Category: Networks / Carriers
Most of the major networks have now announced their 4G pricing models. They vary a little but, with one notable exception, there is a premium for the new technology as well as limits. Data is the new king. No longer do we want more and more texts bundled …
We’ve seen a lot of noise from O2 and Vodafone about their new 4G plans and value-added content recently. Meanwhile, EE have taken to Twitter to ensure that everyone knows just how much of a head start they have. All these networks have one thing in common though, …
On Friday we published our red HTC One photo special. Here in the UK it’s exclusive to Phones4U, but now, if you’re in the USA, you can get it on Sprint tomorrow. The Sliver and Black shades will still be available, plus if you purchase an HTC One …
Well, better late than never, O2 have taken the wraps off their 4G pricing. There’s a heavy emphasis on content once again and, ijust like Vodafone, they’ll be dishing up music and sport content to 4G customers. The new 4G tariffs, which are detailed here, include SIM-only deals …
Cast your mind back to last week, I reviewed the Acer Liquid E2 and I found it to be a pretty good budget phone, with a few problems. Well Three have now got some stock and you can get them on a contract or on PAYG. Brendan from …
Thinking of joining Vodafone 4G? If you’re a sports fan then Voda have the answer. Picks the Sport Pack as your free option on a 4G plan and you’ll get FULL access to all Sky Sports services. The deal is on until 23:59 on the 18th August, so …
Although O2 announced their 4G service first, Vodafone look to be first with the price plan information. We’ve got all the details below and you can sign up to a 4G plan as of today. These are now live on the Vodafone website, over the phone and in …
Following the O2 announcement it now looks like Vodafone are ready to show their hand, with a 4G launch date of August 29th – the very same date that O2 will launch their 4G offering. So, in a little over three weeks you’ll be able to get 4G …
Saving money. Secretly we all love to do it. Whether it’s a necessity or not, saving a few quid here means that you can have a beer there. Over on HotUKDeals they have a frequently updated thread detailing the latest SIM-only deals. The prices are already low, but …
If you’ve followed my posts recently then you may have noticed a bit of a theme developing. I’ve written about switching from a contract to a monthly rolling SIM-only plan (which could see your monthly charge go from around £40 to £12) and I’ve had a look at …
Happy Saturday people. Meet the silver Asus Fonepad. It’s now available on Three for £12.53 per month for 1GB of data (and a £29.99 up-front charge on a 24 month contract) or a rolling monthly £7.50 deal which gives you the same data with a £179 up-front cost. …
Remember how we ran a survey about 4G? Remember how you told us that extra speed really wasn’t a big deal? Well, now Ofcom have done a similar survey and they’ve reached the same conclusion. Just under a quarter have absolutely no intention of going 4G. It seems …
An Android handset for £39.99? Well, straight up we know it’s not going to have a quad-core CPU, hi-res screen and an 8 megapixel camera. But, if you want a cheap and cheerful Android then Alcatel have a solution. It’ll be available today with Virgin Mobile on Pay …
We all knew it was coming but, with EE stealing a March on their competitors, the other networks were keeping exact launch dates close to their chests. O2 appear to have broken ranks and is prepping for a launch on August 29th. Initially it’ll only be available in …
Vodafone Freedom Freebees allow users to buy bundles of minutes, texts and internet usage at a discounted rate with the condition that they expire after 30 days. Vodafone have just changed them and they now give better value especially on the data allowance side of things. Previously £10 …
The momentum of the ‘alternative operating systems’ is slowly but steadily increasing. Today David Powell, Telstra’s general manager of Device Experience posted an entry on their company blog entitled Mobile operating systems of the future. Im this blog he says In recent months, we have been working with …
Several weeks ago, we received a Tweet from Phil Mottershead (@philicibine) regarding the April T-Mobile price hike. He stated that customers were winning their cases and had the right to cancel their contracts with no penalty. We were intrigued, as we had no clue what he was talking …
Here in the UK the internet is changing. The classic flavour of “the web”, where people can say and do what they want and download anything without fear of traffic management or data limits, is long gone. We now heavy a heavily controlled, heavily monitored and heavily firewalled …
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a type of MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) that we had not covered before; Charity MVNO’s. I have since been contacted by Donate Mobile, pointing out that I had missed them from my article. I’ve updated my original post but …
Today has seen EE (formerly Everything Everywhere who were formerly T-Mobile and Orange) release their interim 6 monthly results which takes them to the end of June 2013. Main story here, they ain’t half bad. With turnover of £3.2bn and pre tax earnings of £734 million, EE seem …
