Vodafone Australia’s cheaper plans have attracted over 70,000 mobile customers in June 2008. This huge figure brings their total to around 4.1 million users. Revenue rose again by 6.3 per cent and the overall customer base actually grew by a staggering 10.6 per cent in the three months leading up to June. Vodafone are also just about to reach 1 million 3G connected devices. It seems 2008 is the year for Vodafone Australia!

“Vodafone Australia’s business is booming in all states and territories because we’re injecting real value at a time when customers are looking for improved services at reasonable rates,” Chief Executive Russell Hewitt announced yesterday.

“Mobile voice and SMS continues unabated growth but mobile data services have become our most promising growth engine,” Mr Hewitt continued.

Warning: If you love media, do not buy an Apple iPhone 3G if you live in Australia!

The Apple iPhone 3G fails at being a true multimedia device. Almost all of the great mobile content that is offered by Optus, Vodafone, Telstra and other content providers like MobileActive and Jamster is not available on the new iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3G is incompatible with a lot of the content services and does not support flash. The cost of using the iPhone to browse is a lot higher in Australian then it is in other countries. For example, in the US, iPhone customers are treated to unlimited web browsing!

As a result, once again us Aussies are hit with massive bills as soon as we try and access online video or stream musc. With petrol prices soaring, getting a hefty mobile bill could really set the average Australian back.

Mark McDonnel, telecom analyst at BBY, said Apple was purposely limiting the device’s ability to access other content sources in order to force Australians to buy their content from its own iTunes and Apps stores. They are trying to create a monopoly on the market, which should not be encouraged. Consumers need to rally together and boycott the iPhone to ensure this does not happen.

“Of course, Apple has its own platform and it’s a question of whether people want to adapt to fit their content onto the Apple platform, so I don’t see the technical barriers as insuperable but they do impose costs and delays,” he said.

For example, if you are on Telstra and have an Apple iPhone 3G then you can forget about Foxtel Mobile or Bigpond TV because they are most certainly not supported. If you are with Optus then you can no longer access their fantastic range of ringtones, wallpapers, music downloads or mobile TV channels, which include MTV, Ministry of Sound, Nickelodeon, ABC, CNN and SBS.

Vodafone succeeds at being the absolute worse choice if you want to indulge in media. The entire Vodafone Live portal doesn’t work and neither Apple or Vodafone seem to care, so why should the consumer?

“The iPhone 3G’s [web] browser, Safari, is an HTML browser - Vodafone Live operates on a PML browser, which isn’t compatible with the HTML browser,” Vodafone spokesman Greg Spears said.

I think the message is pretty clear here, the iPhone 3G is a terrible choice if you want access to mobile media in Australia

Getting an iPhone is easy, choosing a plan is not. After reviewing the pricing models above, it’s clear to see that Optus is the clear winner. You only have to look at the stats related to increased iPhone data consumption to understand that data is king. If you have an iPhone you are going to consume a hell of a lot of media, so it’s wise to choose the plan with the highest amount of allocated data, which is where Optus outshines all competitors. Telstra’s weak 5mb allowance is almost laughable. It’s an attempt by the carrier to protect their huge walled range of online content.

Telstra also looks to be struggling with iPhone supply. Read more about this here!

Recently while holidaying in Portugal, a Prison Break fanatic from the UK decided to download an episode using his handset as a laptop modem to catch up on the latest Scofield action. The Yes Telecom (part Vodafone) customer was then slapped with a massive £31,000 mobile phone bill.

Iayn Dobsyn, an IT contractor from the UK, knew that his bill was going to be high, but expected that £150 would be about as far as it could climb. Dobysn said “I knew i used a lot of data while abroad but not to the tune of £31,000. The figures didn’t make sense.”

Thankfully, Yes Telecom has agreed to reduce the charge to the appropriate sum of £229 and has advised other customers to check the small print on their contracts before attempting to download any data while they are overseas.

Finally, it has arrived. After hundreds of blogs calling for an Australian release date, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the new 3G version of the iPhone on Monday, along with a lot of new third-party applications designed especially for the device. Aussie Apple fans can also rejoice because for once we have not been left out of the mix! The updated iPhone will use 3G wireless technology and run updated iPhone 2.0 software. It is expected to launch July 11 worldwide in 22 countries, with Australia included in the fold. Jobs also promised that by the end of the year, the iPhone 3G will be available in 70 countries. The iPhone will also be cheaper than its successful predecessor, with a 16GB version priced at only US$299 and an 8GB version that costs a mere US$199.

