Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Everyone who’s ever been stuck in traffic always would love to know exactly what the road conditions are like. Sure there’s those news radio stations that interrupt every three minutes to tell you how the freeway you’re on is totally backed up, but those often don’t tell you how to route yourself around the problem. TomTom and Vodafone have just partnered to create a new type of commercial traffic data system based on thousands of mobile phones that will describe traffic conditions in real-time. The idea is that by using the regular signaling information between the handset and the base station, the location and speed of the handset can be determined at any given time. Combine that information across a region among thousands of drivers who become data points, and a picture emerges of how backed a given freeway really is — enabling TomTom to provide detours much more quickly than previously possible. The program is set to be launched in the Netherlands in the second half of 2007 — so for all you folks who commute into the Dutch metropolises of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, you may want to renew your Vodafone subscription pronto.

[Via Reg Hardware]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Cellphones

Now that we know the Treo 750 is poised for a Cingular release here in the US, we’re kind of over Vodafone’s version of this Windows Mobile 5 smartphone, but because we’ve got mad love for our European audience, we’ll keep covering it until they pry us kicking and screaming from our keyboards. Following numerous spy shots, reviews, and announcements regarding this device, there’s pretty much nothing that we don’t know about its feature set — quad-band GSM with UMTS, 300MHz CPU, 240 x 240 pixel screen, Bluetooth 1.2, miniSD expansion, 1.3 megapixel camera, and of course, still no WiFi — but despite all the interest, a solid release date has yet to be announced. Well, until now that is, as Vodafone has finally updated its UK site to list an October 2nd launch (why do we feel like this thing has been “launched” like ten times already?), with that same vague pricing window of “free to £127.66 ($242.90).” So, congratulations dear friends across the pond, you’ll have your gadget-loving hands all over the 750v in a few short days; us Americans, meanwhile, are just preparing ourselves to go through the whole dog-and-pony show of leaks, rumors, and false starts all over again.

[Thanks, Nirav M.]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Thanks to countless leaks over the last several months, one of the most anticlimactic smartphone releases in history has finally gone official. Palm has issued all the juicy details on their UK site, and… well, it’s pretty much exactly what we expected: internal antenna, quadband GSM with triband UMTS (lending itself to a Cingular release), and a superbly average 1.3-megapixel cam sitting atop Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition. The phone is still apparently in the pre-order phase, though Vodafone’s site is showing a price “From Free to £127.66″ (about $240) depending on contract — not bad considering what you get, but whether similar pricing will carry over to Cingular is another question entirely.

[Thanks, Wolwol and Camp]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

The teaser shot of the keyboard on Voda’s site might not be very revealing, but hey, we’ve got plenty of evidence lined up to know pretty much what’s in store for Vodafone customers come September 12 either way. Businessfolk on the carrier’s UK site are now being encouraged to preorder the device, which will be “using Vodafone’s high-speed 3G network” humming along atop Windows Mobile 5.2. The remainder of the spec sheet (if accurate) is nothing we couldn’t have guessed, suggesting a 1.3-megapixel cam (we’ve heard 2 megapixels thrown around; we’ll see), Bluetooth, and that fabulous HSDPA radio, though there’s no mention of WiFi — potentially a deal breaker for some. And for the record, yes, we’re figuring that if they panned up on that annoying teaser shot, there’d be no external antenna in sight.

[Via Mobility Site]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

One might argue we’ve collected enough intelligence at this point to make an official announcement ourselves, but according to a Reuters report, Palm has committed to unveiling at least one of its next-gen Treos for reals (without our help) next month. From the way Palm is talking, it sounds like this debut will be for the Windows Mobile-based UMTS model first mentioned for Vodafone in July, though we’re guessing Cingular’s Treo 750 isn’t far behind (right, Palm?). Other than that tidbit, Palm’s asking us all to patiently wait for the September 12 when the press releases start flying — but one thing we can say with near certainty is that there won’t be a stub antenna anywhere in sight.

