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.

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.

Nokia has launched a new version of Ovi Maps that includes high-end car and pedestrian navigation features such as detailed maps for more than 180 countries, voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation for 74 countries and traffic information for more than ten countries. Both navigation and maps are free of charge and will be installed on any A-GPS smartphone with Symbian S60 sold from March on, updates of maps and additional Ovi Maps services will be carried out automatically over the air.

NimbuzzOut is a new telephone service by Nimbuzz. Registered mobile phone users can download the Nimbuzz voice over IP client on their cell phone and buy credit for phone calls to other mobiles or landlines. For this purpose, NimbuzzOut sets up a VoIP connection via a UMTS or HSPA or via a WiFi network. Thus, NimbuzzOut can offer cheap rates for some mobile phone calls to other mobile phones or for international calls. In order to top up credit NimbuzzOut users need to pay by Visa or Mastercard.

Today, Nokia starts an advertising campaign for the navigation service Ovi Maps and opens a Nokia Navigation Store at Oranienburger Straße 1-3, just around the corner from Hackescher Markt, in Berlin. Until Sunday, visitors can try the Ovi navigation services on the cell phone Nokia 6710 Navigator, listen to lectures about future trends in mobile navigation or take guided tours to settings of famous movies such as “James Bond 007: Octopussy”, “Goodbye Lenin”, “The Bourne Conspiracy” which were shot in Berlin.

Samsung Corby S3650 is a new cell phone for users of mobile internet and social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, MaySpace, Flickr, Picasa or Youtube. Supposedly, it is younger people who use such online services and often they want to do this on the road and they are short for money. With the Samsung Corby S3650, there is a cell phone for these young people for a comparatively small price. In Germany, the Samsung Corby S3650 will be available at stores for less than 200 euros. At IFA 2009 in Berlin I had the chance to put my hands on the Samsung Corby S3650, here is a first review of the mobile phone and a short comparison to the Nokia 6760 slide that Nokia announced recently for the German market.

This month, Nokia started selling its new touch screen device Nokia N97. In Nokia’s online shop the Nokia N97 is available for 649 euros while German operator Vodafone charges customers a regular price of 700 euros without subscription. With a new 24 months contract Vodafone customers pay between 200 and 350 euros for the Nokia N97. That’s quite a lot of money for a new mobile phone – but is it still a good deal? Having tested the Nokia N97 the past few weeks I come to the conclusion that the new flagship mobile phone of Nokia offers a great wide variety of features and applications, but almost none of the features represent state of the art.