This post was written in advance of most of the Mobile World Congress 2010 Press Releases and companies announcing new products, so what do I think will be announced across the week of the event…

Firstly, HTC will announce a replacement Android device to replace the Hero, possibly with a QWERTY keyboard too.

Nokia will announce a new top of the range N-Series device to replace the N97, and hopefully not following the trend of the Nokia N96 and the Nokia N97 in not really being a fantastic / perfect device to head up the range.

Nokia will announce at least one new E-Series device, possibly using a form factor not seen within the E-Series range before.

INQ will announce something; either a concept of their Android devices due later this year, or an actual phone, possibly also announcing more operators who will be taking their phones.

Sony Ericsson seem to have already announced a range of new phones:

• The X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro (which adds a QWERTY slider), both Android devices
• The Vivaz Pro; a QWERTY slider version of the already announced Vivaz, both S60 5th Edition devices and shown below
• The Aspen, a Windows Mobile device

The Vivaz will be available in Q1 2010 along with the X10, whereas the X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro, and the Aspen will all appear in Q2 2010.

The most important thing seems to be that the main mobile companies are back on form, and releasing devices worthy of discussion…

3UK want to promote the use of Twitter, and so for the whole of February and March, access to Twitter will be free!  What exactly is and isn’t included?  Well, 3UK have stated that access to Twitter for tweeting messages and pictures will be free of charge, whether you are accessing Twitter via the mobile browser, or using the integrated client on devices such as the INQ Mini 3G, Sony Ericsson T715, or even the INQ Chat 3G.  If you already pay for Internet access on your mobile phone, then accessing twitter will not come out of your internet data allowance.

Although this is only a 2 month period, this means that right now you can use Skype, Twitter and Windows Live Messenger for free on your device.  As always, 3UK seem to be pushing the boundaries on what could and should be included within the contract, and we hope this promotion can be extended in the long term.

Last week I attended an event hosted by 3UK.  In attendance were a variety of 3UK staff from Marketing & PR, Products & Services, Customer Services, and the Networks team.  I had a chance to chat with people for each area and was able to ask a wide range of questions, especially those that you had added as comments to my request last week.  As a result, I’m able to provide a glimpse into what 2010 holds for 3UK (although nothing truly exclusive and brand new was announced, there was some useful information provided)…

Please read the questions and answers after the break…

(more…)

Now available in the Ovi Store is a Symbian Facebook  for the Nokia E71 / Nokia E72.  To see more screenshots, head over to ZOMG its CJ’s website here.  However, from our point of view, it’s not enough…

On much cheaper phones (eg the INQ Mini 3G, reviewed here) the Facebook support is actually much more integrated into the phone; it will happily take the Facebook contacts and add them to the local addressbook, it will bring their picture down, and it even puts their latest status updates right in the addressbook for you to see if you are about to ring, text or IM them.  The Sony Ericsson T715 we recently reviewed (here) also had support for Facebook, with the ability to upload pictures to Facebook as soon as they were taken, so why aren’t we seeing this level of integration on Symbian?

None of this is difficult, and if it can be achieved for a £50 phone, then surely it can be achieved for a £300 phone…

However, it’s a start, and one we hope that Facebook and Symbian work on to improve.  Also, we’ve no idea why this application is limited to these two phones, although we can understand the need for a portrait version and a separate landscape version given the way Symbian works.

Screenshot courtesy of ZOMG its CJ too.

As we seem to be talking about music today, this week saw the launch of the Spotify client for Symbian S60 (both 3rd Edition and 5th Edition), and it seems to have been generally well received.  Granted there are maybe a few minor issues with the UI (it’s difficult to tell what music is available in offline mode) and some have (quite rightly) questioned the £120 per year cost of being able to listen, but not own the music.

Basically, if you like to listen to lots and lots of different music, potentially more than you own (in both music tastes as well as disk space limits) then Spotify may well be the solution for you.  It’s more expensive than Last.fm (which is more geared around giving you access to music you already own or is similar to your own music), but for many it’s worth the extra cost.  If, on the other hand, you don’t buy much music each month, and your current music collection fits happily onto your music device of choice, then maybe the cost of the Spotify Premium account would be better spent on buying more music, but for those that want to use the service, Spotify have added the Symbian client to their existing Android and Apple iPhone clients.

