Facebook
Let’s be honest, this is probably the reason why you bought this phone. When you first start the phone you are asked to pop in your Facebook log in details, it then asks you if you want to sync your contacts with Facebook. It then pretty quickly pulled my 500+ friends from Facebook, including their last status update and Facebook profile picture. What it does not do sadly, (which I think is restricted to the Facebook API) is pull down mobile numbers from their profile. I will be talking about the Social Phonebook in more detail later. Like Jonathan I found it was behind my browser version, and I found the application was constantly updating. This I found to be a constant pain, I really hope they implement options so the user can choose options ie update every 30 minutes. I really did not understand the need for the constant updating and I am sure this had an effect on battery life as well. Will this bring Facebook do your normobs? Yes it will in a big way, no pointing to the mobile Facebook URL etc just there one simply quick from your dock or the menu. The integration for new messages again I found this good something another manufacturer has never done before, any new messages, pokes or requests appear as a new alert in the messaging tab. I again found this to be slow, and behind the web version, which meant on occasions it said I had a new Facebook message when I had already read it. I think the issue is that none of the pokes, messages are stored on the device so if you cannot get online you cannot read your inbox. I think this is again possibly due to Facebook API restrictions.

Windows Live Messenger
Quite possibly the best application on the phone, it allows you to minimise and you can receive IM alerts in the back ground. Three have always had a good relationship in WLM and in the INQ 1 this really shows. Top Marks to the INQ 1 this application brings WLM to your mobile, anyone who has used messenger on their computer will be able to use this application.

Email on 3
Three have done it again with this application, 4 clicks and you have email set up. This has got all the standard email services set up Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and a whole range of ISP emails. If you have one of the pre defined email services as your provider you are laughing.

Skype
Please read my opinion on Skype here. I do not use Skype; I don’t see the point in it. I never used the application so I could not tell you my thoughts on it.

Last FM
This is a very small add on however it integrates with the music player, on a Nokia you would need to download an add on such as Mobbler to allow your track to be scrobbled, however the INQ chaps have got this in built all you need to do is put your username and password in.

Camera
The phone has a 3.2 mega pixel camera which is acceptable there is no flash, which is a real shame however you can shoot video as well. There are also options to send your pictures by MMS, Bluetooth, email and Facebook. It was a little bit sad to see that Flickr was not an option; however it was nice to see some ShoZu-like elements had been integrated into the handset.

Internet Modem Capability
This was a feature that we saw on the Skype Phone 2, where all you need to is plug in your INQ and it has all the drivers on bored to install a modem. This allows you to browse the web on your laptop in a matter of two minutes; the process is very quick and simple.

The Social Phonebook
If there is one feature in my opinion that the INQ1 will be remembered by it is this feature. All of the social networks allow you to download your contacts to your handset. The handset then allows you to merge all the contacts together, and then when scrolling the phonebook you can see in real time if that person is available on Skype, WLM or Facebook. An example is if Ewan is one of my contacts I have him on my WLM and Facebook. If I went down to his entry, I can choose to send him an Instant Message, Call, SMS, MMS, Email, Facebook Message or Facebook Poke. The other really clever feature is that for example if I did not have his number I can click straight through to his Facebook Profile and call him straight from there (providing he has his number made visible). When Ewan calls me, his current Facebook Profile Picture does pops up; some of you may say well you can do that on any handset which is true. However it is not as simple as putting your Facebook details in when you get the phone.

Summary
So what are my final thoughts on this handset? I feel that INQ have rushed this device, and there are some issues that I have highlighted over the past two weeks that have annoyed me. The main one being the constant refreshing of the Facebook Application, this is extremely frustrating and a battery killer. I am really looking forward to INQ bringing out some new handsets this year, there are rumours of a keyboard (a possible G1 or N97 rival) variant and hopefully a touch screen version as well. If INQ make social networking this easy, I believe we will see a massive increase in the amount of social networking done from a mobile in the future especially as some of the networks (here in the UK at least) have some good value data packages!

