Cost Handset', for example.

If you're thinking of going retro, Tech Digest's recommendation is the newly-announced Nokia 3110 Classic, which is a replacement for the classic 6310i. Ashley liked the big buttons. "If your dad wants a phone..."

29. Touch-screen phones are easy to use

Not sure about how you'd get on without a keypad? Soon you'll have the opportunity to find out. Besides the LG Prada phone, and of course Apple's iPhone, 3GSM also saw the debut of Samsung's F700, which admittedly also has a slide-out keyboard for messaging. But it's the screen that caught Ashley's attention, even from behind a glass screen.

Touch-screen phones aren't just about slinkiness. As mobiles try to be all things to all people - music player, TV, web surfing device etc - the traditional keypad interface is struggling to keep up. Touch-screens mean more flexible user interfaces able to adapt to whatever you're doing on the phone at the time.

30. Everyone thinks mobile advertising will be big. Nobody knows quite how it'll work

The advertising industry loves the thought of putting ads on phones. Not least because the young cool hipsters it likes to target aren't as susceptible to TV and print ads. Along with online advertising, mobile is the new buzz area. Trouble is, nobody's quite sure what kind of mobile advertising will work well, and what us users will put up with.

The mobile phone's a personal device, so any unwanted ads will feel doubly intrusive. Yet at the same time, the mobile industry sees adverts as a way to make mobile entertainment cheaper - or even free - to make more of us use it. Which would certainly solve those worries over mobile TV pricing (see earlier).

At 3GSM, there was lots of talk about mobile ads, but not that much action yet. 2007 will see a big growth in the sector though, whether it's free mobile games with ads on the loading screens, banner ads on your operator portal, or the Crazy Frog bursting into your voice calls every three minutes singing his latest ringtone. Okay, not that last one. Well, I hope not...

T-Mobile halves data roaming costs for business

More cuts in roaming charges - this time from T-Mobile, which is reducing data charges for registered business customers from 16th February.

According to the company, the new tariffs will reduce by half the cost of data roaming for new and existing registered business customers on the network. Prices will be reduced from £7.50 per MB to £3 per MB when roaming in Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, the UK and the USA, with prices applicable to data both sent and received.

According to Derek Williamson, Head of Business Marketing, T-Mobile UK: "As part of this commitment, we are always looking to review our roaming costs and strive to offer the most competitive tariffs where possible. There is increasing demand for access to key business information whilst on the move both here in the UK and Abroad. This announcement will ensure that our business customers can benefit from improved communications and increased business efficiency through the freedom to use mobile data services, in key business locations, at a significantly reduced cost."

An announcement on a reduction in consumer charging is expected to follow later in the year.

T-Mobile website

3GSM 2007: Microsoft and Vodafone to launch Instant Messaging service for mobiles and PC

More news from the 3GSM, this time from Microsoft and Vodafone, who have announced they are working together on an enhanced and co-branded Instant Messaging service.

The idea is to make the service seamless - accessed from both the PC and mobile phone. It will be based on the Windows Live Messenger platform and should allow you to access your address book and contacts on whatever platform you are using, with an indication of whether your friends are online on their PC or phone. According to the joint statement, it will be launched in "select European markets" later this year.

According to Brian Arbogast, corporate vice president of the Windows Live Developer and Communications Platform: "We have brought together two of the world’s largest messaging communities with a co-branded seamless PC-to-mobile
Instant Messaging service. Vodafone customers will be able to communicate whenever and wherever they want, using IM and its additional service benefits, making the most of their time with mobile and PC."

MSN Worldwide
Vodafone

More from 3GSM 2007

3GSM: Viruses hit mobile operators hard

A joint survey from security software firm McAfee and the research company Informa has found that mobile operators are being struck hard by viruses.

A poll of over 200 operators worldwide shows that they are experiencing the effect of viruses in reduced customer satisfaction, network performance, and impact upon their brand and revenue.

Though mobile viruses are relatively few and don't affect mobile phones with the same severity than many of those found on PCs, they are still a threat that needs to be taken seriously.

Most antivirus companies now have software for mobile phones.

"This research clearly demonstrates that mobile security is moving quickly up the industry agenda with the number of malware incidents rising and more time and money being dedicated to resolving mobile security issues," said Victor Kouznetsov, Senior Vice President of McAfee Mobile Security.

There are believed to be around 350 mobile viruses, worms or other malware since the first one appeared in 2004.

More news from 3GSM 2007

Vodafone to launch YouTube Mobile

Vodafone has been busy boosting its Vodafone Live! service this week, with announcements for MySpace Mobile and eBay Mobile. And now they've announced another biggie - YouTube.

How much of a service being offered isn't clear. The company statement promises "a version of the popular YouTube service directly from Vodafone live!", which doesn't sound like a full service. This seems to be confirmed by "a daily selection of new videos" as one of the big selling points. However, Vodafone goes on to say it is offering uses the chance to upload their own content from their mobile phones and "search across multiple categories". So is it or isn't it?

The service will launch initially in the UK, so we'll find out the full details nearer to the (as yet unconfirmed) launch date.

Vodafone website

Vodafone launches new and exclusive eBay mobile application

More mobile exclusivity from Vodafone. Following on from yesterday's launch of MySpace Mobile, the company has announced a deal with eBay, offering a new eBay mobile application that's exclusive to the company through most of Europe.

Vodafone's eBay Mobile service will allow users to search and browse for items in real time, bid on items or purchase fixed-price items. The application will be embedded onto "key consumer handsets" in future or will be available for download for compatible handsets from Vodafone Live!.

According to Frank H. Rövekamp, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone: "There is a strong demand from eBay users to benefit from a mobile application where they don’t miss the end of auctions and bid back when they are outbid. Today’s announcement offers just that and gives Vodafone customers a great service and a clear advantage allowing them to make the most of their time."

The application will launch in Italy initially, then be rolled out over Europe. It will be exclusive everywhere in Europe, with the exception of the UK.

Vodafone website

MySpace launches MySpace Mobile exclusively with Vodafone

Good news if you are addicted to MySpace and have a Vodafone mobile phone - you can now access your site on the move with MySpace Mobile, which is available exclusively in the UK to Vodafone customers.

MySpace Mobile will be pre-loaded on future (selected) Vodafone handsets or is available to download from Vodafone live!. According to Colin Digiaro, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, International, MySpace: "Millions of people use MySpace as their primary means of communicating with family and friends, so it’s vital we make this available on the move."

MySpace Mobile on Vodafone offers all the features you are familiar with on the web version, but with an interface adapted for mobile handsets. You can upload and view photos, read and respond to mail, manage your community of friends, post comments and blog entries, view friends and view your groups.

Vodafone website

Germany proposes mobile roaming price caps

Germany, who currently hold the European Union's six-month presidency, have proposed the capping of mobile phone roaming charges in the EU.

In basic terms, the proposal would require each mobile operator to offer a plan, named the 'consumer protection tariff', that don't exceed €0.50 per minute, with calls received outside the home country not costing more than €0.25.

Viviane Reding, EU's telecommunications commissioner sponsoring the roaming plan, wants to have the regulation in place by July. The UK and France have led a group of EU governments opposed to the plan, saying that it doesn't give mobile operators the opportunity to provide their own special offers.

Mobile operators including Vodafone have complained that the proposal isn't necessary as they're already reducing prices. For example, Vodafone say that their Passport Plan has led to a 50% price decrease.

Of course, the mobile operators won't be overly happy with this kind of proposal, as it would likely shave a significant amount from their profit margins.

Related stories: Get Bollywood on your mobile phone | Samsung SCH-W559 touchscreen mobile phone first to offer tactile feedback | Hitachi W51H hi-res mobile phone

O2 promises end to mobile upgrade rip-off

Ever had that feeling, towards the end of your mobile contract, that you could get a much better phone for a lower price if you take advantage of another operator's introductory offers? Yeah, us too. And this is why millions of mobile users have 'churned' between operators.

O2's aiming to stem the flow from its customer base with a new initiative called Fair Deal. The gist: existing O2 users will be given the same handset and tariff deals as new customers when they come to upgrade. And they'll also be rewarded with 'O2 Treats' for their loyalty.

“We want our customers to be the happiest and most loyal, so we listen to what they want and – crucially – act on what they tell us," says Sally Cowdry, marketing director at O2 UK.

"They said ‘why shouldn’t existing customers get the same as new ones?’ And they’re absolutely right. All O2 customers should always get the best O2 has to offer, so that’s what we’re giving them. And on top of that, we want to say a big thanks to our customers for their trust and custom, so have something extra from us.”

Of course, this is as much about stopping customers from hightailing it to Vodafone or Orange when their contract's up as it is about big-hearted generosity. But it's good news for mobile users, especially if the rival operators follow suit.

Anything that means you don't have to spend 20 minutes on the phone threatening to cancel in order to secure the same upgrade price on a phone they've seen advertised in the paper for free is fine by me.

O2 hasn't yet given details of what the 'Treats' will be, although I'm guessing it might be free stuff, like games or full-track music downloads. Or maybe the CEO will turn up on your doorstep with flowers and a big wet kiss. We'll have to wait and see.

First info on Virgin Media's quad-play services

So, everyone knows that NTL and Virgin have got together for a joint quad-play venture, called Virgin Media, which'll supply home-owners with TV, broadband, home phone AND mobile. And we know it's all systems go this year for the new brand. But how will it work?

If you want an early glimpse, check out Virgin Media's Know First website, which has a few details, along with the first screenshot of the new service's digital TV electronic programme guide (pictured).

There will be three TV packages to choose from. Medium Virgin TV will have over 39 channels, including E4, CBeebies and Bravo. Large Virgin TV will offer over 83 channels, including all those in the Medium package plus others like Discovery, Cartoon Network and Eurosport. Finally, XLarge Virgin TV will have over 129 channels, including Disney, National Geographic and MTV. All the packages will come with a variety of on-demand options too.

Meanwhile, Virgin Broadband will also come in Medium (2Mb), Large (4Mb) and XLarge (8Mb) options, while home telephony follows the same pattern: Medium gives you unlimited UK landline weekend calls, Large has unlimited UK landline evenings and weekend calls, and XLarge offers completely unlimited UK landline calls at any time.

Mobile? It's staying as Pay Monthly or Pay As You Go. Other news: current NTL users can opt to change their email addresses to @virginmedia.com if they want, and new-look Virgin Media bills will be sent out in the coming months. Oh, and the site has a competition to win tickets to the Virgin Media launch party and swigg champers with Richard Branson.

Virgin Media Know First website

3 cuts back roaming charges

Good news if you are with 3 and you plan on calling from abroad - the company has announced its customers will no longer pay to receive calls, and will be able to use their bundled minutes, text, and data, when roaming onto a 3 network abroad, including all the services in its X-Series package.

The deal applies to both pay as you go and contract customers travelling to Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Hong Kong, Australia, and (if you don't live here) the UK. Once the bundled minutes have been used up, messaging services (SMS and MMS) are charged the same rate as in the UK, while voice calls will be 20 pence a minute. International calls will be charged as though the customer is in the UK.

The European Commission is currently investigating roaming charges by mobile operators, so it's perhaps no surprise to see 3 acting to cut back charges. Here's hoping the rest feel compelled to follow suit and offer a full service for the same rate outside of the UK.

3 website

Via The Register

T-Mobile moves to end “technobabble”

According to new research undertaken by T-Mobile and YouGov, over half of the UK's population is "frustrated, confused or bored by technology jargon".

It sounds like it's more confused than bored or frustrated, with a third of Britons unsure of VoIP and considerably more (77 per cent) baffled by HSDPA. In fact, 2 per cent of those surveyed thought it was connected to tax returns and 5 per cent having some strange notion that it is connected to their body’s mineral content.

After undertaking the survey, T-Mobile is now planning to tackle "technobabble". All of its shop staff are taking part in training to ensure they clearly demonstrate what customers can do with their gadgets, and talk in their language rather than in megabits and gigabytes, in an effort to "demystify" technology.

While all that's admirable, let's hope dumbing down doesn't mean treating us all like dummies.

T-Mobile website

Cellswapper: an answer to those lengthy mobile contracts?

Mobile contract lengths have been creeping from 12 to 18 months in the UK, while it's reported that to get an iPhone on US operator Cingular, you'll have to sign up to a TWO YEAR contract. Cripes. So what to do if you're stuck in a contract and want out?

Cellswapper is a US-only site at the moment, but the idea is to match up people who want to get out of their contracts early without paying a fee, with those who want to get a short-term contract. The result: two happy punters, one of whom can expect to save $150-200 in termination fees.

The operators don't work in quite the same way over here, but it'd be interesting to see if a service like Cellswapper could take off here. Maybe a retailer like the Carphone Warehouse could even run it...

Cellswapper website

(via eHub)

Nokia responds to Apple iPhone - 'it is a surprise that the iPhone is not 3G'

So, the Apple iPhone has finally been announced (read all about it here if you're still in the dark). So what does this mean for existing mobile phone makers? I just interviewed Nokia's vice president of Nseries Computers Pekka Pohjakallio at CES, and here's what he had to say, having spent the morning receiving text messages from Nokia's spies watching Steve Jobs' speech.

"I think it confirms our story," he says. "We have been preaching the message of converged multimedia in one device, with lots of use cases and a good experience for the whole life of Nseries. And now Apple have come and said basically the same thing, even if they have implemented some things differently.

"It just confirms our message, and it's good to have others preaching the same message. The best company will win in the end, so I think it's good news for us. It's not a threat, although of course it's hard competition, but that usually makes you perform better yourself."

However, Pohjakallio did point out one possible snag for Apple's iPhone, even if it is well stocked for multimedia features.

"They had music, internet, an email deal with Yahoo and a deal with Google, but it is a 2G device, not 3G, which was a surprise to me," he says. "And it's coming first to the US market with Cingular, so let's see. But overall, it's very exciting for us."

Of course, Pohjakallio didn't just talk about the competition. Check the rest of the interview for his views on Nokia's flagship multimedia handsets, and the challenges of making a phone that's equally good at TV, music, gaming, Internet access and washing the dishes. Well, not that last one. Not yet.

O2 Ireland adds Napster to i-mode service

O2 has announced a deal with Napster that allows customers to download tunes from the Napster catalogue directly to their mobile handsets.

Unfortunately for us in the UK, the service is initially being launched solely in Ireland - but you can expect it to be moving across the water if successful. Napster Mobile will offer all of its 2.2 million tracks for access via the i-mode service, as well as a recommendation engine that informs you of new songs that might interest you based on previous downloads.

And from early next year, customers will also be able to access a copy of the mobile downloads on a designated PCs. For more details of the service, visit the O2 Ireland website.

3'S X Series Launch pricing - they got it right shocker

Comment from David Murphy of Mobile Marketing Magazine

I wouldn't want to be working in one of 3's stores over the next few weeks. Because if the mobile network operator, or mobile media company as it prefers to style itself, makes a decent fist of promoting its X-Series package, its staff are going to face a stampede of customers looking to sign up.

When we first wrote about X-Series a couple of weeks ago, we criticised 3 for not releasing pricing details. Price, we said, was all-important. At £25 or £30 a month, the service could really fly. Well when you add in a voice tariff, that's what 3 is asking, for the first 6 months at least.

On the Silver package, which costs £5 a month, the minimum voice and text tariff is £20 for the first six months, £35 thereafter. On the Gold package, which costs £10 a month, it's £25, rising to £40 after six months. For anyone who likes to go online with their mobile, X-Series looks irresistible.

At the mobilemarketing 2006 conference the other day, several delegates were talking about the lack of pricing transparency for data charges. If you respond to someone's mobile marketing campaign and download their admittedly gorgeous Java brochure to your handset, chances are it could be costing you £5 or £6 to do so.

Well here's a package that costs less than that for a month which, within reasonable limits, allows you to download Java brochures till the cows come home, and surf the web and make Skype calls to boot.

Sure, there are only two handsets to choose from initially, (only one, the Nokia at launch) but they look pretty good, with a 3.2 Megapixel camera on the Nokia and a 4GB digital music player on the Sony Ericsson, and there will doubtless be more to come.

3's move could be the best thing that¹s ever happened to the mobile marketing business. Surely the other operators can't just sit back and accept it. Currently, only T-Mobile's web 'n' walk package comes anywhere close to what 3 is offering. If the cost of going online on your mobile becomes as affordable, and as transparent, on all networks as it is now on 3, it can only encourage consumers to get involved in mobile marketing campaigns.

As Jonathan Bass, MD of mobile agency Incentivated put it when I called to get a quote: "You want a quote from me? One word: hurrah!"

Related stories

3's X-Series pricing announced 3's X-Series live blog

X-Series from 3 - flat-fee broadband internet and services - pricing announced

Two weeks back, 3 announced the X-Series, answering most questions about its flat-fee mobile broadband and data-hungry services except one - the pricing. Well, now it's out in the open.

There are two packages, both of which are on top of your 3 phone package - X-Series Silver at £5 per month and X-Series Gold at £10 per month. If you opt for X-Series Silver, you get unlimited Skype calls with other Skype PC users and to any other Skype 3 mobile customer. There is also unlimited instant messages, to or from Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger, to another X-Series handset or a PC, along with unlimited internet access. The X-Series Gold package adds in access to your home TV with Slingbox and your home PC with Orb for £10 per month.

There are a couple of other things worth noting. If you're new to 3, you'll be signing for a minimum six months and if you buy a Slingbox with X-Series Gold, there is a 12 month minimum contract. That's because you get your Slingbox reduced - just £99. And of course, there is 'fair use'.

It's available from today, but with just the Nokia N73 right now, followed by the Sony Ericsson W950i in January..

X-Series website

My bluebook - online back-up for O2 phone customers

If you're an O2 customer worried about losing your mobile data, you might want to try My bluebook, a new service that allows customers to store personal information through a free, web-based account.

