June 2008 archives

Szu Ping Chan has a very interesting article on Fool.co.uk in which she compares five dongles from different providers; 3, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange and O2.

Starting with a handy comparison table which lists the different price plans of each dongle, Szu then goes in to detail on each one. 3’s dongle is highlighted as being the best value, despite reservations about the broadband speed. She writes “if you only use the internet for checking your email and general surfing, unlike many of the other providers, 3 won’t tie you in with a lengthy contract.” Szu also mentions how you can get a free dongle from 3 with a 12 month contract; “half the tie-in period of both Vodafone and T-Mobile”, or PAYG dongles are available for £49.99.

Szu also reminds her readers that existing 3 customers can get a free dongle with 1GB of data allowance for half price until 30th June- that’s just £5 per month. You can read the full article here.

The man who gave us the guide to getting your 3 dongle working in harmony with your Eee PC did so in light of his experiences helping out a pal. Obviously this has been ticking over in his mind, there are posts to prove it, and as such he’s “treated” himself to a Huawei E169G usb modem from 3 to compliment his own black Eee PC.

Once again, due to the dongle not ‘officially’ supporting Linux, there are potential teething problems. Liam is way ahead on this and his latest post highlights the possible pitfalls and describes how to body swerve your way around them.

Needless to say the method of his endeavour and the aid that came in the form of a blog entry by Dale Lane are provided. This means that anyone unsure about taking the plunge of hooking up a 3 dongle and Eee PC can find out what they’ll need to do to live the ultra-portable, always-connected dream!

I’m not sure many would refer to riding the train from Swindon to Paddington as an awesome experience, but then again, not everyone is gadget fiend Paul Golding.

Beginning by stating how much he loves his iPhone, he is happy to note that connectivity wise, he suffers while on the Brunel line. And that is where his other “great gadget saves the day”. I’m sure you can guess that he is indeed referring to his 3 mobile broadband dongle, which gave him “fantastic coverage” all the way along the line, well from Swindon at least.

So Paul merrily downloaded “gracefully” an application for his Mac, while trundling onward in shadow of the glorious Didcot Chimney stacks. I guess that is mobile connectivity in the truest of senses.

The Girl with a One Track Mind was at the Webby Awards! These are politely referred to as the Oscars of the internet for those that are outside the loop of of all things based online.

It sounded dazzlingly glamourous, what with ladies in posh frocks (including GWAOTM) and the location of the Cipriani Ballroom, Wall Street. However, as she points out there is a certain irony in the fact there was little WiFi action available at the venue… so how were we to be kept up-to-date with the winners, losers and over-long speeches? Well GWAOTM made use of her “fab 3 dongle”, which, in her own words meant we were kept abreast of all that went on via “sardonic commentary and gossip”.

Judging by the live-blogging results it all went fairly well, like CNN and the Weather Channel: constant updates.

Further to the previous article, we’ve obtained more information on the chronology of events and it’s a rum old tale indeed. When the original advert, claiming 3’s prices were better value than O2’s, was shown in August 2004, O2 immediately sought out a High Court injunction to take the advert off air, claiming the price comparison was unfair.

When the High Court refused to grant the injunction because the advert was true, O2 had a quick rethink and decided to drop its complaint over the price comparisons, but launched a new one over the use of the ‘bubble imagery’ in the advert. Obviously O2 use bubbles in their own adverts, so they claimed that 3’s use of the imagery constituted trademark infringement.

Again, the High Court dismissed the complaint and stated that 3 had complied with all the requirements for a lawful comparative advert, and that there was nothing confusing, denigrating or trademark infringing about it. The English Court of Appeal said 3 should win and emphasised that that the rules on comparative adverts should be interpreted in the way most favourable to the advertiser, as it promotes competition and benefits the consumer.

Because the Court of Appeal felt this decision would affect business and advertising across Europe, some of the points were sent to the European Court of Justice for consideration. Now the ECJ have returned their decision: 3 are still in the right. This means advertisers can now carry out comparative advertising in a more confident manner.

It also benefits consumers due to the fact that advertisers can now highlight when they have the best value deal, and not be creatively restricted while doing it! That’s got to be good, right?

On YouTube is a visual with a voice-over relaying 3’s victory over O2 in the courtroom. It is all in regard to a series of adverts produced four years ago that demonstrated 3 were offering greater value.

As the voice over points out, “most people liked it, O2 didn’t”, this was down to two factors. Firstly that consumers were made aware that 3 were indeed cheaper than O2 and secondly, that the advert had utilised bubble imagery… shocking behaviour.

Anyway, enough chatter, see it below.

More to follow shortly…

Following the recent fuss over advertised speeds for mobile broadband, Ofcom recently announced they plan to introduce a voluntary code of practice. Last week Ofcom published a code of practice for fixed-line broadband and report that 32 ISPs, 90% of service providers, had signed up. This will ensure that ISPs give consumers “a clearer understanding of the speeds they can get and to make sure they sign up to an appropriate broadband package” according to Mobile Today, as Ofcom said they were concerned over customer dissatisfaction due to being misled by advertised headline speeds that are, in practice, unachievable.

