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Many children get their first mobile phone on starting secondary school in September. We hunt down the best first deals for an 11-year-oldWhen to let your child have their first mobile phone is a contentious issue. But the chances are you’ll join the majority of parents and get them one when they start secondary school at 11.At this age many children start travelling to and from school alone and parents like the reassurance of knowing they can call home.So with a bewildering plethora of handset and tariff options, where do you start to find the best deal?Anthony Ball, director of mobile comparison website Onecompare.com says: “You can get a mobile contract for your child, but pay-as-you-go is probably the best move because of the level of control it gives parents. If your child uses the phone too much, the credit simply runs out until you decide to top it up, but they can still receive your texts and calls free.”There’s also little point buying an expensive, flashy phone that could serve as a “mugging magnet”.Many parents will have an old phone they can pass on to their child or, if not, they can pick up a basic model for under £20 and put in a free sim card now available from most major networks, which often offer bundles of texts, call time and, if want, internet access typically starting with a £10 top-up per month. But which one?”The difficulty of getting the first deal for an 11-year-old is that you have little idea of how, and how much, they are going to use their phone,” Ball says. “But as these sims are free and don’t tie you in to a long contract, you can try one and, if that doesn’t suit, simply switch to another.”Earlier this month Tesco Mobile targeted young users with its launch of, arguably, the UK’s cheapest sim-only monthly tariff which provides unlimited texts and 100 minutes of call time for £6 a month.But it’s not available instore – it’s only sold online and over the phone, and is based on a one-month sim-only rolling contract paid by direct debit which means that customers can cancel and switch to other providers should they choose after 30 days.It should particularly suit text-addicted youngsters. Tesco’s research shows that 16- to 24-year-olds are the most prolific texters and, on a personal note, I’ve found that a sim, offering unlimited texts, is definitely the best money-saving mobile option for my two aged 12 and 16.If, however, your child is likely to go over the 100-minute call-time allowance excess calls are charged at 20p per minute and the bill is added on to your £6 monthly direct debit, so the cost could quickly add up. As a safety measure, Tesco puts a £30 cap on the monthly amount you can run up on top of the £6 subscription.If that limit is reached, the phone is barred for outgoing calls (not, importantly, from incoming calls) until the paying customer – the parent in our scenario – calls Tesco Mobile to verify the amount of credit they are willing to pay.But this does highlight the difference between a standard pay-as-you-go deal, where your child cannot run up a bill, and a monthly contract, where they can.Below are a selection of the pay-as-you-go free sim deals on offer for a £10 monthly top-up from major networks which may suit an 11-year-old’s usage.O2 SimplicityFor £10 a month you get unlimited texts plus a choice of either 100 minutes call time to any UK network or 500MG of web time, enough to send and receive up to 500,000 emails a month or surf up to 5,000 web pages. Calls made in excess of those included in a package are charged daily at 25p per minute for the first three minutes, then 5p per minute for the rest of the day. Available at freesim.o2.co.ukOrange If you join Orange with a free sim and choose from one of its pay as you go “animal” packages, you receive £5 free credit with your first £10 top-up. Options include Racoon – a basic, no-frills package, giving a 15p flat call rate and 10p texts to any network any time. For a top-up of £10 per month, Dolphin gives you 300 free texts and free access to the internet subject to a monthly 100MB cap with calls charged at a minimum of 20p per minute and Canary gives you 100 free minutes call time to any mobile (not landlines) at evenings and weekends every month with excess calls charged at a minimum of 20p per minute. Available at freesim.orange.co.ukT-Mobile When you top up by £10 a month you get unlimited free texts as a bonus on top of your £10 credit to use on calls, web-surfing and so on. Call charges are 10p per minute to T-Mobile phones and 25p a minute to other UK mobile networks and landlines. Internet access charges are maximum £1 a day. Available at t-mobile.co.ukTesco Tesco offers a triple-your-money deal so that a top-up of £10 becomes £30 of credit. Free credit is given once a month and is valid for one month. If you top up again in the same month this generates free credit for the following month. Available at www.tesco.com/mobilenetwork/Consumer affairsTelecomsMobile phonesChildrenJill Papworthguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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(Source The Guardian)

Tags: 10, 12, 3, all, best, card, charges, cheapest, compare, comparison, consumer, contract, deal, Deals, email, free, line, mobile, mobile phone, mobile phones, networks, new, o2, orange, pay as you go, phone, phones, sam, sim, Sim Card, sol, t-mobile, tariff, test, three, uk

Vodafone and Orange deny involvement in international premium rate phone line scam as six charged after 11 arrests

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Disconnections plague network Orange UK users are reporting that the mobile data service is dropping connections and refusing to let some customers onto the internet at all.…

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(Source The Register)

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New Mobile & Latest Deal News!

