The UK’s largest mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse, has warned that smartphones given as gifts this Christmas could lead to unexpectedly large bills come January.

Smartphone adoption has jumped by 5.7 million in the past 3 months alone, the fastest growth in over 3 years, and December looks set to continue the charge as millions of handsets are purchased for loved ones during the Christmas period.

Graham Stapleton, Chief Commercial Officer at Carphone Warehouse, says, “This Christmas will be the biggest ever for smartphones; it’s the first year that customers are able to get their hands on devices for under £100. For many, this will be their first experience of using data, which could lead to confusion and expensive bills come January. We recently launched a free guide –Understanding Mobile Data for Dummies – to inform and educate, helping people to avoid any unexpected charges. January is always a tight month; we’re urging new smartphone users to double check their tariff limits and understanding of data usage to help save money on their bills.

“Phone bills associated with the festive season are typically larger than usual as people tend to make more long distance calls reaching out to friends and family all over the world. This year, more Brits than ever will use their smartphones to video chat, particularly via Skype or Facetime, with relatives they wouldn’t otherwise be able to see. If not hooked up to a Wi-Fi network these data heavy ‘calls’ could potentially lead to substantial charges for unwitting users.”

Consumer appetite for data has been steadily growing and is expected to hit an average of 1GB per user by 2014. Rises can be traced back to increasing smartphone functionality, particularly the growth in streaming, gaming and browsing on the move. iPhone owners are particular heavy data users, typically consuming more than users of any other handset brand or operating system.

The free Understanding Mobile Data For Dummies  guide from Carphone Warehouse is intended to combat the consumer confusion surrounding mobile data and data charges. For more information visit www.carphonewarehouse.com/dummies

Posted by: James

Motorola and Phones 4u bring you a special treat to either spend your Christmas money on or treat yourself to as we enter a new year, with the exciting arrival of the stunning and stylish new white addition to the iconic RAZR i family.

Giving you everything you’ll need to kick off the New Year, the white RAZR i combines a beautifully designed phone with everything that the Android Universe can offer you in the way of apps, gaming, connectivity and socialising!

With a beautiful 4.3inch edge-to-edge screen that’s perfect for playing games, viewing video or just chatting to friends the white RAZR i is the perfect companion to see your social life into the New Year in festive spirit.

Want some reasons to spend your Christmas money on a white RAZR i? Well, here are just a few:

· It has a large super AMOLED advanced 4.3-inch display and the compact design fits perfectly in the palm of your hand

· The edge-to-edge big screen display provides a beautiful viewing experience

· Synonymous with the Motorola RAZR family, the screen is protected from scratches thanks to the strong Corning® Gorilla® Glass display

· Brings the best of Google experiences to life

· A long-lasting 2000mAh battery allows users to talk, text, tweet and browse for longer

The Motorola RAZR i be available free from £20.50 on pay monthly contracts from 22^nd December. 

Posted by: James

ALK Technologies is pleased to announce version 9.4 of its award-winning CoPilot sat nav apps for iOS and Android. The new version, available as a free update for existing users, adds Yelp data pulled from its API (application programming interface), improved ActiveTraffic service and a variety of app-wide refinements to provide the best possible in-car navigation experience on mobile devices.

Via Yelp content, the Co-Pilot users are able to easily find interesting local businesses that have been reviewed and rated by the Yelp community. Once a location is chosen, CoPilot provides detailed voice instructions and clear 3D mapping straight to the door.

David Quin, Head of Consumer Applications at ALK Technologies said “CoPilot navigation has always combined access to great real-time local information with dependable on-board mapping for offline navigation. Yelp is a fantastic enhancement to CoPilot that makes it easy for customers to find the best places on-route or around them.”

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Lookout Inc., the global leader in mobile security, has unveiled Lookout’s 2013 Mobile Threat Predictions, a forecast that identifies mobile threats people and businesses may face in the coming year. The predictions are based on Lookout’s Mobile Threat Network, which includes threat data collected from more than one million apps and millions of devices worldwide. Lookout expects toll fraud to continue to be the fastest path to monetization, spam to harvest personal data and businesses to struggle with the right level of control over BYOD devices.

The Mobile Threat Predictions reveal that globally, at least 18 million Android users will encounter mobile malware from the beginning of 2012 to the end of 2013. In addition, the global likelihood of a new Lookout user encountering a mobile threat, such as malware or spyware, is .84% on average from June to October 2013. The UK likelihood remained low at 1.29% in October 2012.

Web-based mobile threats like phishing links or malicious websites, continue to be the most prevalent and relevant threat to smartphone users. Nearly four in ten people encountered a web threat over the course of 2012 and we expect this trend to continue.

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