Articles tagged with: vodafone

Despite some hopes that the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm 9500 might be arriving in stores tomorrow, Vodafone has confirmed next Friday 14th November as the official on sale date, from free on £35 two-year contract with unlimited Internet and email.

Intriguingly, the website is saying that pre-orders will be delivered by 18th November but having spoken to Vodafone this afternoon we've been assured that phones will be going out to everyone who pre-ordered on the 14th - although "such is the demand" that it could take up to four days to reach them. Thankfully there are ways to snare one earlier, so read on.

If you're after a Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, bag one while they're still in stock. IDG's reporting that unspecified manufacturing delays are causing a shortage of X1 handsets across Sweden, Germany and here in the UK.

Sony Ericsson has only said that it doesn't, "want to go into detail regarding which materials are causing the problems," but has said that further stock is on the way.

Unfortunately, while Sweden will be getting fresh supplies in the next few days, the time frame for the Germans and us Brits is more like the next "couple of weeks".

Vodafone says it's yet to sell out but Expansys is awaiting stock on its sim-only phones - although it's hoping for more by the end of the week. Plans to launch elsewhere haven't been hit so let's hope the the stock here holds out till reinforcements arrive.

[IDG News Service]

There's a Storm brewing. Looks like Storm cloud on the horizon. Is that a Storm blowing in? Yes, the puns are endless - but thankfully there is an end in sight to the wait for RIM's BlackBerry Storm 9500. Phones 4U has joined Vodafone and quietly begun taking orders ahead of this month's on-sale date for the phone it describes as, "a real candidate for the iPhone killer".

While talk of iPhone's death may be hasty, the Storm is likely to kick up a, er, storm, among BlackBerry fans who've been underwhelmed by the more traditional Bold. With a 3.2 megapixel camera, WiFi, GPS, HSDPA, it's certainly a fully-tooled machine, although we're yet to see whether that feedback loaded 3.25in touchscreen will win over purists wedded to their QWERTY Curves.

We've been able to get our hands on the shiny new Xperia X1 since the end of last month - for a price. But if sim-free isn't your style, you'll be pleased to learn that it's now available on Vodafone.

The touchscreen Sony Ericsson is free on the red network's 18-month contracts above £45 (which'll get you 900 minutes, unlimited texts and iPhone-matching unlimited data). If you only want to be tied for a year then you'll have to stump up an eye-watering £80 a month to get it for nowt, with none of the unlimited data and text privileges but a frankly rude 3000 minutes of talk.

In a "memo" sent by a PR "leaked" to the Register, Vodafone has engaged in some serious point scoring against its rival, Orange, over its early and (as it turned out) not so successful release of the BlackBerry Bold. Due to what the memo calls "software issues and technical faults", which forced Orange to temporarily pull the Bold, the Newbury-based network feels it now has the perfect opportunity to point out the "superiority of Vodafone’s network coverage and testing processes."

Rubbing just a little salt into Orange's wounds it says, "We are pleased to inform our partners that these issues do not affect any BlackBerry Bold devices offered by Vodafone [thanks to] considerable time working with RIM to optimise the BlackBerry Bold software for Vodafone's network."

Some cast iron confirmation at last that the BlackBerry Storm will be here on Vodafone from the first week of next month. The information's come direct from the horse's mouth via T3 who've been chatting with RIM over in the States.

And while RIM wasn't giving any concrete details of tariffs, it did say they would be "competitive" with the iPhone so expect a price tag anywhere from free to the 16GB iPhone 3G's £159 maximum, with tariffs from around £30 and possibly some unlimited data thrown in.

So just three weeks left to wait if you can hood off on putting your name down on a G1 or splurging on an iPhone.

[T3]

Whatever you think about Dell, one thing’s for sure – it’s the first laptop manufacturer to realise that an ‘internet anywhere’ netbook isn’t much use without internet access. Wi-Fi is all well and good, but step out of network range with your little, low-cost laptop and it’s close to becoming dead weight.

So, while other manufacturers umm and ah about onboard mobile broadband support, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is the first netbook to actually have it, albeit as an option available only from Vodafone.

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is a BlackBerry Storm with an iPhone menu, cooked up by either some clueless or some mischievous web monkey over at Vodafone.

The freak of technology only appeared briefly on Vodafone's website but long enough for a few screenshots to be taken.

We really hope it was someone's idea of a joke, otherwise the web team need some serious retraining over there in Vodaville.

[Valley Wag]

Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 is available to buy as of now in UK Vodafone shops. As we reported last month, the machine will be ‘free’ when customers sign up for a two-year, £25/month contract (which includes a 1GB data allowance); £30/month will get you 3GB of data.

There’s not much else to add but if you want to read the full press release, click after the cut.

Vodafone has announced that it's won the race to offer the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (aka the Dell E) on contract. Starting from mid-October it'll be giving away Dell's 8.9in Eee PC rival for free to those who sign up for a two-year contract.

It'll still be a costly way of buying a laptop long-term, with price plans rumoured to start at £25 a month (total cost for two years' mobile broadband and the Dell: £600). At least the Inspiron Mini 9 does have the advantage of having HSDPA built-in, with a slot for the Vodafone SIM and Vodafone's own software pre-loaded.

Those hungry to sign up for one can register their interest at www.vodafone.co.uk/netbooks for info as it's released. Click on for the full press release.