Both Orange and Vodafone have made a lot of noise about now selling the iPhone on their networks, but equally, if you already have an iPhone on O2, and want to move to Vodafone, but don’t want to buy a whole new device, there really wasn’t a good option; until now!

Vodafone have now announced their iPhone SIM Only deal, whereby you pay £25 per month, and for that you get:

• 600 voice minutes
• “Unlimited” 3000 texts
• 1GB of data (it’s worth noting this is often only 500MB with most Vodafone contracts)
• Flexible 30 day agreement
• 1GB of data via BT Premium OpenZone hotspots too

This is an interesting deal, and brings together the WiFi component of many iPhone contracts without the need to buy a new device.  Although this probably won’t be the first such tariff, it’s nice to see a network saying “hey, bring your existing phone to our network, and we both benefit”.

For more details, head to the Vodafone website to see the details about the iPhone SIM Only deal for yourself.

If you own a Nokia N97, then you should find that the free Ovi Maps software is now available.  It’s not yet integrated into a firmware update, but instead is available from the built in Software Update tool.  However, you’ll need v20 firmware already installed, so where does the Nokia N97 UK network operator branded versions stand…?

Well, for most UK network operators, they have offered v20 for some time, and hence if you don’t already have the new firmware, you can apply it and then pick up the Ovi Maps update (although you need a fair amount of free space on the C: drive, so if it won’t install, hopefully the v21 firmware which will include the new v3.03 Free Ovi Maps should be out at some point in the next few weeks).

Most.  Not all.  This week, it’s Orange in the doghouse, for still being on v10 firmware, and not yet having made v20 available for their customers.  Nokia have said they are working to ensure v20 is available to all, but yet again, things are complicated by the UK networks.

It’s nice to see the Nokia N97 finally included in the list of supported devices for the Free Navigation Forever campaign from Nokia, but personally, I still want to see Nokia offering it to S60 3rd Edition FP1 devices…

When Nokia made Ovi Maps free for a whole range of devices last week, one thing which wasn’t so strongly mentioned was the minimum firmware versions needed for certain devices.  Take the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic for example; although many devices shipped with v11 (and since then Nokia has released v20, v21, v30, v31 and v40 firmwares), you actually need a minimum of v31 to be able to install this latest version of Ovi Maps.

Obviously for anyone with a generic unbranded device, this is easy; a quick firmware check on the device, or using Nokia Software Updater on your Windows PC will soon confirm that there is a v40 firmware, and you can easily install it; but what about the UK network operators?  If you have a branded device, are you in luck?

Well, generally, the good news is yes, you are in luck.  It looks like the majority of UK branded product codes have had v31 released (although none that I checked actually had v40 released yet), so overall, you have a good chance of being able to upgrade the firmware in your phone, and then install the new free to use Ovi Maps.

However, all is not perfect; I did say “the majority”, and I’m sorry to say, the Orange product code for a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Blue edition (the early devices Orange first sold) seems to be stuck on v30, and hence, although fairly up to date, not sufficiently up to date to allow the new Ovi Maps to work.  Ironically, the Black variant, which, being newer, has strangely always faired better for firmware updates seems to have v31 available, so those users are fine.

If my research is correct, that’s a silly situation to be in; depending when you bought your phone determines which colour you have, and with Orange, that can mean the difference between being able to install Ovi Maps or not.  Let’s hope Orange resolve this with some speed given the amount of advertising Nokia is putting behind their new Ovi Maps versions.

However, that’s not the end of the story; it appears 3UK are also stuck on v30, and hence anyone with a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic from 3UK will not be able to run the latest Ovi Maps either.

Obviously, I am not able to check every single colour and operator variant, but I checked over 10 different product codes to write this article; if you have a device from Orange or 3UK that has access to the v31 or v40 firmware (without changing the product code), then please add a comment and let me know the product code (from underneath the battery in the form of 0559360) and what firmware version you have access to…

So, to recap; well done to most UK operators (T-Mobile, O2, Virgin, Vodafone), and not so well done to Orange and 3UK for either not having v31 available, or having a mix of firmware versions.

