Again, café-cum-retailer Tchibo is selling its prepaid starter package including a SIM card and an UMTS surf stick for just EUR 29.95 to netbook and notebook users. The prepaid starter package does also include the flat rate tariff “Internet-Tages-Flatrate” for three single days. Usually, this flat rate tariff costs EUR 2.95 for every day the Tchibo customer is accessing the internet via GPRS or UMTS over the network of O2 Germany. This is quite a bargain for netbook or notebook users looking for a new UMTS surf stick in order to access the internet on their way.

With more and more people having a netbook or a smartphone with WiFi support and more and more people taking their mobiles on their trips to other countries, WiFi hotspots become hot again. For example, by using a free WiFi hotspot in Berlin mobile phone or netbook users from other countries save high data roaming expenses – all it might take to access the internet for free is to get a password at the counter and order one or two coffees during the online session. We have updated our overview of cafes, bars and hotels in Berlin that offer free WiFi to their guests.

Samsung seems to be pretty successful with low-cost smartphones such as the Samsung Corby S3650 or the Samsung B3410. Such smartphones cost a little more than EUR 100.00 without contract and offer a touchscreen, mobile internet access for instant messaging and social networking services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and sometimes even a real QWERTZ keyboard which makes typing messages and status updates easier. The Nokia 6760 slide is another example of this phone line. With purchase prices beginning above EUR 200.00 without contract at German web stores it is more expensive than the Samsung B3410, but it offers a broad range of features as you can read in this review.

Snoog Mobile is offering a prepaid price plan with low rates for mobile phone calls and SMS as well as free instant messaging with the ICQ client for free within Germany. Instant messaging is only free of charge with a compatible Nokia or Sony Ericsson cell phone, with the ICQ client installed on the mobile phone and when using the APN “wap.vodafone.de”. With other phones, other clients or other internet access settings users of the Snoog Mobile SIM card pay EUR 0.29 per megabyte for instant messaging or for using any other mobile data services over the network of operator Vodafone.

Discoplus is a new discount provider in the Geman market that offers a prepaid price plan mobile phone calls within Germany at low rates. For calls to home phone and other mobiles in Germany Discoplus subscribers are charged EUR 0.08 per minute, for sending SMS they pay EUR 0.08 per message. The prepaid starter package of Discoplus includes a SIM card and calling credit of EUR 5.00 and is available at www.discoplus.de for EUR 9.95. Currently, new customers of Discoplus receive a bonus of 50 free calling minutes.

Mobile phone provider Klarmobil has launched a new cell phone plan with a flat rate tariff for all mobile phone calls and mobile internet access within Germany. The price plan “Flat Komplett 3G” is available for EUR 49.95 per month and includes all domestic mobile phone calls to home phone and other mobiles as well as mobile internet access via GPRS or UMTS over the network of operator O2 Germany. The prepaid starter package including the SIM card is available at www.klarmobil.de for EUR 9.95.

From today, the low end smartphone Blackberry Curve 8520 is available at Real supermarkets for EUR 199.00 without contract. That is less than what the operators T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus and O2 Germany ask for: T-Mobile sells the Blackberry Curve 8520 for EUR 229.96 without contract, Vodafone for EUR 269.90, E-Plus for EUR 209.99 and O2 Germany for EUR 249.00.

Aldi is selling an UMTS surf stick to netbook and notebook users for EUR 49.99. The Medion Mobile Web Stick S4011 supports GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA for mobile data transmission over a mobile network with up to 3.6 mbps (download) as well as SMS. The UMTS surf stick comes without a SIM lock and there is no SIM card included in the package. Aldi is also offering a prepaid SIM card for the network of operator E-Plus with EUR 10.00 credit for EUR 12.99.