INQ is definitely a manufacturer we will be watching here at Mobile Industry Review I have a feeling they have some impressive handsets ahead.

The INQ 1 is available on 3 for free on one of their lower contracts at £15 per month, or for £80 on pay as you go. It has been dubbed the ‘Facebook phone’ due to its tight integration with online social networks, including Skype, last fm, MSN to name just a few. EBay integration is expected to come soon in the form of software update.

The Facebook element of this phone got me very excited, as a student I live on the website it is a one of my primary methods of communication, and my online calendar of events I am attending.

The phone arrived on the 23^rd December and it was like Christmas had come early I was that excited!

I opened up all the packaging and my sim, the contents including the phone some cards explaining the basics and headphones. The phone is well-built for the £80 price bracket; in fact I feel it is much better built then my N95. So I was ready to pop my sim in and this is where I strike my first problem.

How the flip do you get the battery cover off?

I have used and reviewed a lot of phones over the last 7 years and I have never had an issue getting the back cover off.I must have spent ten minutes trying to no success, so I swallowed my male pride and read the cards sent in the box to help. Do they help, nope not a mention anywhere. I even resorted totwitterto see if anyone can help, eventually I manage to get it off.

Now at the time the INQ site was appalling, a very basic flash site with no manuals etc. Since checking back for this review it seems like it is fully updated, kudos to INQ to sorting that out. In the end I figured out the button on top of the phone opens to the battery cover, yes that button on every Nokia that is the on/ off button. For those of you who are thinking what sort of people has Ewan got writing on the site, it was not just me that struggled with this.

Normob Chris White purchased the device for his son, and I will quote him from his email to me;

I had loads fun ‘cracking’ the case puzzle for the first time (20 minutes actually, any jobs going?). It doesn’t help that the catch is exactly where Nokia put the on/off switch. It’s little things like this that turn people against products. This is a cleverly conceived little package, very attractively priced, but the guys who were trusted with handing it over to us were having a laugh, or more likely, a self-indulgent snigger.

I agree with him, why put something where your major competitors put something else? Remember this device is supposed to be a Normob friendly device.

Chris also raises some very interesting issues, again I will quote him:

Particularly, take your expert reviewer hat off for a moment and put yourself in the position of a first time user who hasn’t used a Skype phone or similar device before and see how long it takes you to:
- work out how to correctly insert the MicroSD card – is it supposed to stay sticking out and jammed under the battery like that? Why doesn’t it slide in flat? Am I breaking this?

Unfortunately I did not have Micro SD card, I could not see what this is like. It’s worrying that Chris thought he may be breaking the device though.

Let’s move on.

I fired up the phone. The operating system is BREW and the device is capable of running BREW and java applications. The first thing I would recommend anyone to do is to download Opera Mini, it is so much better than the the supplied browser.

The home screen has the ability to have three widgets, ie Google Search, RSS Feed or World Clock. There is a wide range to choose from and the bottom there is essentially a dock. For those of you who are Mac users, you will be familiar with it. From here you can quick launch many of the phones applications. There is a also a switcher button at the side of the phone which lets you cycle through and launch another application or go to the home screen, the phone allows multiple applications to be minimised and run in the background.

Let’s look to the media and music player; it had no issues with playing my mp3′s and some small video clips I chucked at it. My biggest gripe is the headphone socket. INQ has tried to be clever and use the micro USB to connect to your computer, to charge the phone and as a headphone socket. The problem is this means that you have to use the supplied headphones which are cheap and the sound quality is poor.

Sony Ericsson do this as well — their supplied headphones are brilliant. It needs to be clear to Mobile Phone manufactures that they need to put a normal headphone socket on their phones: Stop forcing people to use your cheap and nasty headphones.

Check back on Wednesday when, the next and final part of my review will be published. I will be covering all the social networking applications and the camera. In the mean time check out Jonathan Jensen’s mini review and normob feedback on the INQ 1.