There’s been no time frame announced for the introduction of the mobile broadband code of practice, but Mobile Today believe it could be within the next six months. They also report that is the voluntary code is not adhered to, Ofcom may “consider introducing formal regulation”. For the full story, head over to Mobile Today.

Remember Skype Nomad Rebecca who recently set out on a round the world trip to show “she could be in “perpetual motion” and still communicate via Skype?” Remove The Labels have reported that she’s made it back home safe and sound; according to Rebecca “It was an epic adventure”, and achieved many Skype related goals such as Skyping while camel riding, on a Gondola and traveling between San Francisco and Los Angeles in an RV.

Rebecca was impressed by the 3 Skypephone she took with her, stating ““It was the best bit of technology I took with me. It worked like a walkie-talkie. I could use it for free phone calls and text messages.” It saved her plenty of cash as she Skyped her way through Italy, Britain, Austria, Sweden and Denmark. She also kept in contact with her mother and grandmother who live back in her home country of Australia via Skype, as the 2 ladies both have 3 Skypephones of their own.

Rebecca also raised more than £7000 for her charity of choice, Motivation. Well done Rebecca! Anyone want to sponsor 3mobilebuzz on a round the world trip?

Seemingly determined to cram the most amount of free Skype to Skype calls into our daily lives as possible, 3 announced a change in their business service plans yesterday, further proving their love for the cost-saving VOIP service.

Full details of the “compelling”, new Business Mix and Match tariffs can be found over at SMS Text News and TechRadar UK.

Ewan from SMS Text News is particularly pleased by the new announcement, especially the 300 free inclusive minutes to other 3 customers; free Skype to Skype calls, free voicemail and free instant messenger, which altogether leads Adam Hartley of TechRadar UK to conclude that this is a package that will appeal most to freelancers, the self-employed and small business users.

Bringing this back to the net, I’m prepared to go a step further and mention the appeal to web start-ups. Those guys who invent ingenious services with names like Pwoft and Zqueet generally, spend most of their time digging down the back of sofas for loose change and most already use IM and Skype to get their business done.

Upon receiving a dongle from my good self, Brian decided to get it going and see what the fuss was about, because despite being well aware of what was available he was yet to try one.

He begins his post by espousing the joy of working online, predominantly the freedom it gives. However, after experiencing the plug and play setup, this freedom is dwarfed by the “sheer accessibility and flexibility of mobile broadband”, something that he believes “is wonderful.” And with increasing connectivity demands, Brian sees mobile broadband becoming essential for businesses, especially with the current price points in his eyes, being something of a “steal”.

So what is the lasting impression of Brian’s 3 dongle action? Well, this statement - “Simply put, I can now be connected wherever I am, so long as I’m reasonably close to civilisation”, coupled with this image of him proving the point…

June is finally beginning to feel like a summer month with the nation peeling away the layers and the red tops featuring photographs of nameless English beauties soaking up the rays on our usually wind-swept and rain-sodden beaches. However, it is not only the weather that is causing a rise in temperature according to MobileToday, as they discuss 3 and Vodafone competing on mobile broadband prices.

The article states the details of 3’s latest offer, “… a dongle and 3GB of data validity for three months for £69.99. A 12GB dongle valid for 12 months is priced at £149.99, and a 24GB dongle with a two-year expiry date will cost £249.99″, before giving the ins and outs of the most recent slashes by Vodafone.

It is looking like it could be a long, hot and competitive summer for those involved in the battle for mobile broadband supremacy.

3 have launched mobile broadband starter kits for all those who want to get everything up and running in one smooth hit.

The kit comes with a ZTE or Huawei e220 dongle pre-loaded with the necessary data and offers the opprtunity to be mobile broadband capable super quickly without requiring any organising of one’s own top ups. This is because the bundle is available with 3, 12 and 24 months worth of prepaid credit, which can be extended further as with a regular PAYG dongle once the limit or time expires.

So why would you go with the starter kit? Because as MobileTechAddicts states despite already being a market leader in it’s own right, the standard 3 PAYG Mobile Broadband service is set be undercut in price by the starter kits to the tune of about 20%.

Satellites.co.uk, TelecomPaper and TechRadar are also covering the news.

Over at Fresh Plastic, Anthony has been musing on life without the internet, download limits and Linux’s superiority over Windows. As well as having problems with his landline broadband and X-Series internet add on, he’s found using up 7GB in 2 weeks is all too easy when your on a 3 mobile broadband trial, though “In normal usage (and when one’s paying)…only the most foolish will use the likes of Sky Player or download HD videos via Miro”.

Anthony also considers that when using a laptop with Windows, automatic updates could be a problem for those who have trouble staying below their download limit: “I do wonder if anyone has thought about how huge Windows updates can be and how you have little choice in the matter of downloading them”. Using a Linux Eee PC, however, means this is “not a problem”.