HTC Sensation

Many were expecting HTC’s first dual core smartphone to be sensational, so it is no surprise that the Sensation does its best to live up to its name.

Powered by a 1.2GHz processor, it does more than many other dual core mobiles to actually leverage more of its power. This is indicated by the new 3D effects visible when you scroll through the homescreens, along with the implementation of app launching from the lock screen and improved multitasking. Its unibody metal design is stylish without being as overwhelmingly impressive as the super-sleek Samsung Galaxy SII.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini

The original Xperia Mini and its Pro variant were surprise hits for Sony Ericsson, so a hardware and software update was inevitable.

The latest Mini and Mini Pro get larger 3 inch displays, 1GHz processors and the latest version of Android onboard, complete with more comprehensive integration for Facebook services. In addition they both boast 720p HD video capture, an unprecedented capability in devices of this size.

Motorola Droid 3

Recent leaks have given away vast swathes of information about the Droid 3, Motorola`s second dual core mobile after the formidable multifunctional Atrix. Full HD 1080p video capture is allegedly onboard, while the high res touchscreen from previous models is thought to be a sustained feature, alongside its slide-out QWERTY keypad for precision of typing. While the form factor is not changing drastically, the Droid 3`s popularity is perhaps best sustained by sticking to the winning formula of its predecessors.

BlackBerry Torch 2

The original BlackBerry Torch proved that Research in Motion (RIM) could get touchscreen handsets right and the Torch 2 has appeared in a number of snaps online showing that the manufacturer is committed to expanding this range. A 1.2 GHz processor is promised, giving it much more poke than the precursor, while version 7 of the BlackBerry operating system is likely to bring plenty of new features to the table.

Sony Ericsson Urshi

While the rest of the mobiles mentioned above have been high-end powerhouses, the details about the Sony Ericsson Urshi suggest that it will be a much more modest affair. A high res 3.2 inch display will be your window onto Android 2.3 and a single core 1GHz processor will allow it to remain competitive.

It should be clear that Android mobile phones are quickly dominating the market at all areas, with previous top dogs like the iPhone range faltering under Google`s constant assault. Of course with Nokia planning its first batch of Windows Phone 7 devices and with Apple getting ready to launch the fifth generation of the iPhone this could all change, but for now Android is the king of the smartphone world.

Phones seems to be targeting teenagers, who spend half of their time on Facebook and other half texting or chatting with their mates.

Here are main specifications that might be interesting:

Processor: 800 Mhz

OS: Android Gingerbread

RAM: 512MB

ROM: 512MB

Screen: touchscreen, 2.6 inch

Camera: 5 megapixel color camera with auto focus and LED flash. VGA front camera

Battery: 1250 mAh, talktime up to 450 minutes, standby up to 660 hours

Connectivity: Wi Fi, Bluetooth, internal GPS antenna

Network:

HSPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Other: 3.5mm headset jack, G-Sensor, Digital Compass, microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

Phone is available on Vodafone and Orange networks, on 18 and 24 months contracts. Phone cost is free on all tariffs.

Cheapest 18 months contract is £15 a month, you have to contribute £164 and you will also get 100 minutes and 100 texts.

All plans with this phone include unlimited internet.

Here is a list of specifications for this phone:

Network Type: GSM Quad-band phone capable of global roaming (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
UMTS dual-band European/Asian 3G (2100/900 MHz)
Data: EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA 7.2 Mbit/s/HSUPA 2.0 Mbit/s

Dimensions: 4.69 x 2.36 x 0.47 inches (119 x 60 x 11.9 mm)
Weight: 4.76 oz (135 g)
Battery Type: Li – Ion, 1400 mAh
Talk Time: 6.66 hours (400 mins)
Standby: 340 hours (14 days)
Display Resolution: 480 x 800 pixels, 16 777 216 colors, AMOLED
Display Size: 3.70 inches
Touch Screen: Capacitive, Multi-touch
Camera: 5 megapixels Resolution
Camera Features: Flash LED; Auto focus, Face detection, Geo tagging
Multimedia Video Playback: MPEG4, WMV, 3GP, 3G2
Music Player: MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV, M4A (Apple lossless), AMR, OGG, MIDI
FM Radio
Memory Slot: microSD/microSDHC
Software: Android 2.1
Processor: Snapdragon, 1000 MHz
Memory: 576 MB RAM / 512 MB ROM
Input: Predictive Text Input
microUSB
WiFi: 802.11b/802.11g
Bluetooth: 2.1, Stereo Bluetooth
Headphones connector: 3.5mm
Other Features:
PhoneBook, Capacity depends on system memory; Ring ID, Picture ID, Search by both first and last name, Multiple numbers per contact, Caller groups
PIM, Alarm, Calendar, To-Do / Tasks, Calculator, World Clock
Voice Recording, Speaker Phone, Email
GPS: A-GPS, GPS

If you place an order now, you will probably wait for a week for it to arrive.

Orange has confirmed a deal with fixed line provider Unicom, which will sell its SIM-only MVNO offer into its base of 80,000 customers, providing billing for both fixed and mobile services on the same invoice.

