You can — provided your luck holds — get yourself a brand new BlackBerry PlayBook today in the United Kingdom. Currys, Dixons, PC World, Carphone Warehouse, Insight UK and Phones4U will all be making the tablet available this morning. As yet I haven’t seen any PlayBooks ‘in the wild’ in London but after today, I’m hoping to begin seeing a few around.

You can use this link at Carphone Warehouse to check stock and place an order.

Good hunting!

Now then, if you’re in the following countries, look out — the chances are the PlayBook has already launched or is about to launch:

UK
Netherlands
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Hong Kong
Australia
Venezuela
Spain
Germany
UAE
Singapore
Mexico
France
Italy
India
Indonesia
Colombia

Why?

Well. It’s almost obligatory.

Like most mobile media folk, I’ve had hands-on, I’ve had-a-play. But that isn’t good enough. Not when you’re an international jetsetter mobile influencer. I have a policy of making sure that, all things being equal, I own and use (or at least, attempt to use) the best and brightest new technology out there.

So I’m giving a lot of thought to getting a Xoom to properly experience.

Furthermore, I’m thinking carefully about whether to get an unlocked one or to get it with-a-sim. I have to admit that the Carphone Warehouse ‘never pay for internet again’ advertisements are working on me.

Every time I walk by a Carphone Warehouse, I can’t help but look. Their Talk Mobile MVNO actually does offer ‘unlimited’ data. Proper unlimited. No messing around, no fair use policy. Talk Mobile uses Vodafone. So this is a rather efficient way of getting a high quality Vodafone connection that doesn’t come with the company’s rather limited ‘unlimited’ standard offering.

The deal I’ve been looking at is a 24-month contract at £25/month, plus £199.99 for the device. Total cost of ownership over 2 years? £799.99. But that, of course, includes the service plan as well.

I tweeted that I’ve been looking and got a nice hello from Carphone Warehouse in response.

Then the team there sent me a link to this video.

It’s definitely worth your time.

Almost 60,000 folk have watched it — and I can see why.

The Carphone Warehouse team has taken the standard piece-to-camera device introduction that we’re all accustomed to seeing from retailers nowadays and they’ve hit it for six.

Half way through the introduction, Richard Smith (from Carphone’s Fenchurch Street store) strides out on to the street with the Xoom in his hand, declaring, “Why don’t we give it a proper test drive?”

The camera follows as he jumps on to a bike and boom, before you know it, he’s on boat, a horse, a car… Worth a look.

Here’s the video:

Nice marketing Carphone Warehouse, excellent work everyone. Really nice marketing. I took one look at the video and thought, “Yeah, I should get one…”

That headline is a direct quote from a radio advertisement I heard just now from the Carphone Warehouse.

Bad news for the market.

Bad news for the data crunch.

Bad news for the end customer.

Very bad news.

It’s bad news because it’s educating consumers that the internet has little value. So little value that you’ll get it chucked in free with monthly contracts starting at just £12. Like the rubbish toys you get in cereal packets.

I understand why Carphone is running the campaign. They’ve probably got some research that shows consumers really don’t like getting data bill shock and that they don’t understand what a meg or a gig means.

It’s laudable. But there’s quite a few problems. You really do need to read the fine print.

For example, the handset advertised on the site is the HTC Wildfire. You can have it ‘free’ on a 24-month contract at £12 per month. Sounds good, that. That’s with Carphone’s own Talkmobile MNVO.

If you opt for a recognised brand like Vodafone, you’ll pay £15 per month for 24-months. The phone’s still free. But there’s NO data allowance at all. If you pay £15/month with Orange, you’ll get 250mb of inclusive data.

So you only get the unlimited deal with Carphone’s operator. Fair enough. But there’s an asterisk. Here it is:

Subject to fair use policy, but the good news is the fair use policy does not apply to Talkmobile ‘Never pay for the internet’ deals.

So if you take out the £12 one from Talkmobile, you’ll be ok. You’ll never pay for the internet.

This sounds like a really good deal, until you try downloading 100gb of data via your handset’s data connection.

I wonder what Carphone would do?

I thought that perhaps Talkmobile was running on 3UK which given it’s substantial investment in mobile data (and relatively low network load) is able to offer unmetered data without breaking a sweat.

I asked around on Twitter (thanks Dan) and apparently Talkmobile is an MVNO running on Vodafone.

Therefore gentlemen (and ladies) if you’d like absolutely truly unlimited data on Vodafone, get yourself a £12/month contract from Talkmobile.

I’ll eat my hat if it’s actually truly unlimited. The fair use policy doesn’t apply, eh?

I wonder.

