Orange is the fastest European operator to adopt contactless payments. The France Telecom-owned company plans to bring NFC-enabled services firstly in the UK, France, Spain and Poland, with plans to expand to other Orange markets across Europe at a later point. The company is starting with the Bada-powered Samsung Wave 578 — which we covered…
HTC ChaCha in the flesh at Mobile World Congress – A Facebook phone for the typing types
The HTC ChaCha made its live appearance at Mobile World Congress here in lovely Barcelona, Spain, and it looks like a pretty neat Facebook phones for those who love typing away on physical QWERTY keyboards. Given its candybar design with the keyboard out in front, it’s a small departure from what we’ve seen in terms…
Deutsche Telecom to launch new flat rate data plan for the EU
Deutsche Telecom just made traveling in Europe a whole lot easier by announcing a new flat rate data plan for the European Union. The new plans will be available starting March 1, 2011 in Germany and will extend across much of Europe by July. The “Travel & Surf” plans will start with a 10MB day pass…
Up close and personal with the HTC Salsa – The closest thing you’ll get to a Facebook phone
The HTC Salsa was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain this morning, and it looks like one of two handsets that will be the closest thing we’ll be getting to a Facebook phone. At least for now. This probably quells those rumors late last year about Facebook developing its own phone, and it…
Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 is an iPod Touch killer?
For some reason Samsung hasn’t used the “official press channels” to launch the Galaxy S WiFi 5.0. Rather, we’ve seen the small tablet device at Samsung’s booth and were amazed why it wasn’t properly announced. Alas, the all-touchscreen device lacks cellular radios and you can only connect to the Internet via WiFi. Sure you can…
Sonim XP3300 Force is super-tough, has the longest talk time in the world
Sonim Technologies announced a new member to its family of tough and rough devices – Sonim XP3300 FORCE. What sets the new Sonim phone apart is the super long talk time which, at 20 to 24 hours, is said to be the longest in the world. Like some other Sonim phones, the XP3300 Force is…
Telstra launching 4G LTE services later in the year
Australia’s Telstra unveiled plans to upgrade its Next G network with 4G LTE technology later in the year. The company will focus on central business districts of all Australian capital cities and selected regional centres, and use its existing 1800MHz spectrum to bring 4G to areas where traffic demand is most concentrated. At the same…
Skype Access offers WiFi access in 500,000 hotspots around the world
Skype is teaming-up with hotspot operators around the world to offer its users pay-as-you-go Internet access starting at £.04/€.05/$.06 per minute. Dubbed Skype Access, it relies on your existing Skype Credit to charge users, requiring no daily and/or monthly vouchers to get online. Already the VoIP service provider has a number of partners on board,…
Deutsche Telekom to launch NFC-based “Mobile Wallet” in 2011
Deutsche Telekom will launch an NFC-based “Mobile Wallet” in 2011, the international carrier confirmed today at Mobile World Congress. The payment program will use NFC technology to enable wireless payments from a mobile device. This payment system could be extend to store purchases, event ticketing and passenger rail tickets. This international program will be developed…
Hands-on: HTC Desire S – Android Gingerbread, Sense 2.1, Larger Image Sensor
The HTC Desire S is one of HTC’s just-announced higher-end Android phones, slotted directly underneath the Incredible S, and we had a chance to go hands-on with the Europe-only smartphone at the HTC Mobile World Congress 2011press conference. The successor to the HTC Desire sports a similar look and feel to the original, but manages…