Vodafone introduces revolutionary 'simple' mobile phone

Following what is doubtless years of research, Vodafone is to introduce a radical new concept in mobile phones. The world's biggest mobile operator is to launch a mobile phone, which - get this - only makes phone calls. The Vodafone Simply range is aimed at the techno baffled who find the endless complexity of the modern mobile simply too complicated, or just don't feel the need to play Snake on a train or take pictures of their mates falling out of a club at closing time. ...more

Comment: Forgotten, but not gone

Broadband wireless remains on the agenda of operators, but how long until it's widespread? With all the talk of satellite broadband and mesh radio as alternative high-speed Net-access technologies, it's easy to forget about broadband fixed wireless. The technology uses radio links between an aerial located on the user's premises and a base station, and preceded the other access methods on the radar of broadband 'have nots' in the UK. When licences to supply services on the 28GHz spectrum were up for grabs in the November 2000 auction, the government heralded the technology as a breakthrough for broadband delivery across the country, particularly in rural areas that wouldn't get access to ADSL. ...more

StreamCast adds eBay to Skype suit

StreamCast, the distributor of the Morpheus p2p client, has added eBay to the list of defendants in an attempt to hit the worldwide distribution and marketing of the Skype Internet telephony software. As we reported the lawsuit alleges that the sale of Skype to eBay was made possible by the misappropriation of the FastTrack peer-to-peer technology that Streamcast claims to own. 'We're taking action because we believe the rights to the Skype and FastTrack technologies were swept out from under our feet, and our 28 million Morpheus users were stolen from us,' said StreamCast CEO Michael Weiss. ...more

Dell turns to retail - PCs could soon be in UK shops

Dell is to break with its 23-year direct sales tradition next month and start selling personal computers in North America through Wal-Mart. And it may not be long before its PCs appear on the shelves at Asda or Tesco. Dell spokesman Bob Pearson said the company plans to add additional retailers in its top 10 to 15 markets, which include the UK as well as Germany, France, Japan, China, Brazil and Japan. ...more

Unmetered Web access for ?5 a month

Fast4.net offers access for a Lady Godiva. Claiming the UK's cheapest unmetered deal, Fast4. ...more