What a nice change; a device launched in the US, but at the launch, it was announced that the device will be coming to the UK!  T-Mobile UK are working with ICD to release the ICD Vega Kitchen computer / Android Tablet in the UK later this year.  Well, compared to the O2 Joggler, this might well have just those few extra facilities to actually be a bigger success story…

The spec of the Vega includes:

• Processor — Nvidia Tegra 250 (1GHz)
• Memory – 512MB DDR DRAM
• Flash — 512MB NAND flash; 32GB internal SD card; external Micro SD slot
• Display — 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 resistive touchscreen; HDMI output
• Wireless:
  • 802.11b/g WiFi
  • Bluetooth 2.1
  • Optional 2G or 3G cellular
• USB — 1 x USB 2.0 High-Speed OTG
• Camera — 1.3-megapixel
• Audio — 3.5mm audio jack; external speakers; dual microphones
• Other features:
  • Accelerometer
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Charging dock
  • Magnetic docking
• Power — 11AH 3.9V lithium-ion battery (4 hours life); 110-240V input; 12VDC output (35 W, for dock)
• Dimensions — 14.7 x 10.0 x 0.6 inches (373 x 254 x 16mm)
• Weight — 2.9 lbs (1.3kg)
• Operating system — Android 2.0

The dock may also feature an additional speaker, and possibly an HDMI port too, but with that 3G support, you’ll be able to make calls, and this is no sudden decision by T-Mobile, who have, apparently been working with ICD for 18 months.

Taken advantage of the Android platform, Linuxdevices have said “The Android software on the device offers one-touch access to a household calendar, enabling families to organize schedules in one place, say the companies. The web-accessible device can automatically send SMS text reminders of calendar items to cellphones. Additional features are said to include web browsing, on-demand TV, access to social networks, video chat, and games.”

ICD also announced a 15.6″ unit (ICD Ultra) and made reference to also working on an 11″ tablet too.  The ICD Ultra adds to the Vega specs with a GPS too.

One small point to watch out for; these, and many other “Android” devices are likely to be using the Open Source Android OS, and will not be “Google Experience” devices, so don’t expect this device to automatically take a Google account and support all the Google features that you may have on your “Google Experience” Android phone…

The only other unknown at this point is the price, but we would expect something similar to O2 and the Joggler where there are options for subsidised pricing…

Some content courtesy of Linux Devices, and thanks to Stuart for the Heads Up!

Although nothing has been announced yet, if you go into the Settings page within Twitter, and select Mobile, the UK entry has been updated as:

• UK: 86444 (Vodafone, Orange, 3 and O2 customers)

Now, this seems to imply that 3UK have joined the other listed networks in providing the ability to send and receive twitter messages and DMs via SMS.  Obviously until it’s formally announced we won’t know the exact limits (eg the number of free SMS you can receive per month, or exactly how the billing of sent SMS will work), but this is a positive move for 3UK, although with their inclusion of free internet on PAYG, and the fact that many of their phones are now shipping with Twitter clients directly may limit how many people truly need such a function, but it’s nice to know it’s coming…

That just leaves T-Mobile who aren’t playing…

Thanks to Liam Green-Hughes who drew my attention to this earlier today.

Tesco Mobile will be selling the iPhone from Monday, with the following pricing:

• On PAYG, the 8GB iPhone 3G will cost £342, the 16GB iPhone 3GS £440 and the 32GB iPhone 3GS £538, and includes 12-month “unlimited” web and WiFi (BT Openzone only, whereas O2 offer BT Openzone and The Cloud)

On a 12-month contract:

• The 8GB iPhone 3G will cost £222 upfront, and £20/month (12-month contract)
• The 16GB iPhone 3GS will cost £320 upfront, and £20/month (12-month contract)
• The 32GB iPhone 3GS will cost £407 upfront, and £20/month (12-month contract)

For that £20/month, you’ll get £60 of value of calls & texts, and “unlimited” web and WiFi (again BT Openzone only)

On a 24-month contract:

• The 8GB iPhone 3G will be free and £60/month (24-month contract)
• The 16GB iPhone 3GS will be free and £60/month (24-month contract)
• The 32GB iPhone 3GS will cost £50 upfront and £60/month (24-month contract)

For that £60/month you’ll get “unlimited” £500 worth of calls and texts, and “unlimited” web and WiFi (BT Openzone only)

Tesco Mobile have call rates of 20p per minute and 10p per text, although it’s possible to halve these figures for up to 5 pre-selected phone numbers, and for PAYG users, Tesco Mobile offer some free credit once per month when you topup.

