Virgin and Yahoo tie mobile deal

Yahoo and Virgin Mobile have agreed a deal making Yahoo search the exclusive pre-installed search service for Virgin’s 4 million mobile subscribers in Britain, the two companies said on Monday.

Yahoo is hoping to steal a lead on rival Google in the nascent mobile search and advertising markets, having lost the battle for dominance in the desktop computer search market, and is spearheading its European efforts in Britain.

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Posted by Posted in: Tech and Gadgets Comments Off December 2008

My iPhone 3G

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After what seemed an eternity since the release of the iPhone 3G on the 11th July 2008, i finally placed my order for the iPhone after watching the plans offered by all carriers here in Australia.

I would have probably signed the Optus plan earlier but they never had any phones in store and you had to pay and wait. No other carrier plans met my needs until the released Virgin plans. Both the 1GB ($70) and 5GB ($100) data plans were good in review and in comparison to the others.

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Posted by Mark Griffin Posted in: Tech and Gadgets 2 Comments » August 2008

Virgin Mobile gets iPhone 3G

Virgin Mobile has officially commenced sale of the iPhone 3G in Australia effective today Friday 1 August 2008. The iPhone 3G went on sale at Virgin stores around Australia offering the best data plan currently available in the country at a huge 5GB.

Now this is more like it, its still not unlimited but we are now starting to see plans with realistic data allowances.

Virgin will sell the 8GB iPhone 3G for $0 upfront on a $70 monthly plan, which includes $520 worth of calls and 1GB of data. If you are willing to cough up an extra $30 per month, you will receive an extra 4GB of data and get the 16GB iPhone 3G for $0 up front. All Virgin iPhone plans are based on 24 month contracts.

Virgin is also offering the option to unlock the iPhone from its network for $80, plus an additional $250 “early evacuation” fee if users opt out within six months.

Now note that Virgin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Optus.  What will this mean for all those customers who have already signed up with Optus and recieved much less data?

In less than 3 weeks we have seen many plans in Australia for the iPhone 3G, from the bad through to plans that are now more in the ball park. I think this is only the start and i expect things to heat up as carriers push for customers.

My decision to hold of being an early adopter has been difficult, but I’m relieved not to have signed a plan weeks ago and be waiting for a phone with this latest news.

View full details of the Virgin plans

Posted by Mark Griffin Posted in: Griffs View, Tech and Gadgets No Comments » August 2008