plans
Communicate
1:26PM Angus Kidman | While it isn’t actually the first provider to offer untimed mobile calls (goTalk’s VOIP plans have a similar feature), Optus’ new Timeless bundles do offer a cheap option if you make lots of calls to mobile numbers. Of particular note given the ongoing debate over iPhone plans is the $129 bundle, which includes 2GB of data and an all-you-can-call policy for $129 — a much better deal than the iPhone’s $149 1GB launch plan on Optus. If nothing else, this is yet another reminder that signing up early for the iPhone was always like to be a costly decision.
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Optus introduces untimed call plans
1:26PM Angus Kidman | While it isn’t actually the first provider to offer untimed mobile calls (goTalk’s VOIP plans have a similar feature), Optus’ new Timeless bundles do offer a cheap option if you make lots of calls to mobile numbers. Of particular note given the ongoing debate over iPhone plans is the $129 bundle, which includes 2GB of data and an all-you-can-call policy for $129 — a much better deal than the iPhone’s $149 1GB launch plan on Optus. If nothing else, this is yet another reminder that signing up early for the iPhone was always like to be a costly decision.
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Communicate
3 slices data costs on 3G video content
11:50AM Angus Kidman | It might still be seeking outside help to sell iPhones, but 3 is launching a new series of phone plans in Australia which offer something we’ll predict the new iPhone plans won’t: video content for free. The plans, which go on sale from July 3 and range between $29 and $199, include the usual features (fixed value for voice and SMS calls) but also include a “selection” of free content in one of three categories: News (including ABC, Sky News, News Limited and Fairfax), Sport (including some of the news brands plus Foxtel and Sportal) or Fun (Project Runway and various other TV projects). This isn’t quite the all-you-can-eat data found overseas (or even in the more basic 3 X Series plans), but it’s still a good step forward, and a neat way to get into 3G video without costly subscriptions. More »
Communicate
3:13PM Angus Kidman | Samsung launched its U900 mobile phone today, promoting it as part of its Beijing Olympics sponsorship campaign. To my mind, there’s a much more interesting feature to the phone: it’s going to be available on every major local carrier simultaneously. To put that into some sort of perspective, the last time this happened with a Samsung phone was in 2005, according to the company.Being available on multiple networks makes life simpler for everyone: if you’ve got an existing account you can just move over, if you want to make a switch you’ll have a choice of options and pricing plans (the official RRP for the U900 is $699, but shopping around closer to the July release is bound to turn up a range of options). Nonetheless, such an approach remains a rarity. When it comes down to the crunch, what do you consider first: the phone or the plan? It’s becoming disturbingly evident that for iPhone users, the answer is “the phone, my kidney can be sold if necessary”, but what about for the rest of the market — that is, most of us?
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What matters more: carrier or phone?
3:13PM Angus Kidman | Samsung launched its U900 mobile phone today, promoting it as part of its Beijing Olympics sponsorship campaign. To my mind, there’s a much more interesting feature to the phone: it’s going to be available on every major local carrier simultaneously. To put that into some sort of perspective, the last time this happened with a Samsung phone was in 2005, according to the company.Being available on multiple networks makes life simpler for everyone: if you’ve got an existing account you can just move over, if you want to make a switch you’ll have a choice of options and pricing plans (the official RRP for the U900 is $699, but shopping around closer to the July release is bound to turn up a range of options). Nonetheless, such an approach remains a rarity. When it comes down to the crunch, what do you consider first: the phone or the plan? It’s becoming disturbingly evident that for iPhone users, the answer is “the phone, my kidney can be sold if necessary”, but what about for the rest of the market — that is, most of us?
More » 
