The HTC Desire for Vodafone will finally be getting Android 2.2 Monday, 23rd of August, tomorrow, according to Vodafone. This comes after the carrier was pressured by their users to release the upgrade amidst an arguably “pointless” non-Froyo OTA update that seemingly had no other purpose than to add bloatware beyond belief.
you may or may not get it Monday as they’re employing a staggered upgrade process. The wait will probably be a bit longer for a lot of you, but rest assured that updates will finally be going out. At least Vodafone’s committed to helping you get rid of the Vodafone 360 software (aforementioned bloatware) from your device once you finally do receive the upgrade. I’m sure many will appreciate that just as much as Froyo itself.
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At 11am EST, Ralph De La Vega (President and CEO of AT&T) and Mike Lazaridis (President of RIM) took to the stage in NY to give the presentation all Blackberry fans have been waiting for. At the event, they announced the “greatest Blackberry ever” going by the name of the Blackberry Torch 9800 and then following the event, Blackberry announced OS 6, which will debut on the new Torch on August 12th, with the Bold 9700, Bold 9650 and the Pearl 3G also to receive OS 6 later on.
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Widely believed to be the best phone among the geek community, the Nexus One is coming the end of its life. As Google is no longer going to make its own Android handset and they have just received its last shipment of handsets. The Nexus One never really caught on outside of the android and geek community, even though it is a great handset and probably the one of the best phones available at the moment.
However, Google will keep selling them in the UK through Vodafone, and through KI in Korea. But in N.America, it will no longer be available unless you are a registered Google developer, then you can get it through Google’s partners. It will still be the official Google developer phone and it will still get the latest Android OS before any other phone.
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Over half of UK Punters aren’t told that they can cancel their mobile phone contacts if their local coverage is rubbish. The Communications Consumer Panel in the UK published a report saying that. The results of its research state that most customers simply aren’t given the low-down on cancellation policies from mobile contractors if coverage is dodgy.
Using a mystery shopper, the research found that 56 per cent of people who bought at a retail store weren’t given the correct information about their rights of cancellation. The report also revealed that different operators and retailers have completely different policies on cancellations. Some operators point blank refuse to cancel contracts even if there wasn’t any coverage. That’s not limited coverage, it’s no coverage at all.
If punters were allowed to annul their contact, the length of time varied on when they were allowed to cancel. The Communications Consumer Panel recommended giving punters a minimum 14-day cancellation policy for poor coverage and consistent policies for all. It seems only fair.
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Vodafone’s modifying the firmware upgrade before they gear up to launch it for their Nexus-toting customers. Afraid that Vodafone might be omitting key Android 2.2 features such as internet tethering and hotspot capabilities, those customers have taken it to the official FroYo Nexus One thread on the carrier’s forums.
After a large thread of confusion and miscommunication, it’s said that the modifications are to ensure MMS and Voicemail features are working properly before Vodafone would have to eventually deal with a large influx of customer complaints. Who wouldn’t want their carrier looking out for the best interest of their device, right? Wrong!
A lot of the uproar stems from the supposed fact that Vodafone promised Nexus One purchasers (in voice and in writing) that they would not be touching any firmware updates for the device (and apparently they don’t care if that right would come at the expense of a buggy launch). As they understand it, all updates should be coming directly from Google.
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Around four million mobile phone users will be forced to disconnect their mobile phones if Ofcom goes ahead with proposals to cut mobile termination rates, Vodafone warned today.
The warning comes as Ofcom moves to implement proposals to cut mobile termination rates (MTR) from 4.3 pence per minute (ppm) to 0.5 ppm between 2011 and 2015.
Vodafone chief Guy Lawrence warned: ‘Ofcom’s proposals to slash our incoming call revenues are likely to mean that low income families will start paying more to use their phones because the money we receive from incoming calls will disappear.
‘This revenue has allowed us to support low spenders. We see these proposals as unnecessary intervention which tax low income families and should be reconsidered.’
Vodafone argues that the cut would force operators to increase mobile prices.
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O2, Orange and Vodafone seem to have finalised their tarrifs for the iPhone 4. There isn’t too big of a difference between most models but when it comes to getting the phone free then things can get a little tricky. Thankfully the pricing models are similar enough that you can just pick from the network that gives you the best service!
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Engadget have upped these charts of the tarrifs you can expect for the iPhone 4 on Vodafone. This network is of particular interest as they are usually the most expensive however that, debatably, provide the better service. It’s nice to see the 18 month option creep in here. However these tarrifs might not be set in stone as they were removed as quickly as they went up. Note the data cap on wi-fi hotspots, does that interfere with video calling? Check after the break for the rest:
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Mobile operators have lost their battle to to overturn an EU plan to reduce the amount they can charge for using mobiles abroad.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) backed a Parliamentary ruling made in 2007 that operators cap the maximum charge for making an inter-Europe call to 35 cents (29p) and 11 cents to receive a call by 2011.
The UK’s four biggest mobile operators – O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile – challenged this ruling but their claims were dismissed.
Orange was highly critial of the decision. A spokesperson said: "We are disappointed with the decision expressed today by the European Court of Justice and feel that this does not reflect the best interests of the European market. We will of course continue to comply with European regulations in force."
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Consumer Focus calculated costs for an English mobile phone user in South Africa on a realistic match day scenario. The scenario used is as follows: Phoning home in the morning to speak to partner / kids – 5 mins, calling a friend in to arrange where to meet before the game – 3 mins, 6 texts during the game, a call home to bemoan a 4-3 loss or celebrate a Rooney hat trick – 7 mins, uploading 10 pictures to the On Tour with England blog site, calling to say goodnight to partner / kids – 2 mins.
3 £39.80
O2 £76.25 (contract) £79.77 (pre-pay)
Orange £107.65
T-Mobile £102.90
Tesco Mobile £97.53
Virgin Mobile £68.50 (contract) £81 (pre-pay)
Vodafone £30.69 (contract) £31.53 (pre-pay)
