Mobile Phone News

Google Nexus One on Vodafone: Registration Starts Today

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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Good news for those wanting their official UK Google phone fix, Vodafone has finally opened up their site for consumers to register interest in the Nexus One.

Previously only available as a SIM-free device from Google themselves, Vodafone’s registration for the Nexus One on their ‘coming soon’ page marks a move into pay monthly for the search giant’s debut in the mobile market.

The Vodafone site wants you to be pretty forthcoming with your details however, requiring a mobile number, current mobile provider, whether you are currently on contract or prepay and even the date your contract runs out! Looking to snap up some new customers at any opportunity, eh Voda?

It is also important to note that these are not pre-orders for the device – pricing and a release more concrete than April has yet to be revealed – but it shows that the march of the Android phones is continuing unabated.

The Nexus One is the next stage in the evolution of Android, an imposing device sporting the new 2.1 build of the operating system, a 5 megapixel camera, 3.7″ capacitive touchscreen and touch-sensitive controls.

The actual method of purchasing the Nexus One from Vodafone stores is still unclear however, we got word earlier that they won’t be stocking the device in stores, but rather giving you a SIM and then showing you where to go and buy one. Which is from Google.

Can’t be bothered to wait? Then the cosmetically (and karmically) close HTC Desire is also due to our shores very soon…check out our comparison of the latest HTC Desire deals ahead of its April 1st release!

Vodafone Announces Cuts Of Over 500 Jobs in UK

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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Vodafone has announced plans to reduce their workforce in their Berkshire head office by 545, redressing this by partially by hiring 170 new staff in ‘frontline’ consumer facing roles.

The job losses are said to focus on a “number of areas, across a number of locations, primarily in back office functions.”

However, this may not be the end of the cull as there is said to “also be additional changes as further efficiencies and natural attrition in these functions take effect.”

With a total workforce of approximately 9,000 in the UK and 70,000 around the globe, the loss of 500 jobs is significant to Vodafone, yet not as sweeping as the rumoured 4,000 at risk as a consequence of the vaunted Orange/T-Mobile merger.

MWC 2010: HTC Legend – Vodafone Exclusive, Bringing Sexy Back

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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The HTC Legend has finally been unveiled, a gorgeous Android-powered device and an attempt to bring some of the beauty, flair and exclusivity back into the high-end handset market.

Only available on Vodafone in the UK, the Legend definitely trades on its looks with an aluminium unibody frame – hardy, weighty and solid, if a little cold to the touch. Think original iPhone with a little more refinement in the design stakes.

The base of the handset is a plastic unit proving home to the battery and SIM slot, doubling up as the housing for the Legend’s antenna.

On the interface front HTC’s popular Sense UI has seen some refinements, including what was unofficially dubbed ‘helicopter view’, a multi-touch pinch zooming out to display all active home screens.

Other additions include an RSS news ticker widget and a Friend Stream of recent tweets, messages, photos and status updates.

Much of the features remain similar to the Desire, HTC’s other Android smartphone announcement, albeit this time with a little less grunt under the hood as a 600MHz as opposed to 1GHz processor handles events in the Legend.

The 3.2-inch AMOLED touch screen is vivid as ever, the camera is a 5-megapixel affair with autofocus and flash and the holy trinity of Wi-FI, GPS and Bluetooth are catered for, making the Legend a solid all-rounder.

Banking on the allure of offering both beauty and brains as well as developing a sense of exclusivity through being solely available on Vodafone, the Legend aims to capture that feeling of having a coveted device once again.

“We want to bring back the exclusivity factor. Some handsets had it, and have since lost it through to becoming overly popular – everyone’s got one. Through the combination of the amazing form factor, Sense UI and the exclusivity with Vodafone, we want to bring that back,” said Jon French, Executive Director of HTC for UK and Ireland.

The HTC Legend will be available from April in the UK, free at a pay monthly price of £30 per month.

Kodak Sues Apple, RIM Over iPhone And Blackberry Camera Technology

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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Taking a litigious leaf out of Nokia’s book, camera maker Kodak are suing both Apple and maker of BlackBerry phones Research In Motion over the use of proprietary digital camera technology in their popular mobile devices.

Two more suits have been levelled at Apple, claiming the photo software on the iPhone infringes existing Kodak patents pertaining to digital cameras.

Kodak naturally wants a “limited exclusion order”, which would result in the respective manufacturers ceasing shipment of any handsets that infringe these patents (we suspect that includes the 50,000 iPhones on Vodafone that went out yesterday), and also offering up monetary damages.

“We’ve had discussions for years with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement,” said Laura Quatela, chief intellectual property officer at Kodak.

Kodak had in fact licensed their proprietary imaging technology to around 30 other companies, including household names like  LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, which of whom pay royalties for the use of Kodak’s software.

