Reports confirm that the 3G iPhone will not be available on pay as you go until Christmas, this following huge demand from current and new customers on a contract basis.

O2 had divided its iPhone stock between new customers and current O2 customers requesting free upgrades and had sold out of its allocation of the 16GB handset within hours.

Any remaining stock coming through had already been allocated to pre-orders for existing and new O2 contract customers. Despite O2 investing heavily in their website to cope with demand their site crashed on the day of launch for periods. O2 commented “there has been phenomenal interest in the new 3G iPhone” 

Categories: Apple · Mobile Industry News · Mobile Phone News · o2

Carphone Warehouse are now accepting pre-orders for Apple’s new 3G iPhone, Carphone Warehouse are currently guaranteeing free delivery for the 11th July (the official launch date), demand is expected to be huge both online and in the high street.

Order your iPhone now

All pay monthly tariffs come with unlimited visual voicemail, data and Wi-Fi and are subject to a minimum 18 month contract.

Categories: Apple · Carphone Warehouse · Mobile Industry News · Mobile Phone News · o2

Apple iPhone 3G now in stock with Carphone Warehouse

Apple have announced the release of their new iPhone 3G, the UK launch date has been scheduled for 11th July 2008, industry rumours of the new iPhone started back in April as we reported O2 had reduced the price of the current iPhone model.

The official announcement from Apple pitches the iPhone as “Twice as fast, Half the price” , this will delight many of us who have been eagerly anticipating its arrival that finally addresses key issues such as battery life, cost and the long awaited 3G functionality, it will also be available in white as well as black.

Current O2 iPhone customers can upgrade to the brand new iPhone 3G absolutely free by agreeing a new 18 month contract, for others the cost of the new iPhone’s are expected to be £99 (8gb) and £169 (16gb) however depending on your tariff choice you can get the handset free, tariffs are expected to range from £30 - £75 a month.

So what’s new in Apple’s new iPhone 3G?

3G Technology, faster access to the Internet and email, the official word is you can expect access to be 2.4x more than the 2G Edge networks enabling you to do more on the move, surf, download email, get directions, watch a video.

Maps with GPS, on foot or driving around you’ll never be lost again, get directions, fast fix on your location and interactively track your progress as you go.

App Store, accessing the App Store offers applications in a host of categories, games, business, entertainment all available to download and access straight away.

Microsoft Exchange, with the introduction of iPhone 2.0 software the iPhone now supports Microsoft Exchange, push email, calendar, and contacts, it also gives mobile users secure access to corporate resources with VPN and network services.

We will have the latest Apple iPhone 3G deals on site ready for the 11th July release, meanwhile keep an eye on our Apple iPhone 3G reviews as they come in.

iPhone 3G release date 11th July 2008

Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA

Images from Apple.com - All trademarks and logos within are acknowledged as properties of their respective owners and are used here for promotional purposes only.

Categories: Apple · Carphone Warehouse · Manufacturers · Mobile Industry News · Mobile Phone News · o2

Vodafone have reportedly paid around £1 million to acquire Dot Mobile’s 18,000 customers, the student mobile offering went into administration in March.

Launched in 2005, Dot Mobile targeted students in 90 universities across the UK, offering exclusive tariffs and deals from Vodafone on contract and pay as you go. Vodafone agreed with administrators to pay a reported £1 million for their customers, migrating them internally into Vodafone tariffs that are equal or better than their contract with Dot Mobile.

The official announcement on their site today read as follows:
 
Over the next couple of months Vodafone will be moving all Dot Mobile customers onto their systems. So now they’ll not only be providing your network, but also managing your account and sending you your bills as well.
 
Don’t worry, your mobile number will stay the same and there’ll be no interruption to your service. It’s worth noting that your terms and conditions will remain the same.

Categories: Mobile Industry News

Apple iPhone 3G now in stock with Carphone Warehouse

Well this will certainly put the rumour mill into overdrive with regards to the iPhone. O2 have slashed the price on the 8GB iPhone from launch price in November of £269 to £169 - a reduction of £100.

It will come with the same tariff’s that O2 originally released but the 16GB iPhone will remain the same price of £329 for the time being.

What this will engage is further rumours in the industry that the iPhone in 3G format is due in the next 2-3 months. Apple would appear to be trying to shift on the previous model as much as possible in order to release the 3G version.

It is great news for anyone who wants to get their hands on a brand new iPhone.

Discounted handsets are available immediate - check out the latest iPhone deals.

Categories: Apple · Mobile Industry News · Mobile Phone News

Today Friday 11th April Rightmobilephone.co.uk investigated the response times when contacting your mobile network, were we left hanging, listening to dull music costing a us fortune? or were our calls greeted promptly, read on to find out the results.

We thought a Friday lunchtime would be a good time to start what will be an ongoing report, each month we will publish our findings offering you an insight into each networks call centre performance. Our findings in this report are completely independent, factual and reflects our experience on that particular day.

We measured both the technical support and direct sales telephone numbers of the networks, each call was timed from being connected to having dialog with a human voice, note each network has a different process in terms of having to press numbers to access different departments, these were actioned promptly and our focus was on technical support and direct sales.