[Thanks, Dave]

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Filed under: Handsets, Palm, Vodafone, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

So Palm has officially announced one of those three Treos we were promised at the end of last year, and just as we expected, this Windows Mobile 5 AKU2-powered model will be sold exclusively overseas. Unfortunately the company neglected to include a detailed spec sheet in its press release — more information will be available closer to the as-yet-unspecified launch date — so all we really know at this point is that it’s destined for Vodafone’s 3G UMTS network in several European countries. Also unclear is how this model relates to other upcoming Treos we’ve seen under such codenames as Hollywood, Lowrider, Nitro, and Lennon — we sure wish Palm would be a little more forthcoming with its product roadmaps. As usual, though, you can always count on us to bring you every little bit of Treo news we get our hands on, even if Palm and friends don’t give us much help putting it in context.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Handsets, Palm, Vodafone, Windows Mobile, GSM, UMTS

So Palm has officially announced one of those three Treos we were promised at the end of last year, and just as we expected, this Windows Mobile 5 AKU2-powered model will be sold exclusively overseas. Unfortunately the company neglected to include a detailed spec sheet in its press release — more information will be available closer to the as-yet-unspecified launch date — so all we really know at this point is that it’s destined for Vodafone’s 3G UMTS network in several European countries. Also unclear is how this model relates to other upcoming Treos we’ve seen under such codenames as Hollywood, Lowrider, Nitro, and Lennon — we sure wish Palm would be a little more forthcoming with its product roadmaps. As usual, though, you can always count on us to bring you every little bit of Treo news we get our hands on, even if Palm and friends don’t give us much help putting it in context.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Vodafone, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA

Looks like Cingular customers aren’t the only ones expected to get an HTC windfall this summer; according to The Unwired, come July and August it appears that the Hermes and Star Trek will be launched on German Vodafone as the Vodafone VPA Compact III and Qtek 8500, respectively. Apparently the VPA Compact III will set you back as much as €900 ($1,150 US) without contract, or €409 ($522 US) with a two-year, whereas the 8500 will go for €600 ($766 US) and €170 ($217 US) the same ways — something tells us they want their customers to snag these subsidized.

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Filed under: Handsets, Sagem, Vodafone

Vodafone’s Simply has a new pedestrian candybar going on, the Sagem VS4. It’s just your usual tri-band GPRS handset with a 160 x 128 CSTN display, and 4MB internal memory, although it does have a USB 1.1 connection (which we’re only hoping isn’t some proprietary-to-USB solution). We wouldn’t expect much more from the thing, especially since it’s probably about a low end (and cost-effective) a device as you’re likely to find for your mum on Vodafone.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

While much of the world awaits 3G to grace their airwaves, a coalition of companies in the wireless industry are putting together a nonprofit organization in the UK this month to promote the development of 4G. The “Next Generation Mobile Networks” group, consisting of founding members KPN Mobile, Orange, Sprint Nextel, Vodafone, and T-Mobile plus add-ons China Mobile and NTT DoCoMo, is looking to 2010 for the commercial deployment of 4G devices – that’s less than four years away, folks. We’re somewhat skeptical 4G is going to come together for any substantial population in that amount of time, but just in case, we’re going start compiling our list of things to do with 2.5Gbps of WWAN bandwidth now.

[Via EE Times]

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Filed under: Sprint-Nextel, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMo, Misc

Filed under: Handsets, Others, Vodafone, GSM

9.9mm might not be close to breaking any records these days, but Toshiba’s TS30 candybar is thin enough to confortably slip into pretty much any nook or cranny you had in mind. With a QVGA display (quickly becoming par for the course in Europe and Asia), music player, MicroSD slot, and FM radio, SmarTone-Vodafone customers in Hong Kong shouldn’t find much missing when the phone hits for HK$1680 (about $215) unsubsidized. Rumor has it the tri-band GSM TS30 will eventually find its way to Taiwan and Europe, though possibly under a different moniker — but per protocol, no US launch plans are in the works.