Onestopphoneshop have the new Sony Ericsson Spiro on Orange with a massive £552 cash back. Line rental is just £25 per month, for that you get 400 anytime minutes to any network and unlimited texts.
The catch is that you need to claim the cash back in five stages by sending off your bills at month 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18. Onestopphoneshop is part of The Carphone Warehouse and claiming cash back shouldn’t be too difficult. The dates which you need to send off your bills are detailed after you place your order. Place reminders on your calendar and you could bag the latest Walkman phone with loads of minutes and texts plus £552 cash.
The total cost of the contract over 24 months will be just £47.76 after cash back, or effectively £1.99 per month on average.
What about the phone? The Spiro is one of the latest releases in the Walkman range. This compact slider features a 2.2 inch QVGA TFT screen and palm friendly dimensions of 92 x 48 x 17mm. The Walkman player offers a great music experience with TrackID music recognition and PlayNow that allows you to easily download new music to your phone. Listen to your favourite tracks with your own headphones via the 3.5mm audio jack or with a Bluetooth headset.
Social network integration with quick access to Facebook and Twitter ensures you get the latest updates when out and about and the web browser with GPRS/EDGE gets you to the latest news, weather and gossip quickly and easily.
The modest 2 megapixel camera takes great snaps and features 2x digital zoom and video recording capabilities. Store your captured moments on the expandable memory (up to 16GB) or share with family and friends via MMS or Bluetooth. The Sony Ericsson Spiro is a dual-band handset and also includes a FM Radio, calendar and built-in speakerphone.

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We crowdsourced predictions for the specs of RIM’s rumoured BlackBerry ‘BlackPad’ – and here are the resultsThis week’s BlackBerry press conference in New York didn’t treat us to a single whisper about what could be in store for the tablet device thought to be on the horizon from manufacturer Research in Motion. But trusty Guardian readers have a knack of being on (or near) the money when it comes to foreshadowing future gadget releases.RIM is said to be releasing its rival to Apple’s iPad in November this year, according to reports. Speculation about the name of the device has been spurred on by RIM’s acquisition of the domain rights to blackpad.com and the expected imminent release of tablet devices from LG and Samsung.Earlier this week we put it to the people: what can we expect from a BlackBerry tablet computer? Here’s what you told us: How much will it weigh?Given that the iPad weighs in at between 0.68-0.73kg, the majority of readers (43%) said the “BlackPad” (hold on to your hats, you’ll see why we’re calling it that in a minute) would weigh around 0.7kg – so roughly the same as an iPad. Almost 90% of readers said the BlackPad would weigh between 0.5kg and 0.9kg.How many models will there be?Just the one model, according to 55.9% of readers. A not insubstantial 44.1% said there would be more than one model. One for enterprise and one for regular users?What will be the basic model’s screen size?Bit of an open one this. With the iPad’s 9.7in screen and the new Kindle’s tinchy six incher, the majority of readers (39%) said the BlackPad screen would be no bigger than 10.3in.Will the basic model have mobile network connectivity?It’d be a surprise if it didn’t, put it that way – 84.9% of you saying it will.If there is a model with mobile network connectivity, who will be the US carrier(s)?The trio of big players – AT&T, Verizon and Sprint – will all carry network on the BlackPad, so says the majority (38.7%) of readers. The rest were split almost equally between only AT&T, only Verizon, or only AT&T and Verizon.If there is a model with mobile network connectivity for a UK version, who will be the carrier(s)?Again, a trio of big players will all be providing network on RIM’s tablet device, according to most (44.4%). Interestingly, readers don’t seem to rate Orange’s chances of being a sole carrier (4.8%), much less so than O2 and Vodafone.What sort of finish and colour will it have?It’ll be a shiny black, say the hulking great mass (84.7%) of polled readers. Let’s hope, for creativity’s sake, we get a bright aluminium model as well. We’re not holding our breath though.What connectivity/ports will it have?The BlackPad will definitively not have Ethernet connectivity (3.4%), say readers. Nor will it have Universal WideBand (2.8%) connectivity. What will set the device apart from rivals is a USB port (16.7%) and SD/CompactFlash card capability (13.3%).Will it support Flash?RIM has said Flash playback is coming to its BlackBerry smartphones, with an announcement in due course. There’s no reason, then, we shouldn’t expect Flash to be supported on its upcoming tablet device, as 86.3% of readers said. Will that prove a big enough draw away from the iPad?Will it introduce a new DRM format for electronic books, magazines and newspapers?No, say the majority (61.6%).How much will it cost in the UK, without network subsidy?The majority of readers (roughly 66%) expect the BlackPad to cost roughly the same as Apple’s iPad – between £400 and £600. Almost 2% said the device will cost more than £1,201.Drumroll … what will it be called?This is the biggie, though largely spoilt by the rumbling of RIM’s indiscrete purchase of a domain name. Just under half (43.5%) of polled readers think RIM’s tablet device will be called BlackPad, 33.1% imagine it as BlackBerry Slate. A disappointing 1.9% said the device will be called BlackBored (the same 1.9% that imagine it will cost more than £1,201?).There we have it. If RIM’s tablet device were to be true to Guardian readers’ estimations, would that make it a more attractive purchase than the iPad? Samsung and LG, are you watching?BlackBerryCrowdsourcingMobile phonesTablet computersiPadJosh Hallidayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions

