Smartphones are a part of life these days, and if your kid doesn't use one now, they probably will before long. But with a great device comes great responsibility. The Smart Talk is a website that helps parents and kids come up with a set of phone rules together, and creates a handy agreement you can print out.

When customers are offered a “cooling off” period, they don’t change their minds, even when the alternative is considered subjectively better, according to a new research finds. The study also found that some consumers (around 30%) only responded when contacted by the seller and asked if they would still like to opt in.

It was only last month that Virgin Mobile increased the data allowances on its postpaid plans. It is now offering additional data on its more expensive contract plans -- but deciphering what has actually happened is needlessly tricky.

Plans where you can share data amongst multiple people in your family or workplace are the most notable trend in the Australian mobile space this year. Optus and Vodafone already offer them, and now Telstra is jumping on the bandwagon with its new Go Mobile plans. Are they good value? Planhacker has crunched the numbers.

Virgin Mobile is increasing the data allowances on its more expensive mobile plans -- a sensible move given recent increases by most of its rivals.

The biggest complaint about Telstra's mobile plans is that they have high monthly fees and relatively stingy data allowances. Does a new revamp with extra data make them more competitive? Planhacker investigates.

If you have a lot of friends and family overseas, this might be tempting: Optus has beefed up its postpaid/contract My Plan Plus plans to include a reasonably generous helping of overseas texting and calling credit.

Optus has revamped its insurance offering, replacing what was previously a messy system with a flat-rate $13 a month deal -- but there are still some catches. Here's what you need to know.

Anyone who wanted to pre-order an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus ahead of last week's launch didn't just have to grapple with sites that constantly crashed, a shortage of models and a sense of unhelpful panic. They also had to deal with phone plans that are confusing, inconsistent and constantly changing.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus can be pre-ordered now, and go on general sale from Friday 19 September. If you're planning to buy on contract, we've rounded up every single one of the offers from Telstra, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile and Optus in an interactive spreadsheet and a series of tables so you can easily compare the total cost and features and choose the one that's ideal for you.

With new phones galore about to hit the market (iPhone 6, Galaxy Note 4 and Edge, Experia Z3, Moto X for starters), many people will be signing up for a new phone contract between now and Christmas. We've rounded up all the current contract offers from the major providers so you can compare them and choose the best for your needs.

From next month, Telstra will be changing its contract plans. Bottom line: there are some minor improvements, but you can still do much better with a prepaid plan. Here is what the new consumer plans offer (and where they fall short).

Here at Lifehacker, we've long advocated the view that buying a phone on a contract is a bad idea -- an outright buy and a prepaid or month-to-month contract is better value and gives you more flexibility. That approach is becoming more common: new statistics from Telsyste suggest that less than half the phones sold in Australia in 2013 were purchased as part of a long-term contract.

Virgin Mobile today announced a three-month doubling of the data allowance on its mobile contract plans. Vodafone launched a similar deal last week. While extra data is always welcome, buying a plan because it offers this kind of perk is often going to be a mistake. Here's why

Vodafone has revamped its unlimited contract plans under the Red moniker, promising better voice inclusions, Australian customer support and other enhancements. Here's what you need to know about how the plans work and what they offer.

Last week, Virgin Mobile launched an unusual phone plan: the Irresistible, which includes a free overseas flight. It's an interesting twist, but does it actually make financial sense? Alex over at Fat Duck crunched the numbers, and worked out you could buy a phone outright, book your own flight and use a prepaid plan to get the same effect for around $1000 less.

Optus is revamping its mobile contract plans, shifting to quoting prices per-minute and offering an option to temporarily change plans if you exceed your monthly allowance for voice and data. The big downside? The cheapest plans are being dumped altogether, data and voice allocations are being reduced on the lower-cost plans, and the overall value isn't any better. Overall, we're not that excited.

Dear Lifehacker, I'm moving house in a few months: do I need to get a new Internet plan or can I continue using my current one? Is there anything I should know about NBN in my area? Thanks, Moving Connection

Throughout this week, we've been offering guidance on what to do when your mobile phone contract expires and it's time to upgrade. Here's the full set of articles in one place. Go get that new phone!