Vodafone UK has announced a number of plans tailored to unlimited data usage for £5. The actual cap is 500 MB per month so unlimited may be a bit of an overstatement. Typically UK iPhone customers pay from $30 to $70 for 3 GB of data with a two year contract or $40 to $80 for those who do not want that two year contract. Customers are also offered insurance for $10 each month, just in case they go over their monthly allowance.
The University of Glasgow has produced a breakthrough in nanotechnology that could revolutionize the Mp3 player industry with a storage capacity that is 150,000 times greater than today’s top choices. The molecule sized switch that has been developed will dramatically raise storage capacity without increasing the actual size of Mp3 players. This technology is designed to cram 500,000 GB into one square inch of a microchip which will allow Mp3 users to store hundreds of millions of video and song choices on one device. The technology could also transform storage on other electronics such as DVD players. Dr. Vin Dhanak from Glasgow University stated that the team is now facing the challenges of dealing with “fabrication issues”.
T-Mobile Germany announced recently that it would cut prices on the purchase of an iPhone for a new deal. This deal gives German iPhone users a chance to pick up the most talked about phone for just €99 (US$155). Until now the 8GB model of the iPhone has been selling for €399 in Germany.
Apple’s UK partner, O2 however, has made no indication that they plan to follow Germany’s lead. The plan by T-Mobile in Germany to cut iPhone prices has been regarded as a way to either stimulate German flagging sales of the iPhone or simply to clear stock from the network’s channel in preparation for the release of the new 3G model due out very soon.
An O2 spokesperson recently stated that “We regularly examine all of our offerings to ensure they remain competitive and meet customer demands. We currently have no updates regarding iPhone pricing.”
This statement while not giving any indication that UK prices will be cut in the near future, does leave the company open to discounts if and when they choose to emulate T-Mobile’s plan.
O2 have made some changes to their pay monthly contracts for iPhone users. The changes will result in customers on the £35 per month contract now getting three times as many minutes and just over double the number of texts they currently are entitled to each month.
There’s also a new £45 per month tariff that allows customers to enjoy the same amount of minutes and texts as the £55 plan it replaces. There is also a new £75 tariff for those who need around 3000 minutes and 500 texts per month.
So, the cheapest contract you can take out with an iPhone is still £35 per month, although you now get more minutes and texts for your money. For ‘super users,’ there is a new £75 per month contract.
It’s also worth pointing out that O2 is still giving all iPhone customers unlimited data browsing which is worth quite a bit in itself although before buying we’d advise that you look at the small print – often services which compete with services the mobile network offer (i.e. SMS, MMS, VoIP such as Skype etc.) are not included in the unlimited data bundles. So you may well be charged for use of services such as Skype or MSN/Windows Messenger. This varies from contract to contract. All iPhone customers still receive unlimited data browsing and access to The Cloud’s Wi-Fi hotspots through free ‘bolt ons’ (O2’s term for bundles) onto their contract which is valued at £15 per month. For those who are unaware, The Cloud provides wi-fi access in numerous places, including many McDonalds restaurants in the U.K.
In a press release, O2 has reassured existing customers that they won’t miss out – they will be transferred to the new iPhone tariffs sometime during this month (February) and according to the same press release, all customers should be benefiting by mid March.
Apple have updated the iPod touch and iPhone.
The latest iPhone features 16 gigabytes of memory and retails for $499. The new iPod Touch comes with 32 GB of memory and retails for $499.
The new devices are available through Apple’s online and retail stores. Apple said that all iPhone and iPod Touch models come with updated software that the company announced in January.