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(Source The Guardian)

Tags: 10, 3, all, apple, Blackberry, card, gadget, lg, mobile, mobile phone, mobile phones, new, o2, orange, phone, phones, sam, samsung, sol, uk, vodafone

New Mobile & Latest Deal News!

The Samsung Galaxy Europa i5500 is an affordable smartphone that allows even those on a budget to experience the intuitive Android 2.1 OS. With 3G HSDPA web browsing you can access your favourite social networks and web pages at broadband like speeds. Wi-Fi, GPRS, EDGE and Bluetooth ensure a comprehensive choice of connection options and with GPS support you can be sure to find your way. The multimedia player offers entertainment on the move and supports all popular video and music file formats.
The built-in camera lets you capture the moment with a choice of either still images or video clips. The bright touchscreen acts as a viewfinder for the camera and browsing the captured images is a joy. The Samsung i5500 offers the appealing and popular Android OS in a budget smartphone that will appeal to all pockets.

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The UAE’s BlackBerry ban goes to the heart of how the mobile phone market has evolved

The decision of the United Arab Emirates to ban BlackBerry email, messenger and web browsing services goes to the heart of the way in which the handheld devices operate – itself a consequence of the mobile market in which they were born.

When the first BlackBerry appeared, over a decade ago, mobile phone networks were far more basic than they are today. The most innovative service the majority of users had seen since mobile devices first appeared in the 1980s was the introduction of text messaging.

In the US, many mobile users were still making calls on analogue networks, while in Europe the new digital operators were only just introducing data services. But the sorts of speeds possible over networks such as Orange and Cellnet in the UK were pitiful. Speeds of 9.6Kb per second – less than 1% of the average speed available in the UK today, according to recent research – meant the networks had to resort to offering a pared-down version of the internet using Wap (Wireless application protocol) technology. Using a mobile phone to receive email, let alone access the “real” internet was almost unheard of.

By the mid-1990s, Canada’s Research In Motion (RIM) was already working with partners on a messaging device that would work on a new wireless data network, which its owners hoped would be rolled out across Europe and the US. It was not much of a success – although the UK network that used this technology eventually became Turbo Dispatch, which now sends mechanics from local garages to help millions of stranded motorists every year.

