Network Direct Mobiles Blog

HTC Release the HTC Touch HD

Monday 17 Nov 2008

The Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC has exploded onto the market over the last 12 months by producing high-end handsets to compete with the larger mobile phone manufacturers. Previous phones that have flown off the shelves include the Touch, Touch Diamond and more recently the T-Mobile G1. Now HTC have produced an absolute gem with the HTC Touch HD.

The Touch HD features a WVGA 480 x 800 screen which may not be real high definition resolution, but it’s a massive step forward for mobile phones. The 800 pixel is fantastic for viewing websites in landscape style. The screen on the HTC Touch HD towers above competitors, and that includes the iPhone, at a whopping 3.8 inches.

As soon as you pick the handset up you are presented with the TouchFLO 3D software. The TouchFLO system works by dragging a scroll bar with your finger to access all your important functions. Underneath the TouchFLO system is a powerful Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system and a bundled Opera Mini browser avoiding the need for Internet Explorer.

The Touch HD has all the major applications and features you would expect of a high-end smartphone. It comes with built-in GPS, Google Maps, 3G with HSDPA support and Wi-Fi connectivity, YouTube and video player, a 5MP camera, RDS radio and an MP3 player.

I don’t think HTC wih have it all their own way with the HTC Touch HD though as the market is starting to grow in terms of touch-screen smartphone’s. Competitors to the Touch HD are the iPhone 3G, Samsung Omnia, and the
LG Renoir. Nokia have yet to embrace the touch-screen smartphone market but it shouldn’t be long. However, in terms of a Nokia smartphone it would be well worth considering either the Nokia N85 or Nokia N96.

High Sales Predicted for the T-Mobile G1

Monday 03 Nov 2008

The much anticipated Google phone was launched on Saturday 1st November, the T-Mobile G1. Whilst the launch was officially on the 1st, the G1, exclusive to T-Mobile was actually on sale in London stores on 31st October.

T-Mobile staff advised that people were queuing out of the doors at 7am. The Oxford Street store in particular, sold approximately 150 G1 mobile phones on day one of the launch.

T-Mobile’s lead marketing deal is a free G1 on the Combi 35 with web ‘n’ walk plus tariff. This plan will provide you with a free T-Mobile G1, 800 minutes and unlimited texts all for £40 per month. I realise the talk plan says Combi 35 but the offer includes an additional £5 per month for unlimited internet access.

T-Mobile staff promoting the launch of the G1 were enticing people into buying the latest handset dressed in pink jackets by entering them into a competition for a free G1 phone.

The G1 is the first mobile phone to have an Android operating system. This allows users to access the Android Market and download hundreds of new compatible applications. The G1 can be operated using the large touch-screen of the QWERTY keypad. The G1 has high-speed connectivity options, online communication and instant access to Google services.

ND Mobiles has already got the G1 in stock. Please click here to read more and view our deals.

Sony Ericsson Clean Up at What Mobile Awards 2008

Monday 27 Oct 2008

The What Mobile Awards 2008 were held in East London last week at the exclusive members club and celebrity haunt, Shoreditch House. The awards consisted of an informal evening of stand-up comedy and entertainment.

The event was hosted by comic Micky Flanagan for 160 industry guests who partied the night away until the early hours of the morning.

Sony Ericsson took top honours of the evening by winning both the Best Manufacturer and Best Music Phone (W890i) awards.

Other awards included Best network for Vodafone and the Apple iPhone 3G took the desired Mobile Phone of the Year award.

The What Mobile Awards is now in its fourth year and holds particular prestige for the winners as the awards are voted for by the consumers. Consumers voted for the various awards through the What Mobile magazine and online.

What Mobile editor Jonathan Morris said: “Our awards have continued to grow year on year, thanks to the increasing support from readers and online users that appreciate being able to give their own opinion on the products and services they use.
“Consequently, the industry now realises how important winning an award of this nature is, compared to the traditional judging system or a choice made by a single person.”

________________________________________
Here are the winners in full:

Best Mobile Camera
SAMSUNG i8510

Best Mobile Game
METAL GEAR ACID (Konami/Glu Mobile)

Best Mobile Game Developer
EA MOBILE

Best Online Retailer
T-MOBILE.CO.UK

Best High Street Retailer
THE CARPHONE WAREHOUSE

Best MP3 Player
APPLE IPOD TOUCH

Best SatNav
TOMTOM GO 930

Best Mobile Service
NOKIA MAPS 2.0

Best Mobile Accessory
SENNHEISER MM50 iP

Best Mobile Broadband
3

Best Music Phone
SONY ERICSSON W890i

Best Fashion Phone
LG SECRET

Best Smartphone
BLACKBERRY BOLD

Best Manufacturer
SONY ERICSSON

Best Network
VODAFONE

Mobile Phone of the Year
APPLE iPHONE 3G

Credit Crunch Causes O2 and T-Mobile to Delay Upgrades

Friday 24 Oct 2008

It seems it’s not just Joe public and small businesses that are suffering the current financial climate. The ‘Credit Crunch’ is also hitting large corporations as O2 and T-Mobile have found out. O2 and T-Mobile are telling customers to delay upgrades for 3 months so they can save money.

