3's internet focus.
Flat-rate internet access and a pre-installed Skype client are the headline items of 3's announcement of their X-Series offering. The flat-rate billing is of particular interest as users have cited cost, or "bill shock", as reasons not to make more use of their handsets. The estimated "£10 and £15 a month on top of their usual price plan" (Guardian Unlimited) may put customers off, but the bundle of applications, including Ebay and IM clients, may offset the additional price to some degree.
"Without giving full details, 3 announced the first commodity-style pricing model for mobile data. There'll be no by-the-minute or by-the-byte billing, rather "it's free when you see it", meaning you pay for the pipe not the data. There will be fair use caveats though, including a higher access charge for high bandwidth video" (The Register).
Also of interest is that 3 have not sided with any particular internet giant: software is bundled from Microsoft and Yahoo!, and Google is the preferred search engine. Google's mobile mapping and GMail software is not (yet?) included. Users of Slingbox and Windows PC always-connected to the internet will also benefit from the bundled Slingbox and Orb clients.
X-Series launches in the UK in December, other regions in 2007, and is available on the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i.
Sources:
- Is the web going mobile at last?, BBC News.
- Battle opens for control of mobile internet, Guardian Unlimited.
- 3 calls in internet big guns for mobile credibility, The Register.
- 3 touts flat-rate mobile broadband, Computing.
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