My bluebook can keep track of contacts, text messages, pictures, and video clips for personal reference or as a means of sharing with friends and family. According to O2, 80-85% of mobile users surveyed want to be able to back up their contacts easily, 25% want to be able to backup photos, while 10-15% want to store their sms messages securely.

If you want to upload data, it's just a matter of dialling a number from your mobile phone. The company intends to extend the service next year, so users can backup address books automatically.

O2 website

Mobile adult content market to grow to $3.3bn by 2011

Juniper Research suggests that demand from the well-developed European market will propel the mobile adult content market from its current level of $1.4bn to over $3.3bn by the year 2011.

Here's a shock revelation: sex sells, and is pretty persistent. Mobile is the latest channel for the distribution of adult content, thanks to the increasingly rapid roll out of 3G services incorporating enhanced mobile video and graphics capabilities.

By 2011, video-based services will account for over 70% of mobile adult content market revenue.

Bruce Gibson, Research Director at Juniper Research, said: "The mobile channel will provide a different way of presenting adult content to traditional delivery channels and will reach new audiences. Mobile is about fun and instant gratification. I think the biggest opportunity is at the casual and “softer” end of the adult market –- lads in pubs sharing a video clip after a few pints and people looking for a bit of fun when they have spare time to kill, etc. - not the hard core stuff.”"

So there you go, more sex on your mobile.

Google slams mobile operators that block its content

A Google senior executive has laid into mobile operators around the world, accusing some of them of blocking access to certain Internet applications (yes, including Google's own)

Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google, said on Monday that certain mobile operators had lobbied the search giant, asking it to stop people accessing Google Mobile Maps. Oh yeah, that's going to happen.

"They're inserting themselves in between you and an application that you want. I think that has scary, scary implications," said Sacca.

He also hit out at operators claiming to provide unlimited Net access but then blocking hungry applications like VoIP and streaming video. I'm sure they'll just claim some 'fair use' policy.

"VoIP is not a service. It's a technology which provides only one thing — cheaper calls — and we can provide cheaper calls very easily by cutting prices,” Bobby Rao, Vodafone corporate strategy director, told journalists and analysts on Wednesday.“We think the best way to offer people cheaper calling plans is to offer them cheaper calling plans... The value customers are looking for is not VoIP,” Rao added.

Yep, I think you're missing some of the point, here, Bobby.

T-Mobile offers first non-PDA mobile broadband handset - Samsung Z560

T-Mobile has launched the first non-PDA HSDPA (3G broadband) mobile phone in the UK - the Samsung Z560, offering connection speeds four times faster than traditional 3G. And even better - you can attach it to your PC and use it as a high-speed modem.
 
Using T-Mobile's Web 'n' Walk service, you get high-speed web access and email on the lightweight (98g) device, along with a 2 megapixel camera, MP3 player with 3D stereo sound, 30MB of internal memory, video streaming, video calling and up to one hour's video recording.

A basic Web 'n' Walk package for the handset is £7.50 per month. However, if you want to hook it up to your laptop, other plans give you that option. Opting for Web 'n' Walk Plus gives you the option of high-speed web browsing on your laptop, aling with instant messaging for £12.50 per month. Or if you want to make some free calls, the Web 'n' Walk Max package adds VoIP calling for a total of £22.50 per month.

The Samsung Z560 costs from free on a T-Mobile pay monthly price plan and is available now.

T-Mobile website

3 teams up with Groove Mobile for mobile music services

Mobile provider 3 and Groove Mobile have announced that they're joining forces to power a new mobile music service on 3 UK's network. It will see Groove bring its award-winning music service to 3, which is ranked number one in the UK's mobile music download market.

The service will offer full-track music downloads to mobile handsets, access to multiple charts, the download of high-quality album art, and exclusive content.

The music service allows users who purchase music over the air to get their track delivered to their handset, and get a copy of their track online. They can then play it on their laptop or PC, transfer it onto an MP3 player, or burn it to CD. They can also purchase the track on their PC and then download it free of charge to their mobile. Also, in the event that a customer loses/deletes a track, they are able to re-download the track up to 3 times, free of charge (unlike iTunes).

3UK's Marketing Director, Graeme Oxby says "3UK's mobile music service powered by Groove Mobile will enable our customers to download music simultaneously from their phone to their PC and vice versa. It will bring online music purchasing for both home and mobile into one seamless experience. Once again this will demonstrate 3's leadership in this market and give a fabulous experience for our customers."

3

3's X-Series monthly price? "Less than home broadband"

One thing conspicuous by its absence from this morning's X-Series launch were any firm pricing details. Of course, 3 did say that you'll pay one monthly flat fee for unlimited (albeit with fair-use restrictions) use of all its services, including messaging, browsing and slinging your TV to your phone. But no actual figures.

We sniffed around at the event, including talking to some 3 people, and the consensus was that you'll pay "a bit less than home broadband" for X-Series. Which by our reckoning means £15-20 per month, although this would presumably be on top of your regular monthly tariff covering voice calls, texts, video calls etc.

If true, this is mighty tempting, although we can't help thinking it'd be nice to use all these nifty internet services through a handset with a flip-out keyboard and big wide-screen. Read our other X-Series launch coverage here and here, by the way.

YouTube on your mobile phone - thanks to the Orb and 3's X-Series

Yep we were a bit cynical about it too, but one of the big stories from today's 3 X-Series launch is that subscribers will be able to watch YouTube vids on their mobile. Apparently the Orb software, which will be pre-installed on X-Series mobiles, allows the user to remote control their home PC. So the big news is that you'll be able to watch YouTube vids, stream music stored on your hard drive and more and you won't have to pay mega expensive bandwidth charges to the network as, after a payment of £15-20, it will all be free.

More on the launch here and word for word transcription of the day Yahoo, Google and Microsoft made sweet mobile love together is here.

Check 3 UK's X-Series out for yourself

We've been live-blogging from 3's X-Series launch event this morning, but the official website has just gone live. Click here to have a nose around it, there's a webcast happening right now, details of both launch handsets and the services, and even a strange blog of "mobile internet musings from 3 people on the go", which is inviting your comments. Feel free to suggest they give Ashley and Stuart from Tech Digest a couple of free X-Series phones as we leave the event. Well, it's worth a try.

Check out our launch coverage, and key quotes.

X-Series from 3 - flat-fee broadband internet and data-hungry services on your mobile handset

Hutchison, the people behind the 3 network, has announced the  X-Series from 3, partnering with Skype, Sling Media, Yahoo!, Nokia, Google, eBay, Microsoft, Orb and Sony Ericsson to offer what it boldly describes as "the true power of broadband internet over the mobile."

What that means in reality is flat-fee pricing for a range of data-hungry services from a compatible handset - those being (at time of launch) the Nokia N73 and Sony Ericsson W950i Walkman phone. Hutchison hopes the flat-fee will appeal to anyone put off data services by fear of the hefty bill at the end of the month - although as yet, we don't know what that monthly figure will actually be.

Heading those services is Skype - you can make and receive unlimited Skype calls with Skype PC users anywhere in the world, along with other Skype 3 mobile customers. There's also the option of using a Slingbox (hardware not included) to watch terrestrial TV, Freeview, cable, and satellite TV on your handset, as well as controlling your home personal video recorder (PVR). Orb offers you access to digital content on your home PC (music files, digital photos, videos etc), with an interface speciifically designed for X-Series handsets.

There's also the option of instant messaging via Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger to another X-Series handset or a PC, along with web browsing via Google or Yahoo! search engine. And if you like eBay, there's real-time bidding on there too.

The flat-fee will be on top of your 3 subscription, there is the usual "fair usage" clause and some services (Orb and Slingbox ) will initially be charged at a higher price point. The X-Series from 3 will be lanched in the UK on December 1st 2007. We should have more detail on this later today, after the official press conference.

3 website

ntl:Telewest and Virgin Mobile to become Virgin Media

Back in July we reported on the quadplay deal from ntl:Telewest and Virgin Mobile which launched back in September for £40 per month, and providing TV, landline and mobile telephony, and broadband.

Well, deciding that it was too much of a mouthful to mention all those companies each time, the new brand - described as an 'exciting new presence in the UK media market' - is Virgin Media.

Virgin Media is promising to live up to Virgin's long-established reputation for offering world class customer service. At least, that's what they say. What it means is that the company has committed £5m this year to improve customer care, prior to launching the brand.

Steve Burch, president and chief executive officer, ntl said: "Virgin Media will shake up the market by bringing the Virgin traditions of value-for-money, brilliant customer service and innovation to the world of entertainment and communications. While work remains to be done between now and the re-brand, our decision to announce its name and logo today is a reflection of my confidence that we’re well on the way to creating an organisation that can live up to this vision by consistently putting the consumer first."

Gordon McCallum, chief executive officer of Virgin Management Limited and ntl Board member added: "Taking on the Virgin brand is about much more than a new name and logo above the door. ntl Telewest’s management team has consistently demonstrated that it understands this and the commitment that’s needed to succeed. Much has already been achieved and we’re confident that the company’s on track to deliver the Virgin promise when we re-brand next year."

Well, that's all the corporate talk. I made my feelings known about this potential 'eggs in one basket' scenario in the previous article but it does seem to be the way many companies are taking things as they seek to take over your communications needs.

For now, we get a nice new logo. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the other products currently on offer from ntl:Telewest and Virgin Mobile. It's all systems go from early 2007.

3 customers get their pick of Girls Aloud

Mobile company 3 has teamed up with Girls Aloud, offering the first-ever 'fans choice' video.

3’s MusicStore will feature three versions of the video for the band’s forthcoming single (a cover of Tiffany's I Think We’re Alone Now) - and you get to vote on which version the rest of the world will see. Actually, it's the same video (based on Ocean's 11) with a different ending, described as ‘sexy’, ‘shocking’ or ‘funny’ - but as it's unlikely to be an 18 certificate, I wouldn't expect too much of either.

3 customers will be able to watch all the endings and vote for their favourite to become the official video promoting the single. The winning video will be revealed to the rest of the nation on 17th November 2006.

3 website

Orange offer broadband, mobile and unlimited UK landline calls for £50pm

Along with their unlimited broadband and UK/international landline calls deal, Orange have also announced a new broadband/mobile deal that combines the benefits of the traditional home landline and your mobile phone.

Many people are relying on their mobile for the majority if not all of their phone needs, and this deal provides a single handset offering one phone number, one address book, and just one bill.

The perks it provides? Unlimited free calls at home (connects wirelessly via the Orange Livebox and routes calls over the Internet) to Orange mobiles and UK landlines, and a choice of three handsets from Motorola, Nokia and Samsung.

The Livebox can connect up to six handsets, and three people can use the box to surf the Net or make phone calls at the same time.

Whilst £50 per month might seem a bit steep, if it's a replacement for your phone and provides you 8 meg broadband, then you don't have to pay line rental or broadband subscription fees to anyone else.

Product page

Sky Mobile TV now on 3 Mobile UK

BSkyB and 3 have just announced that 3's customers will now be able to receive up to 27 Sky Mobile TV channels on their handsets, to include live news, sport, music, entertainment and documentaries. As Sky love packages, 3 customers will be able to choose from a range of themed packs: News & Sport, Entertainment, and Music. Each package costs £5 per month for unlimited (fair use) access. Sky News and Sport gets you Sky News, Sky Sports News, Discovery Factual; CNN; Bloomberg; At The Races; Extreme Sports Channel; National Geographic; History Channel; and Biography Channel. Sky Entertainment Pack contains Sky One; Sky Movies Mobile; MTV Snax; MTV Trax; Nickelodeon; Paramount Comedy Channel; Cartoon Network; Living; E!; Bravo and Discovery Lifestyle. Sky Music Pack offers Kiss; MTV Snax; MTV Trax; The Box; Kerrang; Smash Hits; IMF1; and IMF2. Could this be a lure for more people to hook up to mobile TV?

"Oi, where d'you think you're going?"

Ever wished you could jump straight to the front of the queue like a celeb when you go to see your favourite band? Well if you're a Virgin Mobile customer, now you can. Mobile Marketing Magazine reports that Virgin has launched a queue-jumping facility that runs at selected gigs at Carling Academy venues across the UK. Ads at the venues give instructions on how to jump the queue by texting 'Qjump' to a dedicated shortcode number. In return, you get a barcode sent to your phone that you scan at a terminal to convert it to a ticket that lets you and a mate jump straight to the front of the queue while all the other suckers shout abuse at you and try to work out which obscure band you're a member of. Clever eh? Get the full story here

Vodafone exclusively offer 'world first' mobile movie release: Mission Impossible 3

Vodafone have scored an exclusive for new purchasers of Nokia N93 multimedia computers. Nokia will launch the film Mission: Impossible 3 on 512MB memory cards on the same day the film is released on DVD, to be available for free as part of the Vodafone Nokia N93 sales package. The film runs at 25 frames per second, and the N93 will give you full rewind, fast forward, stop and play capabilities plus stereo audio playable through the supplied stereo headset. The film can be transferred to a PC after watching so that the memory card can be used for extra storage, though thanks to some irritating DRM the film can't be watched on the PC or transferred anywhere else (not officially, anyway) so you are stuck to watching it on the 2.4 inch screen of your N93. So, if you want to watch Tom Cruise on the small screen and you've been hankering after a N93 anyway, pop down to your Vodafone store for more info, or visit the official website. Vodafone

Vodafone UK offers unlimited group calls for £5 a month

From tomorrow, Vodafone UK is offering its customers a new Vodafone Family tariff that will allow groups of four or six people to make free calls at any time, providing they are all Vodafone customers. £5 per month gives you free access to 3 other Vodafone customers, whilst £7 per month lets you call up to 5 others. It's being aimed particularly at parents and children, hence the name, but can equally be used for any group that communicates a lot. Customers can be a part of up to three groups at any one time. Each individual call can last up to one hour. Given the generally high price of mobile-to-mobile calling, this is a great plan for a select group of friends or family. Vodafone Family

Carphone Warehouse launch MyMobileLife service

The Carphone Warehouse today unveiled its new MyMobileLife service aiming to give mobile phone users access to a range of services as well as free instant messaging using any of the popular IM clients. Some services, including the instant messaging, will be free, such as news from the BBC, daily horoscopes, and TV listings. Other premium services will also be introduced including a £9.99 per year 'near live' comprehensive football results and events service. You can build a favourite team list of as many teams as you like and every time one of those teams scores a goal or has a goal scored against them, makes a substitution, has a player booked or sent off, the subscriber will be alerted by the service. It's also possible to shop at selected retailers using your phone and check on eBay auctions. In time, additional services will be launched including banking and online cinema ticket purchase. Consumers can register for MyMobileLife by texting ‘Life’ to 81444 or by visiting www.mymobilelife.co.uk

O2 to offer free incoming calls for users roaming in Europe

O2 have announced that, along with Movistar in Spain, they will offer incoming calls free of metered charges to customers roaming in 35 European countries.

The "high roamer" service will allow customers to pay a £5 monthly fee which gets them a reduced rate of 25p per minute on outgoing calls, plus free calls in Spain, which is where O2 say most of their customers go when abroad. They will expand this to the 35 European countries early next year. This might encourage users to use their phones more when abroad.

O2

Vodafone adds Sharp's 3G 770SH and Sharp GX29 clamshell to its Christmas line-up

As we previously mentioned, Vodafone has added a pile of new handsets to its Christmas line-up, with many models exclusive to the mobile giant - including the Sharp 770SH 3G handset and Sharp GX29 clamshell.

The Sharp 770SH is an entry-level 3G clamshell handset, which will give you access to Vodafone's mobile TV services. Other than that, it has a 1.3 megapixel camera, an inner TFT screen and outer mono display, video calling, 20MB of storage (which can be boosted by microSD card), MP3/AAC/AAC+/AAC+e music player, Bluetooth, USB and talktime of around 2 hours 40 minutes, along with a standby of 330 hours. It's available in a choice of black or silver.

The Sharp GX29 is a fairly basic 2.5G clamshell with just a VGA camera for taking your snaps. It's got a TFT screen with 256K colours, along with a second external mono display, Bluetooth, USB, voice memo and games. Battery life is 3 hours 40 minutes, with standby 250 hours.

Both should be in Vodafone stores in the coming weeks. Prices according to contract.

Vodafone website

Vodafone and Phones 4u link up: Carphone Warehouse unhappy

Vodafone has done a deal with Phones 4u that will ensure P4U is the only third-party UK company allowed to sell Vodafone mobile contracts. This ends the previous partnership with the Carphone Warehouse who can now only sell pay-as-you-go phones on the Vodafone network.

"Phones 4u is fully aligned with the Vodafone strategy of delivering a superior customer experience. This strategic deal will... ensure we can target all key customer segments through their channel of choice," said Voda UK CEO Nick Read.

OK, but some are speculating that Vodafone is doing some kind of payback for CW getting increasingly involved in broadband by acquiring AOL.

Not surprisingly CW aren't happy, saying that it will limit consumer choice as Phones 4u will now be working towards selling Vodafone quotas. Vodafone had apparently approached CW prior to inking the P4U deal, but CW declined as they said they sold phones based on what was best for the customer, not the mobile phone companies.

Vodafone to launch own brand 3G handset - Vodafone 710 clamshell

Vodafone is the latest company to launch an own-brand phone - in this case the new Vodafone 710 3G clamshell handset, which will be the first in a series of own-brand models.

China's Huawei Technologies will supply the Vodafone 710 clamshell phone. "The move will assist the uptake of 3G services, due to the lower cost per handset and the fact that the Vodafone 710 will be offered on prepay as well as contract, and will provide wide market access to 3G," Vodafone said in a statement.