Telefonica and Deutsche, the parent companies of O2 and T-Mobile respectively, appear to be taking action to withdraw cash from the UK businesses. Since the 13th October, O2 customers have been offered £15 per month line rental discounts if they will hold out until January (new financial year) before upgrading.

The quick-fire decision by O2 and T-Mobile has sent both Manufacturers and dealers alike into a spin. Manufacturers have had to review sales forecasts in light of O2’s drive to push non-hardware contract sales for the remainder of the year. Similar frustrations apply for the dealers who have advised that they have no option other than to push O2 customers onto other networks.

Jonathan Earle, O2’s head of consumer postpay acquisitions, said: ‘The enormous success of our simplicity tariff has shown us that some customers are happy with their existing handsets and would rather take an option that allows them to save money, particularly in these credit crunch days.’

O2’s advertising is understood to focus largely on Sim-only deals and broadband between now and Christmas with little to no promotions for contract handsets.

T-Mobile is in a similar position to O2 in that they are asking customers to delay upgrades until January next year. However, T-Mobile is only offering customers £5 off their monthly bills in comparison to O2’s £15 discount.

Virtual Pints Cause a Battle

Tuesday 21 Oct 2008

Have you nicked my pint? That’s the question being asked of Carling by Steve Sheraton. Sheraton is the creator of the iBeer app made for the iPhone which simulates the pouring of a pint of beer thanks to the accelerometer on the phone. The iBeer app then reacts as though you are drinking it when you tip the handset up.

Things started to get a little restless when Carling (owned by Coors brewery) released the iPint application through the App Store. As with the iBeer, the iPint allowed users to simulate drinking a pint when tipping the glass (phone) up. The attraction of the iPint was that it was free, whereas the iBeer costs US$2.99.

Sheraton and Hottrix, who own the rights to the iBeer have now filed a lawsuit against Coors for loss of profits. I have to say, it makes a pleasant change from usual skirmish you see in the pub when somebody has their pint stolen. However, rather than a night in the police station, this could cost Coors $12.5 million if Hottrix and Sheraton has their way. That’s the biggest hike price for a pint I’ve ever encountered and I live in London.

I’m finding it all a little ludicrous that anybody would try suing somebody for an extortionate amount of money for what is a virtual pint of lager and is a bit of fun. If it was real beer I could understand people getting territorial over it. Still, I’m sure Apple are grateful for the free publicity.

Laptop Containing Vodafone Staff Pension Data Stolen

Wednesday 15 Oct 2008

Thousands of Vodafone employees are at risk following the theft of a laptop belonging to external auditing company, Deloitte. The laptop was stolen during a recent statutory pension scheme audit and held personal data regarding employees’ pension data.

Along with pension data, the records contained details of employee’s surnames and initials, employee numbers, grades, pensionable salary, earnings and contribution information. Vodafone sent effected employees a letter explaining the situation and gave advice on how to protect against identity fraud.

One unhappy employee said: “I received this letter in the post today and was horrified that my details are now in the hands of criminals. How can Vodafone let this happen? It’s a disgrace.”

“It’s pretty disgusting that that information could be left out for anyone to get their hands on. My personal details could be used to open a bank account or a credit card, that’s my greatest concern.”

The theft of the laptop has not just affected Vodafone employees though. It also contained details of pension scheme holders from BSkyB, Network Rail and Railway Pensions. It is believed that data for approximately 100,000 people are at risk.

Deloitte stressed the data was password protected and encrypted and claimed that the “risk of unauthorised access to the data is remote”.

In a statement a Deloitte spokesperson said: “The data did not include addresses or bank account information. The theft was immediately reported to the police and relevant clients were notified.

“The laptop was protected by a number of security measures, including start up password, operating system user ID / password authentication and encryption.

“Deloitte has information security policies which include guidelines for employees to ensure they pay close attention to their laptops when in public places. Nevertheless, and very unfortunately, this theft still occurred.”

A Vodafone spokesperson said: “Vodafone is extremely concerned about the breach in security of our employees’ personal information and we take the matter very seriously. Deloitte is a highly reputable firm and also sincerely regrets that this opportunistic theft has happened.