It’d be super if this was entirely accurate. I wonder if, perhaps, Vodafone (or Talkmobile) will simply hobble your connection if you end up using a ton of data in a given time period? That would make sense.

Ironically it’s this kind of completely transparent ‘unlimited-and-we-mean-it’ that consumers will respond well to. Sadly it’s a bit of a tightrope walk to get what Carphone are advertising. Make one slip up and you’ll be on a 250mb/month price plan with Orange for 24-months.

Anyway, check out Talkmobile’s site here: http://www.talkmobile.co.uk/

And if you fancy the idea of a 16GB one, add on an extra tenner.

For anyone really keen to get stuck into the iPhone — and provided you’re ok committing to a whopping 2 year deal, this might be right up your street.

The offer is available at your local Carphone Warehouse from the 3rd of April.

I imagine if the new iPhone comes out a few months later, you’ll be able to upgrade — either by extending your contract (3 years, maybe?!) or by paying an upgrade fee.

More at www.carphonewarehouse.com.

‘Try Carphone Warehouse, they might have some?’

I’d just popped into the Notting Hill o2 shop to get a pair of iPhone headphones. Or any headphones, really. I forgot mine today. What an arse.

‘You’re the fourth person to ask me about headphones this afternoon,’ the chap said, ‘We sold out this morning.’

Weird. A run on headphones for iPhone?

I nodded at his suggestion. It was conceivable that somewhere in the Carphone shelves, there might be some super-overprice headphones for sale. You know, the same Apple ones but at 19 pounds extra.

I walked over with my expectations shot to hell. I walked into the Carphone shop and shuffled in between the hordes. There were only 6 people waiting to be served by two sales assistants – but in the stuffy, poorly arranged store, 6 people made the place difficult to navigate even with the obligatory British ‘er, sorry’ statements every 10 seconds.

I scanned the shelves. Nothing. Scanned the back shelves behind the sales chaps. Then I made for the exit. What a depressing environment.

The trouble with Carphone Warehouse is that one transaction could take 45 minutes to complete (eg swapping contracts, changing networks) whilst another – buying a charger or a pair of headphones – would usually take 30 seconds. So 6 people in front of you … that could actually take a few hours to get seen! I didn’t wait to see if they had any in stock.

Instead I did what all sensible Apple fans do: I went to the Apple Store instead. Job done.

Carphone Warehouse latest deal brings music to our ears, by tuning into Nokia’s latest music phone on just a £15 contract.

The 5800 XpressMusic arrives gratis on one of the most affordable tariffs around, on O2 with unlimited texts and 100 minutes allowance per month to any network and at anytime. Hurrah!

As compared with other offers around, it doesn’t appear to be for a time limited period only on a fixed number of months, although the contract duration is for 24 months. Then again, what do you really expect for a free handset that normally costs £249 – they have to make their money back somehow.

How other network tariffs measure up against each other for the 5800 is of distinct interest, which we found both to our delight and amusement. Starting from the highest cost; Orange’s own offering will be on a £35 contract we’ve been informed, O2 comes in at £30, T-Mobile also £30 (£20, for the first three months), Vodafone and Phones4U are at both £25.

How the others fair in their call allowance per months is also a tad interesting. With T-Mobile coming in with 700 minutes, Vodafone has 200minutes. The other networks are either not entirely upfront with their details, or even lack the complete acknowledgment the phone’s existence on their website.

The 5800, just in case you hadn’t already read the plethora of copy already on MIR has a reasonable 8GB internal memory for around 6000 tracks with instant access to Nokia’s music store. Coupled with a 3.3megapixal camera and Sat-Nav abilities, it’s a formidable beast.

More can be seen here, on the 5800 Carphone Warehouse deal.

We brought you news of the 5800 coming to Orange, way before anyone else on the planet in December last year. The handset was spotted at their partner camp in Florida by us, in which we wrote up the exclusive here.

Initially, Nokia had screamed foul at us for pre-empting such a thing arriving as the phone was only brought along to show case new mobiles. Seeing as it was ‘deliberately’ placed on the table of all the phones Orange sold, we rightly and ever so correctly, assumed it would be on their network soon.

Isn’t it great when we can predict the future.

UPDATE: It now appears, possibly in a gut reaction to the CPW announcement, Phones4U also now has a £15 deal for the Nokia 5800 on a T-Mobile contract. The plot thickens!

On that day that will go down the annals of history as BlackBerry’s move to prepaid services, or the day everyone on the planet announces their pay as you go BlackBerry handsets – Carphone Warehouse unveils the 8110 and 8210.

