Mobile Phone Deals, Latest Mobile Phone News and Reviews

BT has announced two new mobile broadband tariffs designed especially for small businesses. The two new tariffs come under BT’s Business Broadband option 2 and 3. BT Business Broadband also offers free connection with the two tariffs, via a USB stick which uses Vodafone’s 3G network.

Both broadband options are based on a 24 month contract, with option 2 costing £29.99 a month and option 3 a bit more at £40.50 a month.

Option 2 is limited to 1GB of data usage a month, with 2000 minutes of BT Openzone access. Option 3 has a 3GB data limit and 4000 minutes of BT Openzone minutes. If the data usage for the month is reached, BT will charge an additional 10p per megabyte, but stated that customers will be notified if they are near their limit.

BT has defended their low data usage limits by saying that mobile broadband use should not be as heavy as standard connection usage.

Looks like Vodafone will be the first mobile network to bring the new RIM device, the Blackberry Storm to the UK and to mark the occasion, Vodafone are giving you the chance of winning one. Simply register your details on the Vodafone website and you will receive up to date information about the Blackberry Storm, and you’ll be automatically entered into the Blackberry Storm giveaway; the closing date is the 25th of October, is this a clue to a possible release date?

The Blackberry Storm is RIM’s fist touch screen device and boasts an array of features that you would expect from a Blackberry phone. The Storm is quad-band, so will work worldwide, has a 3.3 inch TFT display and runs the Blackberry operating system.

Other features include 3G, HSDPA and Bluetooth connectivity, 1GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for expanding memory, a 3.5mm headphone socket and built-in GPS navigation. As if that wasn’t enough, the Blackberry Storm also sports a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and flash, and a media player to listen and watch your audio and video files.

There is no solid release date as yet, but expect to see the Blackberry Storm at the end of October to early November.

Although mobile phone technology now allows you to send emails and browse the internet, sending long emails or browsing the internet for long periods of time on the move is still best on a laptop.

With many of the mobile network operators now offering USB modems that use the 3G phone network; it has never been easier to stay in touch when you’re on the move.

Vodafone has added to their range of USB modems by releasing the Stick Pro. Being the first company to offer their modems with Mac compatibility, the new Stick Pro modem installs the drivers straight from the device meaning you can plug it in to any laptop without the need of an installation disc.

The new modem is small and sleek and easily fits into a pocket or laptop bag and offers one of the fastest speeds of a mobile broadband modem.  Download speeds are up to an impressive 7.2Mbps with up to 2Mbps upload speed.

There is also a usage meter that tells you how much data you have used; useful when you have a limited tariff. The Vodafone USB modem stick pro is free when you sign up for a 18 month contract and there are two different tariffs to choose from. The 5GB mobile plan is £25 per month, while the 3GB plan is £15 per month.

The Vodafone mobile broadband packages may not take over your home broadband packages just yet, but are very handy if you do a lot of travelling and have to use the internet at the same time.

Vodafone has unveiled its plans to open an additional 50 stores in the UK within the next year. The 50 new stores are set to create in the region of 200 jobs and take the amount of Vodafone stores in the UK to 400.

There are already plans to open new stores in London, Bristol and Liverpool by the end of October, and Vodafone hope to find locations and finish work on the further stores by June 2009.

Since 2006, Vodafone has been renovating its previous stores to include specific areas where customers can buy accessories and top-ups and search online help files through dedicated terminals, with additional areas for people to talk to an adviser or to get their phone serviced or repaired.

Vodafone have also been upgrading their in-store systems, to make it faster and easier for a customer to obtain a new contract and phone, update their details and pay bills.

Vodafone have announced their new music shop exclusively for their customers, the Vodafone Music Store. The Vodafone Music Store has over 700,000 tracks available from the newest songs and albums, to classic tracks and also has access to exclusive Vodafone performances, which you can download to your PC or phone.

Music purchased through the site will either be added to your monthly bill if you’re on a contract or be deducted from your pay as you go credit. Downloads cost from 99p for individual tracks and £5.99 for full albums, and music bundles are available from Vodafone including 15 songs for £7.50 or 7 songs for £5 a month.

Music can be downloaded onto your PC, phone or both, but to download directly to your phone you will need a 3G connection. The downloaded tracks can also be burned onto a CD up to 10 times before it is locked.

For more information or to check out the music visit the Vodafone Music Store website.

Research In Motion (RIM) are to release their new Blackberry Bold 9000 Smartphone next month in the UK. Vodafone and 3 have already announced they will be carrying the phone, which the first Blackberry device to be released on the 3 network.

The new elegant and sleek design is reminiscent of other Blackberry devices, and features a full QWERTY keyboard, Trackball navigation and widescreen display. The Blackberry Bold is a quad-band phone as you would expect from the markets leading business phone and features tri-band 3G HSDPA network and Wi-Fi connectivity.

The Blackberry Bold comes with 1GB of internal storage as standard and has a microSD card slot for up to 8GB extra. Due to the upgraded processor (624 MHz compared to older models 312 MHz), the Bold is capable of running all of the applications and multimedia programs effortlessly.

Other features include Bluetooth and USB synchronisation, 2 megapixel camera, built in GPS and comprehensive multimedia player. The Blackberry Bold is due out in September and will be released on Vodafone first, followed by 3 soon after, prices and contracts are to be confirmed.