It’s certainly not clear reading the Tesco Mobile what the Fair Use limit is for the “unlimited” web; for a normal Pay Monthly contract, internet is charged at £4 per MB and comes out of that “unlimited” credit of £500 worth of services, whereas it’s not clear whether the iPhone tariffs will be any different.  As a result, you should certainly discuss the costs carefully with Tesco Mobile before signing up…

Some information courtesy of The Really Mobile Project.

Let’s start with the first issue; actually, it’s not called a MiFi in the UK, it’s called the Novatel Wireless Intelligent Mobile Hotspot 2352, as 3UK own the trademark MiFi in the UK (although Novatel Wireless own the MiFi trademark in the US).  So, the device competes with the 3UK MiFi device, and in some ways is better, and in others, not quite as good.

Firstly, the downside: it is currently only available SIM-free (for around £200), which is a lot more than the 3UK MiFi, which can be picked up for £50.  Of course, the 3UK is locked to 3UK, and only works on 3UK, whereas the Novatel MiFi is not locked, and will pick up the internet access point from whatever SIM is put into it, making it more suitable for anyone looking to use a network other than 3UK.

In terms of ease of use, it has one advantage over the 3UK MiFi; when you turn it on (by pressing and holding the power button) that’s it; it sorts everything out, and “just works”, whereas the 3UK unit needs you to then press and hold the 3G button as a second step.  The Novatel device also gives you access to the microSD card slot via the web interface, whereas the 3UK device only allows access to the card slot via the USB cable.

There are other minor differences; eg the 3UK device comes with the wireless encryption key under the battery inside the unit, but also on a piece of card to allow easy setup, whereas the Novatel only has the code attached to the inside of the battery cover.  This, at first glance, seems better, as it allows the device to remain powered whilst you connect a new device, but I discovered that every time I took the battery cover, my natural instinct was to turn the unit back the right way up (to allow you to see the status lights to see whether the new device had connected), and the battery would loosen enough to switch the unit off.  A minor point, and obviously once everything is setup, not a problem in real usage.

Another minor difference is that the Novatel device will work on 2G as well as 3G; whereas 3UK only offer a 3G-only Mobile Broadband service (although their handsets can roam onto Orange’s 2G network, their broadband devices can’t), and although I wouldn’t want to share a 2G connection to multiple devices, a slow connection may be better than no connection…

I’ll be continuing to trial the device for a little while, but at first glances it looks a nice unit, although everyone I speak to says the 3UK MiFi has one of the best 3G radio components available today, so it will be interesting to see how the Novatel device works under the same conditions that I tried the 3UK MiFi under…

giffgaff is a new virtual mobile phone network operator, sitting on the O2 network (in fact the company is actually part of O2), but with an innovative business model, and hence tariff.  Firstly, no call centres (some will celebrate this single point), in fact they have very few staff at all, and will be relying upon other customers to help in the online forums (the main route to support).  When an existing member is thanked within the forum, they will earn kudos, which adds up, along with many other things into giffgaff points, which add up to hard cash (or at least credit).

However, as well as keeping costs down, they are keeping the tariff simple, and encouraging individuals to recruit their friends and family onto the same tariff…

• Calls, SMS, MMS, call forwarding, and even video calls between giffgaff users will be free (as long as you topup £10 every 3 months, and only calls up to 60 minutes will be free)
• UK landlines and mobiles (and voicemail) will cost 8p/min
• UK SMS will be 4p each (possibly showing a more accurate figure than other networks)
• MMS will be 16p each
• Video calls will be 50p/min

That’s the general stuff out of the way, now let’s look at the two exciting bits…

• Freefone calls (0800) will actually be free!
• Data will be free for 6 months!

Wow, it’s really good to see a network returning to the Orange / T-Mobile ways of many many years ago and providing freefone numbers for free.