Those two phones are available from January 30^th at the princely sum of £149.95 each, whereas the Orange mobile still reads as ‘coming soon’ on their website. Meaning Carphone Warehouse will get there first, leaving egg or more appropriate, BlackBerry on their face.

Down to the nitty gritty, the full skinny, the complete low down, the full enchilada – everything you needed to know but were too afraid to ask.

These handsets will have unlimited emails to a chosen account, along with access to Facebook and MySpace and all for just £5 per month. Hurrah!

This is all, of course, on a fair usage policy of sorts which hits the ceiling at 50MB per month. After that limit has been reached, an excess can then be paid afterwards which all seems rather fair. Miscellaneous niceties, such as calls and text messaging will relate to the individual tariff as expected and rightly so.

We’ve been told the 8110 in silver and the 8210 in pink will be exclusive to Carphone Warehouse, just in case that tips your favour of hitting them up for a phone and not Orange. Sorry, ‘indigo’ as that’s its colouring.

The 8110 and the 8120 are more or less the same phone, only the latter has WIFI and will be only available on Orange. Whereas the other looks like it’ll be a free for all and dealers choice as to which network the customer wishes to use it on.

It’s a good move for the Carphone Warehouse and the likes of Orange to open up pay as you go BlackBerry handsets and its services to the mass market. Also it’s ideal for those who wouldn’t normally think twice about such a phone, meaning one day there’ll be more BlackBerryites everywhere.

Carphone Warehouse is set to launch a sub £9 T-Mobile contract, according to a report on the mobile news website Mobile Today.

If and when this arrives, it will be the cheapest tariff in the UK by one penny. That’s right, 1p. Don’t knock this though, as the saying goes – if you look after the pennies, the pounds will take care of themselves. Although it will take over 8 years for those pennies to become self reliant, and reach the grand old figure of 100. So don’t put a great deal of worth in every saying you hear.

In the last moments of 2008, we brought you news of the network Three offering a £9 contract. This is accompanied by a Sony Ericsson K660i, on a mixture of 100 minutes or text messages a month. Not a bad deal, even if we do say so ourselves.

Mobile Today has it the Carphone Warehouse T-mobile deal will comprise of 100 minutes AND 100 texts a month, an even better bargain. However, they’re unsure if there’s a mobile phone thrown in for good measure on this offer. Only time will tell.

Either way, it’s great for the current climate and fantastic news.

Unless of course, you are reading this and tied to a 24 month contract that you’ve just taken out with the exact same benefits, and at twice the monthly cost. Then it’s not so fantastic news, and you’re currently cursing the screen right now.

BlackBerry Curve 8900 - titanium - Carphone Warehouse

The BlackBerry Curve got its launch today, not exclusively with the Carphone Warehouse as we were told by them nearly three weeks ago.

A press release arrived today from O2, around the same time CPW were announcing to the media their launch. Which they initially stated was an exclusive deal with Research In Motion on the new Curve 8900.

After we spoke to them, they were in puzzlement over the O2 announcement as a few weeks back they officially put in writing to us the BlackBerry 8900 was being solely sold with them. In fact, we were the first to tell them today it is also going to O2 as well.

It has now come to light the deal may have changed since we published those details many many weeks back.

Carphone Warehouse clarified all this by putting out a press release today informing the media they will now be selling the SIM free 8900, only with a different colour finish in ‘titanium’.

This is despite the O2 version of the phone looking exactly the same in every way shape or form as the CPW counterpart.

BlackBerry Curve 8900 - O2

We called to confirmed the image supplied by Carphone Warehouse was correct and the image supplied by O2 was also correct – both came back in the affirmative.

Even handsets they’re shelling out to the media and showed off at the launch today were the exact same ones as the O2 models; in fact the link on CPW website here just confirms all of it. Curiouser and Curiouser!

Just as we were writing this up T-Mobile has announced they’re having a press briefing this Thursday over the BlackBerry Curve 8900 arriving with them. What’s the betting the phone will look the same there too?

Also, just to make matters worse when we spoke to T-Mobile’s PR company they thought the Javelin and the Curve 8900 were two different handsets. D’oh!

O2 have said the pre-registration for the phones open up on the 10th of December, with pre-ordering kicking off from the 22nd on their website – with the handset arriving on the 5th January. All at a cost ranging from free to £234, on selected tariffs.

Whilst the Carphone Warehouse will beat them hands down, as the phone will be in their shops nationwide on December 20th, three weeks before O2 will have there’s. Although they haven’t offered up any pricing as yet, but we’ll keep you informed of those developments within time.

If you weren’t already aware, the Curve 8900 is their thinnest BlackBerry handset to date. It arrives with all the features you expect from them, whilst also being Quad-band with WIFI onboard.