In December 2009, a Kodak patent covering the way in which colour images were previewed was deemed “both valid and enforceable” by a federal jury, with both Samsung and Java software makers Sun Microsystems subsequently paying out royalties for usage of the software.

This case follows Nokia’s case filed against US firm Apple, claiming that the iPhone infringes upon numerous fundamental patents in their mobile phone technology.

Seems like the camera in the iPhone is certainly good enough for lawsuits, if not night-time photography…

iPhone On Vodafone Available From Today!

By Jon RustcloseAuthor: Jon Rust Name: Jon Rust
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iPhone finally hits Vodafone today, making it the third stand-alone network to carry the iconic device.

This comes as great news for consumers who benefit from a wider choice of provider. Until last November, O2 were the sole provider of the iPhone. That monopoly ended when Orange were granted permission to sell iPhones, followed closely by O2-backed Tesco mobile.

Although prices remain fairly analogous between the networks, competition is taking over place on claims over network performance and on availability of apps.

While O2 continues to be dogged with complaints over it’s patchy service, Orange and Vodafone are both keen to emphasise their excellent coverage.

Recently, Vodafone showed off tests on video download speeds. which, it claimed, ‘wiped the floor’ with the competing O2 and Orange iPhones.

Check out our iPhone on Vodafone deals!

Vodafone Won’t Be Stocking Google Nexus One In Stores?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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Going one step beyond Apple’s strict rules for selling the iPhone, Google will have a surprise for people looking to buy a Nexus One from their local Vodafone vendor…they won’t have any.

Not in their stores, anyway.

With Google setting up their European supply headquarters for the Nexus One and future Android phones, Mobile News reports that Vodafone will not be receiving special treatment despite being the first network to subsidise the device, with all Nexus Ones to be unlocked and devoid of network branding.

Google will also be in charge of all the Nexus One’s marketing (mixed results so far), with no plans for joint advertising campaigns with networks.

It goes as far as Vodafone confirming they will not even stock the Nexus One phone in stores, neither will they have any point-of-sale material.

So no giant cut-outs, no shop windows full of Androids, nothing?

Google communications and public affairs manager Anthony House said: “Part of Google’s strategy is to sell the Nexus One in a unique way. This is the first ever product being sold direct to the consumer by Google, so we wanted to do it differently.”

Hold on, it gets more unique from here…

A Vodafone spokesperson said: “Customers who go to a Vodafone store to enquire about Google’s Nexus One will be directed to the Google website.“

It sounds like they are actively trying to prevent people from snapping up the phone in the traditional manner, forcing online sign-ups rather than allowing retailers to broadcast it from the rooftops and benefit from consumer interest as one would expect.

Are they appeasing manufacturers scared of a Google-branded phone jostling for shelf space by removing themselves from direct competition, or is it preventing the inevitable ‘iPhone or Nexus One’ side-by-side comparison the retailer will be forced into?

Tariffs and SIM pricing is yet to be announced, with the Nexus One currently only available directly from the Google site.

iPhone On Vodafone: Release Date and Pricing Revealed

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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Everyone expecting Vodafone to be throwing free iPhone 3Gs from the rooftops can calm down…

The fourth network to garner rights to sell the iPhone has just announced a release date, with Vodafone to start selling the handset from 14th January 2010, albeit at some pretty familiar prices.

The original iPhone 3G is available for free from £35 on a 24-month plan (and £40 on an 18 month deal), whilst the 16GB 3GS’ pricing is the usual affair of being free on a 24-month £45 tariff, and gratis if you shell out £50 on an 18 month offering.

12 month and pay-as-you-go iPhone deals are currently off the menu, but the side orders of 1GB of mobile internet, unlimited wi-fi and unlimited Vodafone-to-Vodafone calls are still pretty appetising. With Orange offering a fair usage limit of 750MB, Vodafone come off as almost generous.

Pre-orders are open now on the Vodafone site, and compare pretty favorably with deals currently available from Orange and O2. Check back on our iPhone deals page very soon to compare Apple offerings from all the big networks!

Perhaps the iPhone arriving on Tesco Mobile might finally throw the price point cat amongst the pigeons… Oh. It didn’t.

Vodafone 360 Samsung H1 Review – End Of The Party For Social Mobile?

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Well, Vodafone’s latest range of handsets have taken the social butterfly route, the first to be equipped with their new ‘360′ service (demo here) designed to make keeping abreast of tweets, status updates and alerts easier than ever.

However, with a whole host of other phone manufacturers and networks riding the crest of the social networking wave, is the new Vodafone 360 H1 the life and soul of the party or destined to be that guy, friendless and alone in the corner?

The reviews so far are fairly mixed, with the common response being one of the 360 H1 being more than a little bi-polar in its intentions.

