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.

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.

German operator E-Plus is expected to launch its branded Android tablet Base Tab within a few days. The device will be available with a mobile data flat rate tariff for € 19.00 per month over a two-year period. Taking into account the monthly fee of € 10.00 for the mobile data flat rate tariff over a period of 24 months, the costs for the Base Tab itself will amount to € 216.00. Here is a short review of the Base Tab.

The LG P990 Optimus Speed (aka 2X) has been the first smart-phone in the market being powered by a dual core processor. In more specific terms, the LG Optimus Speed is powered by the Nvidia dual core processor Tegra 2 with 1 GHz and with a separate graphics unit that should arrange for smoothly running programs and applications even when these require a lot of processing power. Here is a short review of the LG Optimus Speed.

German operator E-Plus (Base) will launch its own tablet Base Tab in mid-June. The device will be available with a mobile data flat rate tariff for € 19.00 per month over a two-year period. In terms of figures, the Base Tab will cost € 216.00 because the regular monthly fee for the “Base Internet Flat” for accessing the Internet via GPRS or UMTS/HSDPA over the mobile network of E-Plus amounts to € 10.00 per month.

There are differences between the two tablets: While the Vodafone version Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v is 10.9 millimeters thick and features a 8.1-megapixel camera, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is slimmer (8.6 millimeter) and comes with a 3-megapixel camera. Vodafone is offering the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v for a purchase price of € 659.90 without plan. Here is a short review on the Samsung tablet being available at Vodafone shops.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is the first smart-phone in the market that complies with the requirements of the Playstation Suite Initiative to play Playstation certified games. Even though it does not serve as a substitute of one of the more powerful games consoles Playstation and Playstation Portable, it sports all features of an adequate gaming console and addresses smart-phone users who want to have a game pad rather than just a touch-screen for gaming with their mobile or who are not satisfied with the range of games in the Android market.

Telefónica Germany is one of the first telecommunication providers to introduce a rating system in Germany that assesses the environmental and social compatibility of mobile phones. The system is called Eco Index. As a result, and effective immediately, customers can find information on-line about the sustainability aspects of their preferred mobile phone. Starting in autumn, that information will also be available in shops.

If you buy a new iPhone 4 in Germany, you pay at least € 630.00 without plan (check my updated overview). But there is a way to save some money: At stores of the two German operators Telekom (T-Mobile) and O2 Germany you can buy arefurbished iPhone 4 which means the phone is not new, but supposedly as good as new. Compared to buying a new iPhone 4, you can save up to 20 percent when purchasing a refurbished one. On the other hand: There might be warranty and guarantee issues with a refurbished iPhone. Here is a short overview of how much refurbished iPhone 4 cost at Telekom and O2 stores.

Here we go: The next wave of tablets rivaling the Apple iPad and iPad 2 hits stores. These new devices such as the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the HTC Flyer, the LG Optimus Pad and others come with different touch-screen sizes of 7 inches, 9 inches or 10 inches and are running on Android 2.0 at first and will get an update to Android 3.0 Honeycomb as soon as this Android version is officially released. Here is a short overview of four tablets are now or soon available at stores in Germany.