It comes along with a 2.4-inch 480 x 360 pixel HVGA+ display coupled with a 3.2 megapixel camera, all weighing in at 110 grams and its dimensions measuring up to 109 x 60 x 13.5 mm. With a battery life of 5.5 hours talk time and 356 hours/15 days of standby.

Let’s hope the mess of who has what, what has who and when’s when is sorted out by the time they arrive.

We have no more details to bring, but will be able to pass more along tomorrow after the press briefing.

Just three weeks ago we brought you news that the shop will be exclusively stocking the phone, now we know with whom.

We’ll update this piece tomorrow, say tuned folks!

** UPDATE **  Its not on a T-mobile contract after all, it’s just SIM free **UPDATE **

First up, Orange put into play their cuts starting from today and way ahead of the new tax initiative being launched next week.

These ideally are for new customers to Orange who will benefit from a full two days worth of buying, both on prepay and contract deals.

We’ve been told these will appear in their actual stores, online stores and even over the phone through their telesales, in fact in every possible avenue they sell.

Existing Orange customers will see their bills affected from December the 1st, which is a decent enough start date and not at the end of the month which some were predicting.

To a lot of people we’ve just reached the very last payment day before Christmas. Seeing as these have been introduced on this very day, it could benefit the muggles out there who believe they are getting a better deal.

Next up, 3 has introduced their cuts too but to their tariffs as well starting from today, on both prepay and contract customers.

Orange really are only hitting up new customers and leaving the rest out in the cold this weekend.

Although in saying that, 3 will still display the old tax rates online and in store with the figure being introduced at the point of sale.

We believe this is only the case as a wide scale price mark down of this magnitude would have been a big big issue to introduce, which is why Orange perhaps have stayed clear of this.

Carphone Warehouse has introduced a similar policy on hardware only, leaving the carriers to fight it out amongst themselves. How very wise, diplomatic and astute of them.

Others we’re sure will make their initiatives clear very soon we believe. It just goes to show who stands head and shoulders over the rest and have decided to help those out in these troubled times.

See more on the Orange announcement here, the 3 details are here and the Carphone Warehouse
here.

In an exclusive deal with the Carphone Warehouse, RIM’s latest handset the BlackBerry Curve 8900 hits the stores on December 20^th.

Yes, that’s right folks you read it here correctly ‘the latest handset’. Gone are the days of the Storm this, the Storm that – the Storm has officially passed.

Now it’s time to turn our much deserved attention to the up coming arrival of the Blackberry Curve 8900, formally known as the Javelin.

The other week be brought you the ground breaking news of its arrival in der fatherland. We can now officially confirm from a spokespersons at Carphone Warehouse that it’ll be in the shops just in time for Christmas. Ideal for those last minute shoppers, saving them a trip to the petrol station at midnight.

This new Curve is set to have all the abilities of the first, only building on the technology of the Bold by including its visual experience with its screen.

We’ve been told it’s a worthy follow-up to the original, with a smaller form factor than the first outing and with WIFI now onboard.

No tariffs or pricing as yet been made available, although we’ve been told it will be around from SIM free. Wahooo! .

Keep your eyes peeled on their website for more info at – www.carphonewarehouse.com

It is Four Pounds and Ninety-Five Pence Only.

Less than FIVE POUNDS!

They’ll be giving them away in Christmas Crackers soon.

Carphone Warehouse have launched the handset today — just in time for Christmas.

So think twice about whether or not you want a circa £900 commitment to get hold of an iPhone 3G. Perhaps you’d like 181 Samsung B130s in stead?

It does phone calling.

It does texting. It’s got a WAP browser and GPRS capabilities along with a currency converter, calendar and a voice recorder! AND it does MP3 ringtones.

Colour screen, too.

Plus it weighs just 67 grams.

Heh. Fantastic!

FIVE POUNDS? Wow.

I just got the following email through from them. Or from Revoo. Or both. I never remember asking Carphone Warehouse to introduce me to Revoo.

I never like confusing people. Carphone is a brand I nkow. Revoo, I’ve heard off. But I’ve never had a relationship with them… and foisting themselves on me, even with a bit of explanation, isn’t good news.

If you’re going to do this kind of thing, keep it one brand, one message.

I clicked, nevertheless.

And here’s how I scored my iPhone experience:

What do you think? Was I fair?

3 different folk from Carphone Warehouse made contact with reader Ed after his rather painful experience with their repairs section. I’m pleased to report that all is now good, resolved, fixed.

Meanwhile I’m still seething about their Lifeline insurance rubbish. So much so I’ve added them to the top of the page. See if you can find the link?