It is also working with regional provider Axis Telecom, which is to provide a number of SIM-only deals to its regional base of 14,000 businesses and residential customers.

As well, niche operative Catalyst will provide mobile services through partners for groups such as students, ethnic minorities and SMEs.

All new MVNO deals are products of its relationship with mobile virtual network aggregator (MVNA) Transatel, with which it has set up a partner platform to enable swift establishment of such projects on its network. All are expected to launch shortly.

Orange already has MVNO deals with Mobinet, Lycamobile and IDT Mobile, and also national roaming agreements with 3 and Cable&Wireless in the UK.

Source: Mobile News

Here is a full list of phone specs:

2G Network     GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network     HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
HSDPA 1700 / 2100 / 900 or HSDPA 850 / 1900

Dimensions     119 x 63 x 13 mm
Weight     135 g
Display     Type     TFT capacitive touchscreen, 65K colors
Size     480 x 854 pixels, 4.0 inches
- Scratch-resistant surface
- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
- Timescape/Mediascape UI

Sound     Alert types     Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones, composer
Speakerphone     Yes, with stereo speakers
- 3.5 mm audio jack
Phonebook     Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records     Practically unlimited
Internal     1 GB storage, 384 MB RAM
Card slot     microSD up to 16GB, 8GB card included

GPRS     Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
EDGE     Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G     HSDPA, 10.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps

WLAN     Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, DLNA
Bluetooth     Yes, v2.1 with A2DP
Infrared port     No
USB     Yes, v2.0 microUSB

Camera 8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Features     Touch focus, image stabilization, geo-tagging, face and smile detection
Video     Yes, WVGA@30fps

Features     OS     Android OS 1.6
CPU     Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon 1 GHz processor
Messaging     SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push email, IM
Browser     HTML
Radio     No
Games     Yes

Colors     Sensous Black, Luster White
GPS     Yes, with A-GPS support
Java     Yes, via third-party application
- MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player
- MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player
- Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk
- Document viewer
- Voice memo
- T9

Battery           Standard battery, Li-Po 1500 mAh (BST-41)
Stand-by     Up to 415 h (2G) / Up to 425 h (3G)
Talk time     Up to 10 h (2G) / Up to 8 h (3G)
Misc     SAR US     0.87 W/kg (head)     0.81 W/kg (body)
SAR EU     1.40 W/kg (head)     0.91 W/kg (body)

Sony Ericsson video ad:

Up till now, you had to pay subscription fee for it and I don’t think it had many users, especially here in UK.

This is Nokias bold move to attract new customers to it’s high-end market. Nokia has been loosing a lot of customers in this segment to Apple and to phones running on Android platform. Recently Nokia has failed to impress customers with it’s latest smartphones, competition has produced much more interesting and innovative products.

In the press statement, Nokia says that the new version of Ovi Maps includes high-end car and pedestrian navigation features, such as turn-by-turn voice guidance for 74 countries, in 46 languages, and traffic information for more than 10 countries, as well as detailed maps for more than 180 countries.

Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Nokia said: “This is a game changing move. By leveraging our NAVTEQ acquisition, and our context sensitive service offering, we can now put a complete navigation system in the palm of your hand, wherever in the world you are, whenever you need it – and at no extra cost. By adding cameras at no extra cost to our phones we quickly became the biggest camera manufacturer in the world. The aim of the new Ovi Maps is to enable us to do the same for navigation.”

Mapping is one of Nokia’s strongest assets, following the acquisition of Navteq, the electronic map company for $8.1bn in 2007. The move to make the maps free counters Google’s announcement in October that it would offer free maps and turn-by-turn navigation for all new Android phones.

Nokia will be integrating location based services into it’s Maps software, for example there will be interface to Facebook, where you could publish your current location. Traffic information, details of speed cameras and speed limits will also be free.

Source: Nokia Press Release

The company will bundle the Hero with a Spotify Premium subscription for the duration of the handset’s two-year contract, so users can download unlimited tracks from the internet music service. 3 is the first UK mobile operator to offer a Spotify Premium bundle.

“This partnership continues our commitment to bring popular internet services to our customers,” 3′s director of products and services, Charlotte Blanchard, said in the company’s announcement on Monday.

Blanchard added that bundling Spotify Premium with the Hero was a “first step” in the operator’s relationship with the web-based jukebox service. The company intends to extend the Spotify relationship across a range of its products, including some of its mobile broadband deals, she said.

The operator’s Hero deal, which includes unlimited texts, email and internet browsing, costs £35 per month over 24 months, with an additional £99 upfront fee.

A subscription to Spotify Premium, which allows the user to download tracks to their iPhone or Android handset, ordinarily costs £10 per month. Over the two years of 3′s Hero contract, this brings the total value of the bundled service to £240.

A spokesperson for 3 told ZDNet UK that the operator will start selling the Hero sometime in early November, but could not specify the precise date.