As a result, RIM switched to working with the existing mobile phone companies, but to squeeze emails across their networks meant using compression technology. RIM also needed to be able to persuade jittery corporate IT departments their emails would be safe, which required encryption technology. To create such a lean and secure service required an end-to-end solution, with both the device, the BlackBerry, and the server hosting the user’s email being able to understand each other. However, RIM wanted to be able to offer its devices on any mobile phone network.

As a result, it created the Network Operations Centre (Noc), which seems to have created such a headache in the Gulf. Every mobile phone operator that wants to offer BlackBerry devices has to have a connection to a Noc: – there is apparently one based in Canada to cover the Americas and one covering Europe and Asia. A company that wants to offer BlackBerrys to its employees, meanwhile, has to install software within its own IT systems that can communicate with the Noc.

When a user’s inbox receives a new email, that software securely communicates with the Noc, which then connects securely to the BlackBerry over a mobile phone network to deliver the email. It uses compression technology to make sure the email can be squeezed over even the most congested network. Numerous research reports over the past year have suggested that BlackBerrys are at least five times more efficient at email and attachment viewing than any other platform.

RIM has since opened its network up to consumer email services such as Gmail and Hotmail, which together with the introduction of a range of stylish devices aimed at the consumer market has created a boom in usage of BlackBerry phones among teenagers. Opening up the RIM network to the web has also allowed internet browsing, which is also apparently faster on a BlackBerry than other devices. They are three times more efficient than other carriers, according to a recent report by Rysavy Research.

But there is another side-effect to the way that RIM’s network architecture is configured and it has been seized upon by cash-strapped teenagers: BlackBerry Messenger. Because RIM knows every BlackBerry device in use, regardless of which network it is on, and they are all directly connected to its Nocs, BlackBerry users who have devices with the right software can communicate with each other without incurring the network interconnection and roaming charges associated with text messages.

Text messages and telephone calls, meanwhile, are routed solely over a mobile phone network, so neither will be affected by the UAE’s decision. That also explains why when there is a problem with RIM’s network – which has happened in the past – BlackBerry users can still make calls.

The first BlackBerry appeared in the late 1990s and was effectively a two-way pager. The first full email device – the 5810 – appeared in 2002.

The name, incidentally, was created by the company’s brand agency, which looked at the trademark small buttons on the device’s keyboard and decided they looked like the pips on a strawberry. That name, however, sounded too “slow”. Blackberry sounded punchier and it stuck.

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(Source The Guardian)

Tags: 10, all, Blackberry, charges, consumer, email, mobile, mobile phone, mobile phones, moto, networks, new, orange, phone, phones, roaming, service, sol, three, uk

As London’s Barclays Cycle Hire scheme launches, there’s already a third-party Android app to go with it

As sure as night follows day, mobile applications follow location-based public pronouncements.

It should come as no surprise then that canny Android developers Little Fluffy Toys have knocked up a widget to follow on the heels of London mayor Boris Johnson’s launch of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme.

Cycle Hire Widget, a free application, uses a mixture of live Transport for London data and crowdsourcing to display the availability of bicycles at the nearest docking stations. Because TfL doesn’t currently share details about the availability of bikes at specific locations, the application screen scrapes TfL’s data and repurposes it for the app.

(From my chair at Kings Place, you’re probably not interested to know, the nearest docking station is 506m south west, with apparently only two bikes taken from nine slots.)

We spoke to Kenton Price, director of Little Fluffy Toys, to find out more about what’s behind the app:

“Many of the cycle apps that existed for other cities already, and to be honest a bunch of the new London ones, are really not much more than a Google Maps mashup of a bunch of locations superimposed on a map.
“We also chose the tiniest widget you can choose – a 1×1 that takes 1/16th of one of your home screen. Into that we’ve packed information about the nearest three locations, including the direction and distance, and the colour-coded known status of that location: Green for all OK, red for closed, orange for not enough bikes, yellow for not enough slots.
“But we expect most users will then click it again to open it up. And inside there we show more info about each location, including the best info we have about the status of the location. If we have recent live info from TfL, we will show the number of bikes and the number of slots, and the time at which we retrieved it.
“If we don’t have info from TfL then we can use crowdsourced info. If a user is within 50 metres of a hire location that doesn’t have recent TfL data, s/he will be prompted to report back on its status. That info is then shared with other users. You can select a location for walking directions to it. If for some reason you don’t want to show a location, perhaps because you know it’s closed whatever the buggy TfL feed tells us, long-press to exclude it from the widget.”

