Let Mobile

Fans of the dual-sliding keyboard/keypad-wielding Pantech Duo from AT&T will be happy to hear that their hybrid-slider is now ready to rock with Windows Mobile 6.1.

With threaded SMS text messages and a revamped homescreen, Windows Mobile 6.1 promises to breathe new life into the already aging handset from AT&T.

AT&T seems to be staying true to their handset roadmap. But, with Windows Mobile 6.1 available on the older Pantech Duo, the upcoming Pantech Duo II on AT&T might lose sales to the older, cheaper Pantech Duo.

Pantech Duo Windows Mobile 6.1 update

Many of you UK reader that use memory cards for your various devices portable devices may be interested to know that Picstop.co.uk are currently doing a 16GB SDHC (high capacity) card for £17.49! That’s about £1 per GB!

How cheap is memory these days?! I was chatting to someone today who said that a 5MB hard disk used to be £5000 back in the day - okay, this was the late 80s/early 90s, but how times have changed!

T-Mobile and 3UK have joined forces to beef up the hi-speed links between their base units. Interestingly it’s BT wholesale that is the middleman here, so they have got to be happy with what will surely have been a nice deal size!

The question I guess is what is the bandwidth of these links - probably SEVERAL times that of your home DSL connection

Following on the Motorola Q11 sneak-peak that Motorola gave Brazil recently, the struggling handset maker has gone all but official with their Motorola Q11 on their website. Motorola has stopped short of making an official announcement of their newest Motorola Q smartphone, but the specifications sheet has been

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Today Verizon Wireless and Vodafone announced their exclusive claim to being the first family of carriers to offer the new RIM BlackBerry Storm smartphones. Verizon Wireless will have exclusive rights to the BlackBerry Storm 9530 smartphone while Vodafone, one of Verizon’s parents, will claim rights to the BlackBerry Storm 9500 in Europe, India, Australia, and New Zealand. No specific launch dates have been given, but the joint press release mentions availability “later this fall.”

As the first touchscreen BlackBerry device, a lot is riding on the Storm for RIM. BlackBerry devices have always been known for their fine, usable keyboards and the devices on a whole have been the tool of choice for many people that rely on email to do business. As such, the introduction of a touchscreen on a BlackBerry is something of a risk, as touchscreens have long been considered poor when it comes to text input - and a BlackBerry is nothing without text input.

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Customers can choose from £15 or £20 monthly SIM only tariffs with extra bonus credit

Tesco Mobile has launched a SIM only contract today and is set to introduce a new flat rate prepay tariff later this month.

Both the MVNO’s prepay and contract tariffs offer customers half price calls and texts to five numbers and three Clubcard points to use in Tesco supermarkets for every £1 spent on credit.

Tesco contract customers paying £15 a month will receive bonus credit of £45 giving them £60 credit. The £20 tariff gives customers £80 worth of credit.

The prepay offer will be available from October 27, giving customers spending £10 a month on credit a further £10 bonus airtime or £30 bonus airtime when topping up £15.

Tesco said its billing system allows customers to move easily between the contract or prepay tariffs. Tesco Mobile chief executive Lance Batchelor said: “We believe that we now have the most flexible and the easiest to use tariffs in the market.

“Tesco Mobile’s success is based on listening to feedback from our customers. We aren’t going to force them to pick and choose from a huge number of complicated tariffs or limit them with bundles of calls and texts.

“We are simply going to give our customers unbeatable rewards of flexible credit which makes us a serious alternative to the traditional networks.”

Calls to UK mobiles and landlines are charged at 20p per minute and 10p a text.

The phone features a 2 inch QVGA internal display, quadband GSM/EDGE and dualband HSDPA access, 1.3 megapixel camera with video recorder, microSDHC expansion slot, access to AT&T services (Mail, CV, Napster, eMusic, XM, IM), speakerphone, Bluetooth with stereo audio support, and GPS access through AT&T Navigator.

The phone is now available from AT&T online for $249.99 with No Commitment, or $99.99 with a new 2 year agreement before an additional $50 mail-in rebate bringing the total to $49.99.

Firstever touchscreen Blackberry phone is coming soon in UK. Named as ‘Blackberry Storm’, It is displayed on Vodafone’s website as a competition prize. Still, RIM the manufacturer of phone has not announced it officially, but it was speculated for months. MobileToday reported that it could be part of Christmas offer and will be available exclusively on Vodafone, as there is Vodafone’s logo in front of handset.

It seems that the Samsung Bresson which was leaked some weeks ago is actually going to be called the Samsung Pixon, according to information posted on the Phones4u website today.

The photos published show a touchscreen device to rival the iPhone with sleek lines and a host of features. Most importantly the camera is 8 mega pixels!

Other features include:

* Google Maps
* 3.5 inch touchscreen
* GPS
* HDTV

According to Dial-a-Phone the Sony Ericsson X1 Xperia will launch at the end of the month.

The price is yet to be confirmed but we expect it will be free with perhaps a £45 per month contract and around the £100 mark with lower value contracts. The X1 Xperia is a high end business phone with 3.15 megapixel camera, 3 inch touch screen.

Other features include a lightweight 45 gram stainless steel casing, wifi and dvd quality video. Being a business phone the Xperia has WiFi and push email as well as blogging software and a host of other features.