As we mentioned with the Spotify bundle deal with 3UK (here), you need to be careful not to over-use any 3G data connection you have, as music streaming can quickly eat through your monthly allowance, but by careful use of offline playlists and Wi-Fi connections, you should be able to listen to fresh music on a regular basis via Spotify.

To access and download the client, simply point your mobile browser to m.spotify.com, once downloaded, you’ll need to enter your Spotify account details (which needs to be a Premium account at £10 per month, no minimum contract period).  Even better, this version supports all Symbian devices, including those from Samsung and the Sony Ericsson Satio, so isn’t limited to Nokia devices.

Offline playlists are limited to 3,333 tracks (assuming you have enough space for all of those tracks), and every 30 days you will need to resync; if you go abroad, you can continue to use Spotify Premium in a country not normally supported by the service for 14 days, so you can have your music as long as your holidays aren’t too long (and you can afford the data roaming costs; if not; use the offline facilities which gives you a little longer anyway).

Another key difference between Spotify and Last.fm is that Spotify allows you to select an album to play, whereas Last.fm concentrates more on the artist, and will give you a selection of their songs, but not in strict album order.  Finally, both services limit you to 1 live online music stream, even if the same account has been configured in multiple devices.

With the limits on 3G data usage in the UK, and the higher cost than Last.fm (which can also be used on hardware devices), it’s difficult to see many people paying this subscription in the long term, but at least they are supporting a wide range of mobile devices.

Well, I’ve had an INQ Mini 3G (courtesy of 3mobilebuzz) for a couple of weeks now, and overall, I’ve been quietly impressed by the phone.  From the automatic importing of Facebook and Skype contacts into the Contacts list, to the fact the phone has support for these Social Networking sites, and Twitter support, and all for less than £50!

Now, let’s be honest, I’m used to smartphones, and there are a number of little things that annoy me with the device; the start up sound can’t be cancelled by pressing a key (as per Nokia devices), and the whole menu system is a little bright and colourful for my taste (and with no theme support, no opportunity to change it either), but these are minor niggles, and certainly don’t detract from the phone.

Supporting Social Networking sites directly in the device, combined with the standard 3UK support of Windows Live Messenger makes this a well supported device, and well worth a look.  I liked the fact the homepage supports 3 widgets (I used weather, world clock and an RSS feed of the BBC website, all options built into the phone), although I have heard some people warn there may be a memory leak, as I’ve heard of people needing to reboot the phone after a long time turned on with widgets in use.  That’s a key issue to me; I rarely turn my phone off, so long term stability is key, and it maybe that a firmware / application update is needed to resolve these issues; hopefully they will be addressed before the INQ Chat ships.

The phone also shipped with Google Mail and Google Maps (v2.3.2; nice!), which was useful for people like me who use Google a lot, and the phone can be used with GooSync to sync data from the likes of Google Calendar too.  Personally, I found the calendar a bit simple when entering new entries, but I suspect most people will use the phone linked to Google or Outlook, and not enter directly onto the device (again, I’ve been spoilt by smartphones offering a decent Calendar app).  In fact, the only thing missing is the Last.fm scrobbling support that the INQ1 had, and it’s still not clear why INQ dropped this function, especially with the likes of Last.fm and Spotify moving more into the mobile space…

Again, a personal point, but it uses miniUSB (not the end of the world, although many manufacturers are moving to microUSB), which is used for both the headphones and charging.  With Bluetooth support for a headset in the car, this isn’t the end of the world, but I’m not a fan of the combined port; let’s hope when INQ move to Android next year we’ll see a dedicated headphone socket on their devices.  Whilst I’m looking at the hardware, I wasn’t a big fan of the way the rear cover clipped on (it did have a release button at the top, which makes it better than the Sony Ericsson T715 I reviewed here), but only just, and I couldn’t find any sight of the other 6 coloured interchangeable backs on the 3Store, so right now you’ll be stuck with the red back).

