Mobile Phone News

Orange To Charge For Smartphone Support

By Jon RustcloseAuthor: Jon Rust Name: Jon Rust
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Orange is to start charging their smartphone customers for product support. The dedicated hotline assistance that will also include a remote assistance service, which would enable Orange staff to remotely connect to a device and solve any issues.

Special support will help users get the most out of their handsets: setup web and multiple email access, assist them in connecting accessories and synchronizing their phone with their desktop applications.

Free support will continue, but the new service will be offered on an opt-in basis for customers who require dedicated support for their smartphone needs.

While more and more people are buying smartphones, many users don’t even scratch the surface of what their phones are able to do. Turning over smartphone assistance to a specialist service might also allow the network to respond quicker to more general customer queries.

The smartphone support service will be available either as an Orange Care package, or provided on a per call or per act basis. Specifics such as pricing will be confirmed as the service rolls out in each market.

Launching from April the service will be available in France, Switzerland, the UK, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Romania, Moldova and Belgium.

Check out Orange’s smartphone range here.

Source: CellularNews via IntoMobile

Orange and T-Mobile Seek to Accelerate Merger by Offering 25% of Their Spectrum to Rivals

By Jon RustcloseAuthor: Jon Rust Name: Jon Rust
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France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, parents of Orange and T-Mobile, have offered to give up 25 per cent of their valuable 1800MHz spectrum in an attempt to speed up regulatory approval for their proposed UK network merger.

The pair are looking to accelerate the European Commission’s regulatory process by ceding spectrum, earmarked for super-fast mobile broadband internet, to rival firms and pre-empting the likely sticking point for the venture

The proposed merger announced in September, would see the pair combine their infrastructure and customer bases, and leapfrog O2 to lead the UK market with around 37 per cent share and 28.4 million customers.

The concerns for customers will be that the merger is could lead to less competition and ultimately higher prices for mobile phones contracts.

Yet despite concern from Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading in the UK, the proposed merger is considered unlikely to be faced with barriers in Brussels from the point of view of its customer share: The European precendent is that leading network operators in only two European countries have smaller shares of their respective markets than Orange/T-Mobile would enjoy in the UK.

Instead, rival firms O2 and Vodafone have looked to delay progress on the basis of spectrum, and the joint-venture’s monopoly of the 1800MHz band, which is well suited to 4G services and fast mobile broadband.

It is understood the new proposals handed to Brussels last week are considered insufficient by O2, Vodafone and 3, which are fighting for the pair to give up closer to 50 per cent of their shared 1800MHz spectrum.

However, Orange and T-Mobile have also proposed T-Mobile’s network sharing programme with 3 in the UK, which will see the pair share 13,000 cell sites by October, should continue with the conjoined operator business.

Orange and T-Mobile will have to be careful here – if the European Commission responds to calls from the Office of Fair Trading for an investigation into the project, this could delay the merger by several months.

However, T-Mobile / Orange are looking to secure regulatory approval by the end of March and a decision could be returned as early as March 1st.

Via Mobile News

Nokia X6 Deals Now Available, Unboxed For Our Listening Pleasure

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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Nokia’s premium music phone, the X6 is now available to buy from mobile retailer Phones4U with a platinum price tag to match…

With a touch-happy capacitive screen, 32GB of memory and a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, the Nokia X6 tops the charts as far as specs are concerned, adding an aspirational device to the Comes With Music range of phones as well as creating a stylish handset in a boxy form factor.

The blue Nokia X6 is first out of the gate, with silver accents, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a gorgeous 3.2-inch display to get music and movie fans motivated, and connectivity abound with GPS, Wi-Fi and a hook-up to hundreds of applications through the Ovi Store.

The cheaper of the Nokia X6 deals consist of a free handset on Orange Dolphin 40 – 1200 any time, any network minutes and unlimited texts, as well as the all-you-can-download Comes With Music service for £40 per month.

Electric Pig have been lucky enough to sample the latest phone straight out of Espoo, and have a bevy of flattering photos for you to peruse…check them out!

iPhone On Orange – Reasons To Rejoice!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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So, the age of iPhone on Orange is finally upon us, and the arrival of choice between networks for everyone’s favourite smartphone is something to be truly pleased about.