"White label" phones can typically cost a third less than those sourced from more established handset brands - and they give operators greater flexibility to customise the phones to their own services. Details so far released on the 710 indicate it features an MP3 music player, a 1.3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. The launch is expected next month.

Vodafone website

Via Reuters

T-Mobile offers Motorola KRZR K1 and exclusive champagne Samsung E870

Two new mobiles available from T-Mobile in the UK - the Motorola KRZR K1 and the Samsung E870 in an exclusive champagne colour.

First up is the KRZR K1, previewed here back in July and offered by T-Mobile with web'n'walk - which means full internet on the handset. It's got the looks, with a  deep blue glass-reflective finish and a decent set of features, including a 2 megapixel digital camera with 8x digital zoom, video capture and playback, MP3 player and an external memory slot for storing and sharing. The music player can also connect to an optional stereo Bluetooth headset while 'Airplane mode' lets you listen to music with the phone switched off. The Motorola KRZR K1 costs from free on a T-Mobile pay monthly plan or £299.99 on pay-as-you-go. 

Also in T-Mobile stores is the exclusive Samsung E870 Champagne handset. It's a fashion-friendly clamshell handset with an MP3 player (compatible with AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and WMA formats), a 1.3 megapixel camera, 80MB of storage (expandable via a card slot), Bluetooth, dual colour displays and an unusual TV out function, which allows easy transfer of all files tp a projector for display on a TV or PC.

As well as the champagne colour, you can also get this in white, with prices from free and up to £199.99, dependent on price plan. It's also avaailable now.

T-Mobile website

Orange Local - your own personal concierge service

Orange has launched a new tourist-friendly service for its users - Orange Local - which claims to be a personal concierge service, finding you everything from the nearest cash point to a place to eat with just a couple of clicks.

Orange Local offers a map of the area local to your mobile, with access to detailed information from over 2 million services and amenities in the UK, including restaurants, hotels, bars and cash points, plus more "dynamic" information such as traffic, travel and entertainment listings. There's also maps of how to get to each place, plus photos so you recognise them when you get there.

The service is available to Orange World users on the 'tools' section of every handset.

Orange website

Nine in ten 12-year-olds now owns a mobile phone

A new survey shows that nine out of ten 12-year-olds now owns a mobile phone. There's steep escalation as the age rises - 24% of 9-year-olds, 51% of ten-year-olds, then 91% by age 12. Preparing for secondary school seems to be one determining factor, plus a large number of parents who think that by age 11 it's OK for kids to have mobile phones.

Not surprisingly, 11-17 year olds who took part in the Carephone Warehouse study said they preferred texting to making voice calls, as much because it's a more private form of communication. Two-thirds of 15-17 year olds and half of those who are younger would not allow their parents to look at their text messages or pictures.

Charles Dunstone, who is chief exec at The Carphone Warehouse Group, said, "The mobile phone has become the most important electronic device for young people in the UK today. ... It provides them with a social network, a sense of security and access to entertainment. But most importantly it provides them with a sense of belonging to their peer group."

Mobile manufacturers and resellers must be rubbing their hands with glee - a whole new generation of mobile users hooked before they become teenagers. Whilst they might not spend huge amounts of money now (unless they have wealthy, generous or very understanding parents) they may well do when they reach adulthood.

Of course, having a mobile is seen as a very modern and necessary safety device, as much as anything else, but it's also a highly prized social status symbol for kids today.

I don't know. When I was a lad...

Update: When I was a lad, I could tell the difference between 1 in 10 and 9 in 10. Oops.

T-Mobile offers TrafficTV real-time traffic information to BlackBerry users

Stuck in a jam? Not sure if your route is going to be congested? You can now find out for sure by checking your BlackBerry, with T-Mobile offering the TrafficTV mobile application exclusively on those devices.

TrafficTV combines Trafficmaster Traffic information with live CCTV pictures. Install it on your BlackBerry for a full interactive map of the UK and live 24 x 7 access to Trafficmaster’ traffic information and over 500 CCTV pictures. Trafficmaster has sensors on over 8,000 miles of motorway and trunk roads in the UK, flagging up delays as they happen. And if you want to see it for yourself, you can reference CCTV camera images in real time.

Contact T-Mobile for exact costs, which they claim start from around 10p per day.

T-Mobile website

EMI and T-Mobile trial ad-supported free mobile video

T-Mobile, in collaboration with EMI Music, is to trial of ad-supported mobile video, effectively offering free mobile video content embedded with television-style advertising, provided by mobile ad firm Rhythm NewMedia.

The trial is taking place in the UK, with T-Mobile customers presented with an electronic program guide (EPG) on their handset that will offer a range of news, sport and etnertainment content. When a user selects a video from an EMI Music UK artist, that video is streamed with specifically targeted advertisements. Advertisers participating in this trial include Coca Cola Zero, General Motors, Gillette, Land Rover, Microsoft Mobile, Nike and Toyota.      

No news of a specfic start date - more details as we get it.

T-Mobile website

More mobile viewing:
Virgin's Mobile TV unveiled for October launch
ITV begins live streaming to 3 mobile network

Vodafone to offer fixed-line broadband deals in the UK before Christmas

A little later than most of the competition, Vodafone has announced it is to launch fixed-line broadband services in the UK, along with combined mobile/broadband deals. The mobile giant has announced a deal with BT Wholesale to provide the broadband service, which should launch before the end of the year.

According to Nick Read, Chief Executive of Vodafone UK: "Today's announcement is a strategically important step in the evolution of Vodafone's business in the UK.  Choosing BT as our partner enables us to provide high quality fixed-line broadband services to customers quickly and cost-efficiently right across the UK, and this perfectly complements our national mobile coverage and mobile broadband service. This news is further evidence of Vodafone delivering on its strategy and providing its customers with a total communications solution wherever they are."

In other words, if you're a Vodafone customer, expect a competitive price deal for your landline and mobile through the letterbox before Christmas.

Vodafone website

More broadband:
Sign up with Virgin Mobile - get free Virgin broadband
Carphone Warehouse "free broadband" - demand means long wait

Nokia will use real names for its phones in 2007

Nokia have said that from 2007 all their phones will be given proper names rather than numbers and other codes. According to their marketing chief, the names will carry a meaning and will be important to their customers.

Apparently the market has been confused by all the model numbers that have been released by Nokia and other manufacturers. Sounds like me. I was never really into the Nokia phones and was amazed at everyone who could distinguish phones by their number and remember all the features that each had.

We'll have to wait to see what names Nokia chooses to evoke the importance and meaning of their next batch of phones, and whether they'll use English or have localised versions.

Do you care if your mobile has a name?

O2 offers BlackBerry Pearl and new BlackBerry tariffs

If you're keen to get your hands on the new BlackBerry Pearl handset, which we got hands-on with last night, you'll probaby be interested to know that O2 has announced availability of the device, along with new BlackBerry tariffs.

The BlackBerry Pearl is Research In Motion's attempt to court the consumer market with their device, offering BlackBerry functionality in a more stylish smartphone body. It features a media player for MP3 music and MPEG4 video, 1.3MP camera with built-in flash and zoom, Picture CallerID support, the ability to send images via MMS or BlackBerry email, integration with the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software to transfer images to and from their handsets. and storage via the Micro-SD card (to boost the 64MB on-board). If that sounds a bit multimieda for you, there's still the traditional BlackBerry functionality including wireless push-based email, quad-band phone (with EDGE), SMS, web browsing, intranet access capability, organiser and instant messaging.

O2 has launched two new tarrifs to tempt us to go for the new device from 2nd October. The Pay As You Use tariff is an entry level package for lighter data users - with no monthly subscription for O2 voice customers. You can send and receive emails, browse the web and use Yahoo! Instant Messaging through the BlackBerry for £2.30 (ex VAT) per MB. O2’s unlimited tariff allows for unlimited BlackBerry internet data (which is actually a fair usage of 75MB monthly) including sending and receiving emails from £8.51 (ex VAT) per month depending on your existing O2 contract. The unlimited tariff can also be taken as a stand alone contract without a voice subscription.

Visit the O2 website for further details

ITV begins live streaming to 3 mobile network

ITV started broadcasting live 24/7 to the 3 Network today, meaning 3's mobile customers have the joy of being able to watch ITV1 and ITV Play wherever they are.

It will cost 49p per day to watch ITV Play, 99p per day to watch ITV1, and there's also a £5 per month package giving unlimited access to 18 channels. Quite what these other 16 channels are I'm not sure - what's the betting QVC is on there, along with Price Drop TV, Bid TV and, err... hey I don't know all the Teleshopping channels OK?

ITV already has a deal with 3 to let customers download highlights packages (what, highlights of ITV1?) - but now if you're out and about and haven't pinged your PVR to record Emmerdale, you can watch it on your mobile. Woo-hoo.

Would you want to watch ITV1 on your mobile?

3 website

Do you know the cost of your mobile calls?

If you made a call on your mobile outside of your talk plan, would you know how much it had cost? According to a new survey, 8 out of 10 people wouldn't have a clue.

The survey was undertaken by SimplySwitch.com, the price comparison and switching service, which asked just over 10,000 of its call centre customers a series of questions about their mobile service. They also discovered that half of those questioned had been overcharged in the past by their mobile operator and over 60 per cent believed value for money was the most important factor when choosing a new tariff - above a phone's looks or the latest functionality.

With this in mind, Karen Darby, CEO at SimplySwitch, has put together five tips aimed at consumers looking to get a good deal on their mobile bills. You can read them after the turn.

Getting a good deal on your mobile

1. Check out all the offers that are available to you. SimplySwitch.com has a new service that allows you to do this with a click of a button.

2.Look for hidden charges, such as the cost of making international calls, downloading content or using your phone's additional services.

3. Ask your operator the cost of calls and text messages outside of your talk plan

4. Work out if you really need an itemised bill. Although it can be helpful to see what you are being charged for, most operators now charge you for sending an itemised bill

5. Insure your phone to avoid paying for a replacement if it is lost or stolen.

SimplySwitch website

More mobiles:

Virgin Mobile launch free broadband offer

Not to be outdone by everyone else offering free broadband for a year so long as you take some other service offering, Virgin will be offering free broadband to anyone who signs up for a new Virgin SIM-only mobile contract at £15 or £30 per month. The broadband service on its own would cost £17.99 per month for 8Mb download speed and 6Gb monthly usage allowance.

As there's no contract for a Virgin mobile, if you actually want a mobile phone and broadband and don't have either, you could sign up, take the year of mobile use and get the free broadband, and then either scrap the phone or the broadband after the year if you find another deal. Of course, they'll hope that you won't.

I'm no great fan of these 'free' offerings but then I tend to shop around for each service individually without going for bundles like this.

Yahoo to provide web search to Orange mobile users

Internet search engines seem keen to get hold of mobile users and encourage them to use their services on the move.

In the latest move, Yahoo have done a deal with Orange to get its mobile Web portal onto their network and into the mitts of their users.

It's a bit of a Google-Yahoo battle - isn't it always?

Yahoo have already done a deal with 3, whereas Google have teamed up with both T-Mobile and Vodafone.

One distinct advantage for all concerned (hopefully including the customer) is search results based upon geographical location. Of course, it's also likely to generate extra advertising revenue for the search engines and mobile operators.

Providing a search engine for a mobile that works well needs more work and attention to content than the desktop equivalents we're all used to. For one thing, there's a wider variety of handsets and capabilities to deal with, and there's issues of bandwidth, ease of data entry, navigation, and so on.

What do you reckon? Would you want to be able to Yahoo! or Google on the move from your mobile? Would geo-targeted services be good?

Sign up with Virgin Mobile - get free Virgin broadband

  Another week, another free broadband offer - this time, courtesy of Virgin Mobile (now, of course, under the NTL:Telewest brand), which is offering free high-speed access with Virgin.net if you sign up to a Virgin Mobile monthly deal.

The deal seems fairly straightforward - if you sign up top one of Virgin Mobile's SIM-only pay monthly tariffs, you will be offered a year's worth of up to 8Mbps broadband, a service that would normally cost £17.99. The offer is available between now and 31st October. Once your SIM is activated, you can get the free broadband service by dialling a number you'll be given.

Last month, NTL:Telewest launched Britain's first quad-play service, offering digital TV, broadband, fixed-line phone and a mobile phone deal from Virgin for £40.

Virgin Mobile

Via The Register

Friday interview: 3's Graham Baxter on how HSDPA will speed up your music and video life

Earlier this week, 3 invited a bunch of journalists to one of its London stores to see its new HSDPA mobile broadband service in action. The focus was to show how much faster music and video downloads, and video streaming will be, once it launches later this year in certain parts of the country, before being rolled out elsewhere early next year.

Tech Digest was there, and had a chat with Graham Baxter, 3's technical solutions director - the chap responsible for 3's network technology. He understands all those acronyms, in other words, but also has a handle on what HSDPA will mean for mobile content, and how it stands in relation to rival wireless technologies like WiMAX.

“It’s important to stress that HSDPA is an incremental step in 3G networks,” says Baxter. “It’s an upgrade to our existing network. You do need new handsets or data cards to make use of it, but they can co-exist in the same network.”

The first few HSDPA handsets will be on sale before Christmas. 3 hasn’t announced which handset manufacturers it’s working with yet, but there was a very slinky prototype LG mobile being used for the demos, so fingers crossed that will make it onto the shelves.

When 3 launches HSDPA later this year, initially in London and Manchester, the network will be capable of 3.6 megabits per second, compared to the current 3G rate of 384 kilobits per second. Beware though, the first handsets will only be capable of receiving 1.8Mbps, although a few will be capable of the full 3.6Mbps. However, ultimately it could be capable of up to 14.4 Mbps, which 3 will be working towards over the next couple of years. Got all that? Good.

But this is just download speeds – the ‘D’ in HSDPA (well, that's 'downlink', but let's not split hairs). What about going the other way? It’s increasingly important, given data applications like 3’s See Me TV, where people are uploading their own videos. Faster uplink speeds could mean you’ll be able to upload longer videos, rather than the short clips that are currently possible.

When HSDPA launches, Baxter says the uplink speed will be the same as 3G – 384 Kbps – but that towards the end of next year 3 is planning to launch HSUPA, which will offer 1.5Mbps uplink. Got that? And HSUPA could eventually reach uplink speeds of 5.7Mbps.

The big question about all this bandwidth is what does it mean? 3 showed demos of various content services working with HSDPA, for example downloading songs (see our video clip yesterday) and streaming videos. And it’s true that the speed increase is really impressive – click, and your song is on the handset in 25-30 seconds.

But how will 3 approach this? If we can download music two or three times as fast, will 3 go for that, or up the audio quality – and thus file size – to have downloads that take the same time to arrive, but sound better? The problem is that Baxter can’t really answer these questions – he’s in charge of making sure 3’s content team have the choice to do either, rather than deciding which strategy to take.

“Think about movies or music videos,” he says. “HSDPA gives higher spectral efficiency, so you can get a higher data rate, or more subscribers. So you could have more subscribers downloading a larger volume of videos, or offer higher-quality videos to the same number of subscribers. It really is a case of mix’n’match.”

One thing 3 is planning is full album downloads alongside individual singles once HSDPA is up and running. Baxter also mentions surfing content-heavy internet sites like Flickr and YouTube, although there remains the question of how soon these sites will launch mobile versions that look good on a handset.

Baxter can talk about competitive technologies. Will Wi-Max be a strong competitor, for example? “It’s an interesting debate, but you never hear people talking about the fact that you still need to build a network out for Wi-Max,” he says. “And that takes a long time to roll something out that’s in any way comparable with the 89% population coverage we have already.”

The HSDPA v WiMAX debate could take up a whole interview by itself. What we can say is that 3's demo succeeded in its main intention - we want an HSDPA handset (especially the LG one), and hell, we want one before Christmas.

Tunes in 30 seconds: see 3's HSDPA network in action

3 was showing off its speedy new HSDPA network in London this week, demonstrating how much faster it is than slow old 3G for activities like downloading music tracks and streaming video. Our video below shows two handsets – the one on the left is HSDPA, and the one on the right is 3G.

As you can see (from our, ahem, blurry camphone footage), the HSDPA one downloads the song in around 30 seconds, at which point the 3G phone isn't even halfway. Later today, we'll post our interview with 3 in which they explain some of the other benefits of HSDPA, and tell us just how fast it'll go in the future. In the meantime, click below to watch the vid.

Note, the HSDPA handset starts downloading first, but that's not an unfair head start – just a reflection of how long it takes the 3G one to begin the download. The button to start was pressed at the same time for each.

Virgin to cure in-flight boredom with text Q&A

If the in-flight movie isn't doing anything for you, your iPod has run out of batteries, and you're fed up listening to the guy snoring in the seat next to you, maybe you'd like to pass the time and boredom with a few text messages.

Normally, that's out of the question, but if a system from Virgin takes off, you could start texting questions to a ground station and have them answered, all in mid-flight.

You wouldn't use your regular phone - passengers would use their seat-back TV screens (hmm we're not talking economy class here are we?) to text a question to an existing answer service on the ground (not Richard Branson then) which promises to answer any question within minutes.

It's an interesting idea, but I think I could find better ways of entertaining myself on a long flight with a little preparation - and for free.

Not sure when this service is being introduced though.

Nokia jumps on music store bandwagon, teaming up with Loudeye

Nokia may be looking to challenge Apple's iTunes service by launching one of its own, as it buys out Loudeye. They're setting their sights on multi-function mobile devices as being the preferred medium for enjoying music, through Nokia's own products like the N91.

Nokia sold more than 15 million music-enabled devices worldwide in the 2nd quarter this year, which it claims makes it the world's largest manufacturer of digital music players (hmmm).