Regular readers will know that I’ve ditched my long-standing Orange contract mobe and switched to a rolling monthly deal instead. The benefits are that I’m not hooked into a 2-year deal, I’m spending less because I’m not subsidising that “free” handset, and I can hop to another network …
I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for a couple of years now, and overall I’ve been pretty happy with their service. Crucially, the plan has unlimited data with a ‘fair usage policy’ – which turned out to be 500MB. Naturally, being a blogger, I go over that limit within …
You know all about the HTC One Mini by now. As a Coolsmartphone reader you’ll have already seen our hands-on pictures and videos, but what you might not know yet is that it’ll be hitting both the EE and O2 network too. We’ve just had confirmation that the …
It’s an MVNO that almost needs no introduction – giffgaff. They’re known for unlimited data, bargain-basement prices and no-frills SIM-only goodybags. However, they still don’t sell phones. If you want a phone, you need to go and grab a SIM-free handset yourself and then get a giffgaff SIM …
As I’ve mentioned earlier I’ve switched networks recently and, whilst looking around, I checked into my usage habits. Streaming. That’s a big one. I love TuneIn because, put simply, every single station I find on FM radio is very samey and full of similar-sounding DJ’s saying similar-sounding things. …
We’ve covered a number of virtual network operators recently but perhaps the most well known is giffgaff. Sure, let’s be upfront, they’ve had a couple of bumps in the road with outages and the fact that a small selection of customers abused their “unlimited” data packages, but what …
Don’t worry, this is not a cry for help from the impoverished staff here at CoolSmartPhone! Continuing in our irregular series of articles about MVNO’s (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) we turn our gaze to charities. There has been such a large uptake of mobile phone usage in the …
Blimey, this was quick! So HTC announced this morning that the 4.2.2 update for the HTC One was being rolled out to the UK today, and now Three have tweeted the same for their phones. I think that’s one of the quickest updates from a carrier so …
What do you want from your smartphone? The answer to the above question is different for every single smartphone user but there is are some common trends. Decent battery life, a wonderfully bright screen, a one thousand megapixel camera, a full qwerty keyboard and so on and on. …
Yes it’s true. Many have realised it. First it was those £35 per month plans that never seen to work out at £35 when the bill comes in, and now Vodafone is causing quite a stir by switching to per minute billing. It’s a practice already employed by …
We’ve been having a poke around the Vodafone blog recently. We’ve done this mainly because they stuck £4000 in our hands and told us too*, but there’s some pretty interesting posts about the future of smartphones and the networks they run on. In this post the Vodafone UIK …
In a time when networks are in the news for putting up prices here in the UK, one network is going the other way and offering even better value than they did before. Three have knocked down the price of their “One Plan” 12 month SIM-only to just …
The 4th of July. Truly a time to celebrate. Why? Double speed on EE 4G of course! 😉 The first UK 4G network is strapping a supercharger to their network and the following 12 cities and towns will see a significant leap in speeds as of today… Derby, …
If you’ve followed my mutterings on Twitter then you’ll know that I recently made a big change in my life. We’ve actually been together since 1995, so I tried my best to work things out. However, recently I decided that it would probably be best if we went …
UK network EE held an event in London today to outline some important steps in their 4G rollout….. there is rather a lot to take in so grab a drink, sit back and prepare yourself First of all comes the new ‘Double Speed’ brand which is basically the …
Sainsbury’s has announced they are launching their own mobile phone network Mobile by Sainsbury’s this summer. Luke Jensen, Sainsbury’s Group Development director is quoted as saying: “Our customers trust us to provide top quality products and service at fair prices, and Mobile by Sainsbury’s feels like a natural …
If you’re thinking of switching to Three then listen up, because they’ve announced that three new handsets are now available or coming soon. First is the Samsung Galaxy Mega we spotted yesterday, but Three will also be carrying the Liquid E2 from Acer too. We got confirmation on …
We have just had the press release from Three UK confining that the new Samsung Galaxy Mega is now available to buy both online and in stores. Available for £37 a month on The One Plan and £449.99 on PAYG, the Mega might be a big price but …
Blow up the balloons, order a cake, we’re going to have a party! Roaming rates are dropping today. New EU limits kick in to…slightly reduce your costs. Data especially is now a lot cheaper, but we’re still a long way from being able to use phones as we …
4G is coming soon to Vodafone and what better way to prepare than to sign up for a contract and get a MiFi. The R212 allows you to connect up to 10 devices at once. Vodafone sum up the other features by saying. Why get this? 4G ready …
