The mobile phone and home broadband provider officially launched its new HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) Mobile Broadband package today, with the new service initially only available to existing O2 customers.

Customers can choose from one of two contract lengths, the first costing £20 a month for an 18 month contract with a free USB modem and a 3GB download allowance and the second costing £20 a month, plus £119.99 for a modem on a rolling month by month option instead.

However, the £20 a month charge is subject to a minimum quarterly top up for O2 Pay & Go customers, and if current O2 services are cancelled, or the £30 per quarter top up isn’t met, mobile broadband monthly costs will increase to £30.


O2 conceded that its new tariff isn’t the cheapest on the market. Jonathan Earle, head of customer acquisitions in O2's broadband division, said: “We're not going to be the cheapest, but we hope to bring a fantastic customer experience.”

Customers who exceed their monthly allowance will be charged 20p per MB and users will also get unlimited wireless internet access via The Cloud’s 7,500 WiFi hotspots.

However, O2 said that it was the “customer experience” that was most important.

O2 launched its home broadband service in October 2007 with the aim of being a “breath of fresh air” to a market plagued with poor customer service and misleading advertisements, and with “9 out of 10 O2 Broadband customers saying they would recommend it to friends or family, O2 has delivered on this commitment,” said the provider.

“Getting the customer experience right is crucial,” said Sally Cowdry, Marketing Director, O2 UK. “We are confident our broadband services complete a great communication experience for our customers however they want to connect to the internet, whether that be at home, on their mobile phone or laptop.”


Top speeds on the network are currently 1.8Mb and O2 will begin increasing this to 3.6Mb from June this year.

Michael Phillips, product director, said: “O2’s offer won’t compete easily with Three or Vodafone both of which offer 3GB packages for £15 a month - Three also offers a 1GB option for £10 a month, while Vodafone offers speeds on up to 7.2Mb on its network - and both are available to non-customers.

“However, it’s likely that O2 will eventually offer a package to non-customers and will also reduce costs as its network capacity is increased and data costs come down. And if O2 brings the same kind of commitment to its mobile broadband that it did to its fixed line service, this will no doubt become a popular add-on.”

Source:http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/o2-launches-mobile-broadband-package-180408.html

Vodafone Malta has launched new tariff plans that offer a combination of free talk-time, SMS, MMS and a discount on mobile phones. The Vodafone Knock Out plans start from e20 per month (Lm8.59).


The Lightweight plan, which costs e20 a month, offers customers the choice between 60 free minutes to any network or 120 minutes to Vodafone and fixed line numbers. With this tariff, customers can also choose from free unlimited weekend calls to Vodafone numbers or free weekend unlimited SMS and MMS to Vodafone numbers. Customers opting for the Lightweight plan will also benefit from either a free handset (on selected models) or a e40 discount on a mobile phone.

The Middleweight plan, for e30 a month, offers 120 free minutes to any network or 240 free minutes to Vodafone and fixed line numbers. Customers can choose from unlimited free calls, SMS and MMS to Vodafone numbers during the weekend or free calls to Vodafone and fixed line numbers. This plan also comes with a e60 discount on a mobile phone or a free handset (available on selected models).


At e50 a month, customers choosing the Heavyweight plan can select either 240 free minutes to any network or 480 free minutes to Vodafone and fixed lines numbers. With this tariff, customers can also choose either free unlimited calls to Vodafone numbers in the evenings and weekends or free SMS and MMS to Vodafone numbers in the evenings and weekends. The Heavyweight plan also includes a e100 discount on a mobile phone.

All Vodafone Knock Out plans include 30 minutes of free video calls per month and MMSs are charged at e0.10 each.

Source:http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=67990

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 for T-Mobile is an excellent choice for people who want to try unlimited Wi-Fi calling using the carrier's system. The latest and greatest in the BlackBerry Pearl line, this iteration does a little bit of everything, and does it all well. But it really shines as a Wi-Fi phone for folks who think the BlackBerry Curve 8320 is too beefy.


is a great service, but it's been plagued with uninspired or buggy phones like the Nokia 6086, the Samsung T409 and the Samsung Katalyst. Ideally,
should let you make unlimited calls for $10 per month from wherever you can get a Wi-Fi signal, using your T-Mobile phone number. On our tests, though, non-BlackBerry phones worked reliably only with a T-Mobile-supplied router, which is fine for making calls from home but not as much fun when you're out of the house. (Of course, all the phones use T-Mobile's cellular network when they can't get Wi-Fi.)