Optus are jumping on the bandwagon early by allowing pre-oprders of the Optus iPhone 3G. To register your interest just go here. Vodafone will also be releasing an iPhone, although no information has been announced regarding their plan. There has been no word from Telstra.

At the conference, Jobs showed the audience the difference between the new version and the old by loading the National Geographic homepage. The old iPhone took 18 seconds, while the 3G version took only 5 seconds. Jobs then highlighted the latest business features including push email, push contacts, push calendar, auto-discovery, global address lookup and remote wipe. At this point, Jobs handed the reins over to Scott Forstall, VP of iPhone software, to provide a highlight reel of some exciting applications. Standout applications included the eBay app that is used to track auction status and bidding, a band app that allows users to create music on the run and an Associated Press app that gives you a highly customisable news experience.

Steve then came back on stage to discuss new featuers like parental controls, contact searching, iWork, bulk delete, better language controls and much more. On the hardware side, he added that there will be longer battery life (eight to 10 hours of 2G talk, five hours of 3G talk, seven hours of video and 24 hours of audio), silver buttons, a new headjack and a custom back panel that can be black or white.

Phil Schiller took time out to demonstrate MobileMe, an innovative new cross-platform Internet service that can keep your contacts, calendar, e-mail, photos and files in sync between Macs, PCs and, apparently, any other kind of computer that can run a Web browser. When the handset ships in July, this US$99/year service will take the place of Apple’s old, also US$99/year .Mac service. A 60-day free trial will be available to new users.

The real juicy stuff came at the end of the keynote when Apple announced the new iPhone has 3G HSDPA networking on the 850MHz, 1900MHz and 2100MHz frequencies (which means that it logically can connect to Telstra’s Next G network), as well as real built-in GPS with support for AGPS for faster lock to satellites.

What is the new iPhone 3G missing? Click here to find out…

Do you want a full list of the new applications? Click here to check them out…

No, it’s not the latest in Apple technology, it’s actually the new Vodafone Station! Vodafone have been quick to build momentum by buying and slowly rolling out fixed-line broadband services, all the way across Europe, in preparation for fixed mobile convergence (FMC). The ‘Vodafone Station’ is a new FMC box that was developed with Huawei. It’s basically a switch/router for ADSL2+ that can be shared via Fixed Ethernet or Wi-Fi across your home. It also features a really cool removable USB key that allows you to add a 3G (UMTS/HSPA) service!

As soon as you fire up this bad boy the ‘Station’ uses HSPA to connect to the Vodafone network, allows users to sign up for a DSL connection, and allows seamless switching to Vodafone’s service. Unfortunately, the Aussies have been left out again! This groovy box is sadly only available in Italy. However, Vodafone have hinted at plans to roll the beast out across their entire global footprint. Which typically means Australia might not see it till 2009.

Many industry bloggers believe that more of these FMC boxes will start coming out of the woodwork very shortly. Just keep your eyes peeled…

Oh and because I’m digital to the max, here’s a YouTube link to keep my readers happy!

In an effort to step up to the digial media evolution, Madonna (50yrs o) will be teaming up with Vodafone to release her much anticpated new album “Hard Candy” ahead of it’s official debut date of April 28th. The Material Girl is planning on giving the public only 1 song at a time, per day, leading up to April 28th.

To build aniticpation and suspense Vodafone have made each individual track only available for a 24 hour period, at which point the track will be replaced with the next 1. The public will need to keep coming back frequently if they want to download the entire album! Apparently the fun begins on April 21st, which means Vodafone subscribers will have almost downloaded the entire album, before anyone else gets to listen to it. Customers in some markets, including Spain, Portugal, Germany and Belgium will be given access to the newly released single ‘4 Minutes To Save the World’, a collaboration with Justin Timberlake about fighting poverty and disease.

Vodafone’s deal with Warner will allow customers access to Madonna’s mini site on Vodafone live! where the week of music can be found alongside associated mobile phone content, including ringtones and text message tones. John Reid, vice chairman of Warner Music, said “This is an innovative way to reach millions of Madonna fans around the world, building anticipation and excitement around this landmark release and helping to create a real event for Vodafone customers.”

Why she decided to name her album the same as the classic pedophile thriller “Hard Candy”, starring the wonderful Ellen Page, is beyond me.