European telecommunications ministers gave their backing on Thursday to a plan to cap retail prices for sending SMS (Short Message Service) text messages and browsing the Internet using mobile phones while abroad.
In September the European Union's executive body, the European Commission, proposed slashing both the retail and wholesale prices for text messaging by introducing caps of €0.11 and €0.04 respectively. Average retail prices are currently estimated at around 0.29 euros, the Commission said.
It also proposed a cap on the wholesale price for downloading data of €1 per megabyte, and called for further reductions in the cost of voice calls when roaming.
"Ministers have answered the Commission's call for a speedy response to the SMS and data roaming rip-off very positively," said Viviane Reding, the telecommunications commissioner.
E.U. citizens sent 2.5 billion SMS messages, generating €800 million for their mobile phone operators last year, the Commission said. The cost of sending messages while roaming can be ten times more than sending a message from within the home country.
Slashing this price is seen as an essential part of creating one single European telecoms market, and an excellent way of illustrating the merits of the single European market to consumers.
"I am confident that with Parliament we will ensure that consumers travelling in the E.U. will save money when sending texts and surfing the Web with a mobile phone as of 1 July 2009. This would send a clear message of consensus that the E.U.'s single market is there to serve European citizens as well as businesses," Reding said.
Under the proposed re-drafting of the 2007 roaming regulation, roaming customers should also receive an automatic message with data roaming charges for the country they have entered. From summer 2010, consumers should be able to specify in advance how high their data roaming bill can go before the service is cut off -- a measure designed to put an end to what the Commission calls "bill shocks".
The cap of €1 per megabyte for wholesale fees should create a level playing field and stimulate competition, the Commission said.
Finally, the Commission, now with the support of the 27 member state governments of the E.U., wants to further reduce the caps on making and receiving phone calls while abroad.
In 2007 they were capped at €0.46 per minute for calls made abroad and €0.22 for calls received abroad. The plan now is to reduce these caps to €0.34 and €0.10 respectively, excluding value-added tax (VAT), by 1 July 2012.
Assuming the European Parliament supports the new roaming regulation, European consumers would also benefit from per-second billing after 30 seconds for roaming calls made and per-second billing throughout calls received. Today, mobile phone subscribers pay for 24 percent more than the minutes they actually use when making calls, and 19 percent more for received calls.
Source : PC World
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Energy Sistem 4040 Touch portable media player
Energy Sistem releases the 4040 Touch portable media player that comes with some high-end features including a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, 16GB of storage, a microSD card slot, a built-in microphone, an FM tuner, and supports for most of audio and video file formats. The Energy Sistem 4040 Touch PMP is priced at only €120. The company also releases the 5020 and 5021 models, which drop the touchscreen and cut the storage down to 4GB.
Features.
- High-resolution touch screen QVGA TFT and speaker.
- Hi-Fi Headphones with Neodymium magnets.
- Plays MPEG4 video (AVI XVID in audio MP2). Includes converter program and download videos from the Internet, compatible with Youtube, Google Video, Dailymotion and Metacafe.
- Smart navigation by category and favorite songs.
- M-EX: expansion of memory with Micro-SD cards.
- Integrated FM radio with presets and recording.
- Digital voice recorder with built-in microphone.
- Rechargeable lithium battery.
Moet Bottle Clock for Xmas Gift
Made from a real Moet Champagne bottle, the Bottle Clock is a unique eco-friendly piece of recycled decor. The original Moet bottle has been heated to melting point and flattened to create a flat bottle shape. The labels have then been re-applied to make it appear as if the bottle has been squashed flat!
A perfect gift for a recycling fiend, or a fan of champagne, this bottle clock is a great reminder that you can recycle anything and help do your bit for the environment!
The labels have been re-applied to make it appear as if the bottle has been squashed flat. The Moet Bottle Clock measures 315mm x 145mm x 40mm and is available in 2 different color versions including standard Brut Imperial (yellow label), or Rosé Imperial (pink label).
Dimensions:H 315mm W 145mm D 40mm
Information about Moet Bottle Clock
- Recycled glass bottle
- Each Moet Bottle Clock is unique
- Original Moet bottle labels
- Gift boxed
- Eco-friendly
- Requires 1 x AA battery (not included)
- Weight: 1.08Kg
Chinese folding iPhone
China has provided a mobile phone iPhone V126, executed in raskladnom form factor.
The unit operates in two frequency bands GSM (900/1800 MHz), has a 3 MP camera, 2.6''display resolution 240h320, the battery capacity of 1800 mAh, capable of working with audio and video (mp3, mp4, 3gp, avi) . Dimensions devices represent 105h53h17 mm, weight 110 g. Corps iPhone V126 Chinese manufacturers comply with plastic, painted silver paint.
The cost of the phone iPhone V126 is $ 100.
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