Manchester has it’s own version of London’s Social Media Cafe aka Tuttle Club and on the Tuesday 3rd February 2009, meeting between 6pm to 9pm. I will be down there representing Mobile Industry Review, sadly James, Ewan, Ben and Dan will not be able to attend, however I am sure I will be able to keep the MIR flag flying.
 

What is the Social Media Cafe Manchester?

The Social Media Cafe, or Tuttle Club, is a place for people interested in social media to gather, get acquainted, and to plot, scheme, and share.. emphasis on open and interesting conversation!

Who should come?
If you’re interested in the future of media, how we organise, share, produce and enjoy it, then come along. If you’re an artist, film maker, geek, musician, designer, writer, photographer, web designer or developer or anything close or related, then come along. If you want to meet like minds, come along.
 

I of course will be be on the look out for anything mobile related to report back for Mobile Industry Review, however I am willing to chat and network with anyone (Contact Details at the end).

The format will be;

18:00 Doors open
18:30 Introductions
18:40 Sessions
19:20 Break
19:40 Informal sessions and networking
20:20 Break and networking

The sessions will be a choice of three sessions for more details head over to their site.

You will of course need to let the organisers you are going; all you need to do is sign up and put your name down here!

This promising to be a fantastic event, so I hope to see all you down there on February 3rd! 

If you want to connect with me;

Twitter: @rickyc88
Email: ricky@mobileindustryreview.com.

Blyk frustrated me; in return for receiving adverts matched to my preferences, and and every other user received 217 texts and 43 minutes per month. No data. No data AT ALL. The regular readers of Blykwatch will know I complained a lot about the lack of some kind of inclusive data along with competitive data rates ‘out of bundle’.

Well, to my delight this evening I received a SMS from Blyk;

You asked, Blyk listened. Blyk will be changing to a free monthly refill of £15 for you to use however you like.

*Fantastic* a company that listened to what the users want! Of course, having ‘a balance’ means you can use it on voice, sms, mms and data. The quid pro quo is immediately a lot more credible in my eyes.

However it comes at a price. At the same time prices on Blyk will now increase with call charges rising to 24p a minute from 15p. That’s STEEP. However text messages fall from 10p to 8p.

Now while this is fantastic for me — I can use my balance just on calls, or data — since I use Blyk as my secondary sim, for those using Blyk as a primary operator of choice, they’re now getting a bit of a raw deal.

The old system gave every user £28.15 credit (which made up the 217 texts/43 minutes). So if you’re used to using 217 texts and 43 minutes each month, that will NOW cost you £27.68.

But now, you’re only getting £15 ‘credit’ as thanks for receiving ads. If you wanted to maintain that same level of minutes/texts, you’d need to spunk out £12.68 extra per month.

That is a 46% percent decrease in credit and in return you get flexibility. I think the 46% is rather expensive for the value that flexibility brings. I understand that for a flexible plan you would expect to lose some credit ie 10 – 20% but certainly NOT 46%.

To me this suggests Blyk simply do not understand their user base. If you use the credit all on minutes you are better off than before the changes, however if you are a SMS user you lose out big style. Blyk is a MVNO only available for those who are aged between 16 and 24, users in this bracket (which I am part of) Text, MSN and Facebook each other. They are prolific texters, not callers.

As soon as I got the message concerning these changes I did a search on twitter to see if anyone had said anything (Ewan if you are reading this twitter IS useful).

Here’s what I sent out to my followers:

“You asked, Blyk listened”: 43 min 217 txt -> £15 +data,mms possibility.43min 217 txt=27.68.Cost of flex: 46% for mms, data. More flexible?

I received many responses — I don’t want to list them all so here’s a good summary one:

Am annoyed Blyk has decided to give £15 credit per month instead of free calls and minutes. It’s basically a guise for giving less.

I also jumped onto the forums, and I realised that Blyk had not sent this message in one go but had done a phased roll out, as a result the forums were very active on this topic. The main bulk were contained in two topics one was ‘bring back the old Blyk’ with 150 replies and a petition as well with 104 posts.