Motorola is targeting the ‘female fashionista’ with this phone. In an effort to attract the ladies, the company is bundling a mini clutch bag that has just about enough room for the phone and a little more for credit cards and a lipstick. 

Based roughly on the PEBL and U9 handsets that have previously come from Motorola’s stable, the MOTOJEWEL features a 2MP camera, a music player and comes with bluetooth stereo support.

From the pictures, the phone seems to have the plasticky feeling with the keypad almost looking like the fake cellphone toys available in the market.

UK’s Carphone Warehouse will exclusively retail the handset starting November, for a limited time though.

Maybe, Samantha would want to give this phone a try, after all that she’s had to go through with the iPhone.

You get them in different styles and price ranges but, ultimately, they’re a commodity item.

If you want them replaced when they break or if you lose them, you need to get insurance. Other than that, work on the basis that you need to pony up the cash in any other event.

Here’s some learning in the form of Ed Cave’s experience with his Nokia N82 and a Carphone Warehouse ‘Service’ Centre.

Day one, right?

Carphone Warehouse Repair Centre….. well where do I start, a frustrating experience to say the least.

The problem: I was upgrading the firmware on my Nokia N82 and whilst I went out for lunch the battery died half way through. Stupid silly mistake I know! Knowing there was a Nokia certified Carphone Warehouse repair centre down the road I jumped on the bus and headed down. Second stupid mistake….

These are not Service Centres.  They’re anti-service centres.  Don’t ever take your handset to any of these places unless you want to participate in a saga.

I logged the phone in, the engineer was on holiday that day but was back in the next day and I should have received my phone back that Saturday afternoon. No such luck!

After ringing the store to get a progress report that afternoon I received no answer to my call and decided to leave it til Monday morning.

Role on Sunday morning… 6am my spare phone starts ringing, obviously at that time of the day I ignored the call. Later I pick up my voicemail with an automated call from CW repair centre saying they can not fix my phone and it has been sent to the manufacturer. A hassle and annoying but at least I heard something.

Monday… Tried calling the store to find out how long it would take… No answer even after ringing an 0870 number for 30+ minutes.

That’s you assuming there’s meant to be a ‘service’, Ed.

Tuesday…. Phone still rings out so I decide to visit the store. Up to 14 days I am told. Again my thoughts are this is a hassle and annoying to be without my handset for this long but so be it.

So let’s be clear — that’s two weeks gone?

14 days pass…. No answer on the store’s telephone, visit the store….
“It takes up to 21 days sir, it should be back with us shortly. We will call you when it arrives”

21 days pass… No answer on the store’s telephone, visit the store….
“It takes up to 28 days sir, it should be back with us shortly. We will call you when it arrives”

Inside I am getting more and more annoyed and irritated but think I have spoken to the manager and most contracts, etc., are 28 days so despite being lied to be polite and calm and it will be fine.

28 days later.

28 days pass…. I get excited thinking time to pick up my long lost beloved phone nothing can go wrong now… off to the store I go. How wrong I was!

“Your phone still hasn’t turned up Sir. I cant chase it up as I did not log the repair. Our engineer is back in on (Bank Holiday) Monday. He will contact Nokia and find out where your phone is. I will call you on Monday when we have it in, we WILL have an answer and the matter resolved by then.”

Oh dear me.

After stating it was bank holiday on Monday he reassured me all will be fine so off home I went frustrated and irritated.

Monday….. Phone doesn’t ring….. Thinking that nothing gets done unless I go to the store I will pop down there and see whats what.

“We have emailed Nokia and will get an answer back from them tomorrow as they do not work on bank holidays.”

More lies….

They just can’t be bothered, can they?

Tuesday…. Nobody in store calls me so I decide to visit.

“Good and bad news Sir. Unfortunately Nokia can not fix your handset so they will be sending us a brand new one to give to you. It will be here in 5 working days.”

That’s a bit of a result, eh?  A new handset!

Off I trundle home again thinking at least I get a brand new handset instead of my scratched battered old one.

One week, day number 39, later…. I make my bus journey to the store knowing that no one will bother calling me.

“Good news Sir! Nokia will be sending you a new phone as they cant fix your old one.”

I really don’t know what else to say, I try to reason with him that more must be done to help me get my phone back but it’s like talking to a robot which can’t comprehend and the same jumbled sentences get repeated. Surprise surprise I am told I will have my phone with me in 3-5 working days and they will call me when they have it.

Questioning my sanity and whether this guy thinks I am an idiot I proceed to inform him that this was last weeks “good” news.

Gahhhh.

