Mobile phone theft is an ever growing global problem as a British company has invented a new device called the Nio – a burglar alarm designed especially for mobile phones, according to a report from ITProPortal.com.

This new gadget is a dongle and it connects to the mobile phone through a Bluetooth connection. It works by creating a security area around the phone of about 20 metres and can be attached to the user’s set of keys,  laptop or personal luggage.

If the mobile phone is missing from the user’s vicinity the Nio will give a warning of a ring, alert or flash.

The Nio can interpret when mobile phone street thieves are at work, as one partner acts as a decoy while the other steals the phone. It alerts mobile phone owners, making them aware that they do not have their mobile phone with them.

The obvious additional benefit is that they can also help people who have lost or mislaid their handset, often leaving them in their cars or workplace.

However, a potential drawback is that the Nio can act as a false alarm and annoy the user, as it would work every time he or she does not have their handset with them for whatever reason. Nevertheless, mobile phone security has to be taken very seriously now with users’ personal data being stored on their handsets.

People need to know where their phones are at all times.

Two massive mobile phone companies have plans to merge which will ‘create a new mobile champion’. Orange and T-Mobile are planning a new joint venture that will create the UK’s biggest mobile phone operator. This plan will have big implications on the two current market leaders, O2 and Vodafone, by combining the two companies Orange and T-Mobile will have a customer’s base of around 28.4 million!  This is a massive figure will give them a lot of power in the mobile phone world – around 37% of the UK’s mobile subscribers will be occupied by this joint venture.  This is the second largest corporate action in two days, after the Kraft Food’s £10.2bn takeover proposal for Cadbury.

So how will this affect Orange and T-Mobile customers? Well, in the short-term no big changes are likely to be made. The merge is set to be signed off by the end of October, but for the following 18 months the brands will work separately. 18 months may seem a long time but they need to look into the best branding options possible for the new venture, I can imagine the new marketing campaign to be something quite amazing.

Orange chief executive Tom Alexander will lead his side of the merger, while T-Mobile’s UK boss Richard Moat leading their side.  Currently Orange employs 12,500 people in the UK, while T-mobile employs 6,500. One question to come from this would be the new structure of staff, will more jobs arise or will it go the opposite way. A spokeswoman confirmed there would be ‘efficiencies’ that could be made across both businesses, but it is said to be too early to give details to staff.

Orange and T-Mobile have said that this deal will bring significant changes to customers in the UK, they promise to ‘expand network coverage’, give ‘better network coverage’ and ‘improve their customer services’. – all of which would help develop their brand and push them even high in the mobile phone market.  Orange and T-Mobile offer very different looks on mobile communication, which makes it even more interesting to see the where they go with the merge.

This deal will definitely have a massive impact on other mobile phone networks, such as 3, Vodafone and O2. I’m sure the competition is already looking into ways the merger could work in their favour.

This merger is going to cost between £600m to £800m, this includes decommissioning mobile phone masts, cutting back the network of stores and streamlining operations.  Overtime, massive savings could be made, even reach about £3.5bn!

Keep your eyes peeled for further updates and some great new developments to come in the mobile phone industry.

For all video game fans out there, the latest next generation games console is here – the Sony Playstation 3 Slim.  Remember how the Microsoft released the Xbox 360 followed by the Xbox 360 Elite? Well now it’s Sony’s turn.

The release date was the 1^st September 2009 and we are pleased to announce that we will be stocking this fantastic new console on our site, which you can enjoy for FREE as part of a contract phone deal or at a competitive, standalone price.

The main difference’s and unique features of the Sony Playstation 3 Slim are as follow’s :-

• New V 3.0 operating system makes the Sony Playstation 3 slim even more interactive and exciting than before!
• Stunning, sleek and stylish new design.
• SpecialSync feature allows you to flawlessly pair your Playstation 3 Slim with your Sony Bravia television
• Your new Playstation comes with a Wireless Dual Shock 3 controller

In the run up to Christmas it seems like again the battle is on between Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.  Nintendo would appear to have the upper hand in one sense, with the recently released Nintendo DSi and also the multi-million selling Nintendo Wii.

However Sony have provided the most recent overhaul and re-design on arguably the highest performing video game console to date.

Who will win the Christmas sales war? What do you think?

Leave a comment below!

Welcome to the Mobile News Awards 2009

Last year we announced who was the king in the mobile phone world, this year we have yet more kings and surprises. LG won best manufacturer, Carphone took best large retailer, Data Select won best handset distributor and HSC (the new name for Hugh Symons) scooped best airtime distributor. See below for the full list of mobile news award winners…

Winners…

Manufacturer:
Winner: LG

Large Retailer:
Winner: The Carphone Warehouse

Advertising/Marketing/PR Campaign:
Winner: Orange (‘I am’)

Customer Service:
Winner: Total Ltd

Innovative Service:
Winner: Lebara Mobile
(International SIM Card)

Innovative Product:
Winner: LG (Solar Bluetooth Car Kit)

Converged Solution:
Winner: Nimbuzz

Online Retailer:
Winner: Phones4U.co.uk

Business To Business Dealer:
Winner: Barclay Communications

Service and Repair:
Winner: A Novo

Environmental Enterprise:
Winner: Regenersis

Distributor (Handsets):
Winner: Data Select

Distributor (Networks):
Winner: Hugh Symons Communications

Industry Advance:
Winner: GoHello

Industry Personalilty:
Winner: Ronan Dunne (02)

Let’s see what happens next year…

The new phone from Samsung that just leaked will appeal to business people and heavy texters alike