Mobile Digest

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.