Let’s be honest, for the price and based on the software on this device; if you are not in the market for a smartphone but want connectivity options to keep upto date with your Social Networking sites, then the INQ Mini 3G should be high on your list of options, if not at the top.  Here at UK Gadgeteer, I’ve covered a number of hints and tips over the last few weeks, and INQ Mobile should be congratulated for providing online support, and being willing to engage with their customers.

When the INQ Chat arrives with the QWERTY keyboard, and GPS, it’ll be interesting to see whether INQ can still compete in the mid-tier marketplace against devices like the Nokia E63…

Oh, and finally, a small point, but having performed a master reset of the device to return it, the phone still had all the contacts on it, plus the sign-in details for Skype, so if you ever decide to sell your INQ Mini 3G, be careful about removing all your personal data as well as performing a master reset.

This is an innovative desk stand for your phone.  As well as including an 8-in-1 memory card reader, a 2 port USB hub, having a variety of connectors to charge your phone, and running solely off USB power, it also claims to be able to hold any phone in portrait or landscape formats without any additional support!

The Desk Genie is apparently made from a special rubberised material, which is strong enough to hold an phone in portrait or landscape positions, and should even still hold the phone in place when the phone is vibrating, yet should leave no sticky residue on the phone.  For only £15 (+ delivery) this looks an interest device, if only to hold your phone at the right angle for use on your desk, let alone all the additional properties it has.

Mobile Fun do warn that with time the rubbery surface’s ability to hold a phone will fade as dust collects on the surface, but a quick wipe with clean water should restore it back to normal.

As for those mobile phones charging connectors: iPhone, Nokia (both 2mm and 3.5mm), Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG are all supported, as are the miniUSB and microUSB formats (the latter being the standard connector for many manufacturers moving forward).   This power connector does not use either of the USB ports on the device, although it would appear at first glance that this is a power only connector, so it may not be possible to sync and charge many devices (unless you use Bluetooth to sync between the device and your PC/Mac).

You can see more of the Desk Genie at Mobile Fun.

Vodafone have now launched the Nokia E72, with stocks due into stores in the next few days.  It will be available for free on the following 18 months contracts:

• £35 per month for 600 minutes, “unlimited” 3000 texts, “unlimited” 3000 minutes of landline calls (each call lasting less than 60 minutes), “unlimited” 500MB internet access
• £40 per month for 900 minutes, “unlimited” 3000 texts, “unlimited” 3000 minutes of landline calls (each call lasting less than 60 minutes), “unlimited” 500MB internet access
• £45 per month for 1200 minutes, “unlimited” 3000 texts, “unlimited” 3000 miuites of landline calls (each call lasting less than 60 minutes), “unlimited” 500MB internet access

For those wanting a updated Nokia Symbian device with QWERTY and a 5 megapixel camera, then this may well be the phone for you.  For those after a touchscreen Symbian device, the most recent options are obviously the Nokia N97 Mini and the Sony Ericsson Satio.

For those worried about that 500MB data limit, there are options with Vodafone to purchase higher data rates; eg for £15 per month, you can get 3GB, but are limited in some uses (file sharing, VOIP), or for £25 per month, you can get 5GB without limit. Alternatively, if you go over the 500MB limit, for the rest of the month you’ll be transferred to the £1 per day until the 1st of the next month (for 15MB per day, and then they’ll charge you £2 per MB).  Interestingly, on some Vodafone pages they clearly and simply state the limit, and don’t use the word “unlimited” at all (mainly those designed for existing customers), whereas the pages aimed at new customers are littered with the term…

3UK have just announced that they are now selling the Sony Ericsson Satio, a 12 megapixel cameraphone, which will cost £30 per month on an 18-month contract with the Mix’n'Match 300 tariff, or £399.99 on PAYG.  As well as the impressive camera, the phone features touch focus, face detection, and a Xenon flash.  As a 3UK phone, it features Skype on 3 and Windows Live Messenger as well.  The phone features a 16:9 640×360 3.5″ widescreen display for playback of those pictures and videos, but there are other, sometimes overlooked features on this phone, such as the 12x digital zoom, geotagging of photos, image stabilizer, as well as all the other features and applications one would expect of a Symbian 5th Edition touchscreen device, including an accelerometer, HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