Not only that there are also two online petitions on sites on the internet:
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?217_43
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/no-blyk-bo.html

The first has 92 names, the second has 99 names.

Checking the posts on the forum the first post on the change was on the 15th January at 4pm, so in less than 5 days this has been the response. I have been a user of Blyk for more than a year and a half and have never seen so much response on the forums. I think it clearly shows the opinion of the Blyk members.

I dropped an email to both Jonathan MacDonald and Alistair Crane (both part of the team who set up Blyk) to hear get their views on the changes.

“Businesses change their offerings. All of them. Blyk know more about what people want than all other mobile networks, in my opinion. I hope that that opinions about an offering change don’t cloud, remove or replace the fact that, for the first time ever, a media channel was built upon conversation rather than broadcast. We can and should have an opinion and it is more common for negativity to out-shine the positive. It is the way of the world sadly.”  Jonathan MacDonald

Fair point, but how much conversation was going on when they changed the game plan?

Let’s hear from Alistair:

“In January Blyk launched a comprehensive content portal and will be marketing the service heavily to members based on their profile information. By giving users monetary value to spend on whatever they want Blyk will drive content consumption, offer members an additional free service and most importantly, create increased inventory and another avenue for advertisers to access the profiled member base through traditional WAP formats (banners, text links etc.) as well as more creative pre-rolls, interstitials and ad funded content experiences (games, wall papers, ringtones).

Members will place a MASSIVE amount of value around flexibility and will love the fact that they can now access facebook, maps, email etc. using their free allowance. 

User created MMS will still probably stay low but is a good option to add to the mix.” Alistair Crane

I also got some words from fellow Blyk User and MIR Contributor Samanatha

“When I first heard about this, I’ll admit I was excited and happy. And then the reality of Blyk’s inability to comprehend the needs and desires of their customers finally sank in again. I don’t like moaning, and in fact I’m pleased they’ve finally realised that listening to their members is the right way to go about their business; but when there’s such a loss being made by each individual member, questions have to be raised.”
 

Blyk my final words to you are these, your idea is fantastic and it will work well however you tell me you listen BUT do you really?

Do you *really* understand your member base?

- – - – -

A word from the Editor: Hi there, Ewan here. When you go live and tell your customers that it’s all about the conversation, that you’re listening, that you care, it’s good news. If you mean it. But then I suspect it’s a lot larger to wield the happy stick when you’re running a mobile operator. But… if you’ve asked your users for feedback — and they give you feedback, it gets rather challenging when, for whatever logistical reasons, you can’t necessarily deliver.

Over the months we’ve delivered some rather inspiring commentary on Blyk — chiefly from Ricky, the author of today’s post, and more recently from Samantha. Both are exactly in Blyk’s target range. Both are considered, smart, intelligent individuals, misled by the Blyk concept.

We stopped the BlykWatch coverage a while ago because it began to turn into a broken record. Despite the readers from all across the world — I reckon that a good 20-30,000 tuned in regularly for BlykWatch — when we were continually publishing news about forum posts not being replied to and lax or bored customer service, I thought that was it. Time’s up. It’s an operator. Their job is to deliver as many eyeball conversions as possible for their advertisers. It is not to ‘listen’ to their users and it is most certainly not to react to what users want unless there’s a direct profit. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with this as a business practice. The disconnect is the users — such as Ricky and Samantha and a lot more besides — getting far too passionate about the service. At one point I think I said to Ricky to go and get a T-Mobile account and stop worrying about Blyk. That’s difficult when you feel passionately engaged by the company and when the company simply does not reflect that back. I’m sure Jonathan MacDonald — in his Every Single One Of Us guise — will have something to say about that. It ain’t good. But it makes cash. The Blyk customer is the advertiser. The user is the gateway to cash for Blyk.

