Over a month behind schedule but finally shipping!

News.

Slashgear are due to receive one in the UK so i’ll be interested to see news about app. enhancements and any progress on battery life that could turn this into a true all-day MID.

N900 news and specifications.

P.S. Those with test N900s should get firmware updates soon. My N900 is still in the smartphone hospital with a broken screen.

Update: Here’s a video from Slashgear that shows the enhancements.

Christmas is approaching which means I’ll be heading to the UK for my Turkey dinner soon. It also means that I’ll be checking out mobile broadband and 3G netbook availability just in case I feel the need while I’m there. Here’s a few news items I found as I was checking out offers today.

Virgin Mobile is introducing a  pre and post-pay option to their mobile phone tariff which gives you a full day of web access (We assume that it’s a port-80 proxy service here) for just 30p. OK, it’s only 25MB and you can’t officially tether your phone to a PC but for using something like Opera Mini on the occasional day away from home, it’s more than enough. If you’re looking to use the service on a more permanent basis though, the per-week and per-month option from 3UK are probably going to work out better as they have less restrictive limits. More info here. Via Informatics Online

The ASUS 901 is now available with built-in 3G from Orange UK on a 24-month contract. This must be the same as the 901 GO that’s available in other countries. The device is free but the monthly charge is 25 pounds. I highly recommended this item a few months ago and I stick by it. If you want one of the more mobile netbook options, this is the one to go for. It comes with XP and 16GB SSD. More info at Orange. Note: The same device is available, contract free, in Germany for 449 Euros.

Clove Technology has the Blue Samsung NC10 marked up at 343 pounds and due on Dec 12th. I can’t find any info about a 3G-enabled one though. This is the product I’m hoping will launch soon but it looks like I may have to wait until after Christmas.

Update: There’s a Samsung NC10 HSPA available in Poland now.

The Advent 4213 (ECS G10L) is available for 322 pounds. It has the 3G module built in but comes with a relatively small battery. Its not the device i’m looking for.

Got any UK mobile internet product tips? If so, let everyone know in the comments below.

According to Neilsen Online, the mobile Internet audience in the UK is young and growing very quickly in numbers. In the last quarter (Q2-Q3, 2008) the number of people accessing content via ‘mobile Internet’ [undefined] grew by 25% to 7.3 million people, approximately one in 9 of the population, with about 50% of those being under 35 years old. The brief PDF overview also reveals some interesting info about what sites people want access to. Is it because the sites are mobile optimised or is the content that’s the significant thing here? In the top 10 sites accessed by mobile devices, the weather and sports info appear to be more popular on a mobile device than it is on a PC. BBC News, Google Search, BBC Weather and Facebook top the list although if you combine the three web-based email sites appearing in the list its clear that WebMail is the most important Mobile Internet application.

via Media Week