“Vodafone will continue to liaise with Deloitte to ensure that their security processes are of the standard that we expect of a company which has access to such information.”

RIM Cause a Storm With Their First Touchscreen Handset - Exclusive to Vodafone

Wednesday 08 Oct 2008

The Blackberry Storm is to be the first full touchscreen mobile phone released from the Blackberry range by Research In Motion (RIM).

The Blackberry Storm is scheduled to hit the streets next month but will only be available exclusively to Vodafone.

The Storm is the latest Blackberry handset to compete in the market with features including a ‘clickable’ touchscreen and a 3.2 megapixel camera. RIM has advised that the touchscreen responds with a click when pressed providing the user with a responsive and intuitive experience. Other features of the ‘Storm’ include GPS and DataViz Documents to Go software allowing the user to edit Microsoft Office document when out of the office.

RIM president Mike Lazardis said: “The BlackBerry Storm is a revolutionary touch-screen smartphone that meets both the communications and multimedia needs of customers and solves the longstanding problem associated with typing on traditional touch-screens. Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface.”

Vodafone global chief marketing office Frank H Rovekamp said: “We are delighted to bring the power of the BlackBerry Storm, purpose built for Vodafone, directly into the hands of consumer and business customers. With its unique clickable touch screen, giving access to all the desirable multi-media features and services such as browsing, music and video, turn by turn satellite navigation, messaging and social networking the BlackBerry Storm is being brought by Vodafone into the consumer world.”

ND Mobiles has the Nokia N96 in stock now!!!!!!!

Monday 06 Oct 2008

Further to our article last month we can now confirm that ND Mobiles has the new Nokia N96 in stock. You can compare all the deals available direct from the networks on our site using our comparison grid so don’t delay, see what fantastic deals are available today.

It’s no shock that people have been eagerly awaiting the release of the N96 following the popularity of the successful Nokia N95.

As with the N95, the N96 has a two-way sliding design which comprises a keypad when opened one way and media controls when opened the opposite way. The N96 comprises a 5MP camera with auto-focus, flash and Carl Zeiss optics. Another clever feature on the N96 is geo-tagging. This means that thanks to the built-in GPS receiver you can tag locations to your photos.

With a 16GB memory there is plenty of space to store all of your media files and an option to increase the memory further via the MicroSD card slot.

Nokia have added a DVB-H digital TV receiver to the N96 so you can watch live broadcast TV over the air if you have DVB-H coverage in the area. The Nokia N96 is also the first mobile phone to be pre-loaded with the BBC iPlayer

Google and T-Mobile Launch the T-Mobile G1

Thursday 25 Sep 2008

Tipped as the biggest competitor to the iPhone 3G, the T-Mobile G1is likely to be the most anticipated handset in mobile history. The G1 is to be the first Smartphone to use the Android platform.

The G1is a Linux based Android platform and has hundreds of developers wetting themselves with excitement as they work on different applications that can be used on an Android mobile phone. Google and T-Mobile have combined to create a phone that will integrate into Google’s online services.

T-Mobile and Google are not renowned for making handsets so how can we be sure it will be any good? Well, the G1 will actually be manufactured by HTC who are experts in making Windows Mobile enabled devices.

In terms of hardware, the T-Mobile G1 is no more spectacular than anything currently out there. It comes with a large 3.2” touchscreen display, a 3.2MP camera, 3G and 3.5G support, Wi-Fi, GPS, expandable MicroSD memory, Bluetooth and USB connectivity. Navigation around the features is controlled with a trackball and a slide out QWERTY keypad similar to the newer Blackberry handsets

The G1 has a 528MHz Qualcomm processor with 192MB RAM which is a similar spec to most of HTC’s Windows handsets. The G1 has quad-band coverage and has UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA for high-speed downloads and uploads. The G1 also supports GPRS and EDGE data. Underneath the bonnet as it were, is a large 1150 mAh battery providing 6 hours of talktime and 16 days standby time.

Whilst the tagged name of the handset is the ‘T-Mobile G1 by HTC’, it is likely to end up being called the gPhone or GooglePhone due to the Google applications being integrated into it.

As you would expect with Google’s involvement, the T-Mobile G1 has one-touch access to Google search and built-in support for Google Mail, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Maps and Google Street View. I’ve been particularly impressed with the mapping features as there is a compass to orientate the map depending on where you are standing. Street view provides the user with a view of the street they are already standing in. now you would think you would already be able to look up and see the street without using this feature so it’s a bit odd but still quirky and clever. I’m impressed!!!!

