O2 To Donate Recycling Profits To Charity
O2 pledges to donate all the profits it receives from its recycling scheme to charity reports edie.net. The mobile phone giant has announced that all the profit it makes from O2 Recycle will be donated to its Think Big youth programme – which helps young people to make a difference in their communities.
O2 Recycle was launched last October in an attempt to encourage customers to recycle their old mobile handsets where in return they get cash back from O2′s website or by going into an O2 store. To date the scheme has paid out over £10 million.
Old and unwanted mobile phones that are just thrown away usually end up in landfills, but this can have a damaging and harmful effect on the environment, particularly to earth and water supplies as well as plants and wildlife. Consequently, mobile phone recycling has become an increasing part of the market.
Sally Cowdry, UK marketing director at O2, commented:
“Phone recycling is a fast growing part of the market but it’s getting more and more grubby with some ‘cash for gold’ type operations…
… We know many customers are looking for an ethical alternative with reassurances that their handsets are being responsibly recycled”
The O2 scheme ensures the devices are recycled conscientiously whilst at the same time helping to raise money for young people. Plus, customers get the best price for their unwanted device!
Related Posts:
LG Optimus One On 3 Mobile UK
3 Mobile UK has launched the brand new LG Optimus One and if you get yours by the end of the year you will receive a free car mount and in-car charger too!
This latest Android smartphone boasts a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display, 3-megapixel camera with autofocus and a 600MHz processor, 170MB of internal storage and 2MB of storage on a microSD card.
Competing against HTC and Samsung, the LG Optimus One is bound to shake up the current mobile market.
3 UK is offering the LG Optimus One on a pay as you go plan for £174.99.
Alternatively, the LG Optimus One is offered free on a 3 UK contract costing £30 per month.
The One Plan offers 5,000 texts, 2,000 minutes and 1GB of internet usage.
Related Posts:
Carphone Warehouse Offers 99p Mobile
Mobile phones were once the preserve of city businessmen back in the day when you needed both hands to carry one and they were simply used for making and receiving calls. Now most people seem to have a mobile phone and many of them are now as cheap as chips – and they are about to get even cheaper.
The founder of Carphone Warehouse, Charles Dunstone, has announced the cheapest ever mobile phone which has gone on sale for just 99p.
The pre-pay Alcatel OT-209 has gone on sale at Carphone Warehouse stores across the country and according to Mr Dunstone it’s the cheapest phone the company has ever sold. The device is quite simple – it just allows calls and texts – but for many this will be enough. However, it’s not likely to be popular with teenage phone users because they won’t be able to access social networking sites such as Facebook.
Meanwhile Smartphones which can access such social networking sites are getting much cheaper and as they do the pre-pay mobile market is set to increase dramatically this Christmas.
Related Posts:
Google Android OS Second Only To Symbian
Last year Google’s Android operating system had a market share of only 3.5%, according to figures from Gartner. However, the Android OS now has a market share of 25.5% worldwide and is now second only to the Symbian operating system which has a 36.6% share.
Symbian’s market share has dropped from 44.6% last year but the Android OS is significantly ahead of Apple which has a share of 16.7% and Research in Motion which has a 14.8% share.
The Android OS is used in a number of smartphones and over 20 million handsets using the Android operating system were sold in the third quarter. This is a massive increase from only around 1.4 million during the same period last year. The report by Gartner suggests that a number of different manufacturers launched devices using Android and aimed these at customers looking for a cheaper smartphone. This may be why sales have increased so much – because Android is being used in devices aimed at the lower end of the market while the BlackBerry from Research in Motion for example, is largely aimed at business mobile phone users.
It will be interesting to see if Google can maintain its position in the market or even improve on it but Google keeps bringing out Android OS updates so it seems it can only get better.
Related Posts:
Totally Mobile
TOTAL UK, the refinery and marketing division of TOTAL – one of the world’s major oil and gas groups, has a dedicated website especially for mobile access – it’s never been easier to find your nearest TOTAL service station for fuel & supplies or even topping up your home heating oil whilst on the move.
There are two ways to get TOTAL on your mobile:
* Text TOTAL to 63333 – and you will receive am text message with a link to the TOTAL mobile homepage (Please note, network charges apply for one standard rate outgoing and one standard rate incoming text message and cost between 12-15p, depending on your network and tariff)
* By typing www.totalukmobile.co.uk into your mobile web browser.
There is no charge to look at the TOTAL mobile site – but there could be a cost from your network, so check your tariff for further details. Plus, you can save a web bookmark in your phone for easy access next time.
PLEASE NOTE – only use your mobile phone when it is safe for you to do so. Remember- it is illegal to use a mobile phone whilst driving!
Related Posts:
Apple Achieves Global Seller Success
Apple has made it into the top five of global handset sellers due to the continued success of its iPhone sales – with rivals Nokia and LG Electronics underperforming during the third quarter of 2010, according to analyst firm Strategy Analytics.
The top five mobile phone retailers are; Nokia – with 33.8% market share, followed by Samsung with 21.8%, LG with 8.7%, Apple gaining a 4.3% share of the market and taking fifth place, RIM with 3.8%.