TfL relaxed its terms and conditions (find them here) in preparation for the cycle scheme launch, with the aim of encouraging third-party developers to create “innovative” apps based on “reliable and accurate information”. But Price claims his attempts to access TfL’s live data have been met with a wall of silence – TfL, on the other hand, said they have been in conversation with third-party developers from early on.

Price says: “We wrote to them the day they announced the locations were free-for-all, asking for free/busy status. They replied saying [there were] no plans. And that’s the last we heard from them. This £100m+ scheme that said it was reaching out to developers – and we haven’t had any replies at all to our emails since. We’ve done the best we can – the BarclaysCycle Twitter tag appears to be publish-only, no one gets responses from them.

“It’s very disappointing that we’ve basically filled in the blatant holes in their massively expensive scheme and we’ve had no thanks or even acknowledgement that we exist – although Boris started following us on Twitter the other day.”

A TfL spokesperson refused to comment on particular developers, but told the Guardian third-party developers will have access to more data in time. For the time being, TfL said, the “fundamental information [being used by developers] has to be right.”

“The up-to-date information listing all docking stations that are live in London is available on the developers’ area and must be used,” the spokesperson said. “The first thing is to get that information correct and have up-to-date information about where the docking stations are. It might sound slightly dull but the first port of call is that we know where they are and that the information is correct.”

There is no timeframe for the next bout of data rollouts, TfL said, but they are “forthcoming”.

For now, Price is happy. As he concludes: “It’s been a riot, I’ve loved it. My favourite moment so far was when CNet said we had all that geeky goodness with our crowdsourcing stuff – I practically burst with pride.”

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(Source The Guardian)

Tags: 10, all, android, best, email, free, google, launches, maker, mobile, mobile phone, mobile phones, new, orange, phone, phones, station, three, twitter, uk

Mea culpa

HTC may have posted the very long awaited Android 2.1 update for its Hero smartphone last month, but it’s been taking Orange rather longer to release a version for its own-brand Hero.…

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(Source The Register)

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The newly formed Everything Everywhere has signed up Africa’s Econet Wireless as its first MVNO partner Everything Everywhere has signed up Africa’s Econet Wireless as its first MVNO partner since officially launching. Everything Everywhere was officially launched on July 1 after the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, and with the addition of Econet Wireless now [...]

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(Source Mobile News CWP)

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New Mobile & Latest Deal News!

The Samsung Galaxy Europa i5500 is an affordable smartphone that allows even those on a budget to experience the intuitive Android 2.1 OS. With 3G HSDPA web browsing you can access your favourite social networks and web pages at broadband like speeds. Wi-Fi, GPRS, EDGE and Bluetooth ensure a comprehensive choice of connection options and with GPS support you can be sure to find your way. The multimedia player offers entertainment on the move and supports all popular video and music file formats.

The built-in camera lets you capture the moment with a choice of either still images or video clips. The bright touchscreen acts as a viewfinder for the camera and browsing the captured images is a joy. The Samsung i5500 offers the appealing and popular Android OS in a budget smartphone that will appeal to all pockets.

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Tags: 3, all, android, compare, deal, Deals, latest, latest deal, mobile, networks, new, new mobile, orange, phone, sam, samsung, t-mobile, test, Touch

Network operator Orange launches ‘smartnumbers’ service to give patients access to the correct healthcare staff and services, and the healthcare profession better management of patient time

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Orange is preparing to launch a Telepresence Community service which will
offer enterprise customers access to some 800 telepresence locations.

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(Source Yahoo UK News)

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We have an exclusive deal for you on the iPhone 4 with nothing to pay upfront. It’s on Orange Solo, costing £47 per month on a 24m contract. It comes with 1200 minutes, 200 texts, 750MB of mobile data and 750MB of Wi-Fi data.

