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Big news in the mobile world this week that Orange and T-Mobile will be joining forces to create a mammoth-sized network with around 28.4 million customers combined, covering 37% of the UK mobile market. Currently, market shares for the major players look like this:

Vodafone – 27%
O2 – 25%
Orange – 22%
T-Mobile – 15%

The merger will bring the UK network selection down from 5 to four (excluding mobile virtual network operators such as Tesco and Virgin).

Although the merger will reportedly cost between £400 million and £600 million, it’s expected to deliver savings of around half-a-billion pounds per year by 2014, saving on duplicate shops, base stations and customer service facilities.

But what does all this mean for shoppers? Let’s start with the potential negatives:
- Less choice. We all like to have a good range of products and services to choose from and this will reduce our options considerably
- It’s possible that with less competition in the market, we might be looking at higher prices for handsets and contracts
- Uncertainty for current contract holders
- What on Earth will happen to Orange Wednesdays! I have to admit, this is a huge cause for concern. The midweek bargain pizza and film have provided THE single form of weekly entertainment for millions.

And the good points:
- Hopefully less pylons all over the place
- Better reception
- Potentially better customer service
- A greater range of handsets
- An end to the exclusivity deals with O2? It would be good to share the handset love. So far, O2 has the most anticipated handsets like the iPhone and the Palm Pre.

Of course, none of this is finalised yet. Things should go ahead in November and if they do, each company will keep its individual name for at least 18 months. After that, who knows what they’ll come up with. Any ideas for the new name? I think I’ll be boring and go for Orange Mobile…or maybe Trangbile. Nice!

Meet the Chairman. We’re talking VIP but Very Important Phone as opposed to Person, because the Chairman is a new phone with a difference.

The clue is in its maker - Ulysse Nardin, watch maker extraordinaire. This phone takes top-of-the-range watch technology and teams it up with a touchscreen giving us a stylish hybrid handset. Its built-in battery is charged by the kinetic energy generated by the moving rotor so that your phone charges without you even noticing, while it’s working.

But if you thought this was a gimmick phone, think again. Ulysse Nardin have created an interesting multi-touch smartphone. Complete with Wi-Fi, 5 megapixel camera and 2.8 inch screen, the Chairman certainly sounds like a phone to look out for. Release dates and price are currently under wraps but we’ll keep you posted.

[Ulysse Nardin]

Featured in the Coolest Gadgets competition.

How annoying is changing phones and having to get all your contacts onto your new handset? Moving all your contacts onto your phone memory or SIM, taking phones apart, swapping SIMS (if your new handset’s not locked), yadda yadda. It’s got a lot quicker with the use of software and a computer but don’t you just wish it could be instant? Well now, thanks to this little gadget, it is. The Instant Cell Phone Backup just plugs into your old phone and at the touch of a button, all your contacts are stored, ready to be loaded onto your new handset.

Then just plug it into your new handset, use the aforementioned magic button and you’re done. In the words of Aleksandr the meerkat “simples”.

Pick one up for £34.00/$49.95

The GSMA Mobile World Congress took place last week and no doubt you’ve been hearing all about innovative mobile handsets ever since. Here’s a round-up of some of the best phones at MWC.

Sony Ericsson Idou

The Sony Ericsson Idou will seriously impress with its camera when it eventually goes on sale. It will be the World’s first 12 megapixel camera phone! Pretty impressive.

The Idou also packs in quality music and video playback in this sleek handset. It will be available towards the second half of this year with a shiny new name. We’ll keep you posted.

HTC Magic

The HTC Magic is the follow-up to the G1 and the second handset powered by Google’s Android interface. However, this time the handset will be exclusively available through Vodafone, rather than T-Mobile. It comes equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera, MP3 player, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and trackball. It’s 3.2” QVGA touchscreen is home to an on-screen keyboard so, unlike the G1, there’s no slide-out QWERTY keyboard, making it a lot slimmer.

Check out this video for a 360 view:

(more…)

This week’s Gadget Watch is all about trees. Metal trees, that is. This fab looking sculpture will not only be an interesting addition to any room but it will also be your one stop shop (or tree), for charging MP3s, mobile phones, cameras and other small, battery operated devices.

How? Well, each of the leaves is actually a solar panel. These 54 solar panels or photovoltaic panels, to be exact, will store energy that can then be used to charge you favourite gadgets.

Pretty different, hey? Each piece is also movable so you can make it even more original by creating your own shapes.

A fun and great looking product that will save you money and give you that nice warm feeling to know that you’re helping to save the planet too.

It was designed by French genius, Vivien Muller and is not yet on the market but we’ll keep you posted.

It’s Sony to the rescue this week. It seems Sony Ericsson need a little help in the shape of the Bravia brand. Much like branding previous handsets with the Walkman and Cybershot labels, Sony Ericsson hope that Bravia handsets will have the same success.

However, rumour has it that Sony chiefs fear they may have made a big mistake by letting the brand go so quickly - especially as the new Sony PSP phone is in the pipeline.

Whether it was a mistake or not, only time will tell but it’s a little too late for regrets. Bravia handsets have already been launched in Japan and will soon be available in India where the exponential growth in mobile usage will be favourable for the brand.

[techradar]

Did you think that moving text and photos on magazine covers were only possible in Harry Potter? Well they’re so last month. Esquire magazine have already decided to mark their 75th anniversary edition (in October this year), by using E-ink.

The technology includes a tiny battery that has to last until the magazine is sold. It currently lasts for 90 days and will also power a moving Ford advert (Ford will be sponsoring the issue), inside the magazine.

The batteries won’t be the greenest things on Earth; they will have been made in China, assembled in Mexico, via Texas and then distributed in refrigerated trucks but I guess it was all about the novelty with them.