They're confident that Loudeye, who currently provide the service for a large number of online music stores including Oxfam's Big Noise Music, MSN and MTV, have the experience, and rights to a substantial quanity of music, to make this a success.

It will be interesting to see how quickly this is taken up. Apple have done well (despite criticism) by tying in the iPod to its iTunes store, and I wonder if Nokia will do the same with its handsets.

One of the big pains I foresee, for anyone who has both a Nokia music phone and an iPod, is DRM headaches and the inability to transfer music. Particularly if the services end up having different music catalogues, users could end up with their collections scattered across different devices that won't communicate with one another - hardly the integrated digital experience.

What do you think? Will this deal make Nokia a serious contender in the market, or will they just be another bit-part player against the giant of iTunes?

Photo messaging increases with camera phone popularity

A new report from M:Metrics shows that camera phone ownership and usage is increasing in both the US and Europe.

In the UK, photo messaging has increased by 16% since February. The report also shows that people with higher quality cameras in their phones are more likely to send their photos via messaging (51.8%) than those with VGA (28%) or lower quality (22.3%) resolutions.

The most popular camera phone in the UK is currently the RAZR, however the most common phone for actually sending picture messages is the Nokia 6111.

I'm not sure if there's much significance to the most used model to send picture messages.

What seems to be the case is that those taking better quality photos (well, potentially) are happier to send them to others. It may also be that those with higher quality phones also have calling plans with a higher quota of free picture messaging, but we can't tell from these stats.

Often the way I've seen people using their phones is to take photos and then show them directly to other people by passing the phone around, rather than sending them. Certainly cheaper and more sociable, though probably not what the operators hoped for.

The survey also pushed us some general figures about mobile usage in the UK.

• Sent Text Message (84.7%)
• Used Photo Messaging (29.7%)
• Browsed News and Information (15.0%)
• Used Personal E-Mail (6.6%)
• Purchased Ringtone (5.7%)
• Downloaded Mobile Game (4.3%)
• Used Mobile Instant Messenger (4.1%)
• Used Work E-Mail (3.2%)
• Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver (2.2%)

Text messaging is still king but photo messaging is more rapidly increasing its share.

Mobile internet - most of us don't use it

Virtually all new mobiles and PDAs on the market feature a web browser, but new research suggests that, for most us, it's just another add-on we don't need.

The research from Hostway has found that although many people can access internet services from their mobile phone, three quarters (73%) are not taking advantage of it. Amongst the reasons for not using mobile internet were being frustrated by slow-loading pages (38%), problems with navigating websites from a phone or PDA (27%) and some websites being completely unavailable on mobile phones (25%).

"At the moment, most websites just aren't flexible enough to be accessed on mobile phones," said Neil Barton, a director at Hostway. "There's nothing wrong with having a flash website with all the bells and whistles you can muster, but you've got to be aware that mobile users simply aren't going to be able to access it. The research illustrates that even if people do wait for sites to load, quite often it's impossible to actually get at the content itself because of the way that sites are built."

However, the survey suggests that if these problems could be remedied, people would be more enthusiastic about using the net on the move. 90% of the survey said that they would use mobile internet if they could be sure that pages would load faster and they wouldn't incur high costs from their mobile operator. Accessing email on the move (71%) and the latest news and sport (47%) were highlighted as the most desirable services from a mobile.

The research, commissioned by Hostway, was conducted by independent research body TNS and surveyed 1484 consumers in Great Britain.

Hostway website

3 to exclusively stream ITV1 to your mobile

Good news for anyone who hates leaving the house just before Jeremy Kyle hits the screens - you will soon be able to watch it on your mobile via 3, after the company announced an exclusive deal with ITV to stream the channel.

The deal allows 3's 3.5 million customers to watch ITV1, along with "participation channel" ITV Play live. It will be the UK’s first live streamed terrestrial mobile channel and the largest service of its kind in the UK, with coverage of more than 89 per cent of the UK population.

The service will be available from this autumn, with 3 having an exclusive 3G mobile licence to 3 for six months to host the ITV channel. Full details of the channel packages will be announced nearer the time of launch.

3 website

More from 3:
MSN Messenger on your 3 phone
3 adds K610i and K800i Cyber-shot phones to its range

Vodafone say video calling is a flop

Vodafone are admitting that video calling has not been a success with its customers, despite it being one of the main selling points for 3G phones. Voice and text still remains the predominant use of phones for communicating, and any video-ing going on is probably destined for the likes of YouTube.

Rumours have been circulating that Vodafone has lost interest in 3G, and that all the cash that went into securing licences and infrastructure was a waste. They seem unhappy to subsidise 3G handsets any more, because customers aren't spending enough money on the extra services.

Mind you, they have also said that more than half of their 3G customers have taken a mobile TV package, often the premium one. It's all a tad confusing knowing who to believe, because a more independent survey found that 3 in 4 of all mobile users weren't interested in Mobile TV at all.

Mobile operator 3 would disagree, claiming that its mobile TV and music services were wildly popular. So, are people turning to 3 instead of V, or is there some marketing hype going on here? What, hype? Never.

It makes me wonder how many people are actually on 3G technology anyway, letalone using its features, if all people really want to do is send text messages...

(sings: And I'm gonna be under the tree, I wonder why no-one's using 3G...)

Wednesday interview: Robert Perkins of LUUP on the future of mobile payments

Paying for stuff with your mobile? Yeah yeah. Heard that one before. Every three or four years there’s a lot of noise about the idea, only for it to fizzle out quietly when the technology isn’t ready. Except in Japan of course, where the entire population threw away their banknotes and credit cards years ago to pay for everthing with their mobile phones. So we’ve heard.

2006 could be different. There are several companies talking about mobile payments again, whether it’s PayPal, the mobile operators, or LUUP. Not heard of the latter? It’s a mobile payment system that launched earlier this year, aiming to provide an easier way to pay for mobile and digital content using your phone. So what’s it all about?

LUUP started life in Norway, funded by a pair of investors keen to launch a workable mobile payments system. It then launched in the UK and Germany earlier this year, and has since picked up around 15,000 customers in each country.

“We were one of the first people to be granted a full e-money licence in Europe,” says Robert Perkins, UK director at LUUP. “It basically means we can act like a bank, and operate throughout Europe. Our aim is to create a mass-market brand, a bit like Visa, to act as a middleman between consumers and the banks.”

When you sign up, you get a LUUP wallet, which you can pay into from any source - credit or debit cards or a bank transfer - and then use to pay for stuff (the company's FAQ explains more). In the UK, the company has focused on mobile content so far, aiming to make it cheaper to buy games, ringtones and other stuff outside the mobile operator portals.

Currently, the main way to pay for this is premium-SMS, where you get a bunch of premium-rare text messages sent to your phone. In truth, the advantages of using LUUP are more for the content-sellers

“The merchants can save money by using LUUP, and we’re hoping some of them will pass on those costs to customers,” says Perkins. “One of our partners, Intomobi, is offering realtones for £1, which is the cheapest you can get them anywhere online. And they’re doing that purely because we’re charging less fees than the operators do for PSMS.”

So what else can you pay for using LUUP? The company will soon launch a top-up feature in Germany so users can buy extra airtime using their LUUP wallets, although Perkins says the UK operators are more reluctant to co-operate with this.

Another possible use will be mobile gambling, although most mobile casinos and bookmakers already offer secure wallets that you can pay into using your credit or debit card.

One thing they’re not doing is paying for physical goods in the real world - going into a high-street shop and buying something using your phone. It’s often been seen as the holy grail of mobile payments, and although LUUP has run trials in Norway, Perkins says it’s a bit too early to offer it for real.

“It’s starting in Japan, and the technology is available, but in Europe and the UK it’s going to be a while before the technology catches up,” he says. “We’re interested in being there when it does, but it’s a little bit early right now.”

Even as a pure digital mobile payment technology, LUUP has competition. For example, the UK mobile operators are working on their own system called Pay4It, which will make it easier for people to buy mobile content off-portal - effectively replacing SMS.

Perkins says that there are plenty of benefits for merchants in using LUUP over Pay4It, particularly the better revenue share offered by LUUP. However, the idea of Pay4It is that you’ll be charged direct to your phone bill, rather than having to manage a separate wallet, so in the eyes of consumers, it may seem easier.

What about PayPal too? The eBay subsidiary announced plans earlier this year to allow users to pay by mobile for goods by sending a text message. It’s not exactly the same as LUUP, but it could be seen as competition.

“We actually see PayPal Mobile as good news for us and the industry,” says Perkins. “The challenge is to change people’s perceptions about using their mobile to buy things. If a big brand like PayPal is offering this, then smaller brands coming into the market like ourselves will have time to grow. There’s plenty of room.”

He also says that PayPal will focus mainly on payments over £5, whereas LUUP covers smaller payments too. Also potentially in LUUP’s favour is the fact that it is targeted at young people, with a minimum age of 14 rather than 18. Another intruiging feature is the ability to make peer-to-peer payments using LUUP to friends.

“That could really help this service to proliferate,” says chief marketing officer Jeff Lamont. “It’s one thing that PSMS or the operators will never have the capability to do.”

LUUP, PayPal Mobile, Pay4It... frankly it’s too early to tell which of these m-payment methods will succeed, or whether there is room for more than one of them. But the fact that there’s so much activity in this area does show that this time, the hype around m-payments may just turn out to have some basis in reality.

Vodafone users in Australia will get BBC mobile downloads; UK Macbooks to get USB 3G broadband

For the first time, the BBC will allow clips downloads of some of its hit programmes to users outside the UK.

Vodafone 3G customers in Australia will soon be able to enjoy the catchphrases of Little Britain, as well as Doctor Who, The Office, and others.

Keith O'Brien, head of content for Vodafone, said: "Mobile TV is one of the most popular services on Vodafone Live!, and we expect the new BBC programmes to be a hit with our customers."

Lucky Aussies, eh?

Read

Meanwhile, Vodafone UK has announced that it will launch a USB version of its 3G Mobile Connect Broadband Datacard for MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks sometime in the Autumn. Their current offering doesn't work with the MBPs as they use a new ExpressCard 34 port. Connectivity should be the same as for other users, at around 1.4Mbps. No pricing yet. (Via Register)

T-Mobile's PAYG customers get capped mobile Internet browsing

T-Mobile has announced that from today, its Pay-As-You-Go customers can surf the Internet on their mobile phones and never pay more than £1 a day.

It's part of their web'n'walk service which has been advertised quite extensively recently. It will cost them less than 1p per kilobyte, so effectively once they use more than about 100K (not difficult on the Net) they'll not pay any more that day.

They claim that unlike other operators who offer a cut down Internet experience, there's no restriction on what sites can be viewed. I'd expect that it won't handle much more than text and simple graphics, though, both because of the technology involved and the price capping. Of course there's a fair use policy in the small print.

Seems like a pretty good deal for PAYGers wanting moderate access to the Net, though it's not going to take long to get through 100K a day.

Vodafone, O2, T Mobile, Orange, and 3 agree to lobotomize stolen mobiles

"I believe the public should be free," said Home Secretary John Reid, "to carry... mobile phones and MP3 players... without fear of becoming a target for robbers."  Vodafone, O2, T Mobile, Orange, and 3 have ganged together to make that more possible by blocking stolen mobiles from their networks within 48 hours of when the victim reports the theft.  While it's currently apparently not too hard to get a blocked phone reactivated illegally, this supposedly indicates that the mobile networks really mean it this time.  Perhaps this watch the video about the mobile blocking will indicate more about how exciting this truly is.  [GT]

Stolen mobiles 'will be blocked'

Related stories: Dead Ringers? at Hippyshopper | Pensioners embrace text messaging | Watch out kids, here comes Phonesitter

Pensioners embrace text messaging

A new survey from the charity Help the Aged shows that 1.5 million over the age of 75 own a mobile phone, with 300,000 using it to text their friends and family.

The study shows that many older people think that it's important to have an understanding of new technology, with 26% of over-65s seeing it as a way of remaining independent.

Even so, not everyone is feeling so tech-savvy. 31% find new technology confusing, with 22% saying that their age or disability will stop them benefiting from it. 20% say that they haven't been taught how to use new gadgetry.

Despite this, it does dispel the image of low adoption rates for technology amongst the elderly.

Read

England's World Cup campaign skyrockets text messaging

Last month saw record figures for text messaging as the World Cup got under way and we all agonised with England.

On average, 112 million SMS's were sent every day during June, putting the monthly total at 3.37 billion.

The Mobile Data Association measured the message counts on 15th June (England v T&T) and 1st July (England v Portugal), where 140 million texts had been sent on each, second only to the 165 million sent on New Year's Day this year.

Shame we can't see the contents of some of those texts. I wonder what the key words were? Predictive text getting stuck on 'Ronaldo'?

Read

Motorola could topple Nokia as 2007's mobile king

Silicon.com have published an interesting article suggesting that, if Motorola continue to produce great handsets at the same rate, they'll overtake Nokia as the largest manufacturer of mobile handsets in early 2007.

That's quite something, given Nokia's dominance.

The report from Strategy Analytics showed that over the past year, Motorola's average growth rate was 52% compared to just 32% for Nokia. Though Nokia are still selling a greater volume of phones - 78m compared to Motorola's 52m in the second quarter of this year - they'll need to be on their guard and improve their entry and mid-level products if they're to maintain their top position.

Neil Mawston at Strategy Analytics suggests that both companies need to continue to improve and innovate. This will be an interesting race to watch, and some strong competition should provide us with even better gear from both companies.

Read

Mobile TV - consumer report finds ROK's 2.5G service out-performs leading 3G services

The first head-to-head consumer-based comparison between the existing mobile TV services in the UK has found Vodafone Live! to be the best service overall - but the biggest shock is ROK's 2.5G service coming in second place - ahead of big guns Orange 3G TV and 3. The tests were carried out by Strategy Analytics in June this year.

It was a particularly bad day at the office for Orange 3G TV - technical problems mean't that the service was unable to be evaluated fully - which saw it come bottom of the pile. But it's great news for ROK, the UK-based independent mobile technology and content developer. "It’s all due to the technology we’ve created" said Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman and CEO of ROK "which allows for the delivery of multi-channel mobile TV to the mass-market right here, right now."

Vodafone's service came top in each category - usability, audio-visual quality, network performance and in particular,  content. ROK faired less well in the evaluation with content - something the company is addressing. "We’re learning all the time as to what content real, paying customers want to watch on their mobiles" said Bruce Renny, Marketing Director of ROK "and, as such, we are constantly addressing and updating our content offerings. Content is, actually, the easy part in all this  - it's the technology foundation blocks which are the hard part and that's where ROK believes we are best of breed."

However, it is still early days for mobile TV. Users taking part in the survey still had their reservations about TV on the go, with issues about the current crop of devices, in particular with screen size and battery life, while a number of users wondered when they would have the opportunity or need to watch TV out and about.

Strategy Analytics website

More ROK:
ROK extends mobile TV coverage to Microsoft handsets
ROK brings TV to Sony phones

Vodafone team up with Palm and Microsoft to create new Smartphone

Vodafone UK have claimed a world first as they partner with Palm and Microsoft to provide a new Smartphone: "Vodafone’s high-speed network and delivering Palm’s ease of use on top of the Microsoft Window’s Mobile operating system".

Palm, makers of PDAs and more recently 'smartphones', will create the Treo 750v (v for Vodafone?)

Vodafone's launch page gives a few glimpses of what the system will do:

The package includes the option of real-time, wireless push email using Microsoft’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack available on Windows Mobile 5.0, with Direct Push Technology and enhanced security features.

It will be a truly powerful tool for your business, allowing you and your team to be fully productive away from the office and make the most of business and personal time.

So, a little technical jargon and some non-descript business phrases.

There's no official launch date - "coming soon" is all you'll get - but you can register your interest and be notified when it becomes available.

3 adds K610i and K800i Cyber-shot phones to its range

3 has announced the addition of two new 3G handsets to its range - the Sony Ericsson K610i and K800i, both featuring the 3 Instant Viewer, which offers up-to-the minute access to the latest news, music, TV, games, videos and other media services.       

In addition, the K800i, which we previewed some weeks ago,  is the first Cyber-Shot phone with a 3.2 megapixel main camera, along with Xenon flash, auto-focus and imaging software. It also employs 'BestPic' technology allowing you to take 9 high resolution photos in a second, along with an image stabiliser.  The K800i also features Bluetooth stereo streaming, allowing you to play your music wirelessly in stereo. 

The K610i, which we got hands-on with as this year's 3GSM, is an upgrade for the K608i model, but 20 per cent smaller than its predecessor at 17mm in depth. It does still pack in the features, including a 2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth stereo streaming.   

The phones are available now - prices are dependent on contract.

3 website

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MSN Messenger on your 3 mobile
3 pays punters to receive voice calls and text messages

Virgin Mobile adds Lobster 544 budget clamshell handset to its range

If something small, practical and affordable is more important than the latest technology, the Lobster 544 could be the phone for you. It features all the mobile basics for less than £70 on a Pay As You Go Virgin Mobile contract.

The Lobster 544 is a small GPRS clamshell handset with 262k colour screen, an integrated 1.3 megapixel camera, video capture and playback, picture messaging, games and MP3/polyphonic ringtones. It seems quite useful for music too, with a direct access music key, stereo headset and 64MB memory card, which I presume you can boost to a higher capacity if you so wish. You can drag and drop tunes via USB to your phone.

It comes with charger and £5 airtime for a price of £69.99 or free if you want to commit to a contract and should be available to order in the next couple of weeks. Virgin plans to launch a number of other Lobster-branded phones throughout the remainder of 2006.

Virgin Mobile website

More mobiles:
O2 to boost i-mode range with LG and Samsung clamshell handsets
New LG U400 phone for turntable junkies

T-Mobile offers Push Email on MDA devices

  T-Mobile is offering a business-friendly Microsoft Push Email service on its range of MDA devices, including the MDA Pro, MDA Vario and MDA Compact II.