Aside from Google, the G1also supports Amazon’s brand new download store. Available applications from the Android Market could almost end up being limitless. Don’t be alarmed by the term Android Market, it’s not as bad as it may seem. It is quite simply a collection of mashups for Android platform users to play with.

In terms of media, the G1 media player supports AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, MIDI, MP3, WMA and WMV audio formats. As mentioned before, YouTube is supported but what video formats the G1 supports is unclear at the moment.

Whilst smart and minimalistic, the G1 lacks the ‘knockout’ looks of say the iPhone or Samsung Tocco. However, on the flip side of things the 320 x 480 pixel display is better than most other handsets. It’s a shame we have no further details regarding the camera such as video capture resolution and whether it has geo-tagging.

So, is this new innovative approach going to take off or not? Here at ND Mobiles we are very impressed with the concept and specification of the T-Mobile G1 and feel it has enough to wipe out its competitors. However, let’s not forget that there is a rumour circulating that the next Nokia ‘Internet Tablet’ may well also be a mobile phone and if that is the case, it will be pitched up against the G1. It will be a case of a battle between the Android Smartphone and whatever Nokia and Microsoft have up their sleeve with Windows Mobile 7.

Either way, it’s fair to say that this is fantastic news for customers.

We have not received any confirmation on a release date but indications are that it is due in the UK in November this year so keep your eyes peeled at ND Mobiles for the best deals.

Nokia N96 to be preloaded with the BBC iPlayer

Tuesday 09 Sep 2008

The Nokia N96 will be the first mobile phone to be preloaded with the BBC iPlayer. The BBC agreed a deal with the Finish phone giants to provide their iPlayer service on the soon to be released Nokia N96.

The Nokia N96 follows on from the extremely popular Nokia N95 and is scheduled for release on the 1st October 2008. The deal doesn’t just involve the N96 as they have agreed to provide the iPlayer to other Nokia handsets via a free application download at www.bbc.co.uk/mobile. As with the preloaded version, the downloaded version will allow customers to download and stream TV shows that have already been aired. Shows such as Eastenders, Dragon’s Den and other radio programmes will be available.

Managing director for Nokia, Simon Ainslie said: “The Nokia N96 is going to provide a gateway to quality viewing on the move and will raise the bar for mobile screen and audio entertainment.

"The enormous success of iPlayer has demonstrated the desire audiences have for accessing programmes at a time and a place that suits them.

"Nokia is proud to be working with the BBC to continue to lead this revolution."

BBC director of future media and technology Erik Huggers said: "This partnership is critical to ensuring we continue to reach out to audiences wherever they are and allow them to catch-up on their favourite BBC programmes.”

Vodafone Trial New Facebook Messaging Service

Monday 08 Sep 2008

Facebook users will be able to send SMS messages from their Facebook account to their friends’ mobiles now as Vodafone has launched a trial providing the new service. Vodafone plan to extend the service to include picture messaging next month.

Vodafone customers will also be given the option to send messages from their mobile phone by installing the ‘Vodafone Connect to Friends’ application to their Facebook account. The application will also allow Vodafone customers to send messages to friends that are no on Facebook. In a blow to their competitors, Vodafone allows Vodafone Connect to Friends to be used by non-customers also.

Subscribers to the new service will be given 25 free texts with additional messages costing 10p for SMS and 30p for picture messages. Monthly contract customers will see the additional messages charged on their bills and Pay As You Go customers will have the cost reduced from the credit on their phone.

Vodafone Group internet service director, Peter Knock said: ‘With more than 20 million social network users the UK alone it is the perfect market in which to test a Vodafone service that allows all mobile users to send texts and picture messages via the Facebook experience. Through this partnership Vodafone aims to continue its commitment to provide easy access to communication services and communities by bringing the worlds of mobile and PC Internet together. This is a ground breaking social networking opportunity for all UK mobile users.’

ASA Rules iPhone Advert Claims are Untrue

Wednesday 27 Aug 2008

Following investigation, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that Apple has been short-changing customers with inaccurate TV adverts. In their advert, Apple claimed that the new iPhone would provide access to all aspects of the internet.

The ASA ruled that the iPhone falls short of Apple’s claims and failed to highlight the shortcomings of the iPhone. The ASA said the lack of Flash and Java on the iPhone prevents access to much of the internet rendering Apple’s claims untrue.

With the phrases ‘you’ll never know which part of the internet you’ll need’ and ‘all parts of the internet are on the iPhone’, the ASA said Apple were implying access to all parts of the web.

The two key aspects that the ASA highlighted are the lack of Flash and Java. With no Flash capability, the iPhone will only have limited access to graphics, videos and games on most websites such as the BBC and that the lack of Java would restrict the use of web shortcuts.