The reason for free data is partly to gauge the interest in the service, partly to allow them further discussion on what pricing to set.

If you want a SIM, head over to the giffgaff website and order one, and let us know how you get on!

Some content courtesy of Dan at The Really Mobile Project.

Orange announced today that they are now supporting Twitter for text messages, but will also offer support for uploading photos via MMS too.  In a similar arrangement to both O2 and Vodafone, you are able to send and receive certain tweets throughout the day, although whereas O2 and Vodafone both clearly state the limit of the total number of free tweets you will be sent via SMS per month, Orange have not provided any details of their limit.

You can send tweets via SMS, which will come out of your inclusive bundle, or be charged at your normal rate, and if you include your username and password, you can also MMS a photo to the same shortcode (86444), and this will appear on Twitter via Orange’s Snapshot service.  MMS will also come out of your inclusive bundle (if you have one), or will be charged at 30p per MMS.

O2 have today announced a collaboration between themselves and PURE Digital, bringing PURE’s The Lounge Internet Radio streams to the O2 Joggler, and at the same time, reduced the price down to £99.99.  The O2 Joggler, if you remember, is a proprietary device offering access to a limited set of applications providing access to certain facilities (Weather, Road Traffic, News, Sports, local photo display, and messaging).  In fact, back in the March launch, O2 talked about Messaging and Internet Radio following in May, although only the Messaging support got added (and in June); so finally, they have added the Internet Radio support originally promised!

By working with PURE Digital, they are providing a “selection of the most popular UK BBC and commercial radio stations” (around 100 stations in total) out of the 12,000 or so available via PURE directly, although there’s no word as to whether the O2 Joggler also supports the listen again facilities of The Lounge.

O2 have also announced that the device will be upgraded from Flash 8 to Flash 10, and have announced an SDK will shortly be available to allow developers to create 3rd party application for this device, which will then be accessible to users via a dedicated App Store, which should be available before the end of the year (although based on pretty much all the timeframes so far being missed with this device, don’t hold your breath!)

Initially, the O2 Joggler App Store will only support free applications, which is probably a good move; and any developers interested in developing for this device should look at some of the UK specific widgets developed for the Chumby platform to understand what might work for the UK.  As a hint, Flickr photo display, Live UK train departure / arrival information, and BBC support would all help the device, not to mention apps such as instant messaging and Social Networking support, plus last.fm and/or Spotify support would help make this device sell better, and compete against the PURE Sensia and it’s own application support.

Of course, whether O2 would authorise all those applications is another story, but as the device does not use their 3G network (only the local broadband connection), there is little reason to limit the device, and support like this could in time make it a firm favourite with O2 customers…

The iPhone has been locked to O2 since they first launched the device, but now the device is available from other networks (currently only Orange, but it will be available on Vodafone in the New Year too), O2 are now offering people the ability to unlock their iPhone.

If you are a Pay Monthly customer, then the unlock is free, and can occur at any time during the contract; you will still have to continue making the monthly payments until the end of the contract (and it’s not clear whether or not O2 will let you port the number away from O2 during this contract period), but O2 will unlock your iPhone for free.

If you are a PAYG customer (and many iPhone 3GS were bought like this, as it proved an efficient way of getting the iPhone upgrade before the customer’s iPhone 3G contract term was up) then it’s a bit more complicated.  Firstly, you need to have had the iPhone for over 12 months, and it will cost £14.69, so you need enough credit for that too.  Also, if the iPhone 3GS was registered with the PAYG SIM, you’ll need that number to perform the unlocking, as that’s the number linked to the phone sale.

If the phone was bought from an O2 store, Carphone Warehouse, or Apple UK, you should have no problems getting your iPhone unlocked; from any other source, and you will have to speak to the company you bought it from to sort out the unlock; ebay sales may run into problem unless you have the original SIM and number used to originally register the iPhone.

You need to complete an unlocking form, and the process can take upto 14 days, and to complete the process once you have entered the code O2 supply, you’ll need to have a non-O2 SIM to place in the iPhone, and then connect to iTunes via a USB cable to get the final confirmation message.

