phones2buy.co.uk

Samsung aims for top spot with five new phones revealed

Julie — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:55:30 +0000

New releases include flagship touch-screen ‘Jet’

Samsung launched five new high profile handsets in a bid to snatch the number one spot back from Nokia this week.

The manufacturer unveiled its main flagship device for 2009, ‘Jet’, as well as four new devices in the Omnia range, at large scale launches in London, Dubai and Singapore.

The touch-screen Jet (pictured), which has an iPhone-like ‘zoom’ capability, took almost all of the limelight at the London event (15 June). The phone will go head to head with the iPhone 3G S and the Nokia N97, as all three enter the market within the next month.

Nokia is currently number one on UK market share, but the margin is narrow and Samsung hopes its latest clutch of big releases can propel it back to the top.

Samsung has arguably released more high profile handsets this year than ever. In the past few months alone, the manufacturer has launched the Tocco Ultra Edition, i8910 (Omnia) HD and the Pixon 12, as well as the five devices unveiled last night.

Some believe the aggressive strategy will hit Samsung’s profits, but the manufacturer is showing no signs of letting up.

Samsung Mobile UK’s general manager, Derek Williamson, told Mobile: ‘There will be more big launches this year, it won’t stop here. One will be our Google Android device, which will be along similar lines to the Jet’s specs, looks and feel.

‘We’ve been back and forth with Nokia, but we prefer to focus on bringing out great products, and our market share will take care of itself.’

The Jet is expected to hit shelves next week and has been offered to all networks and retailers. The device offers an 800MHz processor, a
3.1-inch AMOLED touch-screen and a five-megapixel camera.

A high five?
The five launches Samsung hopes will propel it to the top spot:
Samsung Jet
A wannabe ‘iPhone killer’ offering a 3.1-inch AMOLED screen, 800MHz processor and five-megapixel camera. Samsung’s big hope for the second half of 2009.

Omnia II (i8000)
A Windows Mobile 6.1 follow-up to the original Omnia. It looks almost identical to the Jet and offers the world’s largest AMOLED display screen at 3.7 inches.

Omnia Pro (B7610)
A hybrid device offering both a QWERTY keyboard and full touch-screen. Billing it as a business phone that’s just as usable on your day off.

Omnia pro (B7320)
This compact QWERTY device bears a strong resemblance to Nokia’s E71. Offers corporate push-email as well as social networking applications.

Omnia lite (B7300)
The black sheep of the family, looking nothing like the rest. It has similar specs to the Pro B7320, but doesn’t have a QWERTY keyboard.

Article by Mobile Today

Launch of iPhone 3G S boosts O2 store footfall by ten-fold

Julie — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:52:54 +0000

The new iPhone went on sale today (19 June)

The launch of the new iPhone 3G S saw long queues outside stores this morning as O2 claimed footfall in its stores was 10 times higher than on an average day.

The operator said it sold more of the new devices in the first two hours than it would normally sell in one day, while its online shop saw a 150% increase in traffic.

Over half of O2’s iPhone customers have downloaded the new 3.0 software, after it went on sale on Wednesday (17 June).

The black version of the new iPhone is outselling the white by a 3:1 ratio, with O2 adding that it is ‘likely to sell out of some variants’ in ‘a number of stores’. More stock will be shipped this weekend.

Meanwhile, Carphone stores had started to sell out of the new model by lunchtime, with one Oxford Circus store sporting a ’sold out’ sign in the window.

Carphone CEO, Andrew Harrison, said: ‘The launch has gone incredibly well for us with sales of the iPhone 3GS surpassing even our expectations.

‘We received 18,000 pre-registration inquiries for the handset, which is the best response of any handset we have had. Stores across the country opened from 7.30am onwards and we’ve seen streams of customers through our doors.

Written by Mobile Today

Apple iPhone 3G S now available to order

Julie — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:38:07 +0000

The iPhone 3G S is now available to pre-order here.

At up to two times faster than its predecessor, the first thing you’ll notice with the iPhone 3G S is how quickly you can launch applications. Amazingly, this increase in processing power actually helps to improve battery life. The iPhone 3G S features an enhanced 3.0 Megapixel camera with autofocus and is also the first iPhone to include video recording. Elsewhere, a built in digital compass offers true turn by turn navigation, HSDPA and Wi-Fi offer high speed web browsing, iTunes puts all your music at your finger tips and everything looks as good as ever on the beautiful 3.5 inch touchscreen display with multi-touch technology. Available in 16GB or 32GB memory capacity.

