Phone Genius Blog

EU Proposal to Impose Import Tax on High-End Handsets

Wednesday 17 Dec 2008

I stumbled across an article recently which posed some very interesting questions. It’s apparently possible that an EU tax directive could see us paying more money for top-end mobile phones. This could have a devastating affect on the whole mobile phone sector.

It seems that the question being asked is when is a mobile phone more than a mobile phone?

Whilst it may seem insignificant at the moment, it could be a very important issue for those of us who like multifunctional and powerful mobiles. In the not too distant future, the European Commission are to vote on whether top-end handsets like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and shortly due Nokia N97 are classed as ‘mobile phones’ or ‘multifunction devices that do mobile telephony’. Okay, no big deal there then. Wrong…………….if they decide to put them into a different classification, the price could well increase which is bad news for us all.

At the risk of boring you I will try and explain the history behind this whole façade. Some 12 years ago the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) was formed and an agreement took place:
To help boost the global economy, all computer-related equipment would have zero import duties placed on them.
The simple upshot of this agreement means that no import tax was placed on items like home PCs and mobile phones. This was part of the reason why they have boomed in sales ever since.

From the information I’ve been able to gather it seems the European Commission didn’t expect mobiles to increase in technical functionality the way they have. So now we are in a position where tax officials at the European Commission think the ITA is being stretched beyond their initial function and that some mobile phones are no longer just ‘mobile phones’ and should now be liable for import tax.

I can’t help but think the timing is no coincidence given the current ‘credit crunch’. The economic crisis seems to be spreading around the world and governments are being forced into taking measures to try and stave it such as reducing VAT to 15%. Although I can’t work out that approach myself. I would have though it would make more sense to sort out base rates and GDP instead of trying to get Joe public to spend more with money they haven’t got. It seems quite simple to me. We are in an economic crisis and if the EU puts prices up on items like high-end mobile phones, people simply can’t afford them and sales figures suffer.

An interesting situation to note is that whilst the European Commission is pushing for import tax in top-end mobiles, Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding is asking for more features to be put on mobiles, specifically, mobile TV. It seems that not everyone in the Commission thinks reclassifying mobiles is the way forward.

It makes you wonder where the issue has arisen from considering some of the people within the EU are not keen on the tax implementation. We don’t know anything for sure but we’ve heard whispers that manufacturers of GPS devices aren’t happy that their sales are falling as a result of mobiles having built-in GPS systems.

So, will they, won’t they???????????

Despite the wishes of Commission tax officials, it’s by no means a given that the import tax will be applied. Adding import tax on to mobile phones has already proved extremely unpopular with both America and Japan who have filed formal complaints with the EU and World Trade Organisation.

As they say, every cloud has a silver lining and that comes in the form of printers. Many printers now also have scanning and copying functions built into them and that led to the same issue as mobiles. However, Hewlett-Packard and Kip weren’t buying into the decision and went to court over it. The judicial verdict was any multifunction device should be determined by its main function which in this case was printing and therefore, is exempt from import duty.

Using this approach, handsets such as the Nokia N97 may well have multiple functions on them but at the end of the day they are still mobile phones. So, it’s possible that the European Commission may well vote to increase the price of mobiles but given the opposition they are likely to encounter from around the globe we suspect it may not happen.

T-Mobile are the first to get the BlackBerry Curve 8900

Monday 15 Dec 2008

T-Mobile is the first network to secure the release of the BlackBerry Curve 8900.

The Curve 8900 is the successor to the popular BlackBerry Curve 8310 and comes with Blackberry’s renowned push email and document editor. You can view and edit all your Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.

The first thing you will notice with the 8900 is the large 2.4 inch screen and full QWERTY keypad. Not only can the Curve 8900 handle all your work requirements, it also has plenty to keep you entertained. There is a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, auto-focus and video feature. The Curve also has a media player to manage all your video clips and music files so you can listen to your favourite tunes on the move. The handset also lets you take your iTunes with you by linking to your PC.

Other features of the Curve 8900 include built-in GPS with BlackBerry Maps, BlackBerry operating system, Instant Messaging and Wi-Fi.

Head of T-Mobile UK handset and device marketing Daniel Meredith said: “This is the latest in a new generation of BlackBerrys designed for those who want to stay in touch whilst they’re on the go - whether that’s calling or texting friends and family, or updating their status on Faceboook.”

Now, let’s get to the important stuff, the cost. The Curve 8900 is available free on T-Mobile’s Flext 30 tariff which is £30 per month and £5 per month for unlimited push email and web browsing.

The 8900 will be released on the 5th January but can be pre-ordered from December 22nd.