The latest ruling is yet another blow to Apple as the iPhone has already been criticised for its slow web page download rate.

O2 Take Corporate Account off Orange and Vodafone

Monday 18 Aug 2008

O2 has taken a massive corporate account from under the noses of Vodafone and Orange. The three year deal with Homeserve will see 4,000 connections ported from Vodafone and Orange to O2.

The contract will provide a three year deal for voice and mobile data services and will include Blackberry and PDA devices. O2 is to provide the emergency insurance and home repairs giant with mobile solutions including routing calls via a VPN to help reduce the cost to Homeserve and provide them with efficient and economic communications for employees and customers alike.

Ben Dowd, O2 UK business sales director said: "Mobile technology can be used for so much more than simple communication. As a business, customer service is at our core and we are delighted to be working with Homeserve to help them provide the very best service to their customers"

Homeserve chief information officer Trevor Didcock said: "Homeserve is committed to providing unsurpassed customer service. We have thousands of tradesmen on the road and they all need to be in touch with our customers and offices 24/7. From real time updates on PDAs to communicating with customers via SMS, this new partnership with O2 will support our future ambition to stay ahead of the pack and ensure we are delivering a first rate service for our customers."

O2 and Sony BMG to Launch 'My Play' Music Store

Friday 08 Aug 2008

O2 and Sony have become the latest partnership to launch a new music store in the mobile phone industry. Vodafone and Orange also recently unveiled plans for new types of music store so it’s no shock that the other networks will follow suit to compete.

The new music store created from collaboration between O2 and Sony BMG will showcase exclusive content from the Sony MBG artist catalogue. The new music store will be named ‘My Play’ and will be accessible via O2’s active portal. ‘My Play’ will feature micro-sites to provide customers with individual artists and exclusive content.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment UK chairman, Ged Docherty said: "It's never been more important to think of ways in which best to bring the artist and consumer closer together,”

"The exciting thing about this service is that its artist micro-sites do exactly that."

Exclusivity is not a first with the firms/artists involved as only back in May this year, Usher performed an exclusive gig for Sony at the Indigo Lounge in the O2 Arena. Other featured artists include The Ting Tings and The Script.

Customer can expect to pay 99p for full tracks, £1.50 for music videos and £3.50 for tones.

Vodafone Launch 'Vodafone Music'

Thursday 07 Aug 2008

Vodafone has released a competitor to iTunes in the form of ‘Vodafone Music’. The new venture provides over the air music downloads to run along side Vodafone’s ‘MusicStation’.

‘Vodafone Music’, the new digital music download service will sell single and album downloads to customers. Once downloaded, customers get to keep the music for 99 pence per single and £7.99 per album. In comparison, Omnifone’s MusicStation, sold on Vodafone, will allow for unlimited downloads for £1.99 per week but customers are not allowed to keep the music at the end of their subscription.

Just to make sure it’s what you wanted, Vodafone provide us with a track sampler service so we can listen to 30 seconds of any track before we decide to purchase.

All of customers downloads are available via Vodafone’s ‘Live’ portal.

Nokia To Launch the N96 On 1st October 2008

Thursday 07 Aug 2008

Nokia has announced that the Nokia N96 is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on October 1st 2008.

The N96 is the Nokia release from the N-Series and is here to replace the ever popular Nokia N95. With more features than ever before, the N96 is an attractive powerhouse.

Similar to the N95 8GB, the N96 is designed with a two way slider which when opened one way presents you with a numeric keypad and slide it the other way to access media control keys. As with the N95, the N96 is equipped with a vibrant 2.8” colour display to view all you features and images. Flip the handset over and you are given a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash and Carl Zeiss optics which improve the picture quality significantly. The N96 is also clever enough to tag your photos with the location you took them at thanks to the GPS receiver so you will always remember where you were when the photo was taken. To compare other mobile handsets with similar specifications please click here.

Nokia have exceeded everyone else with the first handset to offer a massive 16GB memory with an option to expand the 32GB via the MicroSD card slot. The increase in memory is to allow you to use the phone as a video player which is why it has a built-in stand to prop it up when in use.

Nokia have invested a lot of time on the satellite navigation capability and integrated advanced GPS so you can obtain directions whether on foot or in the car. The one draw back to the N96 is the fact it doesn’t have a touch screen so controlling it whilst driving is not as easy as it could be.

Nokia have added a DVB-H digital TV receiver to the N96 so you can watch live broadcast TV over the air if you have DVB-H coverage in the area.