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW

Apple poised for iPhone launch next week

Julie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:45:56 +0000

The manufacturer’s new 3.0 software will launch to all iPhone users

Two new iPhones will launch next week (19 June) on O2, alongside Apples’s new iPhone OS 3.0 software.

The software will be available to download ahead of the handset launch on 17 June and will be free to all existing iPhone users. It will offer over 100 new features.

The iPhone 3G S will be free on some consumer and business tariffs and will be available on pay as you go.

It will have improved battery life, a higher resolution 3-megapixel camera and a built-in digital compass.

The existing iPhone, the iPhone 3G 8GB will cost £342, while the new 16G will cost £440 and the new 32GB £538.

Article by Mobile News

Free Calls Forever on PAY AS YOU GO

Julie — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:54:44 +0000

FREE CALLS FOREVER
You already know that the 3 network has been designed and built for the mobile internet. And you already know they can offer customers internet calls and chat with Skype for free, without needing to top-up.
But now they’re at it again. They’re making things even bigger and better for their customers and this time around it’s their Pay As You Go customers who are grabbing even more benefits.
Free text and internet with every Top-up.
We love freebies. Free calls and free ‘chats’ forever. And just when you thought things couldn’t get better, they’ve gone and decided to give away loads of free stuff with every Top-up.
So when customers decide to top-up they get all these goodies, straight away:
A bundle of free texts that get bigger, the more they top-up
A generous allowance of mobile internet access
Free 3-to-3 calls
Free voicemail
Free Windows Live Messenger (on 3 compatible mobiles)

Free stuff for 90 days.
Want to know the best bit? All this free stuff lasts a full 90 days even when a customer has no credit left. And as soon as they decide to top-up again they’ll get all these freebies…again. That’s Pay As You Go. And Go. And Go…

CLICK HERE FOR FOR INFORMATION

Vodafone does close-up magic on roaming charges

Julie — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:29:12 +0000

Vodafone’s magnanimous gesture in waiving roaming charges over the summer amounted to a nifty bit of misdirection – few noticed that it also slipped out some radical changes to the price of data for the traveller who can’t be without their email.

The changes to the cost of roamed data were posted onto the company website without press release or notification. However, one keen-eyed Reg reader noticed a footnote on their bill and decided to check out the changes, only to discover the details are obscure and the company support was unable to clarify how much it will cost to use data abroad from July 1.

In general the changes seem for the better, though you wouldn’t guess it from the company’s explanation. The world is split into three zones, and users into those with a laptop-connected dongle and those on a phone.

Zone one covers Europe and surrounding area, and will cost a fiver per 25MB for a phone, doubling to a tenner for the same amount of data downloaded to a laptop using a dongle. Zone two includes most of the rest of the world including America, and will cost three times that: £15 for a phone, £30 for a laptop. Zone three includes some of the more obscure destinations and remains at a fiver per megabyte.

The confusion arises when it comes to users who don’t touch those figures – the BlackBerry user who downloads an email on the Eurostar, or the lost walker who checks Google Mobile Maps while in Germany – with Vodafone’s support being singularly unhelpful when it comes to how much such minimal usage will cost.

Even we had trouble getting figures out of the company, whose people just wanted to talk about how great Voda is at cutting the cost of voice roaming; but we eventually established that in zone one users will pay 50p for each 100KB (or part thereof) of data while roaming, up to a total of 1MB at which point the fiver-for-25MB rate automatically kicks in. Those figures double for zone two and don’t apply to zone three.

Overall the deal seems good, and should make using data abroad less of a crapshoot for those who didn’t check tariffs before leaving, as well as putting the cost of data well below the €1-per-MB wholesale rate mandated by the EU. All of which makes Vodafone’s reticence to discuss it, even with its own support staff, all the more mysterious.

By The Register

Carphone to purchase Tiscali UK

Julie — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:11:55 +0000

Carphone Warehouse is to buy the UK assets of Italian internet service provider Tiscali for £236m.

The deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of June, will create the UK’s largest home broadband provider with 4.25m subscribers.

Tiscali had previously been in talks with BSkyB, but negotiations broke down earlier this year.