Now, here’s is a viewpoint that I doubt will be received well by Ricky, Samantha and the array of Blyk fans they’ve spoken to about the news: It’s free so you have no rights and your opinion doesn’t count. Despite what the marketing tells you.

The only opinion Blyk want to know is whether you liked the Coca Cola or the Pepsi MMS ad better. If it’s a service level you want — you’re much better off demanding service from a traditional offer and wielding your own cash in return, rather than your data/opinions.

Swapping around the credit structure perhaps indicates at a challenge with the Blyk model. According to a BBC stat, there are about 7 million 16-24 year olds in the UK.

200,000 of which have got a Blyk sim card. Or, let’s be generous — let’s call it 300,000. I don’t know the current stats. No one from Blyk has contacted me with an update for years. So let’s work on the basis of 300k ‘penetration’.

Let’s now get real.

Ricky — one of the world’s most passionate Blyk users doesn’t actually use them as his primary account. He uses T-Mobile. So let’s strip a load out.

Let’s assume 300k sim cards activated. Let’s assume 20% converted to become regular Blyk users? I dunno if this is accurate. Let’s keep with it.

20% is 60,000 regular Blyk users.

How many of them are PRIMARY Blyk users — i.e it’s their ONLY mobile operator? That’s a difficult stat. Let’s say…. another 20%? Let’s be kind?

So 12,000 regular, primary users.

Assume 1% of them can be arsed to care about their ‘billing structure’.

Text them and tell them the credit structure is changing and about 100 of them hit the forums complaining. That sounds about right. Now, once again, these stats could be hugely incorrect and I’m happy for us to be corrected by Blyk.

But if they’re anywhere accurate, they’d explain why the company isn’t necessarily screaming about it’s successes and why it may well become necessary for them to shift around the credit structure to reduce their costs by 40-odd percent.

The value with Blyk is surely in the concept. The concept that — all things being equal — the brands are LOVING the ROI. They’re actually getting returns on their investment. Measurable and high percentages. Just, not with millions of teenagers. So I think the concept of Blyk is a success. Whether the MVNO will prove to be so? Well I don’t know. Let’s keep watching and wish them all godspeed.

(And swap to T-Mobile, Samantha.)

T-Mobile is about to kick off a new ‘pioneering multimedia campaign’ this week, which will be nicer than the ads they’re running papers at the moment trying to give away a Nintendo DS to anyone buying a new mobile.

Filmed and edited in just 36 hours, the premier of the latest TV commercial will take place at 9.10pm on Friday 16th January – on Channel 4 for the eviction night of Celebrity Big Brother.

The 3 minute advert features 350 dancers breaking into dance en-masse at London Liverpool Street station. Hidden cameras were used so that ordinary commuters could be filmed secretly to see their reaction. Some might see similarities to a ‘flash mob’ event at London Paddington a year or two ago, although this was well and truly planned and rehearsed.

We’ve got a link to a teaser ad, and T-Mobile has created a dedicated YouTube channel to promote its “Life is for Sharing” strategy for 2009. Should you miss the airing of the 3 minute ad, shorter ones will be shown for a further two weeks as well as being shown online.

Anything has to be better then the annoying adverts they have now!

Link to video

Source: What Mobile

The guys over at Mobile Today have more information on this matter.

O2 and T-Mobile returned to the upgrade market this month after a three-month period where both operators had reduced subsidies on certain handsets and were offering discounts to customers who didn’t upgrade.
O2 vigorously denied in October 2008 that its move to offer a £15-per-month discount to customers who delayed their upgrades was a result of pressure to maintain cash until the end of the financial year.

The normal level of upgrades may have been restored, however the current lack of exciting phones may mean you hold off for a while

Did somebody say the N97??

I am currently reviwing the INQ 1,  and it has a inbuilt Skype client which is heavily promoted in its advertising and some would even say the INQ 1 is simply the Skype Phone version 3.

I have 2 Skype contacts, that’s it! Who actually uses Skype?? This really hit home when reading a post by Jonthan Jensen.