Source:  ZDNet

The new joint venture will create the UK’s leading mobile operator. It will have a combined mobile customer base of around 28.4 million, representing approximately 37 percent of UK mobile subscribers*, based on figures at end December 2008. By integrating Orange’s broadband activities, the joint venture will also have the capabilities to offer convergent solutions to its customers in the future. The business will have pro forma 2008 revenues of approximately € 9.4 billion (£7.7 billion) and EBITDA of € 2.1 billion (£1.7 billion) **.

This combination will bring substantial benefits to UK consumers. It will result in expanded network coverage and enhanced indoor and outdoor network quality for 2G and 3G services, as well as better customer proximity through a larger network of own shops and improved customer services. The combination will place the joint venture in a better position to invest in innovative new services and to exploit new technologies. The new enlarged business will also be able to compete more effectively with the other two large mobile operators in the

market.

The key areas for the opex synergies of the joint venture are:

- Network & IT: Large-scale site rationalisation leading to significant savings

notably in site rental expenses, network operations and maintenance

expenses

- Distribution and Marketing: Higher proportion of sales through own shops,

resulting in lower distribution costs; a reduction in the combined number of

stores and savings in marketing costs primarily post roll-out of a new branding

strategy

- Other cost savings: Potential to reduce general and administration costs;

eliminate duplication in core support functions; optimise the workforce notably

in customer service, network and G&A operations

To achieve these opex synergies, the joint venture would expect to invest £600 to

£800 million in integration costs over the period from 2010 to 2014. Those costs

would primarily relate to the decommissioning of mobile sites, the rationalisation of the network of retail stores and the streamlining of operations.

· On the capex side, large scale savings are expected over the first five years following completion of the transaction, resulting from the integration and unification of the networks and from jointly expanding 3G coverage. The potential for capital expenditure savings, net of integration capex, is estimated at £620 million on a cumulative basis over 2010-2014, prior to stabilising at approximately £100 million a year from 2015 onwards.

These benefits will result in significantly improved operational performance, with long term EBITDA margin expected to be superior to those of the current market leaders thanks to size effects and with capex efficiency expected to be best in class.

To create the new joint venture, Deutsche Telekom would contribute T-Mobile UK on a cashfree, debt-free basis, including T-Mobile UK’s 50 percent holding in its 3G network joint venture with Hutchison and gross tax losses carried forward of at least £1.5 billion. France Telecom would contribute the whole of Orange UK including £1.25 billion of intra-group net debt in order to equalize the value of the contributions to the joint venture. Immediately after closing Deutsche Telekom would grant a £625 million shareholder loan to the joint venture, which would be used to simultaneously reimburse £625 million to France Telecom. As a result, the joint venture would have indebtedness of £1.25 billion, represented by two

shareholder loans of £625 million held by each of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom.

The Board of the new joint venture company will have balanced representation from Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom. The management team would be led by Tom Alexander, currently CEO of Orange UK, as CEO and Richard Moat, currently CEO of TMobile UK, as COO. The governance of the joint venture would attribute extensive operational decision-making to the management team.

The T-Mobile UK and Orange UK brands will be maintained separately for 18 months after completion of the transaction. During that period management will review branding alternatives for the joint venture and will develop a new branding strategy recommendation for shareholder approval.

This transaction is expected to create substantial value for both shareholders and to be accretive from 2010 in terms of free cash-flow per share and from 2011 in terms of earnings per share. Both Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom would recognise their respective interest in the joint venture using the equity method after closing. It is planned that the joint venture will distribute 90 percent of its free cash flow to its two shareholders.

Prior to the signing, which is expected to be end of October, both Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom will undertake confirmatory due diligence and will complete the definitive documentation. The final agreement is subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom and the Board of Directors of France Telecom, and the completion of an agreed transaction would be conditional on approval by the relevant competition authorities.

Source: T-Mobile Press Release

Continuing on the success of this model, Nokia released E72, which is slightly upgraded phone but majority of the features remain the same as in E71. Here is the list of most important changes/updates in E72:

• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Better feel keyboard
• 5 megapixel camera
• 250MB phone memory
• HSDPA/HSUPA
• QuickOffice software included

See Nokia promo video below for this phone:

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone is the latest BlackBerry® smartphone in the Vodafone UK range, which includes the BlackBerry® Storm™ 9500 smartphone – an exclusive to Vodafone.

Priced from free on selected price plans, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone is ideal for consumers and businesses and of all sizes. Its full QWERTY keyboard features a new touch-sensitive trackpad that makes scrolling through messages and navigating web pages fast and easy. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone also comes with:

* A 2-megapixel camera with zoom and video recording
* Dedicated keys for music and video
* Built- in Wi-Fi®
* Support for business and consumer mobile email
* Advanced media player
* 3.5 mm stereo headset jack and BlackBerry Media Sync
* MicroSD card slot with support for up to 16GB
* A 2GB memory card

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone is available at www.shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-phone/blackberry-curve-8520 for consumers, www.vodafone.co.uk/curve8520 for small business customers and through Vodafone Account Managers for Corporate and Public Sector customers.

* For consumer and small business the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone is free on a 24 month contract at £25 a month.
* For Corporate and Public Sector customers, the smartphone is priced at £185.
* The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

Source: Vodafone Press Centre