Carphone Warehouse currently provides broadband services under its TalkTalk brand and via AOL Broadband.

Carphone chief executive Charles Dunstone said that the company would eventually just have a single brand.

But he added that Tiscali e-mail addresses would survive.

“We know the business well and the fit with TalkTalk is perfect,” Mr Dunstone said.

Completion of the deal will give TalkTalk more than 25% of the residential broadband market.

Carphone expects it to boost its earnings by 10% in the next year.

Shares in Carphone Warehouse were up 3.8% by midmorning.

Tiscali shares, which were earlier suspended in Italy pending the statement, were up 8%.

‘Competitive UK market’

Tiscali has struggled with its debt, which stands at about 600m euros ($805m;£535m).

It is the fifth largest internet service provider in the UK, with 1.45m broadband customers.

“The transaction should be considered in light of the strong consolidating trend in the highly competitive UK market, evaluating Tiscali UK activities as a whole, thus preserving the value of its industrial assets and know-how within the Carphone Warehouse Group,” said Mario Rosso, chief executive of Tiscali.

Carphone announced plans last month to separate its mobile phone business from its TalkTalk fixed line and broadband operations.

It operates 2,400 mobile phone shops across Europe in a joint venture with the US retailer Best Buy.

Article from: my3G.co.uk

O2 UK about to lose iPhone exclusivity?

Julie — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:24:38 +0000

Orange UK set to take a bite out of O2’s Apple.

According to the people over at theiphoneblog, the Apple iPhone 3G (possibly the new refreshed version) has appeared on Orange’s internal systems.

This could mean that the new refreshed iPhone’s which are due to go onsale this June will no longer be exclusive to O2 UK.

No confirmation has yet been given by Apple, Orange or O2 but personally this could be a good thing for the UK as many current iPhone 3G customers have suffered frequent problems with the supposed 3G services via O2.

Article Written by: my3G.co.uk

T-Mobile’s losses become 3’s gain?

Julie — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:03:39 +0000

With T-Mobile’s financial results coming this week and expected to show big losses, will a merger with 3 be the next move for owners Deutsche Telekom?

In anticipation of T-Mobile’s first quarter results this week, rumours are rife that the UK arm of German company Deutsche Telekom will have to be sold, or at least merged, to survive.

Losses for the company, estimated to be worth £3.2 billion, are expected to go into the billions this week with estimates settling around the £1.6 billion mark.

It has been reported that Deutsche Telekom’s shareholders, the German government and private equity group Blackstone, are putting pressure on the company to get rid of T-Mobile as it is bringing its profits down.

The most likely outcome seems to be a merger with mobile firm 3, according to reports. The two companies have worked together since 2007 with 3G base stations across the country so to grow this partnership would seem logical.

Also Timotheus Hoettges, chief financial officer at T-Mobile, said on Friday: “The British market is highly competitive and has comparably low margins. In our view consolidation is a means to take excess capabilities out of the market. Nothing is unthinkable on our side.”

Unthinkable, however, could also mean rumours of selling to one of the other top providers such as Orange move from fiction to fact.

When approached for information by IT PRO on the acquisition and merger rumours currently circulating, T-Mobile declined to comment.

T-Mobile is not the first mobile phone company to suffer this quarter with recent reports from IDC and Strategic Analytics that the industry has seen its worst shipping figures since it began 27 years ago.

Article taken from: 3 Mobile Broadband

Free Calls Forever on 3

Julie — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:23:18 +0000

Because our network has been designed and built for the Mobile Internet, we can give you free Skype-to-Skype calls and Instant Messages (IM’s) from your mobile, something that the other networks aren’t doing.

HOW DO WE OFFER IT FOR FREE?

On other mobile phone networks customers have to pay for using the internet data needed to access Skype. But we’ve got it set up so that it uses the same network as regular calls. This means Skype is completely free and it’s a better quality call.

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

Because we believe in a future without restrictions and making Skype available on our network for free is just the beginning.

WATCH OUT FOR US

From today we’ll be shouting about our free calls from the rooftops – on TV, radio, in newspapers and of course, online.

We’ll be providing you loads of creative so you can plaster your sites to help take advantage of our campaign and join us in letting customers know.

It really is free calls, free for all of us, free forever.

Article from: 3 Mobile Broadband