O2 Customer Service line 0870 241 0202
(call 202 free from an 02 Mobile, calls charged via landlines - standard rates apply)
Open 8:00am - 8:00pm Monday to Friday and 9:00am - 6:00pm at weekends

We called at 12.16 and had success at 12.17 (response time within 1 minute)

O2 Direct Sales Line 0870 225 7879 - We called at 12.18 and had success at 12.19 (response time within 1 minute)

Vodafone Customer Service line 08700 700 191
(call 191 free from a Vodafone Mobile, calls charged via landlines - standard rates apply) Open 24 hours

We called at 12.20 and had success at 12.21 (response time within 1 minute)

Vodafone Direct Sales Line 08080 044 423 - We called at 12.22 and had success at 12.22 (response time within 30 seconds)

Orange Customer Service line 07973 100 150
(call 150 free from an Orange Mobile, calls charged via landlines - standard rates apply)Open Monday to Friday from 8am to 10pm and on Saturday from 9am to 9pm and Sundays from 9am to 5pm.

We called at 12.20 but were unable to measure the response time as you cannot go any further without entering your Orange telephone number, Orange ended the call when we didn’t enter a number. Other networks will take you further into options without having to provide a number!

Orange Direct Sales Line 0800 079 2000 - We called at 12.23 and had success at 12.23 (response time within 30 seconds)

T-Mobile Customer Service line 0845 412 5000
(call 150 free from a T-Mobile Mobile, calls charged via landlines - standard rates apply) Open 7:00am - 10:00pm, 7 days a week

We called at 12.24 and had success at 12.25 (response time 1 minute)

T-Mobile Direct Sales Line 0845 412 2303 - We called at 12.26 and had success at 12.26 (response time within 30 seconds)

3 Mobile Customer Service line 08707 330 333
(call 33 free from a 3 Mobile Mobile, calls charged via landlines - standard rates apply)

We called at 12.27 and had success at 12.34 (response time 7 minutes) We were greeted with a script advising that we could go online to resolve our technical issue, the script also advised re-booting our phone to resolve the problem, we continued to hold, during this time we were also asked to take part in a support survey that would come at the end of the call, we declined and continued to hold listening to music, the call was then answered at 12.34.

3 Mobile Direct Sales Line 0800 358 6946 - We called at 12.35 and had success at 12.35 (response time within 30 seconds)

Virgin Customer Service line 0845 650 4500
(call 789 free from a Virgin Mobile, calls charged via landlines - standard rates apply)

We called at 12.36 and had success at 12.38 (response time 2 minutes)

Virgin Direct Sales Line 0845 650 4500 - We called at 12.38 and had success at 12.38 (response time within 30 seconds)

In summary we were not surprised to see super fast response times on all the direct sales lines, new customers is obviously key. Skeptics will say that’s fine but how well do they support you once you have signed a contract, well our results pleasantly surprised us as on the whole it seems that the customer care infrastructure is in place before and after with some impressive response times from the call centres today.

So our response time results for April 2008 based on technical support requests from current customers are as follows:-

1 - Vodafone & O2 ( within 1 minute )
2 - T-Mobile ( 1 minute )
3 - Virgin ( 2 minutes )
4 - 3 Mobile ( 7 minutes )

Orange * we haven’t listed Orange as their current call system prevents us from measuring any response. Though it has to be noted we were not prevented from proceeding when calling the other networks.

Have you had as good a response as we have had when trying to contact your network? is there a network you feel deserves praise or one that could do better? Let us know why in comments.

Categories: Mobile Industry News

Want your mobile to match your outfit? Well 2008 looks to be the year as fashion designers continue to cash in on a multimillion pound market.

Dior and Swarovski are said to be the latest names to be unveiling mobile phones this year and Tag Heuer have already announced a summer release.

Insiders have predicted the next 3 years will see an influx of non traditional mobile brands including fashion designers with a potential 20% global market share on offer selling around 200 million handsets a year.

To date Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Armani have joined forces with manufacturers and despite their premiums have been a huge success, other designers to tread the mobile catwalk have been Ted Baker, Levi’s, Mandarina Duck and Porsche.

Lets all hope Burberry don’t hear of this emerging market…

Categories: Mobile Industry News

For all the furore surround Apple’s iPhone about whether it has been a success or a flop the figures speak for themselves. Apple has now positioned itself 3rd in the world ranking of smartphone sales during Q4 of 2007.

Apple shipped 2,320,840 iPhone’s putting itself 3rd beating Motorola who shipped 2,301,260. It highlights the recent struggles that Motorola is now having.

Apple did not just beat Motorola but also Palm and all other Windows Mobile device suppliers in the market.

In first though came Nokia with 18,802,480 devices shipped followed by RIM who shipped 4,046,860 of their popular Blackberry device.

This shows clearly Apple still has a long way to go if it is to catch the leading pack now who combined have over 64% of the market.

Apple’s strength in sales have been in the US where it has struggled in Europe.

The journey for Apple has clearly started but it has a long way to go with still many opting for devices which pack more punch in terms of hardware but it will be interesting in the months to come should Apple introduce features such as 3G.

Categories: Apple · Mobile Industry News

Motorola has been struggling for some time now in the mobile phone industry as shown by its poor sales figures throughout 2007. 

News is now beginning to circle that it could be looking to ditch it’s mobile phone products altogether and focus on its other fields.

It’s a fall from grace for an American giant who had amazing success with the Motorola RAZR but has fell behind the leading pack significantly since with Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung all making huge strides, not to mention the emergence of Apple.

Many consumers just feel that Motorola have not added anything new to their recipe book and follow fashionable trends well enough. The software on their phones not being quite as innovative as its main rivals.

Whatever happens Motorola needs a serious shake up in the Mobile Phone department after it lost $1.2 billion in 2007. Q4 of 2007 showed Motorola sold 40.9 million handsets while giant Nokia sold 133.5 million.

Motorola’s share price rose by 10% at the news it could spin off or sell it’s company.

Tricky times lie ahead but Motorola is not all doom and gloom. A revamped line up and re-branding may go a long way to turning consumers but is it too late?

Categories: Mobile Industry News