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.

Helene Hegemann, 17 years old, has written a very successful novel debut: “Axolotl Roadkill”. She received rave reviews, critics were fascinated about her rich language. “Axolotl Roadkill” even got nominated for the price of the Leipzig Book Fair. But after Hegemann’s copyright misdoings became public, critics tried to take their positive judgements about the spectatcular novel debut back. Again, this new discussion points out the need for an innovative copyright law facing digital demands. Hegemann is right when she defends herself referring to today’s media consumption habits. The handling of information, of texts has changed in a radical way during the last couple of years.

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…

Mobile phone and internet provider O2 Germany lets new DSL subscribers choose between a short minimum term of just one month and a long minimum term of 24 months. The only difference between these two options: New customers choosing a DSL contract with a long minimum term get a discount on the monthly fees. However, O2 Germany is one of the few German DSL providers not charging new subscribers deciding on a short minimum term a one-time set-up fee and higher purchase prices for new DSL router. A DSL package of O2 Germany with a short minimum term of one month and flat rate tariffs for web access and landline calls to other home phones in Germany is available for prices beginning at EUR 25.00 per month.

Some DSL and home phone packages of German providers such as Alice, Congstar and O2 Germany 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 Deutsche Telekom in order to provide landline and broadband internet connections, they may add an additional EUR 5.00 per month to the standard monthly fee – depending on the place of residence of the subscriber. That is why in some cases the following overview of the Phone Guide Germany shows two prices for one DSL package.

Berlin will not get a city-wide WiFi network. The Berlin Senate has decided that there are not enough street lights in town to which WiFi antennas could be attached. Thus, setting up such a WiFi network will be too expensive for any network operator or investor, the Berlin Senate says. The Phone Guide Germany tells you at which locations in Berlin you will find free WiFi connections to the web and offers an overview of cheap prepaid price plans for accessing the internet via GPRS or UMTS.

Despite DSL, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is still quite popular among home phone users in Germany. It offers two lines, at least three phone numbers (Multiple Subscriber Numbers or MSN) and a better voice quality as well as more service attributes than analog lines. It also helps internet users who cannot get a DSL or another broadband connection by doubling the data transmission rate of the narrow-band internet connection. Here are three ISDN telephones that are available in German stores for less than EUR 100.00.

In a loose order we present individual price plans with a short minimum term for home phone, mobile phone or internet users in Germany. This time we give you all important details on the DSL package “DSL 16000 flex” of the provider Easybell. This DSL package includes a DSL line with data transmission rates of up to 16 mbps (download) and up to 1 mbps (upload) and a flat rate tariff for accessing the internet. The monthly charge for the user amounts to EUR 15.99, the set-up fee amounts to EUR 69.00. Currently, new subscribers pay only EUR 9.99 per month over the first half year. DSL hardware is available at the Easybell web shop for prices starting at EUR 39.00.

My top price plans of 2009 in Germany for home phone, broadband internet, mobile phone and mobile internet users are: O2 o of mobile network operator O2 Germany, Aldi Talk 24 Stunden Internet Flatrate of discount provider Medion Mobile and the double flat rate tariff Alice Fun of Hansenet. All three offers are still available and will stay my first choices in 2010 when it comes to booking a new home phone, mobile phone or internet package until another provider will launch a better price plan. Read why I recommend these three tariffs.