Not familiar with iPhone 4? Want to know what all the fuss is about? The new Retina 3.5 inch display on the iPhone 4 hits you with a clarity of visuals not yet experienced on a smartphone. The individual pixels are so fine the human eye cannot see them and so brings an unparalleled high-definition experience. The 5 megapixel camera takes full advantage of this optical range and offers tap-to-focus, geo-tagging, LED flash/light, iMovie editor and video capture at 720p/30fps.

Multitasking no longer drains the battery and allows the built-in iPod to play music and videos whilst downloading the latest iBook or navigating your journey with the help of A-GPS, maps and a digital compass. The fun side of the iPhone offers 3D motion-sensing game play and the Safari Web browser gives access to more than 200,000 downloadable applications as well as putting the Internet at the touch of your fingers.

In-call features include 2 video cameras that can capture the user as well as their surroundings and dual microphones for a superior quality of sound. Messages are kept in one unified inbox and the menu assists in keeping things organised with applications that can be placed into folders.

The 16GB Apple iPhone 4 has a stylish design with a black stainless steel band and flat glossy surfaces with a fingerprint resistant coating. Truly the must have gadget for 2010, the iPhone 4 is set to make most other smartphones look rather mediocre.

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Orange is preparing to launch a new service dubbed ‘Telepresence Community’
which would offer enterprise customers access to some 800 Telepresence
locations.

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(Source Yahoo UK News)

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Number ‘porting’ must take place within one working day from April 2011, regulator rules

Mobile phone users in the UK will at last soon be able to transfer their phone number to another network within one working day.

Britain will come into line with European Union guidelines on the matter in April 2011, Ofcom ruled today, following several years of wrangling between the communications regulator and the mobile telecoms industry.

Currently a mobile operator is allowed to take two working days before allowing a departing customer to “port” their number to their new operator. Ofcom originally tried to bring this down to two hours, but lost a court challenge from Vodafone, O2 and Orange in 2008.

Ofcom has also decreed that the code required to switch provider and retain a number, called a PAC, should be issued to consumers immediately over the phone or within a maximum of two hours via text message. This will end the practice of some PACs being sent out by post, forcing customers to wait several days before changing to a new operator.

“Ensuring consumers can switch between communications providers by removing unnecessary barriers is one of Ofcom’s priorities for 2010/11,” said the regulator’s chief executive, Ed Richards. “Being able to switch quickly and easily between mobile providers is an important part of healthy and effective competition.”

But the decision was criticised by 3, the fourth-largest UK mobile operator. It is unhappy that the onus for moving the number still falls on the customer, rather than the operators involved, and accused Ofcom of failing UK consumers.

It said that the system of “recipient-led porting”, where number transfers are handled by the new provider, was “the fundamental platform for choice and competition” in the mobile market. “Nowhere else in Europe is a consumer forced to ask permission to take their number with them when they choose a new operator,” said a 3 spokesman. “The donor-led porting system that Ofcom proposes to keep makes it more difficult for customers.”

But other operators argue that if consumers did not have to request the PAC themselves before swapping networks, they could fall victim to high-pressure sales tactics known as “slamming”, where their mobile phone providers are summarily changed without their full consent.

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(Source The Guardian)

Tags: 10, 3, all, consumer, largest, line, mobile, mobile phone, mobile phones, networks, new, o2, orange, phone, phones, uk, vodafone

New Mobile & Latest Deal News!

Sooner or later someone was going to challenge the way tariff pricing has been formulated and revolutionise the industry with a new and simplified pricing method that makes sense. So, it should be no surprise to most that it is the 3 network that has taken the initiative and created The One Plan.

The One Plan offers peace of mind and freedom of use by removing the so-called ‘unlimited packages’ that are capped with a fair usage policy that can often cripple users with large and unexpected bills. Instead, The One Plan brings a huge amount of clearly defined free usage that comprises of 1GB of data, 5000 text messages, 2000 minutes to any network any time and 5000 minutes for calling other mobiles on 3.

If you’re thinking about an iPhone 4 then you’ll be delighted to see a SIM only option with The One Plan at a low price of £25pm on a 12 month contract. Pick up a SIM free iPhone 4 direct from Apple for £499 and it works out cheaper than any of the deals available on Orange, O2 or Vodafone.