Connectivity is vital on mobiles these days and the N96 is a fully equipped dual-band 3G phone with Wi-Fi, quad band coverage, HSDPA support, GPRS and EDGE. The web browser now has full flash support, stereo Bluetooth and will be able to integrate with Nokia’s N-Gage platform in the future.

The Nokia N96 is an impressive piece of kit and looks like it will be flying off the shelves faster than the very popular N95. It would have been nice to have a touchscreen and FM transmitter but it’s very difficult to find fault with the latest Nokia device.

The Credit Crunch sees O2 Hike The Prices Of Top-End Handsets

Thursday 31 Jul 2008

The ‘Credit Crunch’ seems to have hit O2 recently judging by the sudden price hike on their high-end mobile phones.

In particular, the price increases have impacted the Nokia N95 8GB, Sony Ericsson C902 and Samsung Tocco. All of these handsets were previously available free on O2’s £35 price plans but are now only available free on their £75 price plans.

In a cunning marketing move, Vodafone has done the opposite to lure potential customers from its rivals by offering the very same handsets for free on discounted talk plans. Customers can now get the handsets on a Vodafone Anytime 600 talk plan that firstly is reduced from £35 per month to £30 per month and then is further reduced to £15 per month for the first 3 months. Yes, that’s right, half price for the first 3 months, 600 minutes, unlimited texts and the phone is completely FREE.

In comparison, T-Mobile will give you the Nokia N95 8GB free on their Flext 50 price plan for £40.50 per month and Orange will give you the Sony Ericsson C902 for Free on their Dolphin 35 price plan for £30 per month.

Compare all the best deals for the N95 8GB, Tocco and C902 across each network at ND Mobiles.

New Sony Ericsson G705 Rumours Start to Immerge

Wednesday 30 Jul 2008

Its slim, it’s a slider, its got a 3 mega-pixel camera, Wi-Fi and a built in GPS receiver – that’s the news on the street about Sony Ericsson’s latest Walkman offering.

Whilst the rumours are unconfirmed by Sony Ericsson, our sources are fairly confident at the G705’s potential launch within the next 2 weeks.

The Sony Ericsson G705 is believed to have 128MB of internal memory and a M2 memory card slot to expand it further, which is another tick in the box for the mobile phone giants.

Sony Ericsson have stopped producing xenon flashes on their handsets - which they pioneered in the first place! The camera in the G705 should, however, support geo-tagging thanks to the built-in GPS receiver – which would make a nice edition to this tidy mobile phone.

More on this new mid-range slide phone as we hear it!

Further problems for the Apple 3G iPhone as systems fail

Tuesday 15 Jul 2008

The launch of Apple’s 3G iPhone has turned into a disaster for both Apple and O2 with one problem after another. Firstly, there was a serious shortage of the handsets when they were launched last week and O2 tested existing customers’ loyalty when they provided separate avenues for new and existing customers to order the iPhone. This resulted in only the requests from new customers to be processed. As if that wasn’t enough, O2’s credit check computer system crashed on last weeks launch day meaning all orders had to be processed manually by the staff in O2 stores.

Now there has been another surge in complaints after those lucky enough to get their hands on a new 3G iPhone got it home only to discover that they could not activate it. The latest problem is with Apple’s activation system. Customers were attempting to register/activate their new handsets through Apple’s iTunes system only to find the system failing. It is believed that this was due to users across the world trying to process activation at the same time making the system crash under pressure. This is something both O2 and Apple should have been under no illusion with either. The release of the original Apple iPhone gave them an indication of the popularity of the phone so to be short of stock and have inadequate systems to cope with demand can not be excused.

One disgruntled customer has even set up a website for frustrated owners and said “Some have been told it might not work until Thursday.”
Further technology chat rooms were inundated with complaints about the latest problem with the iPhone. One poster on engadget.com said: ‘Was this Apple arrogance or incompetence? Or both? Truly an unacceptable business decision by all Apple execs. If Microsoft and RIM are not out today filming a commercial for their software and phones, respectively, then they are even more incompetent than Apple.’

There is no doubt that there is still a huge demand for the iconic 3G iPhone but we can’t help but feel that the launch has been undermined by O2 and Apple respectively letting their customers down.
Apple has yet to make any comments.

3 Reports T-Mobile To ASA Over Minutes Claim

Tuesday 08 Jul 2008

The 3 network have submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) over T-Mobile’s recent promotion to guarantee more minutes for £30 per month than any of its competitors. This is not the first time that the 3 network has made a complaint against one of its competitors.

T-Mobile’s latest advertising campaign claims “You won’t find more minutes for £30” and “We’ve already searched the other four networks”. For £30 per month T-Mobile offers 700 minutes and unlimited texts on their Combi 30 talk plan.