In fact generally there aren’t many downsides to this device; the 1000mAh battery worries us slightly, as this sounds a little low for a good day’s usage (why oh why do smartphones force a daily charge), and our only other concern area is how much effort Sony Ericsson put into firmware updates for the device, as often seems needed on Symbian (or other smartphone OS) devices.  Oh, and the final issue with the device (which isn’t really an issue, but something to be aware of); most Nokia specific Symbian applications may not work on the device, so don’t expect the full Nokia suite of apps on this device.  Of course, it ships with Google Maps, which often negates the need for Nokia / Ovi Maps (don’t forget to take out the £5 per month Internet Add-On with this phone, as it will be well worth it), and other apps such as Nokia Sportstracker won’t work either (although a quick look through other Symbian applications should soon find a worthy free alternative).

3UK are continuing to innovate both at the lower end of the price market, and still signing up powerful high spec devices like this too, and this bodes well for next year…

This is an interesting phone, and shows that both the main mobile phone companies and the mobile networks can work together to produce a phone capable of more than just calls!  The phone (as we mentioned before) has Twitter and Facebook support, as well as the usual 3UK features (Skype on 3, Email on 3, Windows Live Messenger etc) and the phone also has some RSS support too.

Some features were well integrated, eg if you take a picture, the menu then offers to Send the photo to Twitter or Facebook as well as the more usual options.  However, others, such as the Social Networking apps themselves, weren’t so easy to find; Facebook wasn’t too bad, as it’s available from Menu / Messaging, but Twitter was only found in Menu / Entertainment / Applications, whereas, it would have made more sense in the Messaging area alongside Facebook.

However, in that app list, there were a number of other useful applications, including AccuWeather, YouTube, Yell, as well as the 3UK specific apps.  Also, was a Permier Football Scores app (although this requires you to pay a subscription to use it at all).

In other terms, the phone, and 3UK’s integration was good (personally I don’t like 3UK taking over both softkeys on the homescreen, but this is a minor point).  I did like the way that 3UK recognised I had moved my 3 SIM into a different phone, and automatically sent the latest 3UK settings to the phone (including sending an SMS in advance telling me what was happening, and how to accept the settings).

However, all was not perfect; I didn’t like the back cover, which is held on with 2 clips at the top and 2 more at the bottom, therefore needing some force to remove it; no nice buttons / slide to remove here.  Okay, the rear cover only gives access to the battery, SIM and microSD card slot, so probably does not need to come off often, but it still detracted from the phone.  Also, the phone uses a proprietary connection for both the handset and charging; given the general move by the other manufacturers towards microUSB, this was a shame (some, like LG, are already shipping phones with microUSB).

In a normal week, I would be saying that this is a really good, all round phone, but I’ve just had the new INQ Mini delivered, and that seems to offer a similar package that’s easier to use, and has less negatives, but that’s for another article…

The Sony Ericsson T715 is available from 3UK in Pink and Silver, and thanks to 3mobilebuzz for the loan of the phone.

This is the new Sony Ericsson T715, which launched on 3UK yesterday.  In one respect, it’s just an ordinary phone, which will cost £99 on PAYG or is available for free on the £15 Texter tariff (18-month contract), but in another way, it’s an interesting device with the level of software included within it.

As a 3UK phone, it has Skype and Windows Live Messenger, both free to use, and also has the “Email on 3″ email client installed.  As with many other phones, it has a YouTube uploader too.

But, it has two Social Networking apps too!  It has an integrated Facebook client, and it also has a built in Twitter client, which doesn’t just do the basics of accessing Twitter (reading and writing tweets), but also supports searches, viewing user profiles, and you can even upload photos for Twitter via TwitPic.  All this is available with one click access!

In other specs, it’s a mid range unit; 2.2″ display, sliding form factor, large keypad, “smart desktop”, birthday reminders, and a 3.2 megapixel camera.  Finally, it comes in a few colours; galaxy silver, rouge pink and petrous grey.

We’re hoping to get hold of a device for review sometime soon, but in the meantime, if you are interested in this phone, there will be more details in the 3Store.

It’s nice to see Social Networking apps such as Twitter and Facebook start to become mainstream, but we worry about how well these apps will be supported by the manufacturer in 6 or 12 months time, and how easy it will be to get hold of updated clients if the need arises.