Although Nokia kept first place, Strategy Analytics confirmed this marked the ninth consecutive quarter in which the telecoms company reported below-average growth – due to issues with its 2G handset shipments resulting from component shortages.
However, Apple has made it into the top five for the first time – jumping straight in to the respected number four spot. The company has seen a whopping 91% increase in shipped devices after making the iPhone available worldwide.
Strategy Analytics believes the “next major wave of expansion” will come from the eagerly-awaited CDMA iPhone – which could see Apple stealing even more market share from Samsung, LG and Motorola – who currently revel in the CDMA smartphone sector.
Related Posts:
Google’s Mobile Search Is Bigger Than Bing’s
mobile business phone
As reported by mad.co.uk Google’s mobile search is bigger than Bing’s online. Research from digital agency Latitude shows mobile searches on Google have grown by 76% in the first three quarters of 2010 – overtaking Bing in terms of search volume.
Latitude’s research also discovered that mobile accounted for 4% of search traffic on Google – however, this was only 2% of total paid search (PPC) volume. And, click-through rates on Google’s mobile search averaged 1.32% – compared with 1.1% online.
The rise of mobile searches and paid-for ads has been influenced by the growing number of smartphones in the UK market, plus the launch of Apple’s iPad.
But, the impact of Bing has so far failed to have the desired effect on UK internet users’ behaviour, because the report shows its PPC volumes have remained relatively static during the same period.
And, according to the study, Google’s PPC volume from mobile users was more than double the PPC volume from Bing, in Q3.
Google has been introducing new ad formats in anticipation of this trend – including its ”click-to-call” ad format on mobiles in the UK, as well as expandable map ads to the Google Display Network (GDN).
Source: mad.co.uk (telecoms/utilities)
Related Posts:
Nokia Announces Job Losses
The mobile phone operator, Nokia has announced that 1,800 jobs are to go, reports BBC News Online. The news comes as Nokia announced a net profit of €529m for the three months to September. The announcement of a net profit comes after a loss of €559m a year ago.
Utility Exchange reported recently that Nokia had a new boss in the form of Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft executive. He said that Nokia needed to review its position in the mobile industry.
Mr Elop said the company was facing a disruptive time and the company warned that its market share would shrink.
Nokia is the biggest maker of handsets in the world and it has sold 110 million devices this year which is an improvement of 2% on last year. The problem for Nokia is that it’s facing tough competition from smartphones such as the Apple iPhone and devices using Google’s Android operating system.
The Nokia HR boss, Juha Akras said of the job cuts “Changes impacting personnel are always difficult”. He added “We are committed to managing these changes in a way that reflects Nokia’s values, and will support affected employees with alternative solutions, such as helping them find new positions within the company. The aim is to accelerate the company’s transformation towards a leading mobile solutions provider, and to do this we are simplifying and integrating operations within our product creation and corporate functions”.
It’s not known where the job losses will come but they will be 3% of its workforce.
Source: BBC News, Sky News
Related Posts:
Vodafone May Reconsider Indian Investments
Utility Exchange reported recently that Vodafone was considering a challenge to an Indian court ruling ordering Vodafone to pay a $2.6bn tax bill, see: http://www.utility-exchange.co.uk/2010/09/vodafone-considers-challenge-to-indian-tax-ruling/. Now Vodafone has said that it may reconsider investing in India if the company loses its appeal over the bill, reports The Daily Telegraph.
The announcement was made by the chief executive of Vodafone, Vittorio Colao in an interview with India’s Economic Times. He said “The tax issue will be incredibly important for us to determine how friendly India is. This is a concern for our investors and for other international investors”.
He said it wouldn’t just be Vodafone who would reconsider investing in India but other international investors may think again about developing their business in India. Mr Colao said that Vodafone had invested $1bn in India over the last three years and had paid around a third of its revenues in taxes to the Indian government.
Vodafone are appealing against the Indian court’s decision and on Monday the Supreme Court will set a date for that appeal.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Related Posts:
Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Out Today
The new Windows Phone 7 operating system goes on sale today and there are five handsets to choose from, reports The Daily Telegraph. Phones available include the Samsung Omnia 7, the HTC HD7, LG’s Optimus 7 and two other HTC phones – the 7 Mozart and the 7 Trophy.
There are minimum specifications for all Windows 7 phones which have been laid down by Microsoft. These specifications include at least 8GB of memory and a 5 Megapixel camera.
The Samsung Omnia 7 comes with a vibrant Super AMOLED screen and the HTC HD7 has a 4.3in display and also a kickstand which can be used to rest the phone when using it to watch videos.
The phones will be available on five of the major mobile phone networks. The Omnia 7 will be available on Three, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone but the HD7 will only be available on O2. Orange will stock the HTC 7 Mozart and the HTC 7 Trophy will be available on Vodafone.
The Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft’s attempt to compete in the smartphone market with the Apple iPhone and Google Android devices.
See previous Utility Exchange Windows Phone 7 stories: http://www.utility-exchange.co.uk/2010/10/microsoft-launches-window-phone-7/.
Source: The Daily Telegraph