Vodafone’s New Mobile Broadband Deals
Vodafone has introduced a new pricing structure for consumers looking to access mobile broadband on a laptop using a dongle.
There are three broadband deals available to customers:
Mobile Broadband 3GB - £15 per month (on 12/18/24 month contracts)
Mobile Broadband 30 Day (3GB) - £20 per month (on 30-day contracts)
Mobile Broadband 5GB - £25 per month (on 12/18/24 month contracts)
In addition to the mobile broadband deals for consumers, Vodafone also offers deals to business users. The new Mobile Broadband Euro Travel price plan offers business users a 200MB per month bundle for use across Europe for £60.
Vodafone already offers two packages for business roaming:
Mobile Broadband Business - £8.50 for 24-hour sessions in selected countries
Mobile Broadband Travel - £95 for 200MB per month
Virgin Mobile Launches New Sim-only Tariff
Virgin Mobile is the latest operator to launch a Sim-only deal for customers who are happy with their current mobile phone.
Virgin’s Liberty Sim deal starts at £15 per month and has a short cancellation period. Customers can keep their old number and cancel the deal with just 30 days notice. You’ll also get free itemised billing and free voicemail in the UK.
Cheaper Mobile Calls over the Internet
Mobile communication requires two things, a mobile phone or smartphone, and a network operator. You can’t make that voice call, check your e-mail, take a look at a web or WAP site without having these things up and running…right?
Well, yes and no!
In addition to the services provided by your network, you can make use of other communication systems to cut them out of the loop completely.
There are various options available and not only can they help keep you in touch with your own wider world, but they will also save you a bit of cash into the process.
To take advantage you’ll need a smartphone with Wi-Fi on board. This can be found in Nokia’s higher end S60 smartphones and many Windows Mobile smartphones. Only owners of Palm devices are likely to miss out as it’s sadly absent on the new Palm Centro.
There are many options to choose from such as Frong, Truphone and Skype.
Danger Sidekick Slide
Pros - Using e-mail and IM with the QWERTY keyboard is a plus as is the Wi-FI. The carousel user interface and trackball are fun to use.
Cons - The Sidekick Slide is big ad heavy and only GPRS enabled for data.
Also Consider - Palm Treo 500v is another consumer oriented smartphone with mobile TV that can be watched in full and wide-screen format.
Killer Application - Messaging - With push-e-mail and instant messaging, this is a smartphone that may even get the youth market swooning.
Verdict - A well thought out handset that’s let down by its bulk.