If you prefer a new phone on The One Plan then 24 month contracts are available. The cost of line rental depends on which phone you choose, it starts at £28 per month for phones such as the Nokia E63 or the LG Viewty GT. The HTC Desire is available for £35 per month.

The The One Plan has placed 3 at the forefront of the UK networks with probably the most attractive and easy to understand price plan that simply makes sense.

Most popular deals on The One Plan

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The Nokia E5 has an utterly superb battery life. With up to 29 days standby and up to 18 hours talk it’s perfect for perfect for anyone who needs an exceptional battery life, such as heavy users or those who travel on a regular basis. One-touch gives access to contacts and social networking sites and with live updates from Facebook posted straight into the contact list keeping up with the latest news and gossip has never been easier.

The latest version of Nokia messaging offers full instant messaging and support for multiple email accounts such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Ovi Mail. For business users Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveller applications are also supported. A-GPS and Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation boost the appeal of this 3G handset that additionally connects to the Internet and the Ovi Store in speedy fashion using the HSDPA Web browser.

The 5 megapixel camera works well in all lighting conditions, it has fixed focus and an LED flash. Images, music and video files can be stored onto the 256MB internal memory that can be boosted up to 16GB with a microSD card. Keeping up with the latest news, weather, sports and music releases is simple using the stereo FM radio with RDS and listening in private can be achieved by connecting your own favourite headphones to the 3.5mm audio jack. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and quad-band international roaming. The 4 row QWERTY keypad with dedicated nav-key fits nicely into the ergonomic design of the superb Nokia E5.

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Don’t be taken in by the empty threats from the big four mobile operators

Readers of your news article could be forgiven for believing that the prospect of the vast majority of UK consumers paying lower prices for calling mobiles would cause the sky to fall in (Reform of mobile phone charges may leave poorest users worse off, June 22). The four biggest mobile operators have been scaremongering with variations on this theme for years.

You report the end of telecoms watchdog Ofcom’s consultation on “its plans to slash the cost of calling a mobile phone … by reducing so-called mobile termination rates – the price networks charge each other and fixed-line companies such as BT to connect calls”. The article states that O2 has “warned the regulator that its proposals are ‘irresponsible’ and could force millions of people on low incomes to abandon their phones”.

Every time the prospect of lower mobile termination rates is raised, operators have cried that prices would go up and that people would stop using their phones. But a quick glance at the facts shows that when rates have come down the exact opposite has happened.

My company, Three, is part of a broad campaign along with BT and 65 other organisations – ranging from charities to financial advisers – that recognise high termination rates as a barrier to lower mobile prices. Orange, Vodafone, O2 and T-Mobile seek to pull off a bold double act by threatening to raise prices yet at the same time quietly introducing more competitive rates every time termination rates come down – as they have done again this year.

The article states: “The industry has warned that the likely shake-up will lead to the reintroduction of controversial ‘expiry dates’ on prepay top-ups.” Again, effective competition will address this threat.

High termination rates have been a net subsidy to the mobile industry from landline users for years, but the bills paid to call mobiles by vulnerable landline users and the organisations that support them never feature in the analysis from the big mobile companies. The Terminate the Rate campaign includes Age UK, Crossroads Care and Carers UK who work with the vulnerable all day, every day and know their experience.

Low termination rates will enable effective competition in the UK voice market. They will drive better value for mobile and landline users alike. Since these threats are being made by those who want to delay this change, then as the only mobile operator supporting it we have to make our own case. While Vodafone claims that changes “could see the end of mobile handset subsidies”, we have committed to continue to offer subsidised handsets. Rather than cutting off prepay customers, we expect to serve more.

That the four major operators don’t welcome change is no surprise. But ultimately it is our firm belief that high mobile termination rates don’t protect low users, they create them.

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(Source The Guardian)

Tags: 10, all, charges, consumer, drive, HD, lg, line, mobile, mobile phone, mobile phones, mobiles, networks, new, o2, orange, phone, phones, prices, sam, t-mobile, three, uk, vodafone

Orange has been forced to withdraw adverts in which it claimed that its 3G
service “covers more people in the UK than any other operator”, after an
Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) ruling.

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(Source Yahoo UK News)

Tags: 3, HD, new, orange, service, uk