We're happy to say that the 8120 worked equally well with Apple, T-Mobile, and Zyxel routers, adeptly handing off calls back and forth from T-Mobile's cell network without dropping them. Sound quality was very good on both Wi-Fi and cellular calls. Like other recent BlackBerrys, the 8120 sounds loud and clear both coming and going, through the earpiece, the speakerphone, and headsets. In noisy situations, the 8120's mic did transmit background noise, but we could hear the caller's voice over it well enough. The 8120 has speaker-independent voice dialing and works with both mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets. We got more than 8 hours of talk time in GSM mode, with Wi-Fi on. We've seen better, but this will be fine for most people.


The T-Mobile version of the 8120 may add Wi-Fi calling, but it's no larger than AT&T's Wi-Fi–less Pearl, and it's about the same size as the original Pearl at 3.2 ounces and 4.2 by 2 by 0.6 inches (HWD). It features the same "hybrid" keyboard of somewhat slippery keys with just two letters on each. All Pearls use predictive text software, and the SureType algorithm for guessing words while you type seems to have been improved with this model. On the sides of the phone are camera, volume, and push-to-talk buttons. Smack under the bright, sharp 2.2-inch, 240-by-260-pixel screen is the signature Pearl trackball.

Most Pearl buyers will use the 8120 primarily for two things: calls (over cell or Wi-Fi) and e-mailing/texting. Nothing beats BlackBerrys for a smooth e-mail and SMS experience. You can integrate up to eight e-mail accounts, including both personal and business accounts, using T-Mobile's Web interface, or connect your 8120 to an enterprise server. Text messages appear in a clear, threaded list. The included desktop software syncs contacts, calendars, tasks and notes locally with Outlook or Lotus Notes. There's still no easy way to edit attachments, though you can view most popular file types either in the e-mail program or with the help of the included RepliGo software.


The 8120 surfs the Web using RIM's own browser, which is functional but is starting to look really old. Pages are boiled down to basic collections of text and images, a far cry from the iPhone's desktop-like look. A recent update gave the browser a virtual mouse for selecting links and the ability to zoom out, but it still needs a more advanced rendering engine. Opera Mini 4.1 is a much better option for BlackBerry browsing—and it's free.

Like other recent BlackBerrys, the 8120 is a surprisingly good media player–even outpacing the iPhone on some measures. For instance, it supports stereo Bluetooth as well as standard wired music headphones, and it plays MP3, AAC, and even WMA music files. There's no iTunes integration, alas. You have to drop your music onto a microSD card (a SanDisk 8GB card worked fine) that fits into a slot on the 8120's side. Since the phone has Mass Storage mode, you can plug it into your PC using an ordinary mini-USB cable. Video in MPEG-4 or 3GP formats plays smoothly on the tiny screen.

T-Mobile has loaded in several other useful apps that are missing from AT&T's 8120. Most notably, there's a full array of high-quality instant-messaging clients, including AIM, Google Talk, MSN, and Yahoo!. The AIM app shows your full buddy list (not just the "mobile" buddies) and even lets you send pictures.

The demo copy of the Asphalt3 driving game, though, shows one of the weaknesses of the BlackBerry platform. The game is jerky, with blocky graphics that reflect the BlackBerrys' poor scores on our JBenchmark Java tests, which is puzzling considering their relatively powerful 312-MHz processors. RIM needs to shape up its devices' Java performance if it wants to be a serious gaming platform.


The 2-megapixel camera is best for outdoor shots. Like the one on the AT&T 8120, it had a serious problem with blur in low light but handled outdoor conditions well. As with the AT&T 8120 and the Verizon and Sprint 8130 models, the T-Mobile 8120 has a lackluster video-recording mode that takes jerky, 12-frame-per-second, 240-by-180 videos.

The BlackBerry Curve 8320 is still our favorite T-Mobile smartphone. It has almost all of the 8120's features, including Wi-Fi calling, plus a bigger screen and a full keyboard. But the 8120's petite form and lower price will appeal to folks who may not have been looking for a smartphone, and who want to make calls using . It's an excellent choice.

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2285294,00.asp

The W890i is another of Sony Ericsson's Walkman branded handsets and it's a testament to the sheer number of mobiles coming along for review at the moment that it didn't push its way to the front of the queue when it arrived in my hands. Something that wouldn't usually be the case with a Sony Ericsson mobile as I can find them a little fiddly to get to grips with at times.

The reason I wanted to get my hands on this phone as soon as it arrived is simply that in the looks and ergonomics departments Sony Ericsson really hits the spot.