[Via MobileBurn]

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Filed under: Culture, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone

It looks like the days of bloated roaming fees within Europe are nearly over. Orange, Telecom Italia, Telenor, TeliaSonera, and Wind have joined T-Mobile in an agreement to cap the rates they charge eachother within the European Economic Area – 45 euro cents per minute from October 2006 dropping to 36 euro cents per minute by October 2007. In time, that should result in a savings of nearly 50% for consumers travelling within Europe and from abroad as the proposed cap is extended to operators outside the sub-continent. An independent watchdog group will then monitor fee reductions on the open market and publish an index every six months. And what of Europe’s largest carrier, Vodafone? Well, they’re apparently sticking to their rather dubious “Vodafone Passport” scheme said to save punters 40% on roaming fees after registering for the service, after a “connection fee” of 75p per call and after April 2007 when the rate cuts would go into effect. Now this isn’t the first time the cabal European operators have agreed to lower roaming tariffs so we’ll just have to see how this plays. Just remember dear carriers, the world and Viv is watching.

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Sharp, Vodafone, Symbian, GSM, UMTS

New Softbank property Vodafone K.K. has announced four new 3G handsets -- along with the 2G Toshiba V304T "simplephone" -- that will be released this summer in Japan, including Sharp's 905SH clamshell with a 2 megapixel camera and One Seg digital TV reception. Also seen before was Voda's version of Nokia's N71, dubbed the 804NK, which sports those same multimedia and smartphone features along with obvious addition of bilingual menus. Like the three models mentioned previously, the Toshiba 705T and Sharp 705SH SLIMIA also sport clamshell designs, with the Tosh featuring external music controls and the Sharp (pictured) rocking dual cameras. Additionally, a sixth model, Sharp's 2G V403SH (also a flip phone), was announced as getting a summer makeover, and will now come in your choice of cloth beige or cloth blue.

Filed under: Handsets, NTT DoCoMo, GSM

Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun is reporting that NTT DoCoMo is working to make all of its handsets GSM-compatible in the next two years, which would allow them to work in over 130 countries. Furthermore, DoCoMo’s customers would have access to the popular i-mode Internet service in over 70 countries under the new plan, according to company sources quoted by the paper. Reuters reminds us that this move comes at a time when Japan’s wireless industry is preparing for increased competition this fall, and may also be a response to the attractive packages Softbank can now offer thanks to their recent purchase of Vodafone Japan.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

Japanese news agency Nikkei is reporting that Apple and new Vodafone Japan owner Softbank are working together to develop cellphones capable of downloading and playing music from the iTunes store. Details are, of course, very slim at this point, as we don't even know whether to characterize this as a "true" iPhone, or simply a ROKR-like model featuring only software from the iPod manufacturer powering a non-Apple handset. However, Nikkei is quoting sources that say the phone, which may be released as early as this year (and which is definitely NOT pictured alongside this post), is expected to sport both Softbank and Apple branding, which may indicate that Cupertino will have a hand in developing the hardware as well. Whatever they're working on, we wanna know about it, and we won't rest until we have a ton of specs and pics for you.

Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, Vodafone

Japanese news agency Nikkei is reporting that Apple and new Vodafone Japan owner Softbank are working together to develop cellphones capable of downloading and playing music from the iTunes store. Details are, of course, very slim at this point, as we don’t even know whether to characterize this as a “true” iPhone, or simply a ROKR-like model featuring only software from the iPod manufacturer powering a non-Apple handset. However, Nikkei is quoting sources that say the phone, which may be released as early as this year (and which is definitely NOT pictured alongside this post), is expected to sport both Softbank and Apple branding, which may indicate that Cupertino will have a hand in developing the hardware as well. Whatever they’re working on, we wanna know about it, and we won’t rest until we have a ton of specs and pics for you.