Google Street View Finally on Mobiles

Monday 15 Dec 2008

Google Maps is nothing new to us these days and plenty of people use the application in daily life to get directions and find stuff. Things have now taken a step further in the mobile industry. It’s now possible to get ‘Street View’ on some mobile phones that have Symbian and Windows Mobile operating systems. Street View gives you a full 360 degree vision and displays locations as you would normally see them at eye level. At the moment you can get Street View on the iPhone, T-Mobile G1 and most of the BlackBerry handsets.

With Street View now being rolled out throughout Europe it makes sense that the smartphone systems in the United Kingdom jump on the band wagon.

I’m quite keen on the recently released Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 so I’m hoping that it will have Street View on it as it has a Windows Mobile operating system. I had a bit of a play with Street View on a T-Mobile G1 last week and was really impressed. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen this year. The G1 has a built-in compass which means you can spin round in the street you’re in and the G1 will pan round the view with you. We know that the Nokia N97 will have a built-in compass and is due out next year so if you’ve got the patience to wait it could well be worth holding fire for the next Symbian operated beast. Although, no promises as we haven’t had confirmation that it will have Street View installed.

I’m chuffed that handsets other than the iPhone are being considered with new technologies. I’m still smarting that the iPhone is the only device that you can get Google Earth on.

Sony Ericsson join the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) for Android Platform

Friday 12 Dec 2008

Sony Ericsson has joined the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) along with 13 other new subscribers. They have joined Vodafone, Toshiba, Huawei and Garmin in joining the main backers of Google’s Android platform. Existing members of OHA include big hitters Google, Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Intel, T-Mobile and LG amongst others.

We witnessed the first Android ‘open platform’ in September this year. The Android platform was available on the T-Mobile G1 handset which was manufactured by HTC and exclusive to T-Mobile only.

Head of creation and development for Sony Ericsson, Rikko Sakaguchi said: “Sony Ericsson is excited to confirm its intention to develop a handset based on the Android platform.
“We believe Sony Ericsson can bring a wealth of experience in making consumer focused multimedia handsets with new user experience to the OHA drawing on the successes of the Walkman and Cyber-shot sub-brands.
“Sony Ericsson is a strong supporter of open operating systems and we believe the OHA offers an exciting opportunity for a new and unique user experience only Sony Ericsson can deliver.”
Sakaguchi added that by joining OHA, Sony Ericsson would be complementing their existing affiliation with other operating systems such as Symbian (Sony Ericsson W950i, Sony Ericsson G900) and Windows Mobile (Sony Ericsson Xperia X1)

Price Cuts and Price Matching at O2 for Christmas

Monday 08 Dec 2008

O2 has done a dramatic turn around on its handset pricing approach. Back in July this year O2 hiked the prices of its top mobile phones to combat the ‘credit crunch’ and stopped giving the latest phones away for free unless it was with the more expensive tariffs. However, it appears that the plan has back fired as they have now decided to reduce the top handsets in a bid to price match with the other networks.

Following the launch of the 3G iPhone, O2 would only give free handsets when customers signed up to their £75 per month devices. This affected handsets such as The Nokia N95 8GB, Samsung Tocco and Sony Ericsson C902. Then in September 2008 you could get the Tocco, N95 and C902 for free on their £35 per month tariff. The recently launched Nokia N96 was also reduced from £75 a month to £45 a month.

Meanwhile in the O2 stores, staff have been given permission to price-match with the other networks on new contracts. The restrictions to price-matching deals is that the phone must be currently in stock and the customer must supply proof of the deal available from competitors. Another restriction to note is that price matching is NOT available for upgrades.

Vodafone sales of Blackberry Storm Fly

Monday 08 Dec 2008

The latest mobile phone exclusive to Vodafone has caused a storm across the UK. The release of the Blackberry Storm has seen sales in Vodafone stores shoot through the roof. Sales of the Storm are flying that well that staff are reporting that stores are running out of stock on a daily basis.

And just to put an even bigger smile on the faces of Vodafone management, staff claim that more than 50 percent of sign ups are customers porting from other networks such as T-Mobile and Orange.

One staffer in London said: “We have had overwhelming demand for the handset. We are still trying to get through the pre-orders.

“In the first week we sold more than 200 handsets, and could have sold a lot more. It’s the best device on the market, and when you compare it to the iPhone, it does more, and is cheaper.

Sales of the Blackberry Storm are not solely restricted to Vodafone stores though. Phones 4U has also advised that the sales of the Storm are flying. An advisor at Phones 4U said: “We are getting stock on average every other day, and sell out within an hour of it being booked on.

“Stock varies between 10-15 a time, but every other customer that walks in wants one. It is virtually the only handset we sell now, sales have been amazing.”

Microsoft Hold 'Moofing' Awards

Tuesday 04 Nov 2008

The second People Moving Business Awards were held at Wembley Stadium last month. The awards
recognise those companies using mobile technology to enhance productivity, save money and help the
global carbon footprint.

