Many have heard that US companies are having a lot of trouble with staying afloat, keeping their credit lines solid, keeping employees, etc. But many in the UK know its just as bad there right now, in fact, even worse in some ways.
UK business leaders are suffering a crisis of confidence with short term business confidence in the UK plummeting by 29% since last year, the lowest since 2003, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers 12th Annual Global CEO Survey. That’s truly a scary figure, and will impact the ability of the average citizen to get credit with these companies. They’re being much tougher on applicants.
Nevertheless, business leaders see a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, with more optimism about recovery and growth over the next 3-5 years.
Growth expectations have been severely impacted by the unprecedented economic and financial turmoil. As the economic downturn deepens, the mindset of the UK CEO has had to change, rebalancing short term survival with long term ambitions.
Many are now opting for lower risk strategies for growth: financing expansion from internally generated cash flow, retrenching into existing markets rather than seeking mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to grow market share and reducing spend on new product development. Despite this, UK CEOs still recognise that they must not lose sight of important drivers for long term success, such as retention of talent and planning for global issues such as climate change.
Hopefully, this will turn around and companies will experience growth and prosperity once again.
LG’s “affordable” touch-screen phone, the Cookie is now available to Orange customers in two new colour variants. Pink and silver versions of the phone are now available alongside the original black version. The new variants even have a new model name, the LG-KP501, as opposed to the original LG-KP500, albeit the difference being one single digit. However, the KP501 not only has a new look and model name, but the call buttons have also been made slightly slimmer from the original.
Orange is selling both the pink and silver versions of the LG Cookie for £99.99 on prepay and free on a 24-month contract at £15 per month. The LG Cookie has been incredibly popular since it went on-sale in November last year. In fact Carphone Warehouse claimed in the run up to Christmas they were selling around 20,000 LG Cookie’s a week.
Both the pink and silver LG Cookie can be purchased from Orange stores and Orange’s online shop.
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Well it’s a question thats been asked a number of times before, citing pieces of evidence both for and against. However, I’ve come across two articles within the same week that are both asking the question about whether Mobile TV is going to continue as a viable service.
The first article on Broadband TV News states “Mobile TV – looking for the right business model” – and as the title suggests, the business model is a major issue. It was somewhat of a surprise to some within the Industry that actually people wouldn’t fancy paying £5-£10/month (on top of their existing mobile bill) to access TV on the move.
Continued here:
Is Mobile TV going to make it?
It can be tough to get approved for a mobile phone contract if you have a bad credit history. But you can try a company like Utility Warehouse, which will likely charge you an upfront deposit of around £10 for your first calls. This can be a good option for someone who wants a contract but doesn’t want to undergo a credit check. You will need to have an account with a UK bank.
There are some drawbacks to such deals. You often won’t get the newest phones on the market. However, you can usually get rates that are similar to tariffs charged by the major mobile carriers. Utility Warehouse also allows you to bundle your mobile phone contract with inexpensive contracts for gas, electricity and home phone service. These savings can offset your mobile phone bill.
As long as you continue to have a credit card or debit card, despite your bad credit, you can still apply for contracts with all of the major mobile carriers. However, you might get rejected and that can negatively affect your already troubled credit score.
The best option for those with bad credit is Vodafone or Orange, through its online portal. Many customers struggling with their credit history have reported success with these networks.
If you have exhausted all of your options and still find yourself being turned down for a contract, your last resort is to ask a friend or relative to sign up on your behalf. You can do this by setting up a direct payment or debit to this person’s account each month for the amount of your bill. But be careful when choosing this option. The person who signs the contract is ultimately responsible for paying the charges. So if you rack up your phone bill, make sure you can pay it down. Otherwise it can affect the other person’s credit score too.
If you get lucky and manage to score a contract – keep it. As long as you stay in a contract you can continue to upgrade your phone to the latest models even after your contract expires. And you can often negotiate more competitive tariffs.
Hopefully this guide has helped you see that you can still find a mobile contract no matter how poor your credit. You just have to be persistent – and a little creative.
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Even though some of the countries mentioned here don’t even have an Android-powered device available yet… That hasn’t stopped Google ( NSDQ: GOOG )’s Eric Chu from contacting Android Developers to let them in on some new developments. The news, (sent via email) from Eric has let us know that the Android Market will become available to users in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Poland in the weeks to come.