So here I am on day 40 still without my phone.

I think irritated and annoyed are the only polite words I can use for this shocking experience. I can honestly say I do not recall one person saying sorry let alone trying to go out of their way to help me. The manager just came out with feeble excuses and was in no way prepared to go out of her way to make sure I received my phone as soon as possible.

She would not even check the deliveries on Friday afternoon and chase up with Nokia if the handset had not arrived and call me to save me my wasted bus journey to the store.

All I can hope is that Nokia remember to send the phone this time I am not in the situation of the poor customer I met on day 28 who was still without her Motorola phone after 3 months and was being made to PAY for a replacement.

I for one will never use Carphone Warehouse again for any service.

Ridiculous, Ed, ridiculous.

I think the fault, alas, is yours — for assuming that they actually specialise in delivering ‘service’ in this context.  Clearly they can’t be bothered.  A warning for every reader:  Either get a new handset there and then or don’t bother.  Blood.  Stone.  Total arse.

Netbooks were very much in evidence – being supplied free with the various subscription 3G data packages.  In addition to the existing range including some Eee models from Asus, an Acer Aspire One and an Advent 4211 a new model from Fujitsu was on show.  Spec wise there was little separate it from the pack but styling and finish were impressive… Everyone agreed there would be a ‘bloodbath’ in this sector in the next few months with Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba all also due to announce products.

The Samsung stand was one of the best with the Omnia – a Windows Mobile 6.1 iPhone-a-like (that’s mine on the right of it for comparison) – launching today and the very impressive i8510 – one of Samsung’s first Symbian handsets – also on show.  The i8510 give Nokia’s best a run for their money – expect to hear more on this… my wallet is itching!  I’ve already got Ewan excited see here.

Next up was Nokia announcing an exclusive (until Christmas) white 5310 handset via CPW for the launch of their ‘Comes with Music‘ offering which is first to launch in the UK.  This gives a code for unlimited downloads from the Nokia music store which is very cool.  Even better is the fact you can keep the tracks after your year-long free subscription expires, but some of the answers about transfers to upgraded handsets and renewing subscriptions were worryingly vague – Nokia best have some good answers before those years start expiring!  Also on show were a number of the newer handsets including the N96 which, in my opinion, is looking lamer and lamer everyday as a flagship model (sorry Nokia).

Next up were our new best friends at SonyEricsson (the same chap in fact) who had his X1 out again and couldn’t answer any of the hard questions about when it would actually be released.  He did say some nice things about the show though so there is some hope for them

The new Jawbone headset we reviewed a few months back is now available in gun-metal grey and gold…. Meh.

Motorola had their Z10 out which impresses with its unusual form factor and video playback if nothing else, but also had their ‘budget smartphone’, the A810 on display – at around £90 on PAYG this is a Linux-based mini-tablet intended for people who want smartphone features at a lower cost… The interface and screen size are all much poorer than the best smartphones available, but at this cost I think they may have a good compromise.  Also impressive was the ZN5 – a 5 megapixel cameraphone with Kodak branding and xenon flash (something that helps Nokia’s N82 shoot such great pictures).  This has a WiFi photoframe accessory that is set to automatically show pictures the phone uploads to Kodak’s online photo site (via a Shozu-like feature) and multiple frames can be added.

LG were also present but apart from a nice table setting didn’t have much new to announce.  Disappointingly the PR there didn’t know about the LG blog so I gave up and moved on.  Nice table though…

You see, on Wednesday I took a trip down to my local high street, a busy one at that; in all I would hazard a guess that there are at least eight different phone shops – Carphone, Phones4U, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone all of that. With so many shops about you would have thought that the big retailers, mainly Carphone and Phones4U would at least hire staff who own basic knowledge on computers and mobiles, right?

Wrong!

I popped along to the O2 store to grab a SIM card for the iPhone, and the lady in there was helpful; I didn’t require much out of her, just a SIM, which she got. She couldn’t use the till though, so that took a little longer than I anticipated, but I got what I needed, and she was polite.

I then popped into the Carphone Warehouse. After my post about wanting a new phone I got quite a few responses, and e-mails. I got a particularly useful one from a chap called Mike (thanks), and he listed a few phones, namely the LG KS360. I was pretty interested in it – although not a fan of LG, it looked interesting.

A man approached me in the Carphone and he asked me if I needed any help, I replied I was looking for a phone, an LG, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. He pointed out one on display, and I said it had a QWERTY keyboard. The response I got…

“Huh, a WERTY keyboard? Oh look this one here has a keypad!”

Oh deary me.