Microsoft host the event in conjunction with sponsorship from HTC, Greenbang and Cognito in a bid to
encourage UK businesses and institutions to investigate ways of going mobile and rewarding those that
already have.

I couldn’t believe this when I read it on the Work Wise UK website – The average employee spends 29
days per year on travelling to work. That’s actually more than the average holiday allowance.
People are now starting to realise that this lost time could be used more productively by using
mobile solutions to work from home or elsewhere.

This is known as ‘mobile-out-of-office-working and believe it or not there is an industry term for it
– ‘moofing’. The idea behind ‘moofing’ is to decrease the need to waste time travelling to work by
using mobile technology to find ways to communicate with minimum disruption.

All of the businesses promoted at the awards have saved thousands of pounds thanks to implementing
moofing.

Head of Microsoft UK mobile communications business, James McCarthy said: “We need to encourage more
companies to use flexibility in the work space, because what we have found is only a small amount of
companies actively promote flexible working as part of their employee contract,”
“Far too few companies are seeing the real benefits, and trying real innovative things with the
technology, to try and find new ways of working.”

Is Megapixel Mania the right way to go?

Tuesday 28 Oct 2008

People outside the photography industry are prone to think that the higher the megapixel count, the better the pictures will be. However, analysts are now warning handset manufacturers that isn’t the case and that a continually increasing megapixel count could result in a lower picture quality.

Ovum analyst Adam Leach said: “It’s pretty much known in the industry that pixel count doesn’t mean quality.

“That said, consumers have seen an evolution in pixels at the same time as camera quality and capability have increased, so it’s easy for them to compare phones on the amount of pixels.

“The image quality from these phones is good and I can’t see the need to go any further; it wouldn’t make sense to continue this megapixel race.

“LG and Samsung like to be first, but the sensors in the cameras are so small, quality is going to start to deteriorate.”

Camera maker Kodak, which has recently been working with partners including Motorola to produce cameraphones, is wary of the megapixel race and believes there are better things to concentrate on.

“We’re going to give the consumer a camera phone that’s as good or better than any device out there,” said Kodak Mobile general manager Brian Marks.

“For example, we’ve included a lot of algorithmic software to get the most out of a camera.

“Our research shows 80 per cent of pictures taken using phones are in low light. With megapixels, a higher number doesn’t necessarily mean better pictures.

“With a 5-megapixel camera, compared with an eight, the sensors are bigger so more light can be captured and better pictures can be produced in low light, despite a lower pixel count.

“But a large amount of pixels isn’t always a bad thing – if you don’t have an optical zoom, due to the real estate constraints of a phone, a high number is important for zooming.”

Although it may not make much of an impact on picture quality, the networks have recognised that the number of megapixels is an easy way to convince customers that a product is at top-end handset.

According to Samsung, its i8510, the first 8-megapixel phone to market in Europe, is out-selling the company’s forecasts by a third.

The consensus appears to be as long as consumers associate megapixels with quality, manufacturers will continue to push that technology.

As technology develops, more and more manufacturers are jumping on the gravy train when it comes to increasing megapixels with Samsung leading the way. Samsung have more than double its competitors when it comes to camera phones with 5 megapixels or more. Their range includes the Samsung Tocco (5MP), G600 (5MP), G800 (5MP), G810 (5MP), i8510 (8MP) and the i900 Omnia (5MP).

The only other 8MP camera phones currently available are the LG Renoir and the Sony Ericsson C905.

Samsung Release the Kick-Ass M8800 Pixon Camera Phone

Tuesday 30 Sep 2008

Samsung has joined the race to release the first 8 megapixel camera phone. Previous rumours suggested it was to be called the Samsung Bresson. However, the latest word in the mobile industry is that it will be called the Samsung M8800 Pixon.

The first thing that I noticed was the Pixon is to be powered by the same interface as the Samsung F480 Tocco which is no bad thing as I am a huge fan of the Tocco. In fact I would go as far as to say that the Tocco is my favourite handset on the market at the moment.

So, without further ado let’s get to the crooks of the matter and have a look at the camera functionality. As you would imagine, Samsung has placed a lot of emphasis on the camera features I would say that they have built the rest of the phone around the camera.

The M8800 Pixon is to run in direct competition with other much awaited 8 megapixel camera phones such as the Sony Ericsson C905 and the LG KC910. Okay, you may think one camera phone is much the same as the next one………….wrong, think again!!!! The Samsung M8800 Pixon really is going to be the kick-ass camera phone to have.

Well, that’s enough of my teasing, it’s time to give you the ingredients of the camera capability so make sure you’re sat comfortably as the list will sweep you off your feet.