3’ complaint is based around the fact that they don’t do a £30 talk plan and that T-Mobile are misleading consumers in comparison ads that 3 can’t possibly feature in.
3 claim they don’t need to offer a £30 talk plan as it currently offers more minutes that the other networks for £27 per month. Having looked at the 3 tariff in question I have noticed that the Mix & Match 1100 talk plan is actually a plan where you can use up to 1100 minutes or 1100 texts or a mixture of both. Therefore, you could have 1100 minutes per month for £27 but you would not have any texts left.

3 believe that they should be excluded from the T-Mobile comparison advert and made this know in their letter of complaint to the ASA last week.
The letter from 3 said: The campaign is misleading as it is attracting customers spending circa £30 a month with a claim that T-Mobile will always give more minutes.
‘The truth of the matter is that 3 customers can get more minutes for £3 less than the tariff cost of the price plan T-Mobile is using as a basis of its comparison.’
The letter of complaint added: ‘As we know the mobile industry is very competitive and it is absolutely necessary that consumers are fully informed what the different competitors can offer so that they can make an informed decision of what service to go with.’
T-Mobile had yet to hear from the ASA but a spokesman said: ‘As far as I am aware we have not yet received any formal correspondence from the Advertising Standards Authority regarding our price guarantee offer.
‘Until such time as we do hear anything, it would not be appropriate for us to comment.’
ND Mobiles allows you to compare mobile phones and the deals on offer across all five networks.

Sony Ericsson's Mobile Answer to the Nintendo Wii

Thursday 19 Jun 2008

Just when we think the final generation of mobile phone technology has arrived, up pops another one. With the phone manufacturers in such a competitive market, they are all striving to get one step ahead. Well, here we go, Sony Ericsson has produced the F305. Whilst it sounds like a fighter plane, rest assured it is not. Sony Ericsson appears to have pushed their love of the Nintendo Wii into the phone range.

So a little more about the Sony Ericsson F305 slider-phone. The main thing to notice is the built-in motion sensor which enables the F305 to react like the Wii controller. Sony Ericsson have included three main games that can utilise the motion sensor device, ‘Bowling’, ‘Bass Fishing’ and ‘Jockey. I think we can safely assume there will also be some standard games on the handset too. Another new feature is the CPP-100 power pack which boost the phone’s battery if you aren’t near a mains socket.

Apart from this, the F305 is pretty standard and has the usual features we’ve come to expect from a mobile phone. Whilst it may seem an exciting and innovative idea, we believe more thought could have been put into it. The main thing being that a normal Wii is played on a large TV screen and not a 2 inch phone display. Can you see where I’m going with this? Yes, that’s right, if the motion sensor is in the phone and the screen is on the phone, how on earth are you going to clearly see what’s happening during the game if you’re waving the handset about, not to mention that a mobile phone isn’t the cheapest thing to drop on the floor or slam up against a wall.

Whilst we are impressed with the concept of Wii type gaming on a mobile, maybe it would be better to have a remote control as a separate accessory.

Anyway, for those of you who are still keen to get your hands on the Sony Ericsson F305, ND Mobiles have been advised it will hit the streets in quarter 3 of 2008. However, Sony Ericsson has given no indication of the price as yet.

Police officers to use the Blackberry 8310 Curve

Friday 06 Jun 2008

Thames Valley Police Force has revolutionised their communication channels by issuing officers with Blackberry mobile phone devices. The fresh initiative is an attempt to keep as many officers out on the streets as possible instead of spending time returning to the station to perform administrative duties.

The Blackberry 8310 Curve phone will be given to 1,100 police officers. The cost of the scheme is to be funded by the Home Office and National Policing Improvement Agency. A spokesman for RIM confirmed that the police force has 143,000 officers and half of them currently have a Blackberry Mobile Phone.

The key to the devices being taken on by Thames Valley was the public security. Public Sector Sales Manager of RIM Graham Baker said: ‘Security is not an add-on. The data stored is encrypted and can be wiped remotely.’
Baker also highlighted that BlackBerry Smartphones are the only mobile devices to be accredited for use with up to ‘restricted’ level data by CESG, the UK government’s national security body.
The Blackberry device will be on the Orange network and will enable officers to access the following via the Police National Computer:

• Look up video witness and custody photographs
• The missing persons database
• The warrant database
• Court orders
• Bail information

Whilst the police offers phones are on Orange, the Blackberry 8310 Curve is also available on the O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone networks at ND Mobiles.