Tarted up to be a smart phone-botherer with a 5 megapixel camera, huge 3.5-inch touchscreen, 16GB of memory and array of built-in applications, the Samsung-made device certainly boasts a top-flight feature set at face value.

In practise, however, the 360 H1 seems to come up a little short. The Electric Pig review notes particularly an unresponsive touchscreen and the sluggish nature of the device, as well as a half-hearted attempt at multi-touch support.

Mobile Choice finds similar failings, also remarking upon the lacklustre virtual keyboard (“it ain’t all that”), as well as the slightly fiddly method of adding your array of contacts from various social sites to the device, having to resort to the desktop incarnation of the 360 service.

Menus are bright and colourful, with now standard features like threaded messaging and contacts having a nice graphical sheen, but little by the way of day-to-day practicality.

It isn’t all bad however, with the H1’s browser being praised as “a great web experience”, whilst the camera shares a lot with Samsung stable-mates meaning plenty of settings to adjust and image filters to tweak in snapping the perfect photo.

The main problem seems to be one of the 360 H1 being a sum of less than its parts… A strong device in terms of specs, but without a consistent social networking service (no Facebook app and no Windows Live Messenger? In a post-INQ1 world? For shame…), an empty App Shop and an over-stylised 3D address book results in the 360 H1 being a phone that only the most determined friend seekers will enjoy.

Hopefully Vodafone’s 360 service will evolve over time into something that bothers the big boys in the friend-poking and tweeting business, but this time the H1 might have to remain a bit of a wallflower.

Vodafone 360 Samsung H1 Release Date Of October 30th!

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Ready for the next generation of social networking on your mobile?

Well, the exciting Vodafone Samsung H1 now has a release date of October 30th, ready to offer the new Vodafone 360 experience just before Halloween!

The Samsung H1 is the first phone to use Vodafone 360 – a slick new way to combine contacts, send messages through Messenger and Google Talk, divulge your location you friends for impromptu meetings and check Facebook status updates, seamlessly.

The service also works on desktop PCs, allowing instant sharing as well as backing-up of all your important data to the infamous ‘cloud’ for safe keeping.

The H1 is no slouch either, a web-savvy handset with a 5-megapixel camera that shoots both still and moving video, 16GB of memory to store all of your memories, and a huge 3.5″ AMOLED touch display to make the most of the 3D 360 experience.

Get a feel for Vodafone 360 here with a virtual H1 demo! Unfortunately, the chatty bunch on there aren’t really your new friends, but they do look cool as well as demonstrate how status updates and information filters in organically to your home screen.

The Vodafone H1 deals now available are equally friendly, with the phone available for free on pay-monthly plans from £35 per month.

As the 360 service isn’t confined to a handset but is rather an ‘experience’, Vodafone are expected to roll it out on other devices over time…iPhone 360 for 2010, perhaps?

Vodafone Unveils 360, Application Service To Debut On First LiMo Handsets

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In a dual pronged take on the social networking boom, Vodafone has announced 360 – a new set of internet services for mobiles and PCs – as well as releasing two custom-made handsets to make the most of it.

The Vodafone 360 service is one of gathering all of a user’s contacts, comments and content into a single threaded space, available both on mobile and PC.

Users have integrated contacts, music, photos and mapping services, enabling them to  their favourite music choices and even their physical location, how and when they choose, with their chosen groups of friends.

The service is automatically backed up and synchronised, regularly and wirelessly, between the mobile and PC or Mac.

All contacts updates, emails, photos and conversation history or settings changes made either at home or when on the move are saved, keeping all the content up-to-date.

The Vodafone 360 H1 phone takes this service and presents it with the first ever Linux Mobile OS interface on your screen, allowing all of the social networking, e-mail, apps, music, functionality and content to be presented in 3D on its huge 3.5″ touch display.

With a 5 megapixel autofocus camera, GPS, Wi-Fi and 16GB of internal memory, the 360 H1 spec sheet places the device firmly in smart phone territory, but with a front end that makes the experience fast and intuitive for all users.

Following closely behind is the Vodafone 360 M1, a more compact and affordable iteration with a 3.2″ touchscreen and a fixed focus 3 megapixel screen, but equally ready to handle the new friend-focussed service.

The 360 H1 and M1 have been manufactured by Samsung, something Vodafone is proud to admit with the manufacturer’s name emblazoned on the front of both handsets.

That isn’t to say that 360 service will be limited to these devices, with word that it will hope to appear as an app on the iPhone in due course!

The 360 H1 and M1 should be out in time for the end of the year, but the price has not been announced.

Check it out in the promo video below, have a closer look at the Vodafone 360 H1 features on Omio, and experience 360 for yourself with this interactive demo!