Well, Gadget Stylist tells us why we ought to be thankful, and specifically what Orange brings to the iPhone party – seeing as it isn’t quite the price war we expected…

With Orange boasting their quality of 3G coverage as a clarion call to those disillusioned with other networks, factors like a great customer experience and freebies like 2-for-1 cinema tickets are the icing on an already enticing cake.

As he says – will you stick with the cool blue of O2, or go bright Orange? Check out the latest iPhone deals on Omio, and also compare mobile phone coverage for both in your area!

Orange Offers Twitter Updates To Mobile Phones Via Text

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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A big day for Tweetaholics, as Orange customers can now receive Twitter updates directly to their phone by the power of text!

Users of the micro-blogging site can now use texts to send and receive tweets on their mobile, with the new service one-upping offerings from O2 and Vodafone by enabling customers to directly upload new photos to Twitter via MMS.

Getting started is a cinch, just send a text message with the word ‘START’ to 86444 – or pop over to snapshot.orange.co.uk and sign in using your Twitter username and password.

Whilst these perks have been the preserve of smartphone owners for some time, this lo-fi fix means that anyone with a mobile phone can become a member of the Twitterati without any apps, downloads, or paying extra.

The stream of Twitter messages can be regulated from a torrent to a trickle, with the ability to only receive alerts from specific followers or at certain times of the day so you can have a tweet-free sleep. All alerts are free, whilst any tweets sent are treated like traditional texts and come out of your bundles.

The photo uploads work via the SnapShot site, costing the MMS rate of 30p per message.

Samsung S5560 Deals Now Available: Marvel-lous Touchscreen Phone Lands On Orange

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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Those looking for an affordable touchscreen handset with a little more ‘oomph’ might have found a new hero in the Samsung S5560.

The S5560 – also known as the mild-mannered Samsung Marvel – has a 3″ touchscreen display running on the popular TouchWiz widget interface, and rocks a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus, smile and blink detection and an LED flash.

Sporting some decent specs, the Samsung S5560 sits nicely betwwen the entry-level Genio Touch and supersonic Samsung Jet on the Korean manufacturer’s roster.

The S5600 sacrifices 3G for Wi-Fi support, a decision which might turn the Marvel into kryptonite for fans of browsing on the move, but the low cost, arresting (if somewhat familiar) looks and robust media player makes this one a low-cost crusader in the pay monthly market.

Pay monthly Samsung S5560 deals start from a credit-crunching £15 per month on Orange, with a free handset in the bargain as well as a good selection of free gift offers and half price line rental in the mix.

Here’s hoping the Samsung Marvel will also come to our prepay rescue before Xmas!

O2 iPhone Customers Allowed To Unlock For Free, Network Offers Sky Mobile TV Trial

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It looks to be an amicable split between O2 and the iPhone, with T3 reporting that owners of Apple’s device on the network will be allowed to unlock their devices and roam freely at the end of their contract.

This puts paid to rumours that O2 would shackle iPhone lovers looking to switch, as pay monthly customers will be permitted to leave at no cost, whilst prepay folk will be required to cough up a mere £15 upon departure.

O2’s CEO Matthew Key was upbeat in the face of a potential exodus, with Orange advertising proudly the strength of their 3G network as many users face reception issues on the bubbly network:

“Once the iPhone becomes available on other UK networks, we will allow O2 customers to unlock their iPhones, although of course they will still need to honour any outstanding contract period they have.”

“At the end of their contract period, they are entirely free to move to another operator – though naturally we hope they won’t want to!”

On the issue of reception, Keys said:

“We are constantly increasing the capacity of our networks and the good news is that we now better understand and know what fixes we need to put in place to improve our levels of service.”

With the iPhone on Orange due to launch on the 10th of November, the anticipation of availablity of the coveted device has reached fever pitch, with a bumper launch both in store and online from 7am (if they can get past the throngs of gamers in line for Modern Warfare 2!).

O2 has made an attempt to retain some customers by offering a 3 month trial of Sky Mobile TV, an app enabling subscribers to watch Sky Sports 1,2 and 3, Sky Sports News, Sky Sports Extra, Sky News, At the Races and ESPN live on their iPhones.

