Mobile Phone Deals, Latest Mobile Phone News and Reviews

One of the UK’s biggest mobile phone retailers, Phones 4u have launched a new site aimed directly at the gaming sector called Games 4u. The new site offers the latest video games and consoles as well as older titles and offers up to 50% off games for Phones 4u customers and other consumers after registration.

Phones 4u have joined forces with games retailer thehut.com, which provides a white-label service for the new Games 4u site. The site will be branded by Phones 4u, but will be run and operated by thehut.com.

Phones 4u stated that the new site was launched to tap into the rising games sector and to coincide with the huge Christmas trading period. The marketing director for Phones 4u Direct Nathan Milnes said that the introduction of Games 4u was a part of the “development of our broader communications and entertainment solutions offering”.

Mr Milnes went on to say that “The strength and relevance of the Phones 4U brand, next-day delivery, massive choice and huge discounts are sure to make this a success.”

Mobile phone operator O2 has added more customers to its network during Q3 of 2008 (July to September), than Vodafone and Orange put together as O2’s iPhone exclusivity and sim-only deals extend its market share over its rivals.

Recent figures released by O2 show that the network operator has had its best Q3 of all time and has added 31,000 more customers than its closest two rivals put together.

Over Q3 of 2008, O2 has seen a total of 402,000 new customers with 278,000 contract customers and 124,000 pay as you go customers. The recent jump in customers is thought to be due to the company being the exclusive seller of the widely popular iPhone 3G, combined with its simplicity sim-only deals.

O2 also added over 72,000 customers to its fixed-line broadband division, beating the market leader BT who added 69,000 customers and coming second to Sky broadband, who added a staggering 164,000 new customers.

One of the leading High Street mobile phone retailers, Phones4U has been investigated by Ofcom after a spate of complaints to Trading Standards. There were more than 2000 complaints in a two month period, prompting the Ofcom investigation.

The investigation, which has lasted for nearly six months, concluded earlier this week and found that Phones4U had breached consumer laws when selling its mobile phone contracts. This included employees giving bad advice to customers about the phone contracts and failing to refund or replace faulty handsets.

Phones4U, which has over 400 stores in the UK, has changed its phone returns policy and numerous sales practices since the investigation; it has also implemented new changes to its staff training.

Ofcom said that Phones4U had given their full cooperation during the inquiry, and a statement released by Phones4U said, “Phones 4u notes the Ofcom announcement and is pleased that the investigation has reached a satisfactory outcome following a constructive and collaborative process.”

For the technologically savvy, the introduction of mobile broadband is set to be music to their ears.  This is because this new cutting edge technology - mobile broadband - will make it possible to access the worldwide web and browse the internet from any location using via a number of handheld devices. These handheld devices include PDA, laptops computers and with 3G mobile technology gaining prominence, the mobile phone will also be able to access mobile broadband.

The term mobile broadband or mobile Internet is used to refer to the wireless Internet connectivity which is accessible from anywhere via a number of handheld devices ranging from mobile phones, mobile dongles and data cards. ‘Mobile dongles’ is a more general term referring to such devices as mobile USB stick and USB modems. These devices are usually plug and play with a simple download and set up menu, which offer broadband speed internet access at the click of an icon wherever there are mobile phone base stations or coverage. Because of this fact, the Internet connectivity speeds are subject to a number of factors including mobile users’ density and strength of the signal.

Mobile broadband is synonymous with 3G mobile technology. This means that every mobile broadband device, whether a USB stick or USB modem, must be 3G technologies compatible in order for it to function. 3G is a combination of 2 complimentary technologies namely HSDPA – High Speed Download Packet Access and HSUPA – High Speed Upload Packet Access. Theoretically these technological combinations can offer mobile broadband speeds of up to 7Mbps download and speeds in excess of 1.8Mbps upload.

A new survey has shown that mobile phones have overtaken Wi-Fi as the most popular way of using mobile broadband when on the move. The number of users using mobile phones has jumped to 47% from around 30% last year, compared with Wi-Fi which has 42% up from 40% for the previous year.

The results also show that O2 has the biggest markets share with 26%, both Vodafone and Orange have around 20% of the markets each, with 3 and T-Mobile having just 12% and 14%.

Although it is cheaper to send and receive data over Wi-Fi, it is thought that the new results are due to the fact that Wi-Fi hotspots are relatively small, and do not cover vast amounts of space or locations like the mobile phone networks can.

With many new mobile phones now offering integrated Wi-Fi access there is a growing trend to use both systems, with the user mainly using the phones mobile broadband to gain internet access, but switching to Wi-Fi where it is available.

Viviane Reding, the European Telecoms Commissioner has outlined a new proposal to cut the price of using mobile phones aboard. The plan will include cutting the cost of voice calls, as well as data and text messages and could be implemented as early as next July.

The European Parliament is due to vote on the new proposal in the new year, which could see the price that holiday makers pay for using their mobile phones drop by up to 60%. This would lower the price of a voice call from 36p to around 27p, the price of a text message from 23p to 9p and would allow customers to set limits on their data usage.

This is not the first time that the mobile phone operators have had roaming charge limits imposed on them; in September 2007 the EU limited mobile phone operators to charging 34p per minute for making calls and 17p for receiving calls. However, this only covered voice calls; the new proposal will take into account text messages and data usage charges as well.

This short guide will inform you of some considerations to take into account when choosing your music phone.

The first and probably most important consideration is the phones audio interface and options. The interface should be easy to use and support a wide range of audio formats. It also has to be able to organise your audio files by artist and album and display the tracks information and album art. Custom options like a graphic equaliser might also be sought after to fit your listening preferences.

Storage is another key issue with music phones and the addition of a memory card slot is essential, unless the phone has a large internal hard drive. Most manufacturers now offer internal storage of around 8GB or an alternative card slot that can take an 8GB memory card, but expect 16GB and even 32GB phones to hit the market in the near future.

Other considerations to take into account are:

The headphone socket – ensure that the headphone socket is 3.5mm, most headphones use this size. If you choose a device with a 3.5mm socket you will be free to choose a wide range of headphones to suit your taste.

Battery life – check the manufacturers specifications before purchasing a device for playing music, as you know the better the battery life the more music you can listen to before it needs recharging.

Connectivity – most mobile phones on the market today are compatible with USB 2.0, this is by far the easiest way of transferring your music from your computer to your phone.

Hopefully this article has given you something to think about when choosing your new music phone.

Most of us at one point or another have contemplated throwing our mobile phones at the floor or wall, but some novel people in Finland have found the answer and started up the Mobile Phone Throwing Championship.

Started in 2000, the Mobile Phone Throwing Championship is open to all ages and is simply a sport in which participants throw their old mobile phones. The winners are judged on distance or technique and the championship is split into four categories.

The main event is a traditional over arm throws, with the biggest distance winning; competitors have three throws to gain their maximum distance. The second category is the Freestyle event, where competitors gain points for their creative choreographs and throws.

There is also a team event, which consists of three people in a team. Each team member throws once and the team with the biggest total wins. The last category is the junior event; this is open to children under the age of 12.

The Mobile Phone Throwing Championships are sponsored by many phone recycling organisations that promoted the recycling of mobile phones. The competitors can either choose a phone from the organiser’s selection or bring their own, as long as it weights over 220 grams.