8 megapixels as you already know, 16x digital zoom, face detection, smile detection, face tagging of recognised faces, ASR (Advanced Shake Reduction), auto-focus, dual power LED flash, geo-tagging, auto panorama shot, photo browser (Accelerometer Sensor), photo memo, video recording (30 frames per second) and slow motion shot (120 frames per second).
I think it’s fair to say the above list is impressive as a digital camera on its own let alone and camera phone. Personally, I can’t see any other phone touching the Pixon for some time.

You would think it would be lacking in other areas given the effort put into the camera but Samsung hasn’t let us down there either. Whether it’s browsing the web at HSDPA speeds, navigating using the touchscreen display, listening to your favourite tunes on the built-in MP3 player or finding your way around with the built-in GPS the Samsung M8800 Pixon looks like it can handle everything.

We have no details of an imminent release date but rest assured we are all waiting to get our hands on it at Phone Genius.

iPhone takes a battering as customers opt for HSDPA camera phones

Tuesday 23 Sep 2008

With so many new mobile phones being released week after week we often lose sight of which handsets are receiving the marketing hype and which handsets are actually the most popular.

The Apple iPhone 3G will not need any introduction to you as it has been advertised and talked about for some time now. However, following all the bravado would you actually believe that the iPhone does not even feature in the top 20 of sold contract mobiles. Instead, the usual stalwarts of Samsung, Nokia and Sony Ericsson are dominating.

The clear winner this summer has been the popular Samsung F480 Tocco which has dominated for over 10 weeks now. It’s not that difficult to see why either as the Tocco has HSDPA, a 5MP camera and touchscreen. Second to the Tocco is the Sony Ericsson C902 which again has a 5MP camera and HSDPA.

As the technology develops it’s clear that people prefer to opt for high-end phones that provide fast internet access and a quality digital camera. It also appears that a touchscreen is up there on the list.

When you consider the features available on the Tocco and C902 it’s not difficult to see why the iPhone 3G has struggled. With only a 2MP camera and a lack of HSDPA, Apple will need to make some improvements to make the next iPhone a top seller.

Full list of top selling phones below:

1. Samsung F480 Tocco
2. Sony Ericsson C902
3. Nokia 6500 Slide
4. Nokia 6300
5. Nokia N95 8GB
6. Samsung U900 Soul
7. Samsung i900 Omnia
8. Nokia 6220
9. Sony Ericsson K770i
10. Sony Ericsson W980i
11. Samsung i8510 Innov8
12. Samsung J700
13. Nokia 6500 Classic
14. LG KC550
15. Samsung U800
16. Sony Ericsson W910i
17. Nokia N95
18. Samsung G600
19. Sony Ericsson W580i
20. LG KF750 Secret

Compare deals on these phones and many more at Phone Genius.

LG Announce The Latest High-End Handset - The LG KC910

Monday 08 Sep 2008

In recent times LG has become a worthy competitor in the mobile phone manufacturing stakes and has produced some pretty impressive handsets such as the LG Viewty. Whilst it hasn’t been released yet, we are told that the next LG phone and successor to the LG Viewty is going to be the LG KC910. We’re sure that LG will have given it a new pet name before the release date.

The KC910 has taken a similar appearance to the other recently released handsets with a large 3 inch touchscreen at the front. On the reverse of the handset is the impressive 8 megapixel camera, yes, you heard right, 8 megapixels. No corners have been cut with the camera on the KC910 as it is equipped with a Schnieder Kreuznach lens, Xenon flash, manual focus, face, smile and blink detection, loads of ISO night mode settings and slow motion video. The LG KC 910 also has built-in GPS so you can geo-tag your photographs automatically.

When you’re done with still life, you can record up to 120 frames of video per second and play back DivX and Xvid movies at your leisure. The KC910 also has a ‘Dolby Mobile’ audio enhancement system to provide the optimum music playback experience.

The scope of capabilities on the LG KC910 hasn’t yet been made clear by LG except for indicating that it has A-GPS enabled navigation and a ‘jogging buddy’. LG claim the user interface is customisable with a number of applets and shortcuts but adding applications further down the line is a no, no as this isn’t a smartphone.

LG has not revealed a specific date but state it will be available during October 2008 and they will provide us with a full overview of the handset’s technical attributes in the near future. There is one thing we are sure of at Phone Genius and that is that the KC910 is going to be in the battle with other high-end handsets such as the Nokia N96, Samsung i8510 INNOV8 and Samsung Tocco.

O2 Announce Decision Not To Stock The New Nokia N96

Thursday 04 Sep 2008

O2 recently dropped a bombshell on the mobile phone industry by announcing that they will not stock the must have phone of the year, the Nokia N96 when it launches on 1st October.

It’s thought that O2 are unwilling to subsidise the Nokia N96 device because it put all its eggs into one basket for the remainder of the financial year by using most of its subsidy budget for the Apple 3G iPhone. Why would they do such a thing? Well, there are stories of O2 losing it’s exclusivity with Apple if it fails to hit its iPhone targets.