Cast your mind back to last year and my look at this phone's predecessor, the W880i. You may recall I found that mobile fiddly to use, mainly because of its small number keys and other buttons.

It is all change here, with the number keys quite large and well raised from their surroundings. The stubby fingered brigade may still have trouble with the keys, but I found them fine to use.

The shortcut buttons between screen and keyboard remain small, but they are shaped so that the appropriate parts of the two rocker buttons and navigation key are easy to find. My only grumble came when using the three softmenus that characterise this handset.

The two outer softmenus are accessed using the top end of their respective rockers, while the middle one is accessed using the central button inside the navigation pad. This makes logical sense on paper, but it took me a while to stop prodding the top of the navigation pad instead. I suspect any users with this problem will get over it after a few days at most, though.


On the other hand I like the Sony Ericsson Activity Menu which features in so many of its handsets. Tap the bottom of the left side rocker and up pops a set of tabbed windows giving access to running apps, notifications, online services and a set of shortcuts. It makes getting around the phone really fast.

Source:http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-phones/review/2008/04/20/Sony-Ericsson-W890i/p1

Nokia has brought a new revolution to the world of communication by owning the vision of a world, where everyone could remain connected. As everybody intends to communicate and share their thoughts and feelings in the way they like, it has become necessary for everybody to employ a technology on which they can rely on. Since the year 1865, Nokia is helping the people to fulfil their need to communicate easily.


Nokia has brought a new revolution to the world of communication by owning the vision of a world, where everyone could remain connected. As everybody intends to communicate and share their thoughts and feelings in the way they like, it has become necessary for everybody to employ a technology on which they can rely on. Since the year 1865, Nokia is helping the people to fulfil their need to communicate easily. Nokia is also helping the people to feel close to what matters to them. They focus on providing the very human technology to their consumers. This company believes in delivering a technology that is perceptive, bliss to use and striking.


We all are living in an epoch where connectivity is turning out to be truly omnipresent. The communications industry continues to transform and the internet is at the core of this revolution. Moreover, today the internet is Nokia's foremost quest. Their stratagem depends on growing, making over, and building the business for their phone models to ensure a huge future success for it. While keeping the customers' requirements Nokia has launched various phone models, each of them is tremendously designed and made to conquer the mobile market. One of the latest handset series from the line-up of Nokia is the Nokia 6500. This series holds two brilliant models named Nokia 6500 slide and Nokia 6500 Classic. Here we are going to focus on the features of the Nokia 6500 Classic.


The 6500 Classic is really a classic phone with all marvellous features and striking phone qualities. Though this phone is available in black colour too, the bronze colour appears more appealing and attractive. Thus, the Bronze Nokia 6500 Classic is not only good in features but it is also great in looks. This phone holds almost all general attributes such as vibrant wallpapers, polyphonic & MP3 ringer and astounding vibration. The phone is a GSM mobile that supports the quad-band GSM 2G network and the capabilities of dual-band UMTS 3G network.

This striking device is available in the dimensions of 109.8 x 45 x 9.5 mm and it weighs 94 grams only. This phone is beautified with a 2 inches large TFT colour screen. The screen appears vivacious with the support of 16 million colours and the resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. This Nokia mobile phone provides tremendous connectivity alternatives such as GPRS, EDGE, HSCSD, 384 KBPS 3G, Bluetooth with A2DP, and USB. Besides that, the phonebook of this superb device can hold upto 2000 phone entries and photocalls. In addition, the call log is capable of holding the call records information of 20 numbers of dialled, received and missed calls. With the help of this smartphone, the users can easily browse the high speed internet, plus they can easily access their e-mail accounts. This phone also serves the facility of instant messenger to provide total fun filled chatting solution.


This smart device is equipped with 2 megapixel camera that holds the resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels, flash and a QCIF video camera. This superb gadget is also loaded with the pre-installed music player and video player. Moreover, to use these features to a great extent, this phone has the internal memory of 1GB. Apart from these useful features, this phone holds various other attributes like picture perfect case of anodized aluminium, Java MIDP 2.0, T9 mode, calendar, calculator, voice memo, built-in handsfree and lots more.

This fantastic device runs with the help of a standard Li-Ion 830 mAH battery that is capable of providing the talktime of upto 5 hours and 30 minutes and the standby time of upto 300 hours. The Nokia 6500 Classic Bronze is really a marvellous mobile phone.

Source:http://www.pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99343&Itemid=9