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Android Market Coming to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and More
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With the dust finally starting to settle after the flurry of 8 Megapixel camera phones that launched late last year, it’s time to take a look forward to see what 2009 has in store for those snap happy camera phone fanatics amongst us. You know who you are. The first …
See more here:
12 Megapixel Camera phones on the horizon: Could be as early as April!
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Palm has unveiled its overhauled operating system alongside a touch-screen smartphone, in a bid to claw back share from competitors such as Apple. Good luck to Palm. The new phone looks cool (and could possibly compete with the iPhone) but Palm’s rep of late hasn’t been that great.
The operating system – the Palm WebOS – was developed under the watch of Palm executive chairman and former Apple chief, Jon Rubenstein, who was one of the key executives responsible for the iPod.
Palm has been developing the operating system, which is set to rival Android, since 2007. The company was the pioneer of touch-screen phones with the Treo, but has been steadily losing share to the iPhone, RIM’s Blackberry, and other similar devices.
The new smartphone, the Pre, is a touch screen device with GPS, Wi-Fi and a slide out full keyboard. It currently runs on America’s CDMA phone network and is incompatible with European mobiles, but a 3G version that could go on sale in Europe is currently in development and will be released in the next few months, and will include the UK.
The Pre phone easily consolidates multiple communication services such as instant messaging, text messaging and social networks such as Facebook, and multiple email systems. It’s already being called the “iPhone killer” in some circles, but we’ll wait and see on that designation, if it becomes the case or not.
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Yet another high street retailer collapses: Nearly 300 Virgin Mobile staff could be left without a job, after Zavvi fell into administration (a nice business term for crumbled or dead) just before Christmas.
The retailer has a total of 83 Virgin Mobile concessions in its 92 stores. A Virgin Mobile spokesman could not confirm whether the company’s remaining 270 staff will stay in their jobs if Zavvi fails to find a buyer (not likely at this point).
Zavvi’s administrators closed 22 Zavvi stores yesterday, of which five contained Virgin Mobile concession stores. The Virgin Mobile spokesman said the 11 staff in the stores have now been redeployed to Virgin media in various capacities.
Zavvi, which was formerly Virgin Megastore, was formed after a management buy-out of the Virgin Group division in 2007. It is (or was) the UK’s largest independent retailer, and it caps a series of months where another high street retailer, Woolworths, collapsed after almost 100 years in business. It hasn’t been pretty in the UK business scene of late, that’s for certain.
It is understood that Virgin tycoon Richard Branson still holds the lease on Zavvi’s Tottenham Court Road flagship site, as well as another five sites. Virgin said it does not intend to bring back Virgin Megastores and will sublet the sites to other retailers.
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Sony Ericsson aims to get things moving this new year with yet another music-based handset – the W715 Walkman phone.
This GPS-enabled cell phone will offer similar audio quality found on the highly rated (for its audio anyhow) W980 Walkman phone, complete with various features audiophiles will love including the music recognition application TrackID, SensMe for mood matching music, Shake Control for easy change of tracks and full integration with Vodafone Music, enabling users to easily access single and album downloads at their convenience. The W715 Walkman phone will also boast the following features: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, a decent 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and GPS, 2.4″ TFT display and Bluetooth, of course.
This is a Vodafone exclusive, and the Sony Ericsson W715 Walkman phone will come in Galactic Black and Luxury Silver colors when available in selected markets this quarter.
You never knew a garage sale was going to break out at a phone dealership when we rung in the new year. I guess Carphone did: they have released a sale guide that has seen prices of a range of products reduced by 30-50%. Either they’re generous…or feeling the pinch of a reeling economy that has seen some of the tightest credit in the UK in many moons.
The biggest price cut (and a little surprising) is for the Samsung Soul, has seen prices fall by over £145 on pay as you go to £147.78. That over 50%, folks, and that indicates trying to clear out inventory, more than likely.
Nokia’s first Comes With Music phone, the 5310, has been reduced from £78.54 to £58.67 (that’s about 30%), while the Sony Ericsson K770i has been cut from £127.18 to £97.82 (another 30% or so).
The retailer is offering 50% off selected international calls on Talk Mobile, with calls being offered for 2p a minute to destinations including USA, China, Poland and India for January.
Other prices have been slashed on products including iPhone cases, bluetooth headsets, headphones and speakers. All of this is quite interesting, and not the best sign for Carphone in terms of corporate health. Hopefully this sale revitalizes their bottom line.
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