The Microsoft Push Email service from T-Mobile, which works over GPRS, 3G and Wi-Fi, will be available to customers using Microsoft Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2. Users will be automatically alerted for access to incoming email, which will be delivered directly from the customer’s Exchange Server as and when they arrive. Other security benefits of the new service include centrally controlled password protection - so that users have to unlock their device using a password, local data wipe - which enables you to decide how many incorrect logon attempts are permitted and remote wipe - which means that lost or stolen devices can be reset remotely over the web, removing company-sensitive data.

It's available to use via any of T-Mobile’s data tariffs. For full details of the service and pricing, visit the T-Mobile website.

T-Mobile

More T-Mobile:
T-Mobile does unlimited web access
3G broadband from T-Mobile in August

NTL completes Virgin Mobile deal

NTL has finally completed the takeover of Virgin Mobile after getting High Court approval. Virgin Mobile's shares have been delisted from the stock exchange, but the company will still exist as Virgin Mobile until 2007, according to NTL. After that time, the Virgin brand will be used to front a quadruple offering of broadband, TV, mobile, and fixed phone lines.

Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson is obviously pleased: "Today, we've created a unique organisation - a new, soon-to-be-branded Virgin company - which will offer the very finest in 'quadruple'. Through our new company, our aim is to offer consumers the very best, most sought-after choice available. You ain't, as the saying goes, seen nothing yet..."

The Virgin name offers NTL a "cool" brand to use when it competes with the other big quadruples players - Sky, Orange and BT, which are all intent on dominating the "one bill" market.

NTL website

Via The Register

More NTL:
NTL trials 100MB service
NTL's World Cup on demand

3 offers Yahoo! content on its 3G phones

3 has announced a deal with net giant Yahoo!, which will mean many of the Yahoo! services being available to 3's customers in the near future, including, for the first time, a full web search facility.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will work together to offer Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Mobile Web, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Mail, and Yahoo! Go for Mobile on 3's networks around the world. Additional Yahoo! services will also become available to 3 subscribers in the future.

The UK's 3 customers will be the first to receive the content. The Yahoo! services will all be accessible to subscribers either via the internet browser on the handset or through client applications such as Yahoo! Ready or Yahoo! Go for Mobile on select devices. 3 UK previously allowed its customers to access only specially selected websites due to concerns over user experience, but the agreement with Yahoo! signals a new policy of full web access, enabled by Yahoo's website adaptation technologies.

3 website

More from 3:
MSN Messenger on your 3 mobile
World Cup highlights on your 3 phone

T-Mobile extends web'n'walk service into £1 per day pay-as-you-go

Around two thirds of mobile users have pre-pay mobiles, which is probably the reason why T-Mobile are extending their web'n'walk service into what they see as the "mass market" at a cost of £1 per day.

From 1st August, pay-as-you-go customers will be able to pay a maximum of £1 a day to access web'n'walk - T-Mobile's 'real' (as in not cut down) mobile internet service. You can search the web or check your email, with each kilobyte of data charged at 0.73 pence. Once you reach £1, you'll pay nothing more for rest of the day. 

The range of web’n’walk handsets on pay-as-you-go currently includes the Motorola V3, the Nokia 6131, the Nokia 6233, the Sony Ericsson K750i and the Samsung E870. The number of web'n'walk devices will reach 25 by Autumn this year, according to T-Mobile.

T-Mobile website

More mobiles:
Sony Ericsson unveils K610im - the i-mode 3G phone
Nokia 6151 - the budget 3G mobile phone

Virgin Mobile extends free kebab offer to World Cup

Not content with filling our festival goers with high fat junk food, now the people at Virgin Mobile have extended the offer of a free kebab to anyone with a mobile phone who happens to be in Germany at the England fans' campsite in Achen.

Yes, if you've had a few beers before or during the game, simply text "kebab" to 26666 and you'll receive a voucher entitling you to a free doner. Then just cash it in at the local Virgin Mobile kebab van and you're fed and ready for anything.

Steve Rogan from Virgin Mobile said: "We want England fans to be match fit and ready to give our boys all the support they can muster. The post-match kebab has become a ritual in towns up and down the country so offering fans a taste of home while they are on foreign soil might help."

Virgin Mobile website

More mobiles:
T-Mobile offers World Cup Nokia N70 with CoPilot Live
Nokia and Central Saint Martins design mobile phone of the future

T-Mobile streams Robbie Williams gigs to 3G phones

Unless you've been living under a rock or don't own a TV, you'll know that T-Mobile are currently sponsoring Robbie Williams. And as a result of that tie-in, the mobile giant is offering exclusive Robbie content, including live video streaming of his current tour direct to your 3G phone.

Throughout the European Tour, shows will be video live-streamed in their entirety to 3G handsets, while Tour TV, a new channel within T-Mobile’s MobileTV service, will offer fans behind-the-scenes footage. And for those fans who havne't gone down the 3G path, the special edition Robbie Williams W300i Walkman phone, which I previewed back in April, will finally hit the shops this month.

The phone is Sony's recent clamshell handset, with customised content, including themed animation, mobile music content and an embossed Robbie Williams logo on the back cover. It also comes pre-installed with footage from the first show of the tour in South Africa, a behind-the-scenes video clip and six wallpapers.

T-Mobile website

More mobiles:
Mobile ticketing could beat the touts, says Nokia
Mobiles to wipe out cameras and MP3 players?

Virtual World Cup pundit for Vodafone users

Vodafone users struggling to choose between Gazza's ramblings on ITV and Ian Wright's air-punching enthusiasm on the Beeb now have another choice, in the shape of a virtual World Cup pundit on their mobile phone, according to Mobile Marketing.

The mobile avatar launched on Vodafone live! on Friday, in preparation for the start of the World Cup this Friday. It will offer Vodafone users a daily package of updates, images, comment and key facts from the finals. The Avatar has been developed for Vodafone by mobile tech firm WIN (Wireless Information Network). It's the first time an animated pundit has been used to provide mobile updates from a live sporting event. If it's a success, who knows, it might spread to the telly. It would certainly save a few quid on those highly-paid ex-pros...

Get the full story here.

Virgin Mobile bring the BenQ Siemens E61 to the UK market

We covered the slightly quirky BenQ Siemens E61 mobile phone a couple of months ago, noting its similarity to an electric razor, but otherwise finding it quite an interesting music mobile. You'll be able to make your own mind up at the end of the month, as Virgin Mobile is bringing it to the UK market at a price just short of £100 as a pay as you go, or free if you pay monthly.

The phone itself can store up to 500 tracks, controlled by has its own music control panel with five dedicated music keys located on the top of the phone. There's also a 6 band graphic equaliser with 3D surround sound and on-screen lyric display for compatible tracks.

There's also a 65K colour screen, VGA camera, stereo headset and games featured. It's exclusive to Virgin Mobile from the end of May for 6 weeks, with the added bonus of a draw for five customers to win a year’s worth of gig tickets with the purchase of the phone.

Find out more at the Virgin Mobile website

More BenQ Siemens phones:
EF-51 music phone
BenQ-Siemens announces first HSDPA mobile to market

Free beer and kebabs from Virgin Mobile

For anyone with a Virgin Mobile phone and slightly the worse for drink, here's an offer you can't refuse - more beer and a kebab, absolutely free!

Yes, the mobile company, recently acquired by NTL, is offering customers at what are described as "youth orientated" events the chance to text the word "beer" or "kebab" to a short code number to receive a text, containing a voucher for two free beers and a kebab.

Unfortunately, you can't just nip into your local or your favourite kebab shop to get your freebies, you can only redeem them at bars and kebab vans fitted with special terminals. The company reckons the campaign was "a great way to reward customers". But only if you fall into the "youth" demographic obviously.

Virgin Mobile website

Via The Register

More mobiles:
Sony Ericsson’s sporty W710i
Sony Ericsson unveils Z710i and Z550i

Orange’s new photography service

Orange has launched a new online photography service which allows its customers to upload and share pics from both camera phone and digital camera. There is a free one month trial period and you can download a free application which will prompt you to upload your camera phone pics as soon as you take them.

You get 200MB of space to use which can be viewed anywhere with an internet connection, although it doesn’t say whether you can use a phone web browser to do so. After the trial period is up, it will costs a further £4 per month for the service and although that does include 30 MMS messages per month, that’s what you use to upload the photos to the online album so if you want to take more than that you will presumably have to cough up extra.

This seems does seem like yet another attempt by mobile phone marketing departments to get us cynical Brits to actually use some of the many services mobile networks tack on instead of belligerently using phones as... umm... phones.

More Mobile Phones:
Motorola’s Red SLVR Phone for Aids
Upload your mobile phone clips directly to YouTube

T-Mobile' Samsung E370 - the official England mobile phone with added Peter Crouch

There may be mobiles out there sporting the England colours in readiness for the World Cup, but only one is officially endorsed and now owned by all the players, the Samsung E370: Three Lions Special Edition, available exlusively through T-Mobile.

The phone thankfully doesn't go overboard on the England thing, it just sticks with an embossed Three Lions logo. The phone itself is a tri-band slider with 1.3MP camera, Bluetooth, video and gaming functionality and an MP3 player.

There's also loads of England-related content, including start-up and switch-off England animations, Three Lions wallpapers and two great England moments - a video clip of Beckham's classic free kick against Greece in 2001 and another of Lampard's qualification-clinching goal against Poland in 2005.

The England team also have Geoff Hurst's winner from 1966 on their phone, which is probably what Peter Crouch is studying in our photo. If you can think of a caption for the picture, please add it in the comments section.

The Samsung E370: Three Lions Special Edition is available on both pay as you go and pay monthly contracts, price varies according to your contract.

T-Mobile website

More World Cup:
Sagem's limited edition myC2-3 England World Cup mobile
iTech World Cup bluetooth headsets in your team colours

Vodafone to cut roaming prices

With the EU breathing down their necks with the threat of legislation, one of the big mobile companies, Vodafone, has announced that roaming charges will drop by 40 per cent in Europe.

But it's not all good news - the new prices will not come into effect until next April and to get the deal, you'll have to register for a Vodfone passport. These are free and once you're registered, you'll pay a one-off connection fee of 75p per call in 14 European countries, then you'll be charged UK rates.

T-Mobile has also announced a cut in the cost of roaming charges to a flat rate off 55p a minute in Europe and North America from June 1st - a 45 percent cut on T-Mobile’s current pre-pay European rates and a 27 per cent cut on current contract rates.

Vodafone website

More for your mobile:
3 to offer free mobile highlights of all World Cup games
Direct downloads with Opera Mini 2.0

3 to offer free mobile highlights of all World Cup games

If work commitments are blocking your plan of sitting in front of the TV for the duration of the World Cup, help may be hand from 3, which is offering highlights of all World Cup games for free to its subscribers.

3 has acquired the rights to all the World Cup matches and will be offering free extended highlights of the games 5 minutes after the final whistle, along with dedicated mobile TV channels and a daily magazine show, which the company claims is the first made-for-mobile programming of its sort.

In addition, to the highlights, 3 will offer "Today’s Best of" content and a new "match centre" application, which will offer minute-by-minute text commentary and in-match stats from every game. There will also be premium content, such as video goal alerts, wallpapers, ringtones and games.

Find out more at the 3 website

More from 3:
3 pays punters to receive voice calls and text messages
MSN Messneger on your 3 phone

Will 3 deliver the World Cup to your mobile?

With the Premiership season coming to its usual predictable end, all eyes are focused on the excitement of the World Cup - and we're still trying to work out if anyone's going to give us this feast of football on our mobile.

By far the most promising so far is 3. They're still being a bit cagey with what's on offer, but recent noises from the 3 camp indicate we might - just might - get the goals to our handsets.

Marketing Director of 3, Graeme Oxby, was recently quoted as saying: "3 has a strong link with football - our customers already enjoy premiership goals and champions league goals.  The World Cup is a huge event, so it won't be a surprise that 3 is  planning a compelling world cup service, which we'll be announcing shortly. At this stage, we can share that it will include some specially-commissioned daily programming and a special 'World Cup' edition of 3's successful SeeMeTV service - where fans will be invited to submit their mini-movies and blogs."

"We will be announcing our full line-up in due course."

Which sounds to us like they'll probably have some action on the network. As soon as we find out for sure, you'll be the first to know.

In the meantime, if you can't live without a daily dose of the World Cup, I'd recommend you visit Who Ate All The Bratwurst - Shiny's dedicated World Cup blog.

3 website

More 3:
3 pays punters to receive voice calls and texts
MSN Messenger on your 3 phone

Nokia launches UK online shop

Nokia seems intent on cutting out the middle man, starting up an online shop for the UK market to sell sim-free mobile phones to British punters.

As well as the usual high street selection of Nokia phones and accessories, the Nokia UK Online Shop will feature regular mobile device exclusives for customers, starting at the launch when the website will feature the black 8800 (pictured) - a new design that until now has not been available in the UK. 

In addition to the latest Nokia products, the company says the shop will also be used to promote new "mobile experiences" -  from games and music through to movie and photos. That probably means downloads.

There's clearly a market for sim-free phones, but it's perhaps worth noting that contract phones are usually heavily subsidised by the operators to get you to sign up to a contract. So expect to pay a premium for the pleasure of going sim-free with Nokia.

Visit the Nokia Online Shop

More Nokia:
Hands on with the Nokia 6136
Nokia's 6131 and 6070 handsets

Sony Ericsson W300i - Robbie Williams edition

We were suitably impressed with Sony Ericsson's rather tasty W300i Walkman phone on its launch in February. T-Mobile has confirmed it's now coming to the UK  - and if you're a Robbie Williams fan, this limited edition Robbie-fied version will certainly entertain you.

T-Mobile claims this special edition W300i has been "creatively influenced by Robbie Williams himself" - the first time a global artist has been directly involved in the design of a phone. It's also the first pre-pay Walkman handset to be launched in the UK. It comes pre-loaded with exclusive content, including a 'live' video clip, wallpapers, a ringtone, animations and the opening song from his world tour. It also features a Robbie Williams logo embossed on the back cover, plus two additional Robbie skins to personalise your mobile.

The W300i plays both MP3 and AAC music files, with up to 30 hours of listening on a single charge. As a music player, it has direct music keys, shuffle function, as well as an in-built FM radio with RDS. It's shipped with a removable 256MB Memory Stick Micro (M2) expandable to 1GB, as well as a stereo headset, USB cable and music management software.

In addition to the music side, the phone features EDGE technology, has a 128 x 160 262K color TFT main display with a second 1-inch 101 x 80 display for track info and caller display, a VGA camera with 4x digital zoom, 3D gaming and Bluetooth. Expect it in the stores in June. No price as yet.

Sony Ericsson website

More Sony Ericsson:
Hands on with the Sony Ericsson W950
Hands on with the Sony Ericsson M600

Mobile network 3 claims key role in Gnarls Barkley Crazy download story

You probably already know plenty about Gnarls Barkley the band who went from zeroes to heroes last week when their single topped the UK charts without any of their CD singles ever going near a record shop.

Well possibly the most intriguing part of this whole downloads beats CD single scenario is that mobile apparently had a huge role in the track’s success. Phone company 3 is claiming that as much as 20 per cent of the total downloads were straight to mobile through its network. Apparently the track is the fastest ever moving audio download on the network with as many 6000 people grabbing it on a daily basis.

Hazarding a guess I reckon much of the success of the 3 download is because, unlike some rival networks, it offers dual downloads with people paying once for a track that lands on their phone the instant they choose it and can then be claimed for playback on their PC later. Also if 3 had 20% of the downloads, how much came from other networks? There's a real possibility that as much as half of the download of the track could have been via mobile phone companies.

3 is also offering tracks throughout April and May for 99p each – much better value than the rather extortionate prices it and some of its rival networks initially charged for audio tracks.

NTL completes Virgin Mobile takeover

NTL has finally completed its protracted takeover of Virgin Mobile, a move that could have a huge impact on the UK's media industry. The new group will be branded under the Virgin name and is likely to be the first in the UK to offer a four-way deal of cable TV, internet access, fixed line telephony and mobile phone services.

As a Virgin Mobile customer, it's unlikely you'll notice much difference in the short term. NTL has persuaded Virgin Mobile management to stay on and run the business and has agreed an exclusive 30-year licence for the Virgin brand, which it believes will help attract and retain customers. In light of the public's perception of NTL, this seems like a very shrewd move.

On a wider scale, Sky could at last have some serious competition on the pay-TV market, while the likes of BT and Vodafone might be a little worried about a bigger Virgin battling for the UK's mobile and landline services. We could be in for an interesting 2006.

NTL website

More NTL:
NTL trials 100MB service
NTL does the World Cup on demand

EU to crack down on roaming costs

Mobile users could pay less for making and receiving calls overseas under proposals put forward by the EU to crack down on "unjustified" high charges for using mobile phones abroad.

EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding is behind the move, which could lead to call costs coming down to levels close to prices charged for domestic calls between different mobile networks. The proposed legislation will require the approval of the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

The moves will obviously be opposed by network operators, with roaming income said to account for 8% to 15% of operators' revenues. The companies claim they have already acted to keep prices down, but additional costs involved in delivering calls through foreign networks mean higher prices to the consumer.

It all sounds like the two sides squaring for a fight. We'll keep you posted.

Via The BBC

More mobiles:
Mobile downloads without the data charges
T-Mobile offers unlimited mobile web access

How do you use your 3G phone?

In a moment of great symmetry, the 3 network has turned 3 - and to celebrate, they've conducted a survey about the trends in video conversation - or to put it plainly, how people use their 3G phones.