3UK have supplied us with a full list of phones that they will be supporting with their Skype and Windows Live Messenger clients, and 3UK have provided us with a number of useful updates since we originally mentioned that 3UK were now supplying these clients for use on non-3UK supplied phones.

Firstly, it appears that Windows Live Messenger is getting the same level of treatment as Skype does (under their Skype Free Calls Forever promotion); that is, you don’t even need to TopUp your account for both Skype and Windows Live Messenger to work on your device; even if your credit has expired, it would appear both 3UK-custom app versions will keep working.

How can you obtain these apps; well, if you have a 3UK supplied phone, it should have links or shortcuts to these apps already built into the firmware (although it may involve a download on the first connection).  However, for those who have upgraded their firmware to a generic firmware, or for those who are using a non-3UK-supplied phone, then today, it’s quite simple…

All you need to do is to insert your 3UK sim into your phone, power it on, and go to the Planet 3 link which should automatically appear on the phone (either directly on a shortcut key, or within the Favourites / Bookmarks within the browser, and you may find it’s preset as the homepage within the browser).  Once there, you can select these apps, and then download these apps.

However, and this is a very smart move from 3UK; from 1st October, if you put a 3UK sim into your phone, it will automatically connect and download these apps in the background, and then notify you (via text) when this has completed.  This is a very shrewd move by 3UK, and adds to the user convenience of these apps.

So, for that list of fully supported phones?

• Nokia E65, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N96
• Sony Ericsson C510, Sony Ericsson C902, Sony Ericsson K660i, Sony Ericsson W595

Now, although that’s the formal list of supported phones, there are, of course, many phones that 3UK have supported directly with clients, such as the Nokia E71, so you may find it’s possible to access and download clients for other phones, although we can’t guarantee this at this stage.  We should also point out that the list of phones that can run the Skype client is much longer, so it does potentially seem to be just the Windows Live Messenger client which is shortening that list right now.

We covered the IDAPT I3 charging device before; it acts as a cable free (apart from it’s power cable) way to recharge your gadgets, and even allows up to 3 devices to be charged at the same time, which we think is a fantastic way to handle the multitude of different charger connections in use today.

However, hopefully, one day this may not be so necessary.  This week, the GSM Association and 17 mobile phone manufacturers and network operators have agreed that they will work towards adopting the microUSB port as a standard data and charging connector, which will hopefully negate the need for every device to ship with a charger in the box (allowing smaller and lighter product boxes, which is good for the environment) and will allow you to use existing chargers with a new phone purchased.

The organisations involved have set a date of 2012 for the adoption of this new connector, which is a little further into the future than we would have liked, but it’s a start, and we suspect we’ll be seeing more and more devices moving over to this connector in the next year or so.  With some phones on the market for over 12 months (especially via the mobile networks) and with the likes of Nokia announcing phones for release in nearly 6 months time, it’s understandable that the manufacturers cannot commit to a date much earlier than 2011 anyway.

The list of companies involved in the UK market includes 3 Group (3UK), LG, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telefónica (O2), T-Mobile and Vodafone, with some of these manufacturers already using microUSB for at least part of their range.

Vodafone have even produced a short video on how they see this affecting CO2 emissions and reducing energy…

These companies have agreed that the majority of their products will use the Universal Charging Solution, and we can only hope that other companies producing consumer rechargeable gadgets look to adopt the same connector for their convenience too.  The only main player missing is Apple…

This is the new Sony Ericsson Symbian phone, due out later this year.  With a 12megapixel camera, a xenon flash, a 3.5″ 640 x 320 touchscreen display, and running a Symbian Foundation OS (ie the next version on from the current S60 5th edition), this is currently a pre-production device from Sony Ericsson, and it’s likely that the OS, the phone itself, and even the name are likely to be tweaked before it is released in the second half of this year.

This device looks to beat the specification of the Nokia N97, and with that not due for another few months (June 2009) and not much planned immediately afterwards to compete, it’s looks like this might end up running headon with the Nokia, and on paper it looks like it might have the edge too.

More as and when it’s released by Sony Ericsson, with the the current details available direct from Sony Ericsson.