I was surprised to say the least, seeing as I was standing next to a display of Laptops, and if my Mum and Grandma know what a QWERTY keyboard is (bearing in mind, my Mum is hardly the most technological-aware or apt person), I was left just a tad dumbstruck.

I proceeded to ask if he could check to see when the phone may be in. I was hoping he would go to the computer, and do a basic search or something.

Wrong.

He picked up the “Buyers Guide” and started flicking through that.

Maybe I was wrong to think this, but isn’t that produced for the benefit of the consumer?
I don’t know… At that point I asked for the guide myself and walked out.

I didn’t give up there though, all I really wanted to know was when this phone was going to be released, or if at all. Seeing as I’ve read quite a few reports that it’s due out around now in the UK, I wanted to see if this was true.

So I popped into Phones4U situated next door to the Carphone. There I was greeted by a lady this time, and I asked her if she knew if an LG phone with a QWERTY keyboard was out. I could tell by the “What-the-hell” face she had, she didn’t have a clue what I was on about, but she at least didn’t make up a word to repeat next to me. I did a gesture of “Air-Typing”, and she finally got what I meant, and took me over to the business mobile section. She pointed out some Blackberry’s (forgetting I asked for an LG).

I asked her again if she knew of any LG phone that fitted what I was asking for, and she pointed to an LG in front of me (not what I wanted), and then said no. No looking on the computer, nothing.

I said thanks, and left.

I’ve spoken to some very nice and helpful people in these shops before, but it just seems that on Wednesday they weren’t about. And yes, I had forgotten the name of the model, but wouldn’t it make sense to have a look on the computer?

What is more horrifying is the general lack of knowledge; the Carphone and Phones4U staff are not only just selling mobiles, but Laptops now too… Yet they don’t even understand basic terminology.

I’ll pop back soon and see if I can speak to someone who knows what they are talking about!

Also, I should praise Orange, I was speaking to a man in there, and he was very polite, and helpful. Thanks!

And we’ll be there, with bells on. Unfortunately there’s no filming allowed — so we can’t produce a MIR Show from the event — but we’re allowed cameras. So expect some news next week plus a segment in the following week’s MIR Show about it.

SOS messaging according to the CPH website is:
“Feeling in danger? Simply press the volume key 4 times on your phone to
discreetly alert your parents that you need help.”

Now maybe not the most interesting piece of news ever, and I certainly wouldn’t expect a lot of older people to understand how amazingly fantastic this idea is; but take it from me, this has to be one of the most enlightening pieces of information I have read in a very long time.

For example, I myself have been in a number of situations where I’ve felt seriously in danger. However, getting your phone out, making a text or call is not the easiest task to complete. Nor is it practical if say for instance you know the people you’re quite scared of may be tempted to “jack” your mobile.

To put it simply, ever been so angry or even frightened where all you do is shake? Well, try and write a text when your arms are doing an uncontrollable fit. It’s not easy, and it isn’t going to get you any help fast at all!

However it’s also the button. It doesn’t require the phone to be taken into sight. This means you may stand a lower chance of having your phone stolen off of you, or even being ridiculed for requiring assistance.

I can say having a mobile for some part does make me feel safer, but not completely. This due to the impracticalities that come with texting or calling your parents, or maybe the police if you’re in danger or someone else is. The Samsung idea completely eliminates this problem, which is not only brilliant, but hopefully a huge help.

I can say that those of days of walking home from school in fear are gone; but as we all know the sad truth is, there will be always more victims of bullying or of aggressive attacks. Yes the mobile phone is useful, but its limitations make it useless in situations such as these.

I hope other big companies follow suit with this idea; especially Sony and Nokia who have a lot of custom with the teenage market. But I also hope that more is done to educate youngsters, especially those starting high school. It’s daunting to say the least, but in our current climate of living in fear, more should be done to reassure my generation, and those younger than myself of these tools available.

A lot of time, effort and money are wasted on “talking” about the issue of bullying, and teenage crime. This though is just a waste, as not a lot is done to prevent, help or deter anyone from these activities. It is only simple measures such as the SOS Messaging which make some of the biggest differences to one’s confidence and ability to handle themselves in dangerous or worrying situations.

Firstly I stepped into the o2 store, and I was greeted by one of the sales assistants in there, but I wasn’t going to buy anything, I wanted to know one simple thing.

“Do you have any iPhone 16GB’s in stock?”

Now, if you’ve been reading over the past three or so weeks, you’ll probably be aware that the iPhone 16GB is something of a rarity. So I suppose none of you would be surprised when the o2 sales-person replied back with “ehh, no”.

I then asked whether he knew when he was going to get any in, the response this time was a “Hmm, I don’t know”.