Teenagers don’t seem to be big Skype users so this application didn’t engender as much interest, although adults did show some interest in it.

He is exactly right but its more then teenagers I would say anyone under the age of 25  is probably not a Skype user.  Is it because that Skype is mainly used to contact people abroad?  The only time I haves used Skype, was when one of my friends took a semester in the Czech Republic, this was the easiest way for us all to stay in contact with her for free!

Now I move on to Skype on your Mobile, who uses it?? Hold your hands up now! I am completely at a loss why you would need Skype on your phone??

Am I missing something?

I understand about VOIP, and I think services such as Sipgate are fantastic when on your Home PC, but on your mobile I think they are a complete waste of time. For example if I really wanted to I could use a service like Fring and be able to receive calls on my Sipgate local number on my mobile.  The only I think this would actually be *useful* is when abroad on my holiday and in Wi-Fi coverage!

Maybe I am wrong and Skype is a fantastic resource, for me I think it a waste of time.

I do look forward to reading your comments about Skype!

Ricky

ricky@mobileindustryreview.com

Now back to business The INQ 1 has had a lot of coverage here on MIR, both positive and negative.  Both Ewan and Jonthan both have handsets, and thanks to the chaps at 3mobilebuzz and Trevor from the INQ 1 Blog, they have kindly sent me one to test for a month!

I am going to be covering the handset in three parts and the first one is due later on this week, I will be looking at all different aspects of the device. I am really looking forward to reviewing this phone. Sadly I am unable to use the device as my main handset, as I am not a 3 customer and my primary number is with T-Mobile UK.

If you have any questions or anything you want me to test specifically, leave a comment below or drop me an email ricky@mobileindustryreview.com

It now seems that O2 has given into the market and reinstated all its subsidies on its higher end handsets, for full details check out the full article over at Mobile Today.

Well done O2 it only took you nearly 5 months to realise your mistake!

I have a feeling the current economic situation here in the UK, is the reason for this change of tactics. I think it is highly unlikely that O2 customers would be willing to pay £100 for a N95 classic on an 18 month contract!

Bluetooth is useful for many things, but the latest idea could be one of the coolest for some time. A keyfob sized gadget that backs up all your phone data and alerts you if the phone gets too far away.
The i-migo is a clever gadget that isn’t quite ready for sale yet, but should appear in 2009 when discussions take place between various handset manufacturers and network operators.

The idea is simple; the keyfob pairs with the phone and extracts content (contacts, messages, pictures etc) over Bluetooth whenever in range. Like the Sony Ericsson range of Bluetooth watches which have a ‘proximity detector’ feature, the i-migo will also warn you when the phone moves out of range (in other words, it loses the Bluetooth connection). This warning means you are no longer close to your phone. Perhaps you’ve left it on a desk or someone else has walked off with it?
The main purpose of the i-migo is to prevent you losing your phone (by vibrating and flashing if the phone goes out of range). However, if you do lose your phone, all is not lost. Firstly, with the appropriate support from the handset, it will be possible to have the phone completely locked out – just like a car with keyless operation. That gives peace of mind that nobody else is going to be able to do much with your phone. After that, when you get a new phone, the data you would have otherwise lost can be restored by simply pairing the i-migo once more.

The i-migo sounds like an awesome gadget and I think it will be really useful for those of us who have a tendency for losing things (not naming any names ) The best bit is the ability is to completely lock down your phone, especially when your phone has some much valuable data about you.

Keep an eye on www.i-migo.com for more information!

Worth Checking out if you are in need of a memorable number!

Do any of the UK  networks (including MVNO’s)  class reciveing a call or incoming sms as activity, and therefore will not cut you off?

I popped into my local T-Mobile shop and asking what was showing up on my account for renewing, and basically I was told I could take a £10 discount for the next six months or untill I decided to upgrade which ever was sooner. Not all customers are eligable for the £10 discount some will get £5, I am unsure of how it is calculated.

