Three new mobile apps hit Vodafone 360 from WIN plc

Vodafone 360 is the service that the operator uses to try and tie all of your communications into the network. It’s a “converged” comms hub - whether on your mobile or your computer, the plan is that you can access your phone phone, email, chat and social networks all in one Vodafone-branded place. But it’s also an application centre, and today WIN plc has announced the launch of three new apps over 360.

4 Chinese handset vendors develop taste for JIL

Rating: Connection with Wholesale Applications Community likely

Four Chinese handset manufacturers suddenly get excited about JIL (Joint Innovation Lab) compatibility. Could this have something to do with the earlier announcement that the Wholesale Applications Community is going to be heavily biased towards JIL and OMTP BONDI? Probably.

MWC: First Bada phone from Samsung – the Wave

Rating: Pitched as an affordable iPhone
Samsung’s proprietary mobile OS, bada, become a reality with the launch of the Wave. Priced at around € 330, this handset will be pitched as an affordable alternative to the iPhone in a £6 million advertising campaign.
Although bada was painted originally as an OS for the low end, the [...]

@MWC Vodafone turns up the heat for Android app Vodafone People and Vodafone 360

Vodafone starts Mobile Word Congress with an air of arrogance, boasting:

1. New app allows full access to the Vodafone People service, including wireless syncing of contacts and aggregation of social network feeds, chat and email accounts

2. Nearly 300,000 Vodafone 360 Samsung H1 and M1 phones sold since service launch

3. Downloadable 360 services now available for 100 devices

4. Hyves social networking site now integrated

VODAFONE WINS MANAGED MOBILE SERVICES CONTRACT WITH ORACLE

Vodafone Global Enterprise has been appointed by Oracle to manage its mobile service needs in its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region in a four-year deal
Under the agreement, Vodafone Global Enterprise, the dedicated division of Vodafone that manages the communication needs of its largest Enterprise customers, will supply mobile services management, mobile voice [...]

VODAFONE ANNOUNCES LARGEST BASE OF PAYING MUSIC SUBSCRIBERS IN EUROPE

• Nearly 450,000 Vodafone customers have signed up for music subscription services since it signed digital rights management free MP3 music deals with all major labels in 2009
• [...]

Everything you need to know about the Truphone mobile VoIP network launch

Being a mobile operator can be a tough game at the best of times. It’s an expensive service to run, and subscribers are flighty. It’s even more difficult for virtual network operators. These are mobile networks who don’t actually own their own cell towers and masts. They have to rent space from larger operators who own the infrastructure - and that adds a whole extra layer of expense and uncertainty. So it may surprise some today that mobile VoIP service Truphone is launching a mobile virtual network over Vodafone in the UK.

Two desirable handsets, two very different strategies

Rating: Motorola Android vs Apple iPhone
GoMo News can’t help but notice the glaring difference between the opportunities grasped and missed in the run up to Xmas. Expansys had new stock of the Motorola Milestone (aka Droid in the USA) in time for Xmas. Vodafone decides to wait until January 14th 2010 to release its [...]

Vodafone gets vodaboned

Vodafone is not a happy operator in New Zealand. The mobile operators of NZ have been offered something of a Devils bargain by the Commerce Commission there. It has basically told the operators to agree internally on new, cheaper prices for network-to-network calls…. or else the Commerce Commission will do it for them. It looks like the operators will be taking care of matters themselves, and Vodafone is not happy about it

GoMo News aids the Pocket-link annual ‘Gadget Awards’

Rating: Luckily GoMo appears to have voted with the majority
And so to London’s Wild East End (Shoreditch) to see who’d won top honours at the annual Pocket-lint Gadget awards which are sponsored by Vodafone. In a nutshell the winners were HTC with the Hero; along with 3UK. Which is pretty good going considering 3 UK [...]

Vodafone quietly drops Zyb sync service

Rating: King Zyb is dead, long live King 360
Although Vodafone acquired the Zyb online backup and syncing service back in 2008, as from December 1st the service stopped accepting new subscriptions. That’s because the technology has been redeployed to form part of Vodafone’s 360’s ‘People’ application.
When GoMo News first tested the Vodafone 360 service in [...]

Vodafone’s five handy tips for iPhone migration

Rating: No easy way to migrate contacts, though

Availability of the Apple iPhone 3GS on Vodafone’s UK network is imminent. Hence the operator has placed an ‘essential’ iPhone checklist on the company site containing five handy hints for migrating over to this smartphone. What’s really need is an addressbook migration tool, however.

Free mobile internet from Vodafone isn’t all that free

So Vodafone is running a promotional campaign tomorrow, allowing users to use the mobile internet for free. It’s calling it Free Mobile Internet Friday. And claims like that always make me highly suspicious. There’s no such thing as free.

Tesco to put iCat amongs the UK’s iPhones

Rating: Launching both versions of iPhone online and in stores
In a move which will inevitably put the cat amongst the pigeons in terms of UK pricing, Tesco Mobile has announced that intends to offer the iPhone 3G and 3GS in both Tesco Phone shops and online via Tesco Direct.
There’s no indication of pricing, yet. Nor [...]

Mobile broadband still crawling at below 1Mb, despite ‘up to’ 7.2Mb claims

The latest mobile broadband speed test data from Broadband Genie shows two thirds of users have been saddled with speeds below 1Mb this year – less than 15% of the ‘up to’ speeds claimed by, for example, Vodafone (7.2Mb). The majority of products from the likes of 3, O2, T-Mobile and Orange are advertised at [...]

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