We can’t take the credit for finding this device, that should go to Shiny Shiny, but once we saw the device, we thought we should let you know about it too.  The IDAPT I3 can charge 3 devices at any time, but the beauty of the device is that those 3 charging slots use interchangeable “tips”.  Buying from Amazon, you get 6 tips in the deal (Nokia 2, Samsung 2, Sony Ericsson 2, iPod, miniUSB, and NDS for Nintendo DS-Lite).  Other tips are available, either direct from the IDAPT, or via Amazon.  The tips are swapped by pressing the two buttons either side of the tip…

Even better, the device has an on/off switch, allowing you to save electricity when it’s not charging…

The nice thing about this charger is that most devices will stay upright whilst charging, and still be easily accessible.  The only downside is that as it’s not a true cradle supporting data too, devices like your iPod will need removing to sync your music library.

Of course, this will be interesting for devices such as the new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic or the Nokia N85, both of which has their charging sockets on the top of the phone (which limits any decent cradle ever being available for them).

We say buy one of these IDAPT I3 units (or the 2 port version once it’s available) and have it near to the front door, and then pick up your fully charged phone, camera and iPod on the way out (or use it to charge all the phones in the house).  An interesting device, and just £35 too…

Update: You can now get an even greater selection of charging tips, including the new microUSB format, which is being adopted by many mobile phone manufacturers as a single standard connector.

In an interesting move, 3UK have added a new low cost tariff to their 3Store.  The new tariff, 3 MM100 Plan is part of the Mix’n'Match range, which means it comes with free voicemail, 300 minutes of 3UK-3UK calls, “Free” Windows Live Messenger (limits apply), “Free” Skype (limits apply), and 100 minutes or texts (where 1 minute = 1 text).  This tariff is being labelled as a £12 per month contract, but is on special offer at £9 per month from today.

The main downside of this contract is it only offers a small number of phone options (all free); 3 Skypephone, 3Skypephone S2, and the Sony Ericsson K660i (although this is available in an exclusive colour of Lime White as well as the more common Black).

This is a very good headline and attention grabing tariff from 3, but we suspect most people will still head for one of the higher tariffs (which currently offer unlimited 3000 3UK-3UK calls, instead of the 300 included in this new tariff).

Oh, and we’re sorry 3UK, but using the phrase “Free” instead of “Unlimited” is better, but still not giving the total picture; with both the “Free” items listed above still having limits.  Go on, give us all a nice xmas present and remove those limits and make 2009 the year that the mobile operators use “unlimited” correctly…

Update: 3 have informed us this is a special offer over the Christmas period, so it may not last into the New Year…

It looks like the Sony Ericsson Experia X1, which is a Windows Mobile device, will ship this month. Vodafone UK will be the first to market with it on 30th September. No pricing is available right now, but expect it to be keenly priced.  This phone is likely to revive the fortunes of Windows Mobile outside of HTC

Whether it’s the phone itself, the innovative pricing, or the promotion of the device and the abilities it has, but according to an mobile device survey by Admob, the 3 SkypePhone is now the number 5 mobile internet device in the UK, based on the number of adverts served to mobile devices. The top 10 are:

• Sony Ericsson K800i
• Nokia N95
• Sony Ericsson W810i
• Sony Ericsson K610i
• 3 SkypePhone
• Nokia N73
• Sony Ericsson W850i
• ZTE F866
• Nokia 6120c
• Nokia 6300

It’s also interesting to note the ZTE (a USB modem) is in there too, and mainly only on 3 UK in the survey too. The 3 SkypePhone came straight into this survey in 5th place, with 2.7% of the market (by ads served). No wonder 3’s data usage has increased by so much.

Symbian Freak has some pictures and specs of the rumoured, but not yet announced, Sony Ericsson P5, which is a smartphone running UIQ. Head over for more pictures at Symbian Freak.

Nokia have signed up a number of key players to support the LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, as a 4th generation mobile network in direct competition to Intel’s WiMAX initiative. Sony Ericsson, NEC and Alcatel-Lucent, NextWave Wireless and Nokia Siemens Networks are all part of the licensing framework which is designed to keep the LTE patent costs down to a minimum to ensure it has the best chance of success.

More information on the initial partnership on the BBC Technology website.