But it doesn’t end there. If you thought that was cool, they’ve also come up with moving mobile phone covers. The Hitachi W61H (above) has a load of moving images on its cover. Its 2.7 inch E-ink display switches between 96 different images when you receive a call or message or when you open it up. Japanese designer, SeKiYuRiO, designd the phone with a perfume bottle in mind. The Casio Model G’zOne, which also uses E-ink, will be released this summer.

All this moving business is great news for loads of other technology: we could see fridges that tell you what’s empty without you having to open them up, pictures of callers that flash up on mobile phone covers or cars which can display different designs. The possibilities are endless!

[Wired]

So the iPhone was released on Friday. Some people love it, some people say it’s a disappointment, what’s a person to think? Well I looked to the reviews on Reevoo to see what people were complaining about on the old iPhone and then compared it to the new version so that I could make up my mind and see if Apple listened to the people that matter most - the users.

Here’s what people who bought the original iPhone had to say about it. I’ve also looked into what Apple have done about each issue and put it in underneath. Be prepared, this is a long’un…

Speed
Original iPhone owners complained about internet browsing speed, with many citing the absence of 3G as one of the biggest opportunities to improve iPhone

The new iPhone has 3G technology so that browsing the net is much faster

Battery life
From 107 reviews, the original iPhone only scored an average of 6.8/10 for its battery life. As well as improvements in the battery life itself, iPhone owners also wanted to be able to change the battery

Apple says that it has increased battery life to 300 hours on standby, 10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk and 7 hours of video playback. However you still cannot change the battery

Text messages
Original iPhone users were very frustrated with its SMS functionality. People were unable to carry out the most basic functions such as forward text messages, send messages to multiple contacts and send pictures and business cards. Users also would have liked to be able to navigate more easily through words and letters in text messages

Apple has now improved the iPhone’s messaging features so that you can now send messages to multiple contacts. However, you still cannot send multimedia messages

Camera
Consumers thought the old iPhone’s camera was another of the worst features. They wanted to see a camera with a flash, more megapixels, the ability to zoom and video functionality

Apple has kept the original specs for the camera on the iPhone 3G, which will disappoint many consumers. There is still no flash or video capability and it is still only 2 megapixels

Synchronisation
People wanted to be able to sync up their email, calendars and other Microsoft applications with their iPhones

Apple has now made sure that the new iPhone is compatible with Microsoft products

Memory
Owners would have liked to have had more memory in the original iPhone

Apple has so far kept to the same 8GB and 16GB capacity phones. There are still no memory card slots

Connectivity
Some users noted that the Bluetooth on the original iPhone didn’t work as they would have liked it to

Bluetooth on the new iPhone is still limited

GPS
Many consumers wrote that their iPhone would have been considerably better if it had GPS

Apple has now incorporated GPS into the new iPhone which will be gratefully received by users

Speaker quality
Users commented on the poor sound quality for both music and calls on speakerphone

Apple has improved the iPhone’s speakers so that music playback and calls can be heard much more clearly

Ringtones
Users wanted to be able to set their own music as ringtones

This is now possible, however it is a bit fiddly for the average user, requiring manual reformattinf of music files

Handset
Original iPhone owners found the handset slippery and difficult to hold without pressing something unintentionally

The new iPhone has a plastic back, instead of the original aluminium, which may make it a bit easier to hold and grip without activating functions

Radio
Users would have liked an FM radio incorporated in their iPhones

There is still no FM radio but you can listen to radio over the internet

Headphone jack
Original iPhone owners were frustrated at having to pay for specific Apple headphones or having to use a chunky adaptor as standard headphones wouldn’t fit in the sunken jack

Apple have now rectified this so that standard 3.5mm headphones can now be used

Third party software
With so many features missing from the iPhone, users wanted to be able to use third party software more easily

Apple has now opened up the new 3G iPhone so that third party software can be easily accessed and used through the App Store

So there we go. I think we can all agree that some great changes have been made to the new iPhone - 3G, GPS and third party apps, to name but a few.  But it does seem that Apple mainly listened to the more tech-savvy user when it came to these improvements. For the average user who just wants to share media with their mates and take some decent pictures, it might be a bit of a let-down. Saying that, I bet you all buy one anyway. For me, I’m happy with my more than capable Nokia 5310.

Ever heard of Near Field Communications? Well, it might be about to make your life a little easier in the form of moneyless wallets, receptionless hotels and ticketless turnstiles.

We could soon be paying for things from coffee to football and tickets on our mobiles. What’s more, your mobile will then be able to act as a ticket which, by waving it in front of a sensor at the stadium or station turnstiles, would let you in. No more need for tickets – nice and green, we like that.

Checking-in at hotels could also be a thing of the past, with your phone not only receiving GPS coordinates to the hotel, but also then acting as your room key.

Always one to worry about security, I am a little worried about what would happen if a mobile - napper were to swipe your phone, find your hotel’s GPS coordinates and then enter your room to relieve you of your belongings. And as you had never even had to set eyes on the person at reception, they would have no idea of knowing which people belonged to which room. Hmmm, not too convinced about that one.

There is one thing that I do like though - this nifty Near Field Communications business can also be used on the pistes. To help in the fight against snow crime, NFC technology could be used to tag your boots and skis so that if someone else tries to take your skis for a ride, they’ll set off an alarm.

The people in the know are also looking into using this technology to create a virtual shopping basket so that you can order all your vital groceries on your mobile.

It all sounds promising but handset manufacturers are playing it safe by not integrating the technology into handsets before there are enough applications to support it, so it may be a while before we see all this in action - Paula Berger from the Near Field Communication Forum says “We would expect them to be rolling out handsets some time in 2009, at the latest 2010”.

So it’s a case of ‘watch this space’. We’ll keep you posted.

[BBC]