I was cautious at this point, I thought I would be agreeing to another 18 month contract and also I did not want to loose my extra add ons (unlimited weekend calls and £5 loyalty discount), but I was assured by the salesman that this would not happen.

The £10 discount is a tactic to stall its customers on upgrading until after Christmas, however you have to ask for it. So if you are due to upgrade in the next month or have an upgrade pending I definitely recommend you to pop into store.

On another related note for those of you who are paying £7.50 for web and walk as an add on, ring up customer care and ask to move onto a wnw tariff. This drops the price of web and walk to £5.

I love it when staff in stores and on the phone are 100% honest with you, and are nice to you. I want to personally thank the member of staff who served me in the Manchester City Centre Branch.

The best thing is I am now paying £20 a month for Flext 30 with unlimited weekend calls and web and walk.

T-Mobile UK you officially rock!

Nokia Build is a service that allows you to customize your phone directly from Nokia. As reported by T3; this service is currently limited to the UK and France and currently you can only customise a Nokia 7310.

Sadly the 7310 is not the best handset in the world however if the quality is good then surely there will be demand that want to brand their own handset. I am sure that if this is a success that it will be rolled out to other handsets in the future.

What do you think to the Mobile Industry Review phone? Would you buy one? When I designed the above it would have cost £138 to buy and that included an extra two covers.

However there may be some good news in the future on the twitter blog;

There is a realistic, scalable SMS solution for Canada (and the rest of the world.) We’re working on that and will post more details on the Twitter blog as we make progress.

UPDATE- Krystal (our resident Canadian) has informed me that you do pay to receive SMS in Canada

from newmediaage

Ad-funded MVNO Blyk is rolling out a portal in January to direct its 16-24-year-old audience to relevant content.

The mobile operator, which offers free SMS and voice calls, will launch the On Blyk portal with content from providers such as Heat magazine.

Sean Gregory, UK CEO of Blyk, said the move was a response to demand from its 200,000 subscribers.

“We’re launching to provide a unique web experience to put our members directly in touch with the content they want,” he said.

As one of those 200,000 subscribers this will work only on the basis that the portal is free to browse and explore!I look forward to seeing this being rolled out in January!

Will the networks be recaulating bills in regards to the drop automatically from the 1st of December? I certaintly will be contacting by network operator (T-Mobile) to ensure that the changes are reflected in my bill.

I know the savings will only be a few pence however in these hard times every penny is essential!

Have the networks planned for the situation?  We shall be finding out soon!

300,000 UK T-Mobile customers had a quiet morning as they were unable to make or receive calls thanks to a database snafu that forced the operator to restore from backups – a process which is still in progress.

The problems started at around 10am this morning, and meant that 300,000 customers couldn’t be verified by the network and so were unable to make or receive calls. Restoration from a backup is already underway, and 200,000 customers are already back on the network (in London and the south east, naturally) – the remaining 100,000 should be working by 16:00 this afternoon.

As a T-Mobile customer myself I was fortunately not affected by this issue, however I wonder if any of you the lovely MIR readers were? Especially those who are sporting new G1′s!

T- Mobile’s online system is not exactly the best check out the following post’s from Ewan here, here and here ,however it is rare that I have had network issues with T-Mobile.

Hopefully they will have got it all sorted now!

From Mobile Today;

O2 is looking to accelerate sales of its mobile broadband by offering a money-back guarantee amid growing consumer uncertainty regarding speeds and coverage for dongles.The operator, which had been the last of the major networks to unveil a mobile broadband proposition, has been promoting a 50-day service promise.

O2 is offering to cancel the contract within the first 50 days and have the cost of the USB fully refunded if the customer paid for it.

The service has been featured in both its own stores as well as at Carphone Warehouse.

OK we know O2′s 3G coverage is not the best in the UK, however surely that with the 50 day guarantee it does make the proposition of mobile broadband a lot more appealing!?

If you don’t know what yammer is; it is simply twitter for your organization, however only people who have a work email address can join.