This comes on the back of the recent activity that has seen O2 remove all of its 12 month contracts.

O2’s management group are trying to reduce the increasing cost of Nokia’s Nseries handsets given the lower average monthly spend on postpay. O2 believe there is no advantage in stocking the N96 if the minimum line rental is higher than its rivals to give customers a free Nokia N96. A source for O2 said: ‘O2 wants to challenge the argument that it is impossible to grow in the contract market without flagship Nokia handsets in its range.’

O2 staff have been told they will not be stocking the N96 because there is little profit margin in the Nseries as has been the case with the previously released N81, N82 and N95 handsets.

Not too long ago O2 increased the minimum monthly line rental to receive free top-end mobiles such as the Nokia N95, Sony Ericsson C902 and Samsung Tocco. However, it appears that strategy didn’t work out as they have now brought the prices back down with the exception of the Nokia N95.

3 Mobile Launch The New Skypephone S2

Wednesday 27 Aug 2008

3 Mobile have finally launched the new Skypephone, the Skypephone S2, with a revamped user interface enabling movement between internet applications simpler. The S2 has a switcher key so that users can flip between applications in a rotational style. 3 claim this new feature will remove the need for awkward menus and make internet usage easier.

As with the previous model, the Skypephone S2 will enable users to make free calls and unlimited messages to other Skype users. However, a new feature which is a sure fire winner is that the S2 can be used as a mobile broadband dongle too.

Charlotte Blanchard, 3 head of product and service marketing said: "The principle is to make this device do one thing [internet browsing] really well and reduce the fear factor of some internet services. We wanted to take as much hard work out of the internet on phones as possible."

Other new and improved features include new applications to help run internet services such as Facebook, Google and Windows Live Messenger directly from the front of the handset.

Blanchard added: "Being able to use the phone as a dongle is the first step in bringing mobile broadband and phone services together."

Two more noticeable improvements to the new Skypephone S2 are the 3.2 megapixel camera and the larger 2.2 inch screen making image viewing and navigation much more enjoyable.

In traditional style, Phone Genius are not one’s to mess about and have the Skypephone S2 already in stock.

Orange is First Retailer to take the Blackberry Bold and Samsung Omnia

Thursday 21 Aug 2008

Orange is ahead of the game with their rivals on getting their hands on the much-awaited Blackberry Bold and Samsung Omnia or to be specific Blackberry 9000 Bold and Samsung i900 Omnia.

Orange launched the Bold ahead of T-Mobile, 3, Vodafone and O2 in August and it’s a similar story for the Omnia with the exception of O2 who also stock the Omnia already.

Samsung has given Orange a six week exclusive to stock the 16GB version of the Omnia while the other retailers will only have the 8GB version, if at all. The Omnia is Samsung’s first handset with Windows Mobile and is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera.

The Blackberry Bold is available free direct from Orange on any £40 talk plans. T-Mobile customers can get their hands on the Bold from September when signing up to a Business One talk plan and will get free access to T-Mobile’s 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots. Vodafone were unable to provide us with any price specific information but confirmed it will be available on 18 month deals in the coming weeks

The HSDPA enabled Blackberry Bold is the first Blackberry handset to allow users to open, edit and send Microsoft Word and Excell documents.

Orange said: “Some people are calling it a genuine rival to the iPhone, so for us to be the first to launch the handset is great news.”

T-Mobile head of business marketing Oliver Chivers said: “The BlackBerry Bold offers all the features our customers expect, as well as a range of advanced functionality that enhance its business benefits.

“We are sure it will prove a popular choice with both SME and enterprise customers.”

Compare all deals on the Blackberry Bold and Samsung Omnia at Phone Genius.

RIM To Supply 3 With The First Blackberry Handset

Wednesday 20 Aug 2008

The 3 network is to partner RIM to stock their first Blackberry handset, the Blackberry Bold this autumn. The new partnership follows 3’s affiliation with Samsung for the first time this month.

The latest addition now means that 3 have the full range of major mobile phone manufacturers in its locker. 3 are looking to break into the business sector of the mobile market to bring more data services to its network and Blackberry is highly associated with mobile email.

RIM and Samsung are both aggressively pursuing a greater market share and adding 3 to their portfolios creates another avenue to increasing their sales.

Samsung’s first handset to be stocked by 3 this month was the Samsung L770. Further high-end handsets such as the Tocco and Soul are expected to follow later this year.

The Samsung and 3 partnership marked the end of a contentious pact whereby Samsung did not partner the 3 network. Very similar to Vodafone not stocking the LG handset range.