A text to the number 2020 waives the £6 monthly line rental required for the Wi-Fi only service, but with TVCatchUp enabling FreeView on handsets for nothing, this gesture may serve as little incentive for O2 customers to stick around…

Orange iPhone: ‘Unlimited’ Data Package Explored

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Just how much does 750MB of mobile data get you?

Well, that’s the question that prospective Orange iPhone customers have to ask, with the network offering an unlimited data package with the iconic handset that has a fair usage limit of 750MB of data per month.

Pocket-Lint has put up a briliant post examining just how much one can get with 750MB, using Orange’s own data calculator…and the results are pretty surprising.

Now, bear in mind that Orange will permit users to stream to their heart’s content from sites like YouTube and Spotify, just not the usual raft of e-mail reading and web browsing on Apple’s smart phone.

Check out if you are likely to stray outside the lines of Orange’s fair usage policy on your shiny new iPhone 3GS…which seems pretty likely for those power users!

Also, be sure to browse our new iPhone deals page, engineered to help you find the cream of iPhone 3G and 3GS offers on O2, Orange and Vodafone when they arrive!

iPhone On Orange: Release Date Of 10th November

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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The wait is almost over.

The iPhone 3G and 3GS have been reported to arrive on Orange on the 10th of November, precisely 2 years and one day after O2 secured exclusivity for the coveted device’s first iteration.

The end of O2’s exclusivity period has seen the other networks vying for rights to distribute, with Vodafone pledging to release the handset early in 2010 and 3 UK also announcing their intentions to stock the device in the new year.

Whilst the exact pricing is unknown, Orange – the British arm of France Telcom – has maintained that it will remain “competitive” to O2’s current offering.

Many hope that a price war in the lead up to Xmas will see the iPhone on Orange become a viable option for both those customers who deemed it too expensive, as well as those who O2’s golden handcuffs kept it out of their clutches.

With over 200,000 people already registering their interest on the Orange site, the iPhone is all but certain to see success as the shackles come off and the smart phone finally becomes available across more networks.

Stay tuned to Omio, where we will continue our comparison crusade to find the best Apple iPhone deals upon release!

HTC Hero Bags Phone Of The Year At Mobile Choice Awards

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Awards season is in full swing, and the HTC Hero can add another trophy to the mantlepiece after snagging Phone of the Year at the Mobile Choice Awards.

Already flushed with success from winning Gadget of the Year according to Stuff magazine, the HTC Hero beat out tough competition from hot handsets like the 12 megapixel packing Sony Ericsson Satio and Apple’s iPhone 3GS to take the top spot.

Mobile Choice magazine got some of the biggest experts in the biz (us included!) together to deliberate over the best phone in the market, and the strong design, slick social networking skills and beautiful implementation of the Android operating system with the ‘Sense’ UI saw the HTC Hero a clear winner.

Mobile Choice themselves were similarly effusive in the writeup:

“The HTC Hero is the first phone in the UK to take on the iPhone with any seriousness, and we think it does a masterful job. It’s only one of six phones to run on Google’s open source operating system, Android, and great software coupled with the nicest chassis we’ve seen from HTC yet makes the HTC Hero a deserving winner.”

It wasn’t just mobiles however, as operators and even tariffs got their dues with O2 being crowned Best Network, Tesco Mobile Pay Monthly recognised as the top deal and Orange being commended as the number one online retailer.

Plantronics’ Voyager PRO Bluetooth headset took the plaudits in their category, seeing off opposition including both Jabra’s HALO and the popular Jawbone Prime…a win which they certainly relished!

LG’s broad range of crowd pleasing phones saw them receive the honours for Manufacturer of the Year, whilst Carphone Warehouse was the one for shoppers on the high street.

With many of these winners chosen by the readers of Mobile Choice magazine, it is good to see actual customers voting for their faves and giving the right people some praise…even though their dream phone was the iPhone 3GS rather than a diamond encrusted Vertu.

More winners in other categories including Best Camera Phone and Best Multimedia Phone are up on Mobile Release…there are a couple of pleasant surprises!