Vodafone

U.K. wireless operators partner on mobile commerce

Three of the top wireless providers in the U.K. are joining forces to speed up the deployment of mobile payments that will allow shoppers to pay for things with their cell phones, according to Reuters.

Thursday the news service reported that Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile, Vodafone and Telefonica's O2 have agreed to create a mobile commerce system that would bring together retailers, banks and advertisers.

For years, there's been talk that consumers would be able to use their phones to buy things using a technology called Near Field Communications, which allows very … Read more

White iPhone 4 slips into wild in U.K.

Adding extra legitimacy to credible reports that the white version of the iPhone 4 would arrive within the next few weeks, the unit has already popped up at a Vodafone UK retail store, and has even been sold to a customer before stock was pulled.

Engadget has a photo from a reader who claims to have purchased the 16GB model of the yet-unreleased device from a Vodafone store in the U.K. Following the sale, the carrier is said to have sent a message to stores telling them to hold the stock until next week.

The white version of the … Read more

Vivendi to buy Vodafone's stake in SFR

Vivendi announced today that it has agreed to acquire Vodafone's 44 percent stake in French mobile operator SFR for 7.95 billion euros ($11.3 billion).

The deal would give Vivendi, which already owned 56 percent of SFR shares, complete control of SFR--France's second largest carrier, with nearly 21 million customers.

"We are very pleased to reach our strategic objective to own 100 percent of SFR, which will help Vivendi to focus further on profitable growth and innovation," Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy said in a statement. "I am very confident that this will greatly benefit … Read more

Google tops list of world's most valuable brands

Google is the world's most valuable brand, according to a brand valuation company's list of the top 500 global brands.

Assigning a dollar amount to Google's brand, BrandFinance raised the search giant's value to $44.2 billion this year, up 23 percent from $36 billion last year.

Google often embarks on ventures that aren't necessarily commercial but have a positive impact on its brand rating (AAA+), which is the highest in the list, according to BrandFinance. One example includes Google's online services designed to help rescue efforts after the natural disasters in New Zealand … Read more

Mobile operators warn regulators to back off

BARCELONA, Spain--The recession is over and wireless operators are finally growing again, but they are warning regulators in Europe, Latin America, and the United States to keep their paws off.

CEOs from some of the largest wireless operators in the world took to the stage here today, the second morning of the Mobile World Congress, to discuss the challenges facing their industry. While each of the executives participating in the keynote panel said he is optimistic about the future as more consumers upgrade to smartphones, they lamented the challenges of keeping up with high traffic demands on their networks.

Also … Read more

Webbox keyboard puts a browser on your TV

If you're anything like us, you start to sweat if you're ever more than a few feet away from a Web browser. Vodafone knows your pain--and it wants to stick a browser in your television. Using a keyboard. Wait, a what?!

It's called the Webbox (not Web box, Webbox, like lummox) and it works like this: The little keyboard (pictured above) plugs into your TV via RCA connectors, and there's space for a Vodafone SIM card inside the keyboard itself. Vodafone hopes this odd device will give people in developing countries an opportunity to get online … Read more

Vodafone: We were forced to send pro-Mubarak texts

The Egyptian government of President Hosni Mubarak forced Vodafone to send out prescripted, propagandistic text messages during the country's recent unrest, the carrier said today in a statement on its Web site.

A text message by someone identified as "Vodafone" was sent to an Associated Press reporter in Egypt on Sunday appealing to the country's "honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor," according to an AP report.

But Vodafone said the Egyptian government can use its emergency powers under the country's Telecommunications Act to … Read more

Vodafone fixes hole in customer site after data exposed

British mobile carrier Vodafone finally plugged a hole today on a customer Web site that could be used to get e-mail addresses and phone numbers by providing some basic or guessable information on the password reminder page.

Vodafone users began complaining on a customer forum on Wednesday that the password reminder page confirmed the e-mail address when the phone number is typed in and confirmed the phone number and e-mail address when the log-in name was provided.

As a Vodafone representative assured customers on the forum that the company was investigating the matter, users were complaining that the problem page … Read more

Vodafone's Desire update brings unexpected apps

HTC Desire owners on Vodafone's U.K. network received an over-the-air update early Tuesday that came with some unexpected features.

No, it wasn't Android 2.2, code-named Froyo, which brings with it considerable speed updates, home screen enhancements, and tweaks that make it easier to update and manage installed applications. Instead, it was a handful of Vodafone-branded applications, a new Vodafone-branded restart animation, and changes to the user's home screen applications and Web bookmarks.

Angry users have hopped on Vodafone's forums to voice their disapproval. Many are irate over the fact that these apps, which include … Read more