It’s nice to see O2 offering this service, although it’s a shame that due to the subsidies, PAYG customers have to wait 12 months (whereas other networks with less subsidised phones can often provide the unlock code within hours of first registering the phone), and for those who find their iPhone is linked to a SIM they don’t have or can’t find may have problems unlocking at all.

For more information, head over to the iPhone unlocking webpage at O2.

We’ve been a little light on news stories this week, something I apologise for.  This has been caused by a number of reasons, including a few minor technical issues (for example, we’ve turned off the automatic tweeting of news articles on twitter due to a bug in this service).  However, one of the background changes will hopefully allow us to offer a number of new features soon, which I’ll announce when they are ready.

However, a few stories have caught my eye in the last few days, so I thought I’d cover them quickly…

Having had such great success with the Spotify music client on the iPhone, and it’s offline mode allowing you to download some playlists for use without a net connection, Spotify have now added the same capability to their desktop client.  Whereas the whole mobile client needs a Spotify Premium account to function, this offline facility also requires the same type of account.

As shown above, Chumby have announced a second unit.  Although it won’t ship until next month, it’s a little simpler than the current unit (which will remain on sale too), but will cost less as a result ($120 compared to $200 for the “Classic” Chumby).  One difference it will feature though, is an optional battery module, and we’ll bring you more news when it’s available.

In other news regarding American products, the news we covered back in July that the Amazon Kindle may be coming to the UK seems to have resurfaced in the last few days, with rumours that the device will be announced this month, with a deal with either O2 or T-Mobile.

Interestingly, when I wrote that article back in July, I also mentioned O2 losing their exclusivity on the iPhone, and that the phone may be available on at least 2 networks within “the next few months”; hopefully we may well see my prediction over the Kindle coming true as well!

I wrote a guide on how to use 3UK, Skype and ping.fm to send messages to Twitter (and other Social Networking sites) from a 3UK phone back in May (read it here).  Well, we should provide a few updates to that article now…

Firstly, when we wrote that article, you needed a 3UK-supplied phone running the Skype on 3 application, and as we have mentioned recently, you can now use a non-3UK supplied phone, as long as you still use the 3UK specific Skype on 3 application.  With the Free Skype Calls Forever promotion, you can even use this app even if your credit has run out!

Well, ping.fm also support Windows Live Messenger, and 3 now offer this for free too, so you can set this up in the same way, and then be able to choose your method of providing alerts to your favourite social networks.

Why bother we hear you cry; twitter has an SMS number that you can text directly; why go to all this bother.  Well, it doesn’t matter if you have 1000 “unlimited” texts every month, or 4000 “unlimited” texts a month, the twitter SMS phone number is provided by Manx Telecom (from the Isle of Mann), and although the number is within the UK range of +44, because it’s not provided by one of the UK mobile networks (along with the Channel Isles, the Isle of Mann is not technically part of the UK), some networks, including 3UK, will not include the text as part of your UK text allowance, and may even go further and charge you for sending an international text message.

What other options do you have? Well, for twitter; both Vodafone and O2 now support the sending and receiving of twitter SMS messages directly (with the sending coming out of your inclusive minutes, and the receiving being capped around 500 messages per month).

If you want to try this out on your 3G phone, then you can get a Free 3UK SIM from 3UK.

After Orange announced it would be selling the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS before the end of the year, Vodafone then announced they would be selling the same 2 devices in early 2010.  Now, having read a lot of articles and suggestions since then, it appears that T-Mobile are likely to carry the iPhone too, although it may too not be until 2010.  This information seems based on the fact that by then, Orange and T-Mobile will have formally merged, allowing T-Mobile to sell the device.

That’s 4 out of the 5 UK networks then; so what about 3UK…?  Well, it would be a shame if they don’t pick up the phone; generally they support unhindered internet access from their devices, and as they are happy to only sell Android phones with a net connection so they shouldn’t have a problem with that side of things, but will the overall cost put off both them and their customers…?  Only time will tell if 3UK pick up the device, but we’re hearing that we may well see the device available on all networks at some point in 2010.  Of course, what will happen when the next iPhone device gets launched around June 2010 is anyone’s guess…!

