June 17, 2008
There is a disturbing trend developing in the mobile industry. It seems to be limited at the moment to the two Korean manufacturers, Samsung and LG. It would appear they cannot decide on a simple naming strategy for their mobile phones.
Take the Samsung F480 as an example. Apart from the F480 model name, I have seen the phone referred to as the Libra, and more recently the ‘Touchwiz’ (who thinks of these names??) and now the Tocco. And that is just for the UK, the F480 will be known under different names in different countries/regions.
It’s crazy! And I assume if I find it confusing, and I work in the mobile industry, how do the consumers feel?
Another example would be recent handsets from LG. The KG800 was always better known as the Chocolate. Move on to the Venus. Oh no, hang on, the Venus isn’t the Venus, it’s a KF510! Then they announce the LG KF750, only to change it at the last minute and call it the LG Secret. Very confusing, and seemingly without any logic.
I wait to see what the next mess will be that one of these two manufacturers brings to the market. Let’s hope this naming problem doesn’t spread to the other handset makers.
Regardless of confusing names though, it has to be said that the Samsung Tocco is a really well specified phone - it’s very much like a 3G iPhone except that it’s available right now and is a fraction of the price!
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June 5, 2008
Here at Mobiles.co.uk we like to do our bit for charity and regularly have staff raffles to raise money for Macmillan as well as supporting Oxfam’s mobile phone recycling initiative.
A few years ago we took it one step further and set up CharityMobiles.co.uk, a website where we donate £25 to your chosen charity when you buy a pay monthly mobile phone. To date we have raised over £20,000 for charity and the amount keeps growing, month by month.
There is a massive selection of charities on there, from choral groups to childrens respite centres. With the money we have raised we have helped to send children on dream holidays, helped to fund important medical research, funded university alumni projects and helped to pay to feed animals in need.
Everyone from Mobiles.co.uk would like to thank all the charities involved for their continued support and all the customers who choose to give something back when buying themselves a new phone.
Original post:
Over £20,000 Raised Through CharityMobiles.co.uk and Mobiles.co.uk
June 3, 2008
Mobile Web browsing has come a long way since the early days of WAP and BT’s silver surfer ads. Back then, web browsing on your mobile phone meant being restricted to text only sites that were poorly laid out and hard to navigate (Ed: apart from wap.mobiles.co.uk obviously!) The difference today is marked. Nowadays the average mobile phone will offer a colour screen, very often with a QVGA resolution. And if your handset doesn’t have an excellent default browser, such as the browser found on NSeries handsets, then you can use the next best option, the fantastic Opera Mini browser. Opera Mini is so good that even if you do have a good default browser it is worth having as an alternative solution.
In a future blog post I’ll talk about how good or bad different handsets are for the mobile web so if you have an opinion on your own mobile experience then please do leave some feedback on our mobile phone reviews page.
The mobile websites available today are a step above what used to be available, so here, in no particular order, is a list of 10 of my favourite sites:
Yahoo
Yahoo is one of the original websites and to be fair was always one of the best. For ages the goal of many mobile users was to have access to Instant messaging on their phones. Thing is, most people used MSN messenger, which is a shame because if they used Yahoo they could have had access to Yahoo Messenger on their mobiles. Also available via the Yahoo website is access to your Yahoo Mail. Two of the most wanted mobile services ever since the idea of the ‘mobile internet’ was pushed, and Yahoo had it from the start. The new Yahoo mobile site is very slick and well laid out, easy to navigate and find what you are looking for. Point your phone’s browser to uk.m.yahoo.com/ for Yahoo Mobile.
BBC
The BBC is always there or there abouts with new technology. They have one of the best websites available for news and resource, and their mobile website is none too shabby either. It has recently been given a facelift, reflecting the improved functionality of web browsing on a phone. Easy to use and search, the BBC mobile website comes highly recommended, for keeping up to date with the latest news to finding out the latest score. BBC mobile can be found at bbc.co.uk/mobile.
Facebook
It’s the mobile social network that everyone seems to use. Sure, there are others, but Facebook appears to be the one that everyone has an account on by default. As expected, the site is simple to use and well designed. Mobile Facebook gives access to the most popular features, such as the ever annoying poke and wall messages, plus the option to browse through photos and profile details of all your friends. In a recent article, Vodafone said that Facebook is the most visited mobile site by their subscribers. For Facebook mobile go to m.facebook.com.
Weather.com
If the English didn’t have the weather to talk about, conversation levels would drop by 50%, at least. With Mobile Weather.com you can ensure that you are up to date with the latest information on the most important topic of the day. As well as giving forecasts for your local area, you can also search out weather reports for destinations around the world, ideal for research before you head off on holiday, meaning you don’t need to take that sweater, just in case. Weather.com mobile can be found at wap.weather.co.uk.
