Mobile Choice Blog

Vodafone criticised for mobile web problems

You might have noticed Vodafone's recent marketing campaign around the mobile internet, but did you know it's causing ructions with mobile developers? It's all to do with the 'transcoding' technology that Vodafone uses to reformat websites to look good on mobile phones.

The trouble is that if websites are already doing that themselves, Vodafone's technology breaks them. We noticed this when Facebook Mobile stopped working, although the fact that it's okay now hints that the problems can be resolved.

The issue has been controversial though, with mobile developers claiming that Vodafone isn't doing enough to fix the problems for all sites, rather than the bigger ones. It just goes to show that even when the operators throw open their portals to the wider internet, there can be teething problems.

(via MobHappy)

Blyk to basics: how receiving adverts could get you free calls and texts

The UK just got a new mobile operator: Blyk. And it wants to give you free calls and texts, but only if you're aged between 16 and 24, and don't mind receiving up to six advertising messages a day on your handset. The innovative service was announced yesterday in London.

Blyk is invite-only, like web-based social networks. Once you sign up, you have to fill in details about yourself and your preferences, before being sent a Blyk SIM which goes in your existing handset. From then, you get 43 free voice minutes a month, and 217 free texts, but  you can be sent up to six ads a day from brands including McDonald's, L'Oreal, Adidas and Boots.

Top 5 reasons NOT to buy a UK iPhone

Last week, we covered the top five reasons you might want to shell out £269 for an iPhone when they go on sale here on 9th November. Now it's time for the flipside, where we explain why you might want to keep your wallet firmly in your pocket. While there's a lot of justified excitement around Apple's first mobile, it's not immune to criticism. So...

1. It's not 3G. Steve Jobs claims that 3G saps battery life too much, that EDGE is fast enough for web surfing on the go, and that Wi-Fi is much faster anyway. In order: it doesn't, it isn't, and it's true, but you have to be within range of a hot-spot. The lack of 3G is a big problem for would-be iPhone buyers, not least because Apple has already said it'll be releasing a 3G model next year. £269 and an 18-month contract for a phone that may be superceded within a year? Thanks for that.

Punch US politicians with Glu's White House Rumble

Here in the UK, we're waiting to see if Gordon Brown calls a snap election in October. In the US, there's no such mystery about when they're next going to the polls: the next presidential election is happening next year, with candidates in both parties already jockeying for position.

Glu Mobile is celebrating that fact with its new game White House Rumble. It's a colourful boxing game involving George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani punching the lights out of one another.

The game has just gone on sale in the US, and we doubt it'll cross the Atlantic. However, imagine how fun a localised version with Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Menzies Campbell would be...

Texas Instruments shows off projector phone

Got a big white wall in your living room, but can't afford a swanky projector to show movies on it? Don't worry: Texas Instruments is working on a solution. It's been showing off a prototype mobile phone with a miniature projector built in.

The idea is you can watch your mobile videos by projecting them onto a white surface - although you can imagine the technology being used for gaming too. On the one hand, it gets around the problem of small mobile screens, but on the other, we'd probably still rather have a TV-out port, as seen on some Nokia handsets. We also wonder what projecting video does to your handset's battery life.

Still, TI is working on the technology with the aim of including it in phones in the near(ish) future. Rest assured, we'll keep you updated.

(via Engadget)

At last! Standardised charging for mobile handsets!

If, like us, you've gone through a few mobile phones in your time, you'll probably have noticed that no manufacturer uses the same charging standard. You can't use your Nokia chargers on a Sony Ericsson phone, or top up your Samsung handset with an LG charger. It's just a tad annoying.

Thankfully, the frustration could soon be history. Industry body the Open Mobile Terminal Platform is banging the manufacturers' heads together to get them to agree to use Mini-USB as the standard charging interface for their handsets.

It sounds too good to be true, so probably won't happen until 2017. But it's good to see the industry tackling an issue that might not be high-profile, but is still an irritating bugbear for many mobile users.

(via Pocket Picks)

Fuwa Phone: the official kiddie mobile of the Beijing Olympics

Looking for a cutesy-yet-rare mobile handset to make your friends think you're a gadget maven? Of course you are. Check out the Fuwa phone, which is being launched in China as part of the build-up to next year's Olympics.

The character is Fuwa Huanhuan, who's the official Games mascot. You get a 1.5-inch screen, a 256MB memory card, music and video playing capabilities, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. Well, it is designed for children: they're not so fussy when it comes to specs. Probably.

Maybe the organisers of the 2012 London Olympics should get working on a similar idea for that event, as long as they don't use that godawful official logo, of course. We'd shun any phone that featured that.

(via New Launches)

New York subway to get mobile reception

Bad news for anyone who enjoys the blessed relief of travelling underground without hearing people blather away on their mobiles. New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that all 277 of the city's subway stations are going to be kitted out with mobile masts.

However, it's not as bad as it seems: the actual tunnels will still have no reception, meaning that commuters will be able to make and take calls while waiting for trains, but will have to keep quiet when actually on board.

If anyone's reading from London Underground, we have one message for you: RESIST! The Central Line is bad enough in rush hour without having to listen to foghorn-voiced city blokes shouting about their latest bonus.

(via Textually)

3G touchscreen watch makes telling the time a high-tech treat

People have been banging on about watch-phones for years now, yet they've still not taken over the world. It's unlikely the IMOBILE Flying C1000 will change that state of affairs, but if you're a full-blown gadget geek, that won't stop you wanting one.

It's a mobile phone with 60MB of built-in memory, and the ability to play MP3s and video files (not that you'll have room for many of either in 60MB, but we hope there's also a memory card slot). It's got Bluetooth built-in so you can use a Bluetooth headset for voice calls, and even has a touchscreen - so you can control it by jabbing at the screen with a mini stylus.

Don't expect to see it in Carphone Warehouse any time soon, but if you're planning a visit to Hong Kong, it might be worth picking one up. Now, when are Swatch going to get their behinds into gear to make something like this?

(via Akihabara News)

Hidden iPhone feature: it's got Sauna compatibility!

Anyone in Finland who owns an iPhone will know this already, but just in case you were wondering: yes, Apple's handset does still work if you take it into the sauna with you.

SMS Text News blogger Ewan MacLeod has proved it, although he did wrap the handset in a towel to keep it away from the direct heat. Sadly, he didn't then whip it with birch twigs and dip it through a hole in a nearby icy lake...

(via SMS Text News)