Samsung UK VP, Mark Mitchison said: ‘The fact that 3 will be ranging our phones is massive for us. We expect the agreement to be a big boost to our already increasing market share.’

HSBC Deny Switching Huge Corporate Account from Blackberry to Apple

Tuesday 19 Aug 2008

A recent report suggested that banking giant HSBC is considering moving a large corporate account currently with Blackberry to Apple. The account is worth 200,000 lines to Blackberry so would be sure to hit them hard if there were any truth in the report.

The details of this report have stemmed from a quote on an Australian technology website last week. HSBC chief information officer for Australia and New Zealand, Brenton Hush was quoted as saying that HSBC were considering transferring a vast business account to Apple in order to obtain iPhones for over 200,000 staff that are currently using Blackberry handsets.

However, the validity of the report is in question after HSBC denied the reports. Following the initial reports a UK spokesperson for HSBC said: “I don't know if he was miss quoted or if it was made up, but I can put the rumours to bed now and state there is no truth in it at all. It's simply not going to happen."

Just to provide us with mixed messages the Australia manager of group communications advised: "We always explore the potential application of new technologies and this is no different."

I have no doubts that Apple would have a huge smile on their faces should the deal materialise as it would give them their largest corporate order of iPhone handsets since Apple first launched the device in 2007.

Sony Ericsson To Launch The Impressive T700

Tuesday 12 Aug 2008

Sony Ericsson is continuing to revive their classic T-series with the production of the Sony Ericsson T700. The T700 has a similar look to the previously successful Sony Ericsson T610 and is a follow on to the Sony Ericsson T650.

Sony Ericsson have done an incredible job to put this many features into a handset that’s so small and light. At a lightweight 78 grams and just 10mm thick, the T700 will fit into your lifestyle easily. The impressive feature list of the T700 includes 3.5G HSDPA support, 3.2 megapixel camera, video calling, stereo Bluetooth, a multimedia player, stereo speakers and an FM radio. The T700 can manage all your media files easily with a 512MB internal memory which can be expanded further via the Memory Stick Micro card slot.

I suppose as with everything, there has to be some downsides so let’s not be biased. When compared to some of its rivals, the T700 has quite a small display screen at 2 inches. Usually, Sony Ericsson Cyber-Shot handsets have ample camera features but the T700 is lacking in auto-focus and it doesn’t appear to have an audio jack socket.

I have to say that I’m very impressed with the look of the T700 and it’s shiny but solid casing and the conventional keypad which is a step up from the strange looking keypad on the T650. Sony Ericsson are giving us the opportunity to own the T700 in three different designs, ‘Black on Silver’, ‘Black on Red’ and ‘Shining Silver’.

As one of the selling points, Sony Ericsson says: "the slim elegance of the T700 gives users a premium experience at a mid-range price point - perfect for the design conscious"

Whilst we have no specific release dates, it is believed the Sony Ericsson T700 will be available early in quarter four of 2008 so keep your eyes peeled at Phone Genius.

T-Mobile Announce Half Yearly Results

Friday 08 Aug 2008

T-Mobile UK half yearly results have revealed that they have acquired an additional 37,000 contract customers. However, this has been overshadowed by the fact that they have lost 554,000 prepay customers.

The total net revenue for the first six months of 20008 increased 1.7% to £1.607 billion on the same period last year. The revenue growth has marginally slowed down in this last quarter compared to the first quarter. However, profits fell 2.7% on the first half of 2007.

Another aspect T-Mobile was keen to point out was that their mobile broadband sales have increased by 360% in the first half of the year which is no shock given how the mobile broadband market is flying at the moment.

T-Mobile said 41% of its new customers had signed up to £30-£35 talk plans during the last week of June bringing its total contract additions to 56,000 during quarter two.

T-Mobile chief executive Jim Hyde said: "In spite of a slight dip in Q2 EBITDA, customer numbers are stable and we achieved resilient growth in contract net additions in Q2, a slight increase in revenues and a two percentage point uplift in our non-voice revenues.
"We reinforced our position in the mobile broadband market by being the first to launch HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) nationwide to give customers up to a fivefold increase in speeds.

"Our dominant position in the wholesale prepay market has been further strengthened following the announcement of a partnership with Ikea's new Family Mobile, a SIM card targeted at 1.4 million members of the Ikea Family loyalty programme and positioned as the UK's lowest priced prepay service."

T-Mobile To Offer iPhone Rival, The Blackberry Bold

Friday 08 Aug 2008

Everyone knows that mobile broadband is the latest must have gadget but without a laptop, the ‘Bold’ is the closest thing you will get to broadband speed connectivity.

T-Mobile UK head of business marketing, Oliver Chivers said: “Demand for mobile broadband connectivity speeds is escalating rapidly."

"T-Mobile customers using the BlackBerry Bold Smartphone will have access to one of the most innovative mobile business devices on the market."