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Filed under: Culture, T-Mobile, Vodafone

At the risk of being forced into lowering their lucrative roaming fees across Europe, Vodafone and T-Mobile have agreed to cut these charges under their own, likely more-favorable terms. See, just yesterday Vodafone announced a drop by 40% for UK customers traveling in some 14 European countries... with a few catches. First, customers must register for a free "Vodafone Passport" which allows punters to be charged at UK rates after suffering a one-off connection fee of 75p ($1.38) per call. Kind of the equivalent of those mail-in rebates companies know we'll forget to return. Oh, and the discount won't go into effect until April 2007. T-Mobile is taking a different, more straight-up approach by charging a flat rate of 55p ($1.02) per minute for calls in Europe and North America starting June 1st -- a 27% savings over existing contract rates. It's not clear if these changes will appease the concerns of EU Commissioner Vivian Reding, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Filed under: Vodafone

Vodafone K.K. might be third place in Japan, but as a former part of the world's largest phone company, you would think Softbank would want to keep the name around. But after buying the Japanese division of Vodafone for 14.9 billion USD, Softbank has decided to drop the name and go with a new one, which has yet to be announced. Along with the name change, Softbank plans to announce a new management line-up in April, along with having the Softbank pres move to a dual role over both companies. The acquisition should be complete by April 24th, so we suppose we'll know more then.

Filed under: Handsets, Sharp, Vodafone

The inner workings of Sharp's 905SH have recently been revealed to all by a Japanese site. Have they no shame? So just in case you were wondering, it seem like swivel displays aren't actually powered by dark magicks or agile gnomes. Sorry to disappoint.

[Via Slashphone]

Filed under: Virgin Mobile, China Unicom, MVNOs

Interfax China is reporting that Virgin Mobile is close to signing a partnership with wireless carrier China Unicom that would make the UK-based company the first foreign MVNO in post-WTO China. Although Virgin would still require approval from the Chinese government, which carefully scrutinizes all proposed foreign business presences, the company will benefit from past deals in which Spain's Telefonica and Germany's Vodafone have made invesments in domestic telecom firms. Virgin already has offices in Shanghai, and CEO Richard Branson recently told reporters to expect a Chinese launch this fall, so it would seem pretty likely that this venture, which is well over a year in the making, has the necessary government support to proceed.

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, Windows Mobile, NTT DoCoMo, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

A spectrum of HTC’s highly-anticipated Hermes variants are finally coming around in the retail pipeline, and what better way to celebrate than with a launch roundup? Regardless of your continent, odds are one or more of these flavors are available in your parts — and if not, your friendly local import shop shouldn’t have a difficult time hooking you up. As you come across other launches, do your fellow readers (and us) a favor and post ‘em in the comments. Thank ye kindly!

[Thanks, Leigh]

Read – Orange SPV M3100
Read – T-Mobile Germany, UK MDA Vario II
Read – Vodafone VPA Compact III / v1605
Read – HTC TyTN
Read – HTC Z
Read – Dopod 838Pro
Read – Dopod CHT9000

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Filed under: Handsets, Sharp, Vodafone, GSM, UMTS

Apparently Sharp likes its 705SH for Softbank Mobile enough to export the thin clamshell, though not before getting a name change. Apart from some minor cosmetic changes, the tri-band SX633 is a dead ringer for its Japanese cousin, ready to bring joy to the hearts of SmartTone-Vodafone customers willing to shed the asking price of $4,180 HKD — a bit north of $500 USD. For the money, you get a 17mm-thick 3G clamshell with 2.2-inch QVGA internal and 72 x 12 external displays, and microSD support for when you fill that 20MB of internal memory to the brim, all in your choice of Black Opal, Pink Champagne, or Silver McIntyre. Doesn’t quite seem to justify the coin; we’ll pass. Er, we would if we were in Hong Kong, that is.

[Via Ministry of Tech]

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Filed under: Handsets, Palm, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

One might argue we’ve collected enough intelligence at this point to make an official announcement ourselves, but according to a Reuters report, Palm has committed to unveiling at least one of its next-gen Treos for reals (without our help) next month. From the way Palm is talking, it sounds like this debut will be for the Windows Mobile-based UMTS model first mentioned for Vodafone in July, though we’re guessing Cingular’s Treo 750 isn’t far behind (right, Palm?). Other than that tidbit, Palm’s asking us all to patiently wait for the September 12 when the press releases start flying — but one thing we can say with near certainty is that there won’t be a stub antenna anywhere in sight.

[Thanks, Dave]

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