And the upshot is a series of new descriptions of phone uses which very much sound like they were dreamt up by over paid trends agency staff after a bottle of Chablis or two. Actually they were...

Nevertheless I can see potential for Mobumentaries and especially The Andrew Marr Effect.

The full list in all its glory is after the turn.

How do you use your 3G phone?

Proofing – using a 3G handset to video anything from a celebrity sighting to bad service in a restaurant to use as visual evidence later on.

Mobumentaries – using your phones to create a mini-movie documenting your lives.

The Andrew Marr effect – Men’s tendency to adopt an alternative persona and give a running commentary in the style of a news report when recording on their phone.

Visual Vanity – Women turning their video phones on themselves for anything from applying makeup to trying on a new outfit for a more realistic view of how they look than in a mirror.

Talent scouting – the video mobile becomes the ultimate boy’s toy on a Saturday night as groups of mates undertake reconnaissance missions at different parties to find the best ‘talent’ of the opposite sex.

Virtual phone box – the tendency for people to create their own personal space to make a video call even if it means marking out a phone box size space by pacing in a small rectangle while on the phone.

Icebreakers – When introducing someone to another group in advance, people would record a short video message or ‘social passport’’ to send in advance of the meeting to break the ice.

Night safe – Girls using their video mobiles to record a clip of a cab driver before they got in, to send to a friend as a ‘safety bank’.

Video gloating – showing off via video covered everything from sending a clip of a new purchase to a football chant if their team had lost.

Citizen journalism – using 3’s service that allows people to upload their own ‘at-the-scene’ reports or celebrity spottings, and get paid for it.

3 website

More from 3:
Chico Time on your 3 handset
3 pays punters to receive voice calls and text messages

T-Mobile offers unlimited mobile web access

For those of you who like the idea of browsing the net while you're out and about, this may well be of interest. T-Mobile will soon be the first mobile operator in the UK to offer unlimited internet access and email through their web'n'walk browsing service. For £7.50, you can browse away without download limits.

It's available as an add-on to their current 'Relax' and 'Flext' tariffs, but only if you use a Sidekick II, MDA Compact II, MDA Vario or Nokia N70 handset. T-Mobile says the range of phones will be expanded in June.

Expect a big ad campaign in the summer and some reaction from the other mobile operators in the coming weeks and months.

T-Mobile

More T-Mobile:
T-Mobile launches BlackBerry 8700g
T-Mobile first with flexible tariffs

MSN Messenger on your 3 mobile

There's a very good chance that you are one of the 205 million people who have access to MSN Messenger, or one of the 230 million who have an active Hotmail account. If you also have a mobile phone with 3, you will soon be able to access both your Hotmail and Messenger on your 3G mobile after the company signed an agreement with Microsoft to offer seamless access between PC and mobile.

Access to both Hotmail and Messenger is through a browser or by downloading a software client. Both services will have the same look, feel and basic functionality as your existing PC versions. After logging in, your full list of Messenger contacts will be available to you. Your existing MSN password will also give you access to your Hotmail inbox and all email functions.

Hard to see it replacing text messaging, but it does offer additional ways of keeping in touch with friends and family. Initially, the services will be available  to 3's customers in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Hong  Kong, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Australia, with plans to expand the service to other 3 markets.

More 3:
Chico Time on your 3 handset
3 pays punters to receive voice calls and text messages

3 successfully trials HSDPA in the UK

It's very much looking like 2006 will be the year of HSDPA. If you don't know what that is, it's essentially a new technology that allows mobile operators to boost data speeds up - way in excess of current 3G speeds.

What does that mean in real terms? Well, faster data opens up new technology and applications. The obvious ones are super-fast downloads and audio and video streaming. You could even use your mobile as a powerful modem for your laptop or have better access to business tools and resources on your portable device of choice.

3 has announced that it has completed a successful trial of HSDPA on its network, with speeds over three times faster than current 3G and over 40 times faster than GPRS. The trial will be extended in May, with an eye on a rollout of HSDPA in the second half of this year.

However, they may not be the first to market. As previously reported, Vodafone has already undertaken a small scale trial, with a wider trial of business users set for April. And O2 has carried out trials in the Isle Of Man, with a provisional date of the third quarter of 2006 for a commercial roll out. Both Orange and T-Mobile have also committed to a service this year - Orange is currently trialling a French service with around 150 users in Lyon.

So who will be first remains very much open to debate. We'll keep you posted on all developments.

HSDPA mobiles:
BenQ-Siemens announces first HSDPA mobile to market
Hands on with Samsung's HSDPA mobile

Vodafone to start HSDPA trials

The race to roll out HSDPA (the next generation mobile phone technology which delivers true broadband like download speeds) appears to be hotting up. Vodafone today announced that following on from a trial in its home town of Newbury it is now going to try the technology on its network in April. It has signed up 100 business users who will be testing Vodafone UK's HSDPA-enabled Mobile Connect Cards for PCs across central and greater London.

Voda’s version of HSDPSA can run at up to 1.8Mbps standard – almost four times faster than base level home broadband speeds -  but it suggest that customers will experience peak downlink speeds of around 1.4Mbps (with an average of 400 - 700Kbps across all coverage areas) and up to 384kbps uplink. HSDPA will mean fast web access and download speeds for users on the move as well as delivering high quality video streaming and conferencing. Other networks have also been talking up the technology with Orange, O2 and T-Mobile all expected to launch HSDPA networks this year. In addition to the cards for PCs there are a small but growing number of HSDPA phones available from companies like Samsung and BenQ Siemens.

Tim Miles, CEO Vodafone UK said:  "The start of our high speed 3G broadband trial marks our relentless commitment to offering the best possible experience to our customers.  We have seen high demand for 3G since its launch two years ago and our customers are hungry for the improvements that HSDPA will deliver.    These important trials are part of a continuing drive to lead the UK through superior network performance and a customer experience that is second to none."

Orange gets new Sony Ericsson Walkman phones

Orange and Sony Ericsson have announced a joint marketing deal which will see Sony Ericsson roll out their new Walkman phones first across the Orange network, starting with the W810i and the recently-announced W300i clamshell phone (pictured).

In addition, the two companies have announced an exclusive nine-month sponsorship deal with Christina Aguilera, who popped over to the UK for the launch. The partnership with the US star is built around her forthcoming album release and European tour - Orange customers will have access to exclusive mobile content, including music downloads, exclusive remixes, videos and ringtones from the Orange World site.

The new Walkman phones will be customised to fit Orange’s signature strategy, an easy-to-use mobile interface. No specific date has announced for the new phones hitting the shops - but expect them very soon.

More from Sony Ericsson:
Sony's Cyber-shot K800 and K790 camera phones
Hands on with the Sony Ericsson W950

Orange offers fixed line phone service

Orange is to offer fixed line phone services to business users in the UK, opening up the possibility of it challenging BT for a chunk of the UK consumer market too.

Using the Cable & Wireless' network, Orange Landline for Business will offer fixed line services with call charges up to 20 per cent less than BT. Based on Wholesale Line Rental (WLR), it means firms will be able to get their fixed line and mobile services from a single supplier. It's the first stage of a major restructuring for Orange in the UK as it positions itself as an integrated communications operator. As part of this overhaul, the ISP Wanadoo will be rebranded in Orange colours, giving the enlarged group the ability to add broadband to the bundle of services on offer.

Today's announcement only deals with business, but don't be surprised if the telecoms group offers a bundle to consumers as well. We'll keep you posted.

Via The Register

More Orange:
BBC clips on your Orange phone
Orange launch EDGE

3GSM 2006: Virgin to launch live TV on your mobile

BT has announced that Virgin Mobile is the first mobile operator to sign up for its Movio digital TV and radio service for mobiles. The announcement coincided with the 3GSM unveiling of The Trilogy (pictured) – the first DAB-IP enabled Smartphone, which will host the service.

Unlike TV mobile services from Vodafone and Orange, which use 3G, the Movio service uses a special DAB radio and the existing DAB network, which is capable of transmitting high-quality TV images and DAB radio coverage. The handset itself has been developed jointly by BT, TTP, and HTC. It has a 2.2 inch screen, a 1.3MP camera and a micro SD slot for extra storage. It also features Windows Mobile, 5.0 - so expect push email, along with all the usual Microsoft functionality.

No start date has been announced and channel details are not yet available, but expect the service on a limited exclusive basis on the Virgin network around late summer.

More mobile TV:
3GSM 2006: hands on with LG's DVB-H TV phone
ROK brings TV to Sony phones

Samsung announces 30 Meg broadband for mobile phones

Samsung is to bring Wi-Bro, its take on mobile Wi-Max technology, to Europe. In conjunction with Telecom Italia it is previewing the mobile broadband service which can access the internet at speeds of up to 30Mb/s.

The preview is taking place during the Turin 2006 Olympic winter games. Samsung intends to roll out wi-bro in Korea in the next couple of months. Wi-Bro offers higher quality video streaming and enables users to consult documents and images stored on their phone while they surf the web.

3GSM 2006: Barcelona here we come

By the time most of you read this on Monday  I’ll be wandering aimlessly round a hall desperately trying to keep up with latest in mobile phones. Yep today sees the start of the industry's annual bunfight 3GSM, which alas this year is not in Cannes, but in the slightly less opulent city of Barcelona.

Almost all of the major handset makers will have big news stories to tell and you can bet that the networks will be falling over themselves to champion HSDPA, mobile TV and music via mobiles. So keep your eyes peeled for constant updates, hands on with the latest gadgets and plenty of the usual silliness.

Btw rubbish cathederal

T-Mobile first with flexible tariffs

The battle for the mobile pound in your pocket shows no sign of receding, with T-Mobile launching what it sees as the latest leap forward with "Flext", Britain's first flexible mobile tariff, which it claims will offer a high amount of across the board credit for a signficantly smaller monthly rate.

So how does it work? Well, if you sign up to one of the packages, for example, "Flext 35", it gives you £180 worth of inclusive value for a £35 month charge. You can spend your £180 value on either calls, texts or picture messaging. Weekly text from the company confirm how much you have spent and you can adjust your tariff every 6 months of your 18-month contract.

Good thing? Well, anything that offers more for your money and more flexibility has to be a good thing. And when one mobile company jumps, they all jump, so don't be surprised if your mobile provider offers up a similar scheme in the very near future.

More mobiles:
Orange introduces Edge
3 pays punters to receive voice calls and texts

Comment: yet another mobile phone format Orange's EDGE

One of the big problems that O2 faces with its i-mode service is that it is yet again marketing another mobile phone format to customers who so far have had enough trouble getting their head round Wap and 3G. So I am kind of surprised by Orange's announcement today that it is to debut an EDGE service in the UK.

EDGE, or Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution to give its full moniker, is basically a hybrid between GPRS and 3G. It offers data download speed that are around three times faster than GPRS, but still less than half of those of 3G. So basically in areas where it hasn’t got 3G coverage - 30 per cent of the population - users can still surf the web at reasonably fast speeds. Orange is also committed to EDGE internationally and at the last count has EDGE networks in France, Slovakia, Romania, Poland and Belgium (Mobistar). Fortunately for us confused punters Orange isn’t going to market EDGE to its customers; rather the company insists it is just an added benefit for those on its GPRS and 3G tariffs.

So who is going to benefit. Well to start you’ll need an EDGE phone. Ironically Orange’s lead phone is the brand new Blackberry the 8700g. While it is a decent enough device it has very limited 64MB of non-upgradeable storage, so having the option of downloading lots of large files quickly isn’t really much of a benefit to 8700g users. It will speed up web surfing, but as anyone who uses a BlackBerry knows the device has a really crap browser.

Orange is also launching a new Business Everywhere laptop data card later in the spring which includes EDGE compatibility as well as GPRS, 3G and Wi-Fi, and has a few other EDGE compatible handsets namely Nokia’s 6280, 6630, 6680 and N70, and its own SPV M5000. So owners of these handset will benefit. The only real worry for Orange is the signal it sends out about 3G. The company insists it is 100% focused on 3G, and of course HSDPA, but nevertheless releasing a hybrid technology in areas where it doesn't have a 3G signal sends out mixed messages. The company insists that the only reason it has mentioned EDGE is because it has been upgrading old transmitters and the new ones, made oddly enough by Nokia, automatically have EDGE compatibility. We’ll take them at their word for now.

Ashley Norris

O2 plans live gigs to your mobile

O2 has annouced a link-up with America Online, XM Satellite Radio and AEG, to provide O2 customers with exclusive live video and audio mobile content from acts such as Greenday, Bon Jovi as a taster for the mobile content it plans to transmit from the The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome) when it opens in 2007.

O2 will create a Network Live as part of their O2 Active service. The site will include details of current music content available to stream plus information on upcoming live events.

The site has already been trialled when Madonna’s album launch party for “Confessions On a Dance Floor” at the Koko Club in London was transmitted to O2 customers at the end of last year.

Find out more

More mobiles:
Orange launches a Snow-mobile
eBay joins O2's i-mode

Mobile TV trial promising for O2

The initial results of a user trial by Oxford Mobile of multi-channel broadcast TV to mobile phones have revealed a high level of consumer interest, with 83% of triallists satisfied with the service provided and 76% of triallists indicating that they would take up the service within 12 months.

The trial of 375 O2 customers found, rather unsurprisingly that viewing peaked in the morning, midday and early evening - coinciding with the daily commute and lunch hours. Satisfaction levels were based on choice and quality of the 16 channels available, ease of use and picture quality.

The service is based on the new digital video broadcasting - handheld transmission technology and works by beaming a signal to a digital TV receiver, which is attached to Nokia's specially adapted 7710 smartphone, transforming it into a portable TV.

O2 expects to announce final results from the Oxford Mobile TV trial in the spring of 2006, when presumably the rest of us can give our opinion.

Vodafone and Sky do mobile TV
Sky by mobile

CES 2006: Nokia's trio of Bluetooth headsets

Nokia has released details of three new Bluetooth headsets at the CES.

The tiny BH-800 has a minimalist design and is available in two colors - coffee black and silver white, with optional ear loop and offering up to 6 hours of talk time. it is Nokia's first Bluetooth 2.0 EDR spec headset. It should sell for around 115 Euro, excluding VAT.

The new BH-900 headset is a larger device, with up to 8 hours of talk time, and an ear hook that can be configured for both right and left ear use. it also has a noise and echo reduction system. The selling price will probably be 85 Euros, excluding VAT.

Finally, the BH-200 is an entry-level device. Weighing in at 14g, it offers up to five and a half hours of talk time and should sell for a competitive 45 Euros, excluding VAT.

UK tops the download league

Who need a World Cup win? Why worry about success in the Eurovision? We're best at something far more prestigious - downloading.

People in the UK download more music than other Europeans, spending around 75p per month on average. According to the survey undertaken by Motorola, this is three times more than downloaders in Germany, Italy or France. A quarter of the 1,000 Britons questioned owned a digital music player - that's the second highest ownership of the European states surveyed, behind Spain. Oh well, we can't come top at everything.

The research also found that the UK also had the highest percentage of people aged over 50 using digital players - a rather respectable 21 per cent. So you know what to buy granny this Christmas. And as our sister site Shiny Shiny will tell you, there's no longer a digital divide between men and women, with an equal number of each sex feeling comfortable when using a mobile phone, digital TV, 3G or mobile email. Time to re-think the phrase "boys toys" then?

More downloading
Downloads get Real
Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman phone reviewed

Orange’s latest SPV arrives

The SPVs have always been popular around the Tech Digest office as they are among the most compact smartphones to use Windows Mobile and actually make for surprisingly manageable web browsing. The latest, the SPV C600, is a very similar candy-bar style to its predecessors now with a 320 x 240 colour screen, as well as a 1.3 megapixel camera and 64mb internal memory. Not following the C550, it has opted away form music playback button and returns to a style more similar to the C500 but this time imbued with the latest Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. This means that applications load up a lot quicker and has a generally more handset friendly interface. Also improved over the C500 is the new joystick control system that has proved itself to be a much needed addition.

More smartphones
HP's hw6500 PDA/smartphone
MS Peabody smartphone

The Orange SPV C600 has pretty much ticked all the boxes; but there’s no escaping the fact that it’s hard to make such a small unit very easily useable with internet browsing, emailing and so on. Plus the connectivity options seem a little limited and more worryingly there is no mention of removable storage; but it still remains one of the most compact smartphones out there. The SPV C600 has landed in the UK now and is available from free on phone contracts.

N-Gage slips away

Nokia has announced that it is planning to withdraw from the mobile gaming scene for a couple of years and that the N-Gage itself will be receiving no new incarnations. I’m left with mixed feelings about this development; though nothing brought more joy to my day than being able to fire a few vengeful insults at the hybrid device, its passing leaves me with little to vent my spleen on. It was high time that Nokia gave up on the mobile gaming charade as sales of the N-Gage and its successor, the N-Gage QD, only reached a third of the sales forecasts which must have been quite a shock to Nokia after it managed an admirable feat of marketing and hype building prior to the phone’s 2003 launch. This failure was largely due to phone’s laughable design flaws and though they were mostly corrected in the QD version, by then it was too little too late. If you still have an unnatural desire to own one Nokia is still planning to keep on producing the N-Gage in limited numbers for foreign markets.

via Gizmodo

Vodafone and United - it's over

Last week it was Roy Keane, this week it is Vodafone who have done the dirty on Manchester United. The once mighty English football club, which is now battling for its Champions league survival, is to lose its shirt sponsors at the end of this current season with two years left on its contract.

Voda is apparently shifting its sponsorship to the Champions League and it plans to offer video highlights and goals from the premier European club competition to its 3G customers across the world. When the Voda/United deal was first inked back in 2000, Vodafone execs talked excitedly about offering video content from the club to its legions of fans. So it is kind of ironic that it has pulled the plug less than a year after finally making the footage available to its mobile customers.