It seems the device gets its name from its screen. During some product testing it was described as ‘bold’ and ‘brilliant’ because of its bright colours and prominent display. The ‘Bold’ also has double the performance of any of it’s predecessors at 624MHz giving the user a smoother and faster experience. The ‘Bold’ also features Bluetooth, quad-band coverage, Wi-Fi and GPS among a whole host of other features.

Whilst T-Mobile is the first network to announce they will have the Blackberry Bold on offer, they are under no illusions that the other networks will be desperate to get their hands on it too.

Orange Launch New Music Show

Tuesday 05 Aug 2008

Orange trialled a new music service at this years Glastonbury festival providing people with daily news and interviews.

Following the success of the trial, Orange have now decided to launch ‘The Music Show’ offering customers daily six-minute news bulletins, with interviews and album reviews. The Music Show will take the format of a weekly downloadable video news service which can be downloaded to both your mobile and PC.

Each download will last up to six minutes and will include monthly live sessions, album reviews by artists, interviews with bands and exclusive music news. Orange also intend to organise competitions giving customers the chance to attend and meet bands at live gigs.

Richard Wheeler, Orange head of music partnership said: "The launch of 'The Music Show' further proves that Orange is committed to music in all its forms.
“It will showcase top quality exclusive content with the very best bands and artists every week.
“The Music Show will also highlight other music content and offerings on the portals that users will be interested in via various dynamic links."

The Sony Ericsson C902 Is To Star In The New Bond Movie

Tuesday 05 Aug 2008

Well, well, well, It seems Sony Ericsson are to feature one of their new mobile phones in the next James Bond movie, Quantam of Solace. However, as the company releasing the film (Columbia Tristar) are part of Sony I think it’s fair to say it’s no coincidence that one of the Sony Ericsson handsets will be making a guest appearance.

The handset in question is the recently released C902. However, Mr Bond’s version will be a special edition titanium silver. Whilst it is obviously a marketing ploy by Sony Ericsson, I have to say I was very impressed with the C902 when it was released.

As we’ve come to expect with the Cyber-Shot branded mobiles from Sony Ericsson, the C902 is rammed with camera features to add to the impressive 5 megapixel camera. Even I would do well to mess up a photo with this little beauty. It’s got auto-focus and image stabiliser to stop those blurred photo’s and also has a flash for night shots. I think it’s fair to say that this is possibly the thinnest Cyber-Shot mobile on the market. Well, I’ve used it so the camera must be fool proof. You simply slide the handset open and the camera appears ready for action.

I’m afraid I can’t guarantee you will turn into a babe magnet of a hero if you buy it but it will most definitely improve your street cred.

The Sony Ericsson C902 is not a cheap phone to buy on PAYG but there are some cracking contract deals around at the moment.

3 To Launch The New Skypephone S2

Wednesday 30 Jul 2008

The 3 Skypephone S2 is set to be launched in the United Kingdom on August 18th and is set to offer improved features over its predecessor, the Skypephone.

The first Skypephone was launched last year and looking back on it, it was considered to be revolutionary at the time. However, compare it to other mobiles that have since been released and it was a fairly basic phone, in particular, the Apple iPhone.

So, on to the 3 Skypephone S2. The noticeable improvements are with the display, the camera and download speeds.

3 has improved the display from 176 x 220 to a more impressive 240 x 320 pixels with the display measuring in at 2.2 inches. The camera on the S2 has improved to 3.2 megapixels but details regarding additional camera features have not been forthcoming yet. The S2 also now has HSDPA so provided you live in a 3G area, you can get much faster download speeds.

A new feature that you may find useful is that the Skypephone S2 will house Window drivers so it can be turned into a modem. In simple terms this means you can plug in a USB cable and all everything will automatically update without the need for CD’s or internet downloads.

Further details of spec’s for the S2 have not been easy to come by so far. However, here are a few of the details we have managed to get our hands on. The Skypephone S2 will have an internal memory of 50MB which can be expanded via a MicroSD card up to 4GB. Power isn’t a problem either as they have given the handset a sturdy 1150 mAh battery. Finally, the S2 will be easy to carry in your hand, pocket or bag as it measures in at 103 x 45 x 14mm.

The upshot of the Skypephone S2 is that it’s a tidy mobile phone with a decent specification and little compromising. The S2 will benefit those most that spend lots of money on phone calls.

TAG Heuer Join The Designer Label Mobile Phone Range

Tuesday 29 Jul 2008

The latest designer label to encroach into the mobile phone market is TAG Heuer. TAG Heuer are fast approaching the release of the Meridiist handset. Although details are somewhat limited, it doesn’t look the strongest competitor to be released recently.

The Federal Communications Commission, The USA’s independent body responsible for regulating interstate and international communications has been clocked running tests on the new TAG Heuer mobile phone.