The lack of UK SMS was one of the reasons why the reasons why uptake was low with the team. We are now going to have a look again at the service and I will be doing a full write up on it the next week or so.

For more details checkout their Facebook Page.

Once again it is great to see companies like 3 embracing Social Networking Tools to promote their brand!

First up is Nokia’s Comes With Music, previously we have had a lot of coverage here on MIR however this post is written in the position as head of sales and promotions at my student radio station and nothing to do with my writings here on MIR.

I was called up today from what I presume to be street teams for Nokia something (I can’t remember the name she told of her team).  It seems Nokia have tasked students to get the word out about with Comes With Music as much as possible. She said she was looking for people who could speak to the most about students as possible and obviously student radio is one possible medium hence why she was ringing me.

She told me that she had a few Comes With Music phones to giveaway as prizes. She took my details down and my interest and she had to speak to her boss.

I find out early next week whether we have been successful however it is fantastic to see companies really engaging with the their target audience.

More coverage on this next week!

Good Job Nokia!

You may or may not be aware that I am part of my university’s student station Shock Radio and we are looking for a short or long code. We would would then need the SMS to be delivered to an email address.

We are a non profit organisation and really don’t want to make our listeners have to pay more for the message then they have to.

Ideally a long code would be fantastic as it would mean people can text from their inclusive texts in their contract.

Currently we have a old Nokia that connects to a computer and a script then converts the SMS into an email. The only issue is that it is not the most reliable bit of kit.

I would appreciate any suggestions you may have; either below in the comments or you can contact me on ricky@mobileindustryreview.com

PS (Sly plug here sorry Ewan) If would like to listen to my delightful tones then you can catch me 8pm until 10pm (BST) every Thursday from November 6th. More Details click here!

Ricky

The Touch HD comes with a 3.8 inch, high resolution, widescreen WVGA touchscreen and a 5 megapixel auto focus camera. The device also comes with HTC’s TouchFLO 3D user interface and is fitted with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

Orange UK will be launching this in November and it will be priced at £79.99 on an 18-month contracts at £40 per month.

The quote I love is below;

Orange UK director of devices Francois Mahieu said: “It is a great phone but also a wonderful multimedia handset which paves the way to even more innovations from Orange next year in the mobile internet space.”

This is coming from a company that offers data for £8 a month which has a FUP of 30mb!

You gotta love Orange for their irony!

Unlimited calls, texts to 3 customers and 1GB data to boot

3 last week revealed it’s to launch a new £15 unlimited calls and text tariff through stores in November.

The deal, which also includes 1GB of data, will be available for both new and eligible upgrading customers, but will not include any cross net calls to other networks.

The announcement came at a 3 press gathering in response to the network’s determination to offer consumers better packages for cross network calling but is restricted due to mobile termination rates.

Here at SMS Text News we are a big fan of of the idea of an truly unlimited plan, and it seems 3 have identified that there is a gap in this market. As Ewan would always say he would gladly pay £80 a month so he knows he gets no nasty shocks when he his bill comes.

At £15 a month I think this is a wicked deal, I have slowly been switching over my friends to 3UK onto their impressive Mix and Match plans whilst I still am on Flext T-Mobile’s version. The only sad thing about this deal is the lack of inclusion of cross network minutes, are we going back to the days where we have to convince our mates to be on the same network as us?

3UK as an operator turn me on in so many ways,  they are genuinely (in my opinion) trying to change the landscape of the industry, I mean only yesterday did we post about the new router. Not only that but can you tell me anywhere where you can still get?;

• 6 month contracts
• roaming on their sister networks and the minutes come out of your allowance
• 1gb of data for £5
• 750 Minutes and Unlimited Texts for £25 a month
• £30 credit for your and your friend for introducing them to 3
  

Reading this you would think I either work for Three or I own a lot of shares in the company. I don’t they are an operator that still excites me, and you can guarantee they are one operators I am looking to switch to when my contract runs out in December. The only one thing I feel they are lacking is the lack of Sim Only plans on a rolling month contract.