As the oldest of the UK's mobile phone networks (in fact, they're the oldest network in the WORLD), Vodafone continue to be at the top of their game, for mobile phones and mobile broadband. Let's take a look at what they have in store for us in 2008!
Vodafone mobile phones in 2008
We can expect 2 things from Vodafone this year: 1/ they'll have a vast selection of every mobile phone released this year and 2/ some of the big names will be Vodafone exclusives. We're seeing prediction 2 come true already, with mobile phones like the stunning, sleek, touchscreen Samsung F490, which really is Samsung's iPhone Killer! It's fair to say it won't be the last Vodafone-exclusive, so expect to see lots of them this year!
One phone that almost certainly won't be an exclusive, though, is the Nokia N96, the reason being if it was exclusive to Vodafone, everybody on every other network would storm Vodafone's headquarters just to get at it! Combining the sleek looks of the N81 with the sheer power of the N95, the Nokia N96 is set to be the big N-series phone this year.
Key to that is its feature-list, which gives us such gems as a 5 megapixel camera, GPS built in, mobile TV (including a stand on the back of the phone, to prop it up while you're watching!) and 16Mb of memory built in. That's an awesome spec list, and it's set to make the Nokia N96 one of the big players of 2008, Vodafone-exclusive or not!
Vodafone mobile broadband in 2008
The really big growth area, this year, is not going to be mobile phones, however... all the pundits in the world agree that it's going to be mobile broadband! That's why, even though we're only 3-and-a-bit months into the year, Vodafone have already released THREE separate USB Modems! There's the standard model; the big, curvy 7.2; and the super-compact, super-sleek Stick. Of those, the USB Modem Stick is set to be the one that takes off in the biggest, most spectacular fashion, since it's both sleek AND fast. In the world of USB Modems, it's, like, the Lamborghini of the bunch.
So, all in all, Vodafone look to have a pretty damn appealing year ahead of them. They'll have some real kick-buttock mobile phones (things like the Nokia N96), and they'll have mobile broadband. Not only that, but their mobile broadband, at the minute, by far surpasses anyone else's in terms of speed, coming in at a whopping 7.2bps (yup, faster than a lot of fixed line connections!). In other words, Vodafone are on the offensive in 2008!