The handset itself sports a stainless steel casing with a Sapphire Crystal OLED display screen measuring in at 1.9 inches. There is also a secondary display screen featuring 96 x 76 pixels.
The Meridiist does have a camera but it’s nothing out of the ordinary at a standard 2 megapixels. As you would expect these days, the handset also has Bluetooth and a media player for managing images and music.
Okay, here’s something new for those of you who like original. You can have the backing of the handset in leather, rubber and get this, crocodile skin……………..Paul Hogan eat your heart out !!!!

Of course, the main question we expect you the customers to ask is…….how much. Well leaked figures haven been reported at $5,000 in the US and €3,400 to €3,900 in Europe depending on what customizations you have.

Personally, I would expect a fair bit more phone if I were to pay that sort of money for it. If it’s the fashion label you are after you would get a much better deal with phones such as the Samsung Armani, HTC Ted Baker Needle, LG Prada or the Samsung L760 Ted Baker.
Keep you eyes open for the TAG Heuer Meridiist at Phone Genius during the next few weeks.

Apple's new 3G iPhone in short supply

Thursday 10 Jul 2008

The much awaited release of the 3G Apple iPhone looks set to be a huge disappointment to its loyal users. O2 is suffering a stock shortage the day it’s due to be released (today) and it is anticipated that only a handful of Apple iPhone’s will arrive at its stores.

O2 has gone as far as posting a warning on its website warning customers that their stores will only have a few dozen handsets on average and even those will sell like hot cakes.

Oxford Street branches received 1000 each for the launch of the 2G iPhone but have only received just over 100 of the 3G iPhone with other stores expected to receive as few as five devices.

One O2 member of staff said that the number of handsets being sent to them was “ridiculously low”. The staff member went on further to say: “This is ludicrous. My store is getting less than twenty devices, nowhere near enough. Last year it went like clockwork. This year it’s a mess.”

O2 advised that they are working very closely with Apple to obtain additional handsets and they are expecting them to arrive on a week by week basis.

At the start of the week, such was the O2 website traffic to pre-order the 3G iPhone, the site crashed.

O2 decided to create 2 avenues to pre-order the new iPhone. They split the orders between existing upgrading customers and new customers. However, within two hours they had sold out of stock and all sales were to new customers. This has angered existing customers, some of which feel let down by O2 for not showing any loyalty to them.

Samsung Release the Samsung Steel Exclusive to Vodafone

Thursday 03 Jul 2008

Samsung has teamed up with Vodafone to exclusively bring you the Samsung Steel. Whilst the name may sound bulky, rest assured it is anything but that. The style guru’s amongst you will drool at the first glimpse of the Steel. Samsung appear to have used the name Steel to reflect not only the toughness of the handset but to emphasise the polished metallic finish and smooth edging. The Samsung Steel follows the very successful release of the Samsung Soul and has noticeable similarities.

The Steel has an unpretentious exterior comprising a 2.2 inch display screen capable of 262k colours. Connectivity is also very fast thanks to the HSDPA 3G so you can surf the net, download files, share images and email all at incredible speeds. An extra feature is the document viewer allowing you to view documents that have been sent to you via email.

Whilst the mobile phone market are now getting used to the latest phones having a 5 megapixel camera (Sony Ericsson C902, LG Secret, Samsung F480 Tocco, Nokia 6220 Classic, Nokia N95 8GB) the Samsung Steel houses only a 3.2 megapixel camera. However, the camera does come with features to enhance your photography experience and picture quality so you would have to try hard to take a bad picture. The auto-focus and image stabiliser will remove any blurred photos and the built-in flash will ensure you can take photos whether it’s night or day. As an added bonus, Samsung have added a front-facing secondary camera so you can hold face-to-face conversation with friends, family and colleagues.

Whilst the Steel has a 30MB internal memory, it also has a MicroSD card slot that allows the memory to be expanded to a massive 8GB which will allow us to store up to 2000 tracks at any one time…………………get rid of your iPod. You can share your multimedia files with friends and family via the Bluetooth capability and transfer them to any Bluetooth enabled device.
Vice President of Samsung Mobile UK and Ireland, Mark Mitchison said:
“With the Samsung Steel we wanted to create a multimedia handset with a timeless appeal and premium feel. Samsung Steel’s elegant exterior and user friendly features will appeal to a broad range of mobile users making the handset the next must-have accessory.”

Chris Edwards, Head of Devices for Vodafone UK commented further to say:
"We are incredibly excited that we will be offering our customers another great value exclusive from Samsung. We think it will really appeal to those customers who want to access the internet, stay in touch with email or update their favourite social network site while on the go. Above all we are pleased to be continuing our promise to range new and exciting handsets that deliver a great customer experience,”