Mobile Network Comparison

It was almost a couple of months ago that serial entrepreneur Dan Lane nonchalantly announced that he’s starting his own mobile network. Dan Lane is no stranger whatsoever to tech start-ups having founded Howler Technologies and The Really Mobile Project. After finishing working at Bababoo he now decided that it would be a good idea to start his own virtual network. Amusingly called Impossible Telecom, it won’t be a true mobile network but rather will run on infrastructure masts and signal of one of the main networks in the country.

When he first announced Impossible Telecom, he expressed disdain at the race to the bottom exhibited by the other virtual mobile networks. No one is offering true innovation, just ever lower prices. And the markets pretty saturated already. Impossible Telecom aims to carve a niche for itself by offering something completely different.

Things have been kept pretty secret so far, but were finally started again idea of what exactly Impossible Telecom will be about. Dan recently gave a talk in which he expanded upon the very unique selling points his new mobile network will have. One of the premium features that is completely unavailable elsewhere is the ability to have multiple phone numbers on one SIM card. Those of us who have to juggle multiple phones for work and is for personal use know what a pain that is. You might even have tried one of those gadgets promises to be able to hold two SIM cards in one phone but without much joy. This promises to be a solution.

Not only that, but is also promising the inverse. That is, to have the same phone number on multiple phones or devices. This is a Google Voice-like feature that hasn’t reached the UK yet. And it’s fantastic for people who have different handsets for different situations or want to be contactable for example on their tablets. None of the main UK mobile networks have even tried to offer features like this before.

And it doesn’t stop there. Another great feature that is planning to offer with the ability to buy text call and data bundles. “What?” I hear you ask – “don’t all the mobile networks already offer that?” Yes but the Impossible Telecom version is going to have a slight twist. The bundles will apply across all your devices on Impossible Telecom. This means you don’t have to have separate bundles for each different device. If you buy 5GB of data you can split up however you wish between your phone, your tablet, even your wifi dongle or MiFi. How good an idea is that?

So what you think about Impossible Telecom? Are the other mobile networks falling behind with their lack of innovation? Would you use these new unique features and which one is your favourite? Please let us know in the comments below:

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HTC have hit a home run with their newly announced range of smartphones. From the monstrous Quad Core media phone of the One X to the beauty and brains of the One S to the sensationally small, stylish yet tremendously powerful One V. HTC have mastered the convenience of needs to luxury’s of wants sized into their iconic HTC hardware design that’s ought to win the hearts of the iPhone owners and the brains of the Galaxy S2 fans. The whole array of HTC One phones all sport the Ice Cream Sandwich OS and today we start by taking a look at the cheapest handset, the HTC One V.

HTC One V

The baby of the One Range is no slouch. The 1Ghz single core is zippy at performing daily tasks such as Facebook, Twitter, texting whilst YouTube videos load up speedily. The storage size of 4GB is pretty respectable but it has a leading edge over its elder brothers as this one is expandable by up to 32GB so can be increased to 36GB superseding the One X and One S.

The 3.7 inch touchscreen would be ideal for users who hate larger screen phones as the V is a merely condensed version of the X. Screen resolution is very strong at 480*800 which comparatively is lower but since its a 3.7 inch, the pixels per inch matters more than how much the screen resolution is overall.

Camera quality is crisp with a 5 megapixel camera enveloping all of the added features from the One X such as Auto Focus and BSI Sensor twinned with HD Ready TV standard 720p recording. The baby V isn’t so much of a baby where it has contained the best features from the X and S into a small, stylish and sleek mobile device rivalling superphone premium standards.

The HTC One V also takes a micro-SIM to leave room for its large 1500 mAh battery.

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Thanks for stopping by for the final part in our series Does the mobile phone industry in the UK need a top-down shakeup. Please go back and check out the other posts if you haven’t read them then – there’s some great stuff to learn that can even save you money. In today’s edition, we’re looking at mobile data transmission and getting broadband internet on your phone.

If you enjoy this, please also take a look at the articles in the series:

• Part 1: Does the mobile phone industry in the UK need a top-down shakeup? – Contracts and new phones
• Part 2: Does the mobile phone industry in the UK need a top-down shakeup? – Repairs and unlocking
• Part3: Does the mobile phone industry in the UK need a top-down shakeup? – Roaming on holiday
• Part 4: Does the mobile phone industry in the UK need a top-down shakeup? – 4G and mobile data

Is unlimited data really unlimited?

As mobile phone technology has progressed in the last ten years, so have the networks, and services that we use on our handsets. In the last five years the biggest boom has been with using data services such as mobile internet. Some smartphones we now use are more powerful than PCs and they fit in your pocket.

The first fully-fledge internet phones provided a rather unpleasant experience – most had monochrome screens and expensive but slow WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) data. If you were online for 5 minutes you were charged for 5 minutes and 5 minutes was far from cheap. Nowadays, with modern handsets, you can access the internet and see exactly the same pages and layout as you would see on your desktop PC or laptop.

All major mobile networks have some sort of data bundle add-on; some are more generous than others. Some networks say that their data is unlimited with no cap, or fair use policy. This is not always true but with some networks it really is unlimited. However, some networks don’t allow you to stream or tether to a laptop or internet tablet. You can only use it for normal internet on the phone.

Other networks say their data is unlimited but, according to their fair use policy, if they deem you’ve been abusing their unlimited data they will either slow the connection or switch it off completely. Some Android phones have a portable wifi hotspot feature, so you can tether devices such as iPads or laptops. It’s a good idea to always know what exactly is included and allowed with your particular package on your mobile network.

4G LTE anybody? Just improving the 3G network would be a start

Sometime this year will be the end of the analogue TV signal as the country goes digital. Some regions have already completed the digital switchove. When the country has fully gone digital, the government will sell off the analogue spectrum, paving the way for 4G LTE.

4G is going to be very fast; even faster than some fibre optic home broadband connections. It is currently being trialled by mobile network operator O₂ in London. It will need new kit, such as new handsets etc. It’s supposed to be rolled out later this year. However, some people still can’t receive 3G; so wouldn’t it be better to improve the 3G infrastructure?

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