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.

While movie fans have traveled to Berlin this week, the mobile industry met in Barcelona. At the Mobile World Congress 2010 show manufacturers, providers and network suppliers presented latest devices and upcoming trends. Some of it – like eye-controlled earphones by Japanese operator NTT Docomo – seems weird, other things like higher data transmission rates over 4G networks or efforts to introduce standards to the world of smartphone apps sound rather promising. And, of course, handset manufacturers showed lots of new devices with new features. Here is a short wrap up of the most interesting phones and platforms of the show.

Yes, it is the Apple iPhone again, still object of heated discussions among smartphone users. In Germany, only operator T-Mobile may sell the iPhone with contract (and SIM lock), devices available on the open market (and without SIM lock) are imported. Whichever way buyers choose in order to become part of the iPhone community, compared to most other smartphones the Apple phone is very expensive. At German stores, purchase prices for an imported iPhone 3G S without SIM lock begin at EUR 645.00. Still, it is one of the most popular mobile phones in the country. Now, it is also possible to get the iPhone 3G 8GB with a prepaid starter package of T-Mobile by finance purchase.

Germany and the internet? Any associations? Suspicion. Anxiety. Prohibition. Frank Schirrmacher, a journalist with some most-hated-man-potential. And a red-haired guy named Sascha Lobo (By the way, who is that again? Why did he happen to be famous?). In his recent book, Schirrmacher, the (old and) wise intellectual identifies dangers of the evil evil internet, which will someday – as “Wash Echte” on his quite famous blog “Ich werde ein Berliner” (“I am becoming a Berliner”) puts it – turn our brains “into elephant poo”. Villains like Google will hunt you down by knowing everything about your filthy interests. And last but not least, all the new communication techniques will make you unable to concentrate, which will accelerate the whole process of getting mentally incompetent.

Sunday, classic hangover day, one might say. But of course, not only New York is a city that never sleeps. There are parties worth going to every day of the week without an exception. But where to go? During the last couple of years, Berlin got famous especially for its electronic music partys. Some tourists only consider visiting Berlin, because they want to see the huge, factory-like seeming halls of “Berghain” – or maybe just the legendary face-tattoo-bouncer, whose communication skills appear to be limited to minimalistic nods. To find interesting events, the websites of city magazines like zitty, tip or – especially recommendable – 030 are always reliable options. A little bit more thrilling is certainly “restrealitaet”, which means “rest of reality” in English…

The most important question for German smartphone users at today’s official presentation of the Google phone Nexus One has been answered: The Google phone Nexus One will not be available in Germany or any other European country at least for another few months. Even though Google partners with T-Mobile USA in selling the new Android smartphone, it is only available at the new Google web store at http://www.google.com/phone for USD 529.00 for an unlocked phone or USD 179.00 for a phone with a two-year contract of T-Mobile. According to today’s announcement by Google, Vodafone will offer the Nexus One phone in Europe in spring.

With only a few days more to go until the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the question is: Will the Nexus One be the Google Phone or a Google phone? Will the Nexus One offer new features that other Android smartphones such as the Motorola Milestone with Android 2.0 do not support or will it just be the epitome of what all future Android smartphones will be capable of? There is evidence for both sides of the argument: Google genuinely getting into the hardware business or just giving Android another push as the competitive platform to the iPhone OS.

Samsung Electronics has announced its full touchscreen smartphone Samsung M5650. This handset for young mobile phone users is already available in Portugal and will be available at other European markets soon. The Samsung M5650 sports the same contoured exterior as seen in the Samsung Corby S3650. The new cell phone is equipped with an one-touch key for listening to music as well as enhanced social networking features for those who are actively digitally connected through means such as email, instant messaging and blogs. New features that can’t be found on the Samsung Corby are 3G connectivity, WiFi and a 3-megapixel camera.

The first Vodafone 360 smartphone Samsung H1 is available for EUR 569.90 without mobile phone contract at Vodafone stores. In addition to its specific user interface it sports a 3.5-inch widescreen touch screen display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash light and a video capture mode with a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels – just like the Samsung Omnia I8910 (read the review of the Samsung Omnia I8910). While shutter speed of the Samsung H1 is good, saving the photo takes a bit too long. The following video shows the video capture quality of the Vodafone 360 smartphone.

The new RIM smartphone Blackberry Storm2 9520 is now available in Germany at T-Mobile and Vodafone stores. The Blackberry Storm2 sports a 3.25-inch touch screen display with a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels, EDGE and UMTS support, WiFi, integrated GPS and several multi media features such as a music player, a video player and 3.2-megapixel camera. The camera comes with autofocus, flash, image stabilizer and a digital zoom. Videos can be shot with a resolution of 480 x 352 pixels. At the moment, I am testing the Storm2 and this weekend I compared the video capture of the Blackberry smartphone and the Apple iPhone 3G S. The following two videos were shot at Berlin Cathedral and at the river Spree around 4 p.m.