Some DSL and home phone packages of German providers such as 1&1, Alice and Congstar come with a minimum term of four or six weeks. The DSL packages include at least an analog landline and a DSL connection with a flat rate tariff for web access. Sometimes a flat rate tariff for landline calls to other home phones in Germany is already included as well. Since some providers rely in certain regions on a wholesale product of Telekom in order to provide landline and broadband Internet connections, they may add an additional € 5.00 per month to the standard monthly fee – depending on the subscriber’s address.

Nobody wanted to buy the webOS tablet HP Touchpad when it cost more than € 400.00. But there is a run on the HP Touchpad since HP declared it will stop producing the all webOS devices and the manufacturer started selling its at a bargain price. Now, German retailer Notebooksbilliger.de is offering another batch of 1,300 HP Touchpad devices.

With the Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) Blackberry users automatically receive emails from web-based POP3 and IMAP accounts on their a Blackberry smart-phone. In Germany, this Blackberry service is provided through a mobile phone service provider which means Blackberry smart-phone users have to book a specific tariff option in order to use the email push of the Blackberry Internet Service. Here is a short overview of mobile phone providers in Germany offering BIS, of the monthly charges and included services of the Blackberry tariff options and of the prerequisites for booking a Blackberry tariff option.

Another bargain smart-phone: This Thursday, September 1st, German discount supermarket Aldi Nord will offer the Samsung Galaxy S for € 299.00. It is the first time that the low-price grocery retailer is selling such a high-end device. The Samsung Galaxy S might not belong to the first league of Android smart-phones anymore, but it is still quite powerful and several former weaknesses of this smart-phone model have been eliminated by the new Android version 2.3 Gingerbread. And the price point of the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S at Aldi Nord supermarkets is attractive, too.

Low price grocery retailer Lidl will be offering the Android smart-phone Huawei Ideos X3 for just € 99.99 beginning this Thursday. The Android smart-phone will be available in a prepaid package also including a SIM card with Lidl Mobile price plan, 25 free calling minutes and one month mobile Internet access for free. This is a real bargain.

Phone Guide Germany is taking a short summer break. We will be back at the end of August with new ideas and new rubrics.

Sure, you can watch the matches of the German football Bundesliga on TV: Telekom via IPTV (“Entertain”) and Sky via satellite and TV cable (“Welt” and Fußball Bundesliga”) are offering live broadcasts of all games of the Bundesliga. But what about when you are not at home or in a pub but in a parc or on the way instead? Here is a short overview of how to watch live streams of the German football Bundesliga on your mobile.

A new mobile network test by Stiftung Warentest shows: Overall voice quality in Germany is quite good even though there are still a few rural spots without phone coverage. But there are considerable differences between networks when it comes to mobile data transmission rates.

Simyo Sync is based on Funambol MediaHub and enables users to keep contacts and calendar on mobile phones, tablets, PCs and other devices in sync with a digital locker in the cloud. It backs up user data, allows easy access across multiple devices and complies with all European data privacy and security regulations.

O2 Germany is now offering an express top-up option to its prepaid customers. With the new top-up service, O2 prepaid customers are be able to top up their credit via direct debit or credit card no matter where they are.

Telefónica Germany (O2) will reduce the price for the iPhone 3G S drastically to sell off the older iPhone model before the new iPhone 5 will be launched – this could already happen in four weeks. As of tomorrow, the iPhone 3G S with 8 GB memory will cost just € 361.00 with or without plan at O2 shops.

The EU has limited prices for roaming calls and SMS (but not for mobile Internet access) across the EU. The EU Roaming regulation adopted in 2007 ensures that mobile phone subscribers pay affordable and transparent roaming prices when they are traveling across the EU.