Whether Vodafone is responding in any way to fans’ pleas - United supporters had urged Vodafone at its annual investors' meeting in July to end the sponsorship deal as a way of protesting about American tycoon Malcolm Glazer's 790 million pound takeover – is a moot point.

As well as the Champions League Voda has lucrative sponsorship deals with the England cricket and rugby union teams.

More Voda
Voda and Sky mobile TV a hit?
Voda makes mobiles simple

Vodafone and Sky TV a hit?

Vodafone and Sky are claiming a successful debut for the launch of Sky Mobile TV on the Vodafone 3G network says Mobile Marketing Magazine. Apparently customers have accessed one million streams of mobile TV channels in the two weeks since the service launched on 1 November. With Vodafone having 341,000 Vodafone live! with 3G customers at 30 September, this equates to just under three streams per 3G customer, though the figure does include viewing of additional 'variety’ channels, including Channel 4, which are not part of the Sky Mobile TV service.

Sky Mobile TV offers 19 mobile TV channels, including 24-hour news, sport, entertainment and documentary programmes to all Vodafone live! with 3G customers. The channels come in two ‘packs’ – a News, Sport & Factual pack and an Entertainment & Music pack. The service is free to all Vodafone live! with 3G customers until 31 January 2006, £5 per pack per month thereafter. The service is exclusive to Vodafone UK until 31 March 2006. More here.

More TV on your mobi
Voda and Sky offer mobile TV
Nokia launches TV to go

Who will be first with HSDPA in the UK?

As you may or many not know HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Data Packet Access) is the exciting new technology which will enable mobile phone networks to ramp up data speeds to levels well beyond what we currently have with 3G. Quite who is going to be first to deliver HSDPA remains to be seen though. O2 has been making a big noise about the technology and has been trialling it on the Isle of Man. Its HSDPA system has just gone live there offering users speeds of 1.4Mbps. It also hopes to have HSDPA available across the UK by the end of next summer.

Orange is also keen on HSDPA and stressed how important it is at the 3GSM show in Cannes earlier in the year. The dark horses though could be T-Mobile which cunningly committed to its HSDPA roll out in a press release about its Web’n Walk tariff last month. It is promising to deliver a service in 2006 which will offer data speeds of 1.8Mbps – over four times faster than its existing 3G network. Today T-Mobile confirmed that, in collaboration with its partner Nokia it had completed HSDPA calls in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.

"The HSDPA calls demonstrate T-Mobile's commitment to raising the bar for the quality of broadband mobile data services," says Hamid Akhavan, Chief Technology Officer, T-Mobile. "The calls are a good example of the successful cooperation that is taking place between T-Mobile and Nokia in the field of high speed mobile access and broadband applications."

Quite what the networks, and indeed us consumers will do with all that extra bandwidth remains to be seen. HSDPA PCMCIA cards for laptops are a cert though and maybe for the first time, we’ll have really smooth video streaming. Don’t expect HSDPA speeds to stop at around 4Mbps either. According to O2 download speed is set to rise to 7.3Mbps in 2008 before hitting 10.2Mbps in late 2009.

Vodafone and Sky team up for mobile TV

Not wishing to be outdone by its rivals - most notably Orange - Vodafone has teamed up with Sky to offer mobile TV to its Vodafone Live 3G customers. Initially 19 different channels will be offered free of charge to customers. However, from February 1st subscribers will be charged £5 a month for each of the packages they subscribe to. Some channels will be broadcast 'as live' while others will be dedicated 'made for mobile' channels, featuring regularly updated blocks of programming. In order to attract customers to the service Sky is giving all Vodafone Live 3G customers exclusive live coverage of the England cricket team's tour to Pakistan, starting with the first test in Multan on 12 November. Sky also claims that it will offer both breaking news and sports headlines to Vodafone's 3G customer base.

More Mobile TV stories:
Orange TV on a mobile reviewed
Samsung shows mobile TV at IFA

Vodafone 3G customers will be able to choose one of the two following packages:

News, Sport & Factual: Sky News; CNN; Bloomberg; Sky Sports News; At The Races; Discovery Factual; National Geographic Channel; History Channel.

Entertainment & Music: Sky One; Sky Movies; MTV (two channels*); Living tv; Discovery Lifestyle; Nickelodeon; Paramount Comedy**; Cartoon Network; Bravo;

* **One MTV channel will be available at launch. The second MTV channel and Paramount Comedy will join the line-up later in the year.

Europe's first 4G network (and we are very jealous)

Forget 3G - it’s old hat now with its sluggish connections, rubbish quality TV and video and snail-like downloads. Nope we are moving to the Czech Republic where, as from yesterday, the inhabitants of a country previously best known for top quality lager, Franz Kafka and not especially politically correct football fans have Europe's first 4G service to play with. Installed by T-Mobile it uses UMTS TD-CDMA technology to deliver download speeds of up to 1Mbps – two and a half times faster than the UK 3G networks. T-Mobile says it hopes to attract subscribers who will stick the 4G friendly PCMCIA card in their laptops (there’s no 4G phones available for Europe yet) and surf like there is no tomorrow. Interestingly T-Mobile is only charging 34 Euros per month for the one Meg service, which is a lot cheaper than its 3G rates over in the UK.

The service is only available in Prague at the moment, but it is being rolled out across the Republic. Is it a Wimax killer? Maybe, and when are we going to see that HSDPA 1.5 meg technology the networks in the UK promised us not that long ago?

3 offers cash for zany clips

3 today also unveiled a service that suggests to us that a few of its top execs have spent a little bit too much time recently watching re-runs of You’ve Been Framed. It is offering its customers (it now has 3.2 million subscribers) cash to share their video clips. Users send in thirty second video clips which are then uploaded to the 'See Me TV' channel for other 3 customers to view. Each time a clip is downloaded by a 3 customer the performer gets paid 1p, and 3 is promising that some contributors could make thousands of cash for their efforts. Credits are paid by PayPal.

See Me TV is accessed via the 3 Services menu and is updated daily. To help viewers navigate through the thousands of mini-movie clips that will be available they are divided into categories, from 'Stupid Stuff' to 'Cuddly' and 'Dead Impressive'. The most popular clips appear at the top of the browser to help cut straight through to the top talent. All clips are presented with the name of the 'director' and a title to encourage performers to add attention.

O2's i-mode goes live in the UK on Monday

O2 is to launch its i-mode service in the UK next week. Already huge in Japan and gaining popularity in Europe i-mode is a mobile internet system that is compatible with both 2.5 and 3g phones. Via the i-mode platform users will be able to access what O2 claims is a ‘rich range of content’ from Wap style news pages through to animation and video. As i-mode is a more secure system than Wap O2 is also likely to offer a form of internet based banking via mobile with users able to check their balance and make transactions via their phone.

The first set of O2 i-mode phones come from NEC, Panasonic, Samsung, Siemens (BenQ) and Motorola. However industry observers believe that it won’t be too long before Sony Ericsson and Nokia i-mode mobiles are available too. More next week.

Are Vodafone and Sky about to launch TV to your mobile?

Is Vodafone’s TV on your mobile service imminent? And will it carry Sky's TV channels? Well given the number of handsets in its new 3G range which it is billing as TV compatible it seems very likely we’ll see a service sooner rather than later. In the summer Voda promised to launch TV in the UK before Christmas. It has also been trailing a service in Germany which offers CNN, Eurosport, Fashion TV and a weather channel. The German service also has a series of looped channels including a special mobile version of a popular German soap which is transmitted on mobile before it is broadcast on terrestrial TV. It is just speculation now, but given Sky's announcement the other day, and the fact that the pair work closely together on content for Voda’s 3G mobile serves, maybe Sky Sports live via Voda is just weeks away.

Vodafone's Christmas 3G line up

Vodafone has announced a host of exclusive 3G handsets for Christmas.  We already know about the superb three mega pixel camera phone the Sharp 903 but here are the others. The Samsung ZV30 is a compact 3G-er which weighs in at just 110 grams. It has a display with 262,144 TFT colours and a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels, includes a 1.3 mega pixel camera, Bluetooth and a large 40 MB internal memory which can be extended to up to 256 MB with Trans-Flash cards.

Then there’s the Motorola E77V which has access to mobile TV, video telephony, an MP3 player and Vodafone Music Downloads. It also features a digital camera and a Bluetooth interface for use with a wireless headset.

Designed as a 3G starter phone the Sagem my V-85 has a large display with 26 2,144 colours for mobile video telephony and TV. Also on board is a 1.3 mega pixel digital camera and synchronisation via infrared interface, USB or Bluetooth. Vodafone is also adding the Motorola V3x, Nokia 6280, Nokia N70 and Vodafone VPA IV (which is its version of the HTC Universal) though these handsets are mostly Voda exclusives, Pre-paid 3G phones include Motorola C980, Motorola V980, Samsung Z140V, Sony Ericsson V600i.

Vodafone and Toshiba's 3G music phone

In case you were wondering why Vodafone had decided to pass on the Apple Motorola iTunes ROKR music phone, here it is. Due to go on sale in the UK shortly is Voda’s own music phone, the Toshiba 803. Nicknamed by the company the UMTS (3G) jukebox it is a clamshell handset with MP3 playback and integrated music playing control buttons. In typical style though it is very short on memory. It comes with 20MB built in which can be supplemented by a mini-SD card. Though if previous form is anything to go by it is likely to be 64MB. Suddenly those 512MB cards bundled with the Moto and Sony Ericsson phones look pretty generous. Also on board is 2.3 mega pixel camera with 20 x digital zoom (which is previous Tosh cameras on phones are anything to go by should be cracking), a display with 262,144 colours and Bluetooth.

Alas the Tosh 903, which includes most of the above and integrated GPS is only going to be on sale in Japan.

Motorola and Virgin Mobile launch iTunes ROKR phone

Bored of hearing about the iTunes phone yet? Well even if you are sick of the hype surrounding the Motorola ROKR E1 it seems that the great British phone industry can't get enough of it. Motorola had its big launch shindig for the phone today enlisting the aid of Mylo - who, if I was down with the kids rather than listening to nothing but Brian Jonestown Massacre CDs, I’d know is one of the UK's leading new dance acts.

Meanwhile Virgin Mobile has been giving details about its ROKR launch claiming that it’ll be ready for the punters on September 26th, presumably a week after it goes on sale via O2 which has a week long exclusive on the handset. Virgin Mobile is charging £189 for the phone which seems roughly what the other networks are suggesting it will go for on pre-pay tariffs. Orange, the surprise network to take the phone, hasn’t said a great deal about the handset but you can presume it will be available via that network sometime in October.

iTunes phone: no O2 UK exclusive

Ok we have the final word on networks now. According to the horse's mouth; 'It is available first with Carphone Warehouse, expected in mid-September and then with O2, followed by Orange, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile and other top retailers through September and October.' So no Vodafone... Interestingly there's no French or Italian networks lined up. The rest of us can still buy the phone via the Apple website and Apple store and use it with whichever network we prefer. It’ll probably cost around £200-250.

O2 i-mode: more details

In a briefing to journalists in a lovely old fashioned West End pub this morning, O2 announced details of its plans to launch a new mobile internet service by the end of the year. The new service, which uses Japanese company NTT DoCoMo's i-mode technology, will be available via 2.5 and 3G handsets from Alcatel, LG, Motorola, NEC, Panasonic, Sagem, Samsung and Siemens. Details of specific handsets, prices and content providers have yet to be announced but O2 promises that its customers will be able to access content in an instant just by pressing a yellow 'i' button on their phone. O2 claims that users will be able to uses i-mode straight out of the box without the configuration that WAP requires.

In the briefing, the company was extremely keen to distance the new service from its ongoing O2 Active service which uses very similar WAP technology. According to 02, i-mode pages are much quicker to load and easier to read than WAP. Importantly visited i-mode pages will be cached in the memory making navigation much easier. Whereas WAP services are geared around entertainment (ringtones, games etc.), iMode will be more about 'lifestyle'. Hence O2 is currently talking to banks about providing mobile banking services and transport companies for local travel information.

However, the launch of the new i-mode service, which will be exclusive to O2 in the UK, is sure to create even more customer confusion about mobile internet services. One of the likely causes of concern is pricing. Though some content in the iMode portal - or ecosystem as some O2 people were calling it - will be free, much of it will be charged for. O2 customers will also have to pay the GPRS charges just to find the content they want to download.

Launched in 1999 in Japan by NTT DoCoMo, i-mode now has 42 million subscribers in Japan and more than 80,000 content sites. There are now nine operators outside Japan in France, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Australia, Taiwan, Italy, Germany and Belgium.

Orange debuts 3G for consumers

After 3 and Vodafone Orange is to become the third British mobile phone network to launch a 3G offering for consumers. It will debut four new phones next week with two models set to arrive early next year.

To be fair there isn't a huge amount to choose between what Orange is offering and the services already delivered by 3 and Vodafone. Unlike 3 and Vodafone Orange is, however, offering full web browsing via both the handsets and laptops (with the phone functioning as a modem) as part of its tariffs. Subscribers pay £30, £50 or £70 a month for which they can download up to 50MB data. This includes web browsing as well as email and film and news videos from the Orange World site. The pricier tariffs include more voice call minutes. Football videos also cost extra.

We have written about some of the phones before, most notably the Sanyo S750, which will be the service’s signature phone and is available free no matter which tariff punters choose. Other handsets include Samsung’s Z107, a fairly small clamshell which features a large protruding battery; Sony’s Ericsson’s Z1010, which has been available to networks for the best part of two years now; and the LG U8150, which is pretty much the same phone as the LG U8120 as offered by 3. Nokia’s excellent 3G smartphone, the 6630, and Motorola’s C975 will follow shortly.

Subscribers can make video calls – to any 3G network - and watch downloads of sports and movie clips. Orange has also confirmed that it will unveil a 3G version of its SPV smartphone in the spring.

Voda's 3G Announcement in

Looking at the press release for Vodafone's 3G service, there's no surprises or exciting new revelations. The 6 phones that we reported on last month are all set to be part of the 3G launch: Motorola V980, Motorola E1000, Nokia 6630, Samsung Z107, Sharp 902 and the Sony Ericsson V... well, Vodafone's called it the V980 in the release, but the picture's the same as the V800, so we're guessing they've made a mistake on that one.

According to the release, four of them will be available immediately, though it doesn't actually specify which ones. All of them, however, will be out by Christmas. The line up includes the 2-megapixel Sharp 902, which is excellent news. Out of the handsets on offer, we've had a chance to review early samples of the Motorola E1000 and the Sony Ericsson V800 (V980, whatever). The Moto's nice and small, although it's not the prettiest handset out there. The SE V800 is a very nice looking handset, however. Lightweight, easy to use, excellent camera and flash light. We want one.

Full press release (along with pricing plans).

Vodafone: The Next Generation

Big day for Vodafone tomorrow. The world's largest phone company is launching its 3G service over here in the UK. Its got more 3G handsets than any of its competitors some of which look very promising indeed. The handsets are already pretty well established (start getting excited about the Sony Ericsson V800 and the 2-megapixel Sharp V902sh which we're hoping will be among the first launched) so we're not expecting any big surprises. 

According to The Reg, the advertising and marketing campaign is set to cost the company £100 million, a fair portion of which, we're hoping, has been spent on the champagne for tomorrow's launch party. After forking out £14 billion for 3G rights in Europe, and with further investment taking that figure up to £22 billion, Vodafone's going to have to make this work if it wants to stay around.

Orange confirms 3G launch by end of year

With 3 unveiling a bevy of new handsets (details later today) and Vodafone naming its 3G launch day next week, we had been wondering how the other UK networks would respond. No surprise then that Orange today confirmed it would launch its 3G services for consumers by the end of the year and that it would offer five 3G handsets.

The big news is that Orange will be first to offer the rather natty Sanyo S750 mobile. A regular at exhibitions and trade shows over the past year the handset is the first 3G phone to feature a sliding mechanism as popularised by Siemens and Samsung. It also has a mega pixel camera on board, a striking QVGA screen and offers all the calling card 3G features like person to person video calling and video download. There will be more on the handset later.

Orange has also lined up Nokia’s key 3G phone the 6630, which has started shipping to suppliers this week. Also on board is LG with the 8150, a slightly different take on the handset that has been doing great business for UK 3G network 3. Completing the range are the rather podgy Sony Ericsson Z1010 and Samsung’s Z107.

As for the network Orange is now claiming that it 3G coverage will be available to 66% of the population – slightly more than Vodafone but still a long way behind 3.

First gig to be broadcast on 3G

We assumed that, with a name like Rooster, the band's sound would best be described as "Cock Rock" (ho ho*), but apparently, Music Week describe them as having 'the swagger of Oasis with Aerosmith's riffs' (so it is cock rock after all). Well, whatever they are, they're about to make mobile music history when their gig at London's ICA is streamed live across 3's 3G network. Fans will be able to sign up to a free alert service that let's them know the show is about to start 10 minutes before the curtains open. A thousand people will then be able to buy tickets from 3's Live Music box office and access the live video footage of the concert. You can leave and return to the gig whenever you like, presumably so you can complete the experience by buying weak, expensive pints of beer and queuing to use your own toilet.

After the show's over, all of 3's 1.2million customers will be able to watch highlights of the 45-minute performance and get access to behind-the-scenes footage. The event is the first commercial trial of the service for 3, so expect many more to come if it proves a success.

3

*This joke only works if you know British english. Even then it's not that funny. Apols.

T-Mobile ramps up business Wi-Fi/3G offering

T-Mobile went launch crazy yesterday unveiling a slew of new handsets, announcing a new Wi-Fi roaming deal with BT OpenWorld and promising 3G handsets on the streets before Christmas.

