Hasta La Gadget!

If you cherish saving coin and don’t mind owning secondhand devices, Vodafone’s Nearly New program is angling to hook you up with previously-loved smartphones. The UK firm’s new effort takes handsets returned by users in “very good condition,” repackages them with the appropriate accessories and doles them out at cheaper prices with pay-as-you-go or contract plans. According to Vodafone, the offering is particularly aimed at bringing pay-as-you-go users into the smartphone fold without breaking the bank. Available devices will vary each month based on return inventory, but the outfit already has iOS and Android choices on tap. Customers happy with off-contract service can choose between an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, with an 8GB flavor of the latter ringing up at £250. Folks who have their eye on a contract plan can pick between a Samsung Galaxy S III, which is free with a £33 subscription, or an HTC One X. On-contract Nearly New devices are already available online and in select stores, while commitment-free phones are up for grabs in-store and will find their way online next week.

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Sometime next year, Vodafone subscribers in Australia can expect to taste the sweet fruit of mobile payments, which comes thanks to the carrier’s partnership with Visa. Computerworld Australia reports that Vodafone SmartPass is currently being tested on Android phones in the land down under, which relies on an NFC-enabled SIM card. It’s also said that the carrier plans to introduce a Windows Phone app, although it has no intention of developing a solution for iOS, which is due to the iPhone’s lack of NFC. While mobile payments still remains a mere pipe dream for many, it’s said that Vodafone will eventually bundle the SmartPass app on all smartphones that support NFC. Unfortunately, the technology may remain cumbersome, as it’ll require users to load currency into a prepaid account for use — something Google has already kicked to the curb. If you’ll recall, Vodafone first announced its initiative with Visa in February of this year, although at the time, it was said that only a few European counties would make the initial cut. To learn more about what Vodafone has in store for its Aussie constituency, feel free to hit up the source link.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Software, Mobile

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Via: WMPoweruser

Source: Computerworld Australia

You are looking at the latest Android tablet from Vodafone. If the design is familiar to you, that’s because this tablet is made by Lenovo. It’s called the Vodafone Smart Tab II, and it sports a 7-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution. Under the hood is a modest single core 1 GHz processor and a 4GB memory with expandable memory card slot. Other features of the 7-inch Vodafone Smart Tab II are a 2-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, Wi-Fi b/g/n, a 3550 mAh battery, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Vodafone says that the 7-inch Smart Tab II is ideal for entertainment and business purposes. It’s now available for £29 together with a 24-month £20 per month contract. For that price, users will get a 2GB mobile Internet data allotment and a 1GB free Wi-Fi access. If you’re looking for more, it will cost you £15 more for an extra 1GB. You can also opt to get the tablet without the contract. It costs £150 and for that you’ll get 500MB of data for every 60 days, with top ups costing £5 for 30 days.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Vodafone and CorFire team up to launch mobile wallet service in 2013, Vodafone stockpiles nano-SIMs for iPhone 5 launch,

The dust has settled after Ireland’s recent spectrum auction, and wouldn’t you know it, Vodafone, O2, Meteor and Three have picked up a combined 140MHz of paired spectrum across the 800, 900 and 1800MHz bands. According to the country’s regulator, ComReg, the auction will effectively double the spectrum available in these bands and will allow for LTE deployment across Éire. For its part, O2 has committed to begin its 4G rollout in the first half of 2013. To ensure quick deployment, all license holders are required to make their new spectrum available to 70 percent of Ireland’s population within three years. In all, the companies will pay €855 million ($1.09 billion) for spectrum rights until 2030, of which, €482 million is payable up front. Curiously enough, the country’s 800MHz spectrum was freed up just last month after its analog shutoff. To find a complete breakdown of the situation, feel free to hit up the announcement from ComReg at the source link below.

[Thanks, Neil]

[Photo credit: Seattleye / Flickr]

Filed under: Wireless, Mobile

Ireland completes spectrum auction after analog shutoff, LTE rollout pegged for mid-2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 22:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Upgrading to the latest smartphone every so often is appealing for the gadget-obsessed but expensive, and so Vodafone UK has kicked off a device leasing scheme that it hopes will scratch that update itch. Red Hot offers some of the coveted handsets of the moment on a borrowing-basis: keep the phone – Vodafone is offering the iPhone 5, Galaxy S III, and Galaxy Note II in its initial range – for twelve months and then swap it for a new model at the end of that time.

Monthly line rental includes unlimited calls and messaging, plus 2GB of data, the leasing fees for the handset itself, and insurance to cover it. There’s also the possibility of an upfront cost, depending on which device you opt for (an iPhone 5 16GB is free upfront, for instance, as are the 16GB Galaxy S III and Note II, but you’ll pay more if you want versions with larger internal storage), and the line rental itself varies based on the handset.

At the end of the twelve month lease, Vodafone will have a new list of devices to choose from; if none of those catch your eye, you can hold on to your existing device for up to a further six months. Swapping your current phone for a new model is based on what condition it’s in, so for instance there’s no fee if both handset and charger are returned in good condition and with “normal wear and tear.”

Hand back a device with deep scratches, water damage, or worn ports, however, and you’re looking at a £75 penalty; that rises to £150 if there are cracks and/or wear to the ports and buttons. Finally, Vodafone reserves the right to charge £375-425 if the phone doesn’t work, has been modified, is damaged beyond repair, or if there’s “a lot of damage” incurred. You’ll pay the same penalty if you don’t return the leased device either.

Notable for those wanting to root/jailbreak their phone and load a third-party ROM or software, Vodafone also classes installing “a non-approved operating system” as condition falling into that final grade. Of course, there’s insurance to cover any hardware faults, and Vodafone tells us that it will be supplying screen protectors and cases with each device.

It’s an arguably expensive way to get a high-end phone, but with twelve-month contracts rarer now, and the turnover of smartphones so rapid, we can see the all-in approach appealing to some users.

Vodafone Red Hot offers smartphone swap-out every 12 months is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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