Although we’re all waiting to hear more news and more details about the deal and the exact pricing options, Orange have confirmed that they will be selling the Apple iPhone 3GS “later this year”.  This ends the “multi-year agreement” that O2 have had in place since 2007 (which for some while has been rumoured to have only been 2 years).  Little more has been announced by Orange, except that you can pre-register your interest by accessing this web page.

With a lot of people coming to the end of their 18-month contract for the original iPhone 3G in the next few months, it will be interesting to see how many remain on O2, and how many jump across (or back) to Orange to get the latest version of the phone.  For existing Orange customers, it will be interesting to see how supportive of keeping their own customers Orange is; traditionally most of the UK networks offer worse “upgrade” deals than the deals they offer to “new” customers, forcing many to move away from their preferred network.

Of course, if you are an Orange customer, and want the new iPhone 3GS, and Orange don’t offer you a good upgrade deal; one option is to port your number to another network and take out a 1 month rolling contract, then cancel that after 1 month, and port back to Orange as a “new” customer.  Isn’t it daft how we have to go through these hoops; I wonder if Orange will just offer their existing customers the same deals; I also wonder whether any other network will be selling the iPhone in the coming months too…

Yesterday O2 launched a very specific application called “My O2 App”.  This is a simple (and free) application to access various information about your O2 account.  The app is PIN protected, which needs to be entered on each app load.

It provides information on remaining minutes, next bill summary and other information, and is available for Personal Contract and PAYG customers (Business and Corporate customers can’t currently access this information via this app).

The app can be access from this web link.

Well, it appears that subject to Regulatory Approval, T-Mobile and Orange will merge their UK operations to form a combined operation having 37% market share (compared to O2 at 27% and Vodafone at 25%).  Should it gain approval, the merger will take place around October / November time, but it’s likely in the short term at least there will be no difference, and even in the slightly longer term, it appears many of the changes will be behind the scenes, and the two brands will continue to operate (and compete).  With T-Mobile in a mast sharing deal with 3UK, it’s interesting to speculate what will happen to this joint venture, and how T-Mobile and Orange will actually merge their operations.

We covered O2’s plans to add support for Twitter from 1st August via SMS last week, but O2 decided to go one better, and actually started their Twitter support from Monday this week.  Anyone who had previously signed up to Twitter SMS alerts may well have discovered SMSes coming in already this week, and for all others on O2, you simply need to head over to Twitter and setup SMS support for your O2 phone.  Remember, you’ll get 500 free twitter messages (tweets) sent to you, and SMSes you send to Twitter will come out of your inclusive bundle, or be chargeable at your standard rate.

After we informed you about a number of new Nokia devices available on Vodafone this year, it appears even more devices are coming…

Dan at World of Nokia reports that the Nokia E63 is coming out soon, and that Vodafone will also be stocking the new Nokia E52 (the replacement for the Nokia E51, and a similar design to the Nokia E55, but without the hybrid keyboard).

What’s also interesting is that Dan points out the Nokia E52 will be available for £225 on PAYG, but will not be SIM-locked, which makes it a good value high spec smartphone…

So, that’s the Nokia E63, Nokia E71, Nokia E72, Nokia E52 and the rumoured Nokia N97 Mini all being available on Vodafone over the next few months; it seems Vodafone is trying to make up for the various exclusive phones O2 have picked up by offering a greater range of form factors…

Although we don’t usually speculate on rumours, a couple of interesting ones seem to be flying around at the moment.  Firstly, there’s the rumour that with the release of the Apple iPhone 3GS, O2 have lost their exclusivity on the old iPhone 3G, and we may well see it turning up on at least 2 networks in the next few months.  Although good for consumers and sales of the elder device, we’ll have to wait and see on this one.

However, another rumour, which seems much more likely, is that Amazon are working on releasing their latest Kindle ebook reader across Europe, and in particular, the UK.  They are looking for both WiFi and 3G connectivity options, which may well point to another device heading to O2’s networks.  It’s been known for somewhile that their latest Kindle device has a space on the motherboard for a GSM chipset, and with sales of other eBook readers (Sony devices at Waterstones, or the Elonex eBook Reader at Borders), it’s a logical step for Amazon UK.

These are both interesting rumours, and both would create significant sales for their manufacturers should they come true…