Under the banner of ‘office in your pocket’ the network gave details of a roaming agreement for its Wi-Fi services with BT OpenWorld. T-Mobile was one of the pioneers of the Wi-Fi hot spot in the UK partnering Starbucks. With BT OpenWorld's hot spots on board T-Mobile subscribers now have access to 1,900 sites in the UK and over 10,500 worldwide.

In tandem with the announcement T-Mobile unveiled a second data card for laptops – the Fusion card. Unlike its first 3G card the Fusion card has integrated Wi-Fi as well as 3G and GRPS facilities. The company also released new hot spot pricing. On prepay users can now get 15 minutes for a pretty reasonable £1.50, an hour for a fiver and a day for £13. If you have a 3G data card it is £70 per month for 3G.GPRS and Wi-Fi providing you don’t exceed one Gigabyte of data.

More on T-Mobile’s new handsets and its 3G strategy for consumers later this afternoon.

T-Mobile to offer 3G BlackBerry next year

In its London press conference this morning T-Mobile’s UK Managing Director Brian McBride confirmed that the phone network expects to be taking delivery of a 3G version of the BlackBerry sometime before the summer next year.

It is kind of hard to imagine the core benefit of a 3G version of the BlackBerry other than it will enable users to download large files more quickly.

It could also speed up web browsing and will hopefully spur BlackBerry maker RIM into improving, or, even better, offering another web browser with its devices.

We are guessing now but we’d expect that the 3G BlackBerry would have significantly more storage than existing models. The most recently launched BlackBerry in the UK, Vodafone's 7100v has just 32Mb of memory built in.

Loads more T-Mobile stories tomorrow.

November launch for Vodafone's 3G consumer service

Vodafone has announced that the UK launch of its 3G Live! service for consumers will be in November. The network also announced details of ten new 3G handsets that will be available across its group (though not necessarily the UK) before Christmas.

Apart from offering details of the handsets the release says very little about how Vodafone intends to launch and market its 3G services for consumers in the UK. The handsets, which include models from Nokia, Motorola, Samsung , Sony Ericsson and Sharp have apparently been developed to enable consumers to make the most of the 3G video services which we presume means music and video downloads and streaming and person to person video calls.

Among the highlights are the first phone with a two mega a pixel camera and also optical zoom and autofocus, and phones designed for audio and gaming applications.

More details of the handsets shortly.

At last - a good role for 3G

We hadn’t really considered the implications that video calls could have for some people. Until we got a press release from 3 in Sweden, that is. Apparently, the company has an awful lot of deaf customers, thanks to the opportunity video calls give those with hearing impairments to use sign language over the phone. Because of this, the company has just launched a special web page with sign language pages (see here) and is working with the Swedish Deaf Organisation (SDR) to evaluate and develop 3G services that will help signing people over in Sweden. Nice to know that 3G can be useful after all.

3 prepares for Vodafone 3G launch by cutting tarrifs

3 may have struggled to drum up quite as much interest as it would have liked for its 3G video features like person to person video calling, but the company has done a decent job of tempting people in with its extremely attractive tariffs. This has developed a weird situation where the company that offers the most high tech services on a mobile phone, has a fair proportion of customers who couldn’t give two hoots about all that 3G nonsense and just want to save their pennies.

The rumour doing the rounds that Vodafone is soon to launch its own 3G service for consumers could very well be the reason that 3 has announced plans to shave even more off its already very competitive tariffs. With the deals the company’s offering now, it will be very difficult for Vodafone to offer similar prices for 3G since it would mean dramatically undercutting what it charges existing customers for the normal service. Over to you Vodafone.

Read on for full details of 3’s new pricing plans.

ntl and O2 to trial TV to mobiles

The first ever UK user trial of multi-channel TV to mobile phones is set to launch spring next year. The usability trial is being conducted by ntl and O2 and will start with nine broadcast transmitters covering the areas in and around Oxford.

500 customers will be supplied with a multimedia mobile phone with a built-in digital TV receiver. The testers will then be able to watch 16 TV channels covering the whole spectrum of different tastes – from sport to cartoons, comedy to news. The idea is that the two companies will be able to evaluate consumer interest in mobile TV services to see whether there’s a demand for it.

Ntl and O2 are being aided in their research by Sony Semiconductor & Electronic Solutions (SES) and Nokia, who will be providing their prototype DVB-H receivers for the purpose of the trial. The DVB-H broadcast transmission standard has been designed especially for handheld devices, which means it has low power consumption and, according to ntl, “robust reception”.

Teens get into textual intercourse

Orange is extending its Free Weekend Text offer until October this year. The offer, available to pay-as-you-go customers, is being targeted at 16-18 year olds since they’re the ones who are text fixated apparently. It provides 500 free texts between 7pm on Friday until 7am on Monday.

A recent survey commissioned by Orange found that 51% of boys questioned use text messaging for dating and dumping. Who said romance was dead, eh?

Orange

O2 sponsors the England Rugby team

Another one for the sports fans, O2 has just announced that it is renewing its rugby union sponsorship deal of the England team. The four year deal is worth £3 million a year to the rugby team, who swept to World Cup victory back in 2003.

O2 seems to be in the habit of backing winners, as the company also sponsors Arsenal. Maybe Roman Abramovich should think about getting the phone company on board as a sponsor, instead of blowing £20 million on a foreign striker.

Samsung outstripping Nokia

Samsung is apparently the “clear market leader” in terms of the number of its handsets that come with an integrated camera and MMS capabilities, according to EMC’s latest edition of World Cellular Handset Tracker.

Research based on 17 handset markets (including the UK, Korea, China, Japan, France, Germany and the USA) reveals that Samsung currently has over 60 camera phones on sale. This compared to a paltry 18 handsets from the once-mighty Nokia.

In the second quarter of 2004, Samsung launched 9 camera and MMS-enabled phones, compared to four from Motorola and three each from Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

Nokia may still be the market leader, with a global market share of 29.2 percent, but this is down from 34.9 percent and there’s no doubt that the company is beginning to slip. No longer the company that has all the nicest, most up-to-date handsets, Nokia’s is facing stiff competition from the likes of Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Siemens – as well as Samsung.

Read

3 steals the show from BBC

The BBC may have spent £105million on the Premiership football highlights, but it looks like they’ve had their thunder well and truly stolen by mobile phone operator, 3. All the best bits from each of the Premiership matches will be available to 3 customers hours before they appear on BBC’s Match of the Day.

3 customers will be able to download video highlights, including all the goals from 5.15pm on Saturdays and five minutes from the final whistle on all other days. Match of the Day doesn’t air until 10.30pm, so apart from the live broadcasts of games, 3 will be showing footage from the matches first.

This has got to be a very good incentive for football fans to buy a 3 phone – even if it is shaky low-res sub-camcorder video quality. And with pretty reasonable pricing, we can see it being a pretty popular service.

Two payment options are available to 3 customers: unlimited access to match highlights costs £5 a month with 3’s Sports Add-on service; while individual games highlights can be downloaded at a cost of 50p per game. The Sports Add-on package also provides access to the UEFA Champions league games and other big sporting events, such as the Olympic Games.

3 Website

Virgin Bites back with funky Wap service

Years after Vodafone live! and O2 Active British phone network Virgin Mobile has finally got round to launching its own WAP service.

Only unlike its rivals it has a funky feel and is targeted at the young.

Available to all Virgin customers with a GPRS handset Virgin Bites promises to banish the boredom by offering a cross between a celebrity magazine and an infotainment service on the phone.

Free to customers until January 2005 Virgin Bites includes a mix of celebrity news, games and gags, plus entertainment and sports.

The service is apparently highly interactive and offers customers the chance to publish their own contributions via text or picture message.

From now on all Virgin phone will feature a Bites button.

The service is supported by a free 28 page magazine that will be shipped monthly to all Virgin customers.

Celebrity: For the latest salacious gossip on the crazy world of celebs by the BITES gossip queen, need to know tittle-tattle and latest news on who’s hot and who’s doing what…with whom, as well as top celebrity screensavers and wallpaper

Laughs: Get your mates to have a giggle trying one of these:
How Bizarre! Man or woman? Celebrity or wannabe? Arse or elbow? Just take a guess. Play saucy `What is it?’ quiz and put your powers of observation to the test!
Beauty or Beast – This flirty interactive quiz gives you the chance to see a great looking girl or guy in various stages of undress.
Sin to Win - Got a confession to make? Then tell all! The best sin wins a top prize. And if you love secrets, you can have the juiciest ones sent straight to your phone.
Pulling Pal – On the pull? Get chat-up lines, icebreakers and flirt tips so good, the opposite sex will be powerless to resist your charms. And if you need rescuing - get a crafty excuse sent straight to your phone and leave!
Strange But True facts - Your encyclopaedia of trivia. Bring a little joy and happiness to everyone's day with a well-placed fascinating fact.

Music: Three hot channels dedicated to Urban, Dance & Indie. Find out the latest tracks, news and gossip, club and gig listings and recommendations, reviews, voting and competitions, and the latest ringtones.

News and Views: Includes tips on the next big thing in Most Wanted and weekly customer polls – Which trainers are funky? What’s the most popular colour this season?

Sport: A humorous take on the latest sports news and results plus the latest java games. Get the best guide going to the new Premiership season. Who are the newbies to watch? Who has the wildest fans?

T-Mobile launches newspaper

So is it time to ditch your newspaper and catch up with the latest news and goss on your Mobi? T-Mobile thinks so. It has just launched what it is billing as the first newspaper for phone users.

Slated to cost £6 per month, although it is free until October, the News Express service features news, sports and entertainment gossip along with regional weather maps of the UK.

The news is actually pushed to your phone (there are two editions one in the morning and one in the evening) and stored on it. So unlike Wap pages you don’t have to go on line to access it, which makes it great for place with no mobile coverage like the tube.

The company hopes to extend the service so it offers editions of proper newspapers online. Maybe soon you’ll be able to customise the paper too taking Guardian news coverage, Mirror Sport and, ahem Tech Digest technology reports.

So far the service is only compatible with Symbian phones like the Nokia 7610 and 6600 and Sony Ericsson P900 although it will be available on Microsoft and Java-based phones next year.

We think the service works pretty well, and we like the way the paper (it is the first UK use of Macromedia Flash on a phone) is put together. Subsidising the paper through advertising and bringing the price down would help make it a very worthwhile feature.

Orange 3G plans in detail

The jury is still out as to which mobile phone network will be the second to launch in the UK after the trailblazing Three.

While the hot money is still on Vodafone, Orange has recently been outlining its 3G strategy while giving details of its upcoming handsets and PC cards.

Last week in London Orange took the wraps off its 3G plans unveiling a high speed data (384 kbps) 3G/GPRS laptop PC card for both consumers and business users.

Yet in spite of delivering 3G after both Vodafone and Three Orange’s execs insisted that the network was in no way playing catch up.

‘We have got 3G right in every area,' argued Orange UK’s exec VP John Allwood. ‘In terms of coverage, roaming and the product itself we are offering the best service. Sixty six per cent of the population are able to access the network. It will be 90% by mid-2005. This is more than Vodafone which currently only has 42% coverage.’

Orange is also offering a slightly more competitive pricing structure than its rival with users charged £20 per month to download up to 65MB of data - 15MB more than Vodafone’s similarly priced package.

There’s also a pay as you consume tariff that works out at £2 per MB and an unlimited download tariff for £75 per month. Although this ‘unlimited download’ actually has a cap of one Gigabyte per month.

Roaming fees, for when the service is used outside of the UK start at £8 per MB, while the price of the card ranges from £225-85 depending on which tariff is chosen.

A joint 3G/Wi-Fi card will arrive soon while a 3G card boasting download speeds of an astonishing two Mbps is slated for next summer.

Sadly upload speeds are likely to remain a sluggish 64 kbps for some time.

The network was, however, not keen on giving too much away about the roll out of 3G services to consumers.

Online did manage to grab a sneaky play with the two 3G phones Orange is likely to launch in September. The hero handset, LG’s U8150, is virtually identical to the U8100, a small (for 3G) clamshell that has been hugely successful for Three. It scores over almost all its 3G rival in terms of size, battery performance and usability.

Less impressive is the Sony Ericsson Z1010, which offers a solid range of facilities including XHTML web browsing, person to person video calling and POP3 email compatibility, yet is housed in a rather bulky clamshell case. It is widely rumoured that the Z1010 will also be one of Vodafone’s launch 3G handsets.

Investing in a 3G card for a laptop PCs is an obvious upgrade for mobile business users. However selling 3G handsets to consumers will prove a much trickier proposition.

Orange, and its rival networks, not only have to market core 3G applications such as person to person video calling and video downloads/streams of football matches and music videos. They also need to persuade customers to swap existing quality GPRS phones for larger, less attractive 3G handsets with poorer battery life.

Factor in the need to compete with Three’s very aggressive pricing and
it is no wonder both Vodafone and Orange opted for the business 3G proposition first.

They have to launch 3G to consumers in the UK at some point, but it’ll be a brave network that goes first.

Orange confirms 3G launch for UK

Orange today firmed up the details of the UK launch of its 3G service.

We’ve posted the press release below, but the main points are

Mobile Office Card: first 3G product launched across UK in July
FreeMove alliance: roaming in Spain, Italy and Germany at launch
SonyEricsson and LG named as first 3G handset vendors in UK & FR

Orange is also claiming the most extensive integrated GPRS/3G networks going with over 60% of the population covered.

It’ll be interesting to see how the card differs from Vodafone’s 3G pc card offering.

There’s a full report from today’s conference plus mini reviews of the phones, cards etc in next Thursday’s Guardian.

ORANGE LAUNCHES UK?s LARGEST INTEGRATED HIGH-SPEED 3G NETWORK

· Mobile Office Card: first 3G product launched across UK in July
· FreeMove alliance: roaming in Spain, Italy and Germany at launch
· SonyEricsson and LG named as first 3G handset vendors in UK & FR

London. 1 July 2004. Orange, the mobile arm of the France Telecom Group, today

announced the launch of its first next generation high-speed network, products

and tariffs, designed to take its UK customers toward a ?mobile broadband?

experience across the largest integrated network in the country.

At launch on 19 July, Orange will have the most extensive integrated 2.5/3G

network in the UK, with 66% of the population covered by its high-speed network,

ensuring that even if customers move out of 3G coverage, they will not lose

their connection to the network. Orange has 3G coverage in major cities

including London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Belfast, Glasgow, Sheffield,

Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Leeds. Orange will also be taking

advantage of its position within the FreeMove alliance, giving UK business

customers the ability to access 3G services in Spain, Italy and Germany at

launch, as well as the 3G network of Orange in France. Orange and its FreeMove

partners have licences in 14 markets across Europe.

Orange is developing a range of business services, leveraging the high-speed

network, to give companies a faster and more productive way to work on the move.

The first of these to market will be the 3G Mobile Office Card in the UK.

Targeted at corporate and small business customers, it will be available to buy

in the UK from 19 July, complete with a transparent tariff structure and

offering speeds of up to 384 kbps. Already tried and tested by over 60 corporate

and medium-sized businesses (over 500 individual users) in the UK, it comes

complete with an easy-to-use ?dashboard? interface and will be compatible with

the majority of laptop PC?s offering faster access to email, the Internet and

intranet services as well as specific sales-force and business critical company

information.

Orange will be launching its next generation services in France this Autumn

(2004) with coverage available in over 20 cities. Almost 5,000 Orange customers

in France are already trialling video calling, video messaging, video

answerphone, fixed-to-mobile video calls, web conferencing and live video

services in many cities across France, including Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux and

Cannes.

Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO of the Orange Group, said: ?With the launch of our first

high-speed network, we?ve begun to light up our map of Europe. This is a

milestone event for our customers, for Orange, and for the entire France Telecom

Group. We are now mobilising the broadband experience, delivering world class

products and services across our high-speed networks throughout Europe,

leveraging the experience we have gained through trials with thousands of

customers in the wireless environment, as well as the five years experience the

group has gained providing fixed broadband services.?

He added: ?Today brings us a vital step closer to realising our vision of a

truly integrated communication offering, giving our customers simple and

convenient ways to access the people, places and content they want.?

The Orange 3G Mobile Office Card solution utilises the Merlin U530? data

Wireless PC Modem Card from Lucent Technologies and Novatel Wireless. It offers

an intuitive software interface which is used to access high-speed, wide area,

wireless connectivity on the UMTS network. A range of competitive tariffs will

be available from Orange in the UK, including a flat rate tariff for just £75

per month. The 3G Mobile Office Card is available from £85 (excluding VAT). See

appendix for full tariff details.

Business customers will benefit from the support of a ?3G data card start-up

team? who are tasked with ensuring that the 3G Mobile Office Card is correctly

activated and configured to work smoothly with a company?s own network and

security systems. Once up and running, ongoing 24-hour customer support will be

available from a new specialist data support team. The Orange 3G Mobile Office

Card is the first solution of an extensive range of products and services for

corporate customers which will be launched this year across Europe as part of

France Telecom?s integrated ?Business Everywhere? offering.

John Allwood, Executive Vice-President of Orange UK, said: ?The Orange network

in the UK now provides our customers with the most comprehensive integrated 3G

coverage in the country, as well as the best value tariffs available and

services that can be used in more places than with any other network.?

?We began testing our next generation network in Bristol five years ago. Back

then, Orange became the first mobile company to make a call across a

next-generation network. Now, with half a decade of rigorous testing and

experience behind us, we are launching our new services to customers offering

them the most effective, compelling and integrated solution available.

?By focusing on every aspect of the customer?s interaction with us, we are

setting the industry bench-mark, delivering the best network coverage, the

smoothest network handover, transparent pricing, fast access to compelling

services and the most comprehensive after-sales care.?

The Orange 3G Mobile Office Card will be compatible with the majority o