ND Bring you a peek at the new Samsung L870

Tuesday 03 Jun 2008

Samsung have announced plans to launch the Samsung L870 adding to their fantastic ever growing slider-phone range and more recently, the F490 and F480 Tocco. The first thing to notice about the L870 is its similar looks to the Nokia N95 8GB. The L870 slider design hides the keypad with a curvy, rounded off casing.

Samsung has placed a lot of emphasis on equipping the users of the L870 with a handset capable of easy and fast internet browsing. This can be seen with the inclusion of a large screen and very fast HSDPA data speeds. Samsung has installed a Symbian V9.3 operating system and a Safari web browser which are normally only found on products such as the Apple iPhone.

Thanks to the Symbian operating system, the users can customise their mobile phone by accessing some of the many applications available on the internet. Amongst Samsung’s usual comprehensive feature list are various business features such as Checkit task manager, contact management system, business card recognition and a document viewer so whether it’s work or play, you will always be in control with the Samsung L870.

Further features of the L870 are listed below:

• 3 megapixel camera
• 3G with HSDPA
• FM Radio and MP3 player for music and videos
• Comprehensive phonebook and contact management system
• Push email
• Symbian V9.3 operating system

Samsung has not given a firm release date for the L870 but it is imminent so keep an eye out for its arrival at ND Mobiles.

A Legal Solution to Unlocking Nokia Handsets?

Friday 23 May 2008

Stoke based Mobile Phone Solutions claims it has developed the world’s only direct BB5 unlocking station.

Back in April, unlockers claimed to have made the first ever BB5 direct unlocking solution for high-end Nokia devices. However, within a matter of days they were uncovered as a bunch of hackers that had infiltrated Nokia’s systems. In no time at all, Nokia found the access origin and closed down their servers so the hackers could not access the log files required.

Mobile Phone Solutions are not hackers and claim to have a completely legitimate solution to unlocking Nokia handsets in a device called the DM3BOX. The company claim they can unlock Nokia handsets without the need for the internet or Nokia’s assistance.

Mobile Phone Solutions began the project two-and-a-half years ago and say the project completed on September 7th last year. Without providing specific technical details, the company advised there are a handful of secret boxes around the world capable of unlocking handsets such as the N95 8GB, N81 8GB, N82 and 6500 Classic and Slide. They also claim that they can unlock a handset in less than 10 seconds using a data lead from the DM3BOX to the handset without the need to dismantle the handset.

Mobile Phone Solutions has split its price range into three bands:

Band A - (N95 8GB, N81 8GB, N82, 8800 Arte) - £15.99
Band B - (6500 Slide and Classic, N95, 5610 Xpress Music) - £11.99
Band C - (5300 Xpress Music, 6300, 8600 Luna and N91) - £5.99

The company guarantee the device is 100% safe and will void any warranty on the handset. They also claim the device is capable of repairing some phones that have been damaged through attempts to illegally unlock them.
A Mobile Phone Solutions spokesman said: “This is unique in the world – there is no other system. We’re getting hundreds of calls and emails daily asking for us to travel around the globe with our system.
“We’re also getting stacks of calls and emails asking for us to sell the system, but we don’t intend to ever sell the solution.
“History has shown that when systems similar to ours are sold, the first thing others try to do is copy them so to prevent this, the DM3BOX has high levels of security in-built and is only handled by a few chosen people.
“The system can also lock handsets to any network, and with the growth in MVNO markets, we see an opportunity to work with these networks and help them protect their contract and prepay subsidies. We’re
also interested in talking more closely with them, and distributors – not just in the UK, but on a global basis too.”

Nokia and Orange Team Up

Thursday 22 May 2008

Orange and Nokia have extended their original agreement in February for a further three years. The new deal includes an agreement for 10 new Nokia mobile devices to Orange and the addition of music to a combined offer of games, maps and location based services.

The partnership plan to launch a suite of multimedia services on the new handsets, across nine major markets. This approach is intended to increase the mobile digital entertainment aspect of the market.

All services are to be integrated into the Orange user interface so customers will have access to the Orange Music Store, Nokia Maps and NGage games.

The joint venture will see the two companies marketing the launch of the new handsets and development of multimedia applications. Nokia’s Mobile Maps platform and GPS technology will be spread across a large portfolio of Nokia handsets within the Orange range. By 2010 Nokia and Orange aim to create 10 million active Mobile Maps users on Nokia devices.

Orange personal communications services executive vice president Olaf Swantee said: "This collaboration underlines Orange's drive to create strategic partnerships that will give customers the best possible mobile multimedia experience in the simplest way."

Orange group strategic marketing executive vice president added: "Orange believes that Nokia's devices and Ovi platform will make a powerful environment for the provision of a joint range of services."