Google
Google offer a range of very useful services and most of these have been ported successfully to the mobile site too. The trademark design of the Google website, with the minimalist design and plain white background works well on a mobile phone, meaning the page loads quickly and is easy to view in most situations. From the main Google mobile page you can access Web Search, Gmail, even Google maps. Google’s main mobile portal is m.google.com
Google Reader
I’ve kept this separate from the main Google detail, because I think it deserves a mention in its own right. Google reader is simply a news reader, that collects information from various news services and presents them in a simple easy to navigate way. As easy to view on mobile as it is on PC, Google Reader offers probably the best method of keeping up to date with your favourite news items. For Google Reader go to www.google.com/reader/m.
Twitter
Social networking is the buzz of the moment on the net, and we have already looked at Facebook. Twitter is a popular site for mobile users, mainly because users can send updates on their current ’status’ via SMS. And that is pretty much what you do with Twitter. You can choose to follow people and every time they update their status you will see this reflected in your main feed. Simple, for sure, but very effective. Twitter mobile can be found at m.twitter.com.
Amazon
I like to buy books. I also like a good bargain. These two details are matched together perfectly with the Amazon mobile site. When I go book shopping, very often I am happy to pay the shop price for the advantage of being able to take the book home with me there and then. Sometimes, though, if I think an item is overpriced all I need to do is take my phone to Amazon and type in the ISBN into the search box to see if that item is being sold at a cheaper price. For a couple of pounds it probably isn’t worth the wait, and when you add in postage the saving is negligible. There have been occasions though when I have found books at almost a 50% price discount to what is being charged in the shop, and that is a saving definitely worth having. To check the best book deals go to m.amazon.com.
CNN
When you are looking for news coverage, it is very hard to get past the spin and into the meat of the real story. CNN have developed a reputation for delivering fast, accurate news. The site has a slight bias towards American news but that can be useful for finding out what is going on with our American cousins across the water. Balanced out between the BBC and CNN most major news stories tend to be covered. Also useful for keeping up to date with the latest American sports news. The mobile URL for CNN is m.cnn.com.
MSN
Microsoft never really took to the mobile web scene in the early years. Users of one of the most popular free email services of the time, Hotmail, were crying out for mobile access to their email but it was slow in coming. The MSN mobile site now links to Hotmail, and also offers access to messenger plus gives a useful run down on the latest news stories. In the mobile arena at least, Yahoo have always been a step or three ahead of MSN. For MSN on your phone go to m.msn.com.
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The Best of the Mobile Web
June 2, 2008
Orange have thrown their hat into the internet radio market in the UK with the launch of a wireless internet radio device, which will be branded under the Liveradio name.
The service will enable customers to access over 4,000 internet radio stations, from a local, national and international database. Orange have a website designed to be used with the service, which is located at liveradio.orange.co.uk.
After registering on the site, you will be able to customise the preset radio stations and create folders to easily reference different radio channel types. Adding a radio channel is as simple as drag n drop.
Mike Newnham, Vice President of Home, Orange UK said:
‘The internet radio market in the UK is growing at an increasingly rapid rate and Orange with its home internet pedigree is well placed to be part of it. The Liveradio device we’ve launched today is testament to our ability to offer consumers a multi-platformed entertainment experience, and is the first of many such products Orange plans to offer for the home.’
There is a Liveradio device which can be purchased from the Orange Liveradio site. With this device your PC does not need to be on to listen to the radio, all you need is a broadband connection and a wireless router, and you can listen to internet radio all round the house or in your garden, basically anywhere within range of your router.
In some ways this new technology is a step forward from many Orange mobile phones that have built-in FM radios and with the convergence of mobile phones and broadband it can only be a matter of time before new handsets start to offer digital radio enabling a massive choice of radio stations wherever you are.
Read more:
Orange Launch Live Radio
May 30, 2008
Great News! The highly sought after Nintendo Wii Fit is in stock at Mobiles.co.uk, not only that but it’s available for free and is instantly despatched exclusively when you buy a pay monthly contract phone from Mobiles.co.uk.
The free Nintendo Wii Fit is a promotion on many of our mobile phone deals; as part of a bundle with the free Nintendo Wii or on its own which is great if you already own a Wii.
The Wii Fit can change the way you exercise, the way you balance and even the way you move through Yoga, Balance activities, stretches and other activities. Combine fun with fitness! There’s also many games coming out in the future that use the board, including Skater Pro and Namco Skiier.
To see all the phones with a free Wii Fit click here or alternatively take a look at our Nintendo Wii with Wii Fit deals.
Excerpted from:
Free Nintendo Wii Fit In Stock And Instantly Despatched!
There is a disturbing trend developing in the mobile industry. It seems to be limited at the moment to the two Korean manufacturers, Samsung and LG. It would appear they cannot decide on a simple naming strategy for their mobile phones.