Helpful, wouldn’t you say?

The Carphone Warehouse which is next door to the o2 store had a a sign in the window “iPhone 3G 8 and 16GB in stock!” – And so I ask, and the sign is correct.

How is it possible for the actual network shops to be out of stock, when a general mobile retailer can?

I’ll be popping down later in the week, so I’ll see if they have anything in then; although I seriously doubt it.

—

I’ve been a happy user of a E61i for getting on for a year now and like
the fact that it is not a Blackberry and that my large digits can type
with relative ease. However, as I am the only person at Sponge who has not
got up close and personal with an iPhone, the friendly SMS from CPW…”Dear
Alex, you are now due a fantastic phone upgrade. Call Carphone Warehouse
bla bla…..”. Idiot. I fell for it.

Last Monday, I called CPW and upgraded to Steve Jobs’ new creation – it
was to be delivered to my office in Central London the next day between 9
– 5. NOT. At 5.30, I rang and was reassured that it would be with me by
6. NOT. I rang on the Wednesday morning and was told that they tried to
deliver it to the wrong address but it would definitely be with me the
same day as it was on the van. NOT. When I rang Wednesday late afternoon,
I was told that Mr Nixon from my office had refused to accept it. Now, I
know I am getting on a bit and have been known to be forgetful (That’s why
I volunteered to be Chairman), but I am delighted that I can recite the
names of all 30-odd staff and we don’t have a Mr. Nixon working for us.
Cue first sign of Meisl grumps. As I was leaving on holiday for 2 weeks
the next afternoon at 2, CPW swore blind the iPhone would be with me by
10.30 on the Thursday. NOT.

This is when things took a turn for the worse. O2 made the fatal error of
assuming that I had received my iPhone by now and so started the porting
process and cut off my old SIM. I am now 4 hours away from going on
holiday and my bloody phone does not work and my iPhone finds me so
abhorrent that it doesn’t appear to want to make my acquaintance. I spent
two and a quarter hours (on my last day at work….nice) first speaking to
CPW then pulling in some favours with contacts at O2…..joy…..by 5pm (on
way to catch ferry) my SIM is magically working again, I ring O2 again and
they assure me that everything has been resolved….I can soon relax with
some French booze and the shouting matches with CPW/O2 can wait until I
get home. NOT.

The next morning with a full day’s driving ahead (and planning to speak to
a number of clients whilst my wife shares some of the driving), I notice I
have no network coverage. This persists for the whole day. Late Friday
night I finally have network coverage again. HOWEVER it is only over the
weekend that I discover that the port has taken place again and I am now
the unwilling and unwitting owner of a new number. Even worse (and now my
blood pressure starts rising…) my old number is now unavailable to anyone
who tries to call me (sorry SF, SH and SL).

Today I spent a comical 40 minutes on a conference call with CPW and O2.
The first person I spoke to at CPW said “brilliant” 3 times whilst I was
recounting my woes (response: “no it is not f**king brilliant”). I
eventually ended up speaking to someone sympathetic and helpful (step
forward James McSweeney at CPW). This went downhill again when he patched
in O2 to the call and I was told by Linzi that I can’t get my number
working again on my current SIM until I return to the UK (no matter how
high I escalate the matter in O2). Linzi from O2 had not considered a
simple solution which I proposed of making my number live again and
diverting it to my temporary new number. James then blotted his copybook
by explaining that they could reactivate my number by setting up a new
contract but I would then have to “terminate” it by writing to them and
giving one month’s notice.

I now have to wait a further 2 days before my 15 year old phone number is
awoken from its slumbers and is instructed to divert itself to a rubbish
temporary number (assuming CPW and O2′s systems all work together in
harmony)

We keep hearing that manufacturing is dead in the UK but that we should
feel proud as our service industry is so strong…..but that (to use the
exact French word) is simply COUILLONS.

If anyone at CPW or O2 is reading this, I am looking forward to returning
from my holiday where I will be out for blood. You can expect my call and
a claim for wasted time, phone calls and medication on August 12th. A
bientot.

And I bought it from Carphone Warehouse.

The three stage purchasing process was, as they say in France, a piece of piz. Click. Click. Done.

I’ve never bought from Carphone online before. I hadn’t been that impressed, previously, at trying out the order process only to find an expired but not yet removed warning message last weekend.

Anyway. Kudos to Carphone. I ordered my device in less than 90 seconds.

Now, I’m keen to see when it will arrive.

Bear in mind it’s Sunday evening on the 27th of July and the ordering system here is promising to have my new iPhone delivered to me by Friday 25th.

Doesn’t fill you full of confidence, does it?