In Germany Apple had partnered with only one operator for marketing the iPhone. Telekom Deutschland (former T-Mobile) has had the right to sell the Apple iPhone in Germany exclusively since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007. Telekom offered the iPhone with special voice and mobile data plans with a long term commitment of 24 months and with SIM lock only. Now, other operators such as Vodafone and O2 Germany may market the Apple iPhone in Germany. But don’t get your hopes up too soon and count on dropping purchase prices for the iPhone 4 in Germany because of more competitors selling the smart-phone – the iPhone 4 will remain high-priced. Here is an overview of the iPhone offers of Telekom, Vodafone, O2 Germany and other mobile phone providers and retailers in Germany.

In Germany, five different smart-phones running the new Microsoft operating system Windows Phone 7 will be launched at the end of October (probably October 21st). While smart-phones from the device-makers HTC (HD7, 7 Mozart and 7 Trophy), LG (7 Optimus) and Samsung (Omnia 7) will be available at stores of the mobile operators Telekom (T-Mobile), Vodafone, O2 Germany and E-Plus, Windows Phone 7 handsets from Dell will not appear in stores in Germany. Select models of HTC, LG and Samsung will also be available at Microsoft Store locations and from Amazon. This article gives you an overview of the features and retail prices of the first Windows Phone 7 smart-phones in Germany.

With the iPad, Apple has not only launched a new product but also introduced a new device category – the tablet. There might have been similar devices of other manufacturers before – think of the Nokia 770 or the Nokia N800 – but the Apple iPad is the first tablet offering a great user experience and special content for consumation. At IFA 2010 we have seen lots of other tablets already available at stores or being launched soon. The crowd of so-called iPad killers is led by the Samsung Galaxy Tab which can also be used as a regular mobile phone. Names, features, and purchase prices – this article gives you an overview of tablets currently or soon available in Germany.

Android smart-phones are becoming hot stuff for the common cell phone user. They are easy to use and offer several online services of Google, they always come with a touch-screen, and – that’s very important for many mobile phone users – they are cheaper than the Apple iPhone. HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are just the well-known handset manufacturer building Android smart-phones, there are several others such as Acer, Garmin-Asus, General Mobile or Huawei. Which means: People looking for a new Android smart-phone have many options. This overview shows the Android smart-phone available at stores in Germany with the Android OS version running on these phones and the purchase prices buyers should expect currently.

The Samsung B7722 is the first dual SIM phone of Samsung that supports UMTS with HSDPA for mobile data transfers with up to 3.6 mbps (download). Samsung has not launched this dual SIM phone in Germany itself, but web stores offer the Samsung B7722 in this country for purchase prices beginning at € 350.00. The Samsung B7722 sports a 3.2-inch resistive TFT-touchscreen with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels and features Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface. For accessing the web by phone, the new dual SIM phone supports GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA 3.6 mbps (but only for one of the two SIM cards activated in the phone) and WiFi.

Today, the 50th edition of the consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin is starting. Until coming Wednesday, September 8th, more than 1,423 exhibitors are showing consumer electronics and home appliances on the exhibition site. Key themes on display at the IFA 2010 include HDTV, 3D TV, the networked home, TV/internet convergence and mobile media. One of the highlights is the new Android tablet Samsung Galaxy Tab which the manufacturer presented on Wednesday at the SoHo house in Berlin. In the home appliances sector, the focus is on design, ease-of-use and ergonomics. Other important trends cutting across market segments and discussed in conference sessions are digital lifestyles, smart homes, and energy efficiency. Here is some more information for visitors of the IFA 2010 show.

There have been lots of rumors about the tablet PC Samsung Galaxy Tab. Now, we know: It is real. Today, Samsung has presented the Galaxy Tab at the consumer electronics show IFA 2010 in Berlin. It will be available in October at all four operators’ stores in Germany with and without plan. Without plan the purchase price for the Galaxy Tab with 16 GB storage capacity will be probably less than the recommended retail price of € 799.00. Later on, there will also be a 32 GB version of the mobile device. I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the Android 2.2 (Froyo) tablet yesterday night. Here is a short review of the Galaxy Tab.

Is that another iPhone? Nope, it just looks like one. It might have been coincidence that Samsung invited me to come Munich to a presentation of the Samsung Galaxy S I9000 smart-phone the very same day that Apple launched the iPhone 4 in Germany. But I don’t believe this – the Samsung Galaxy S seems to be too much a copy of the Apple iPhone. But, heck, I am not accusing Samsung of plagiarism. Lots of cell phone manufacturers have picked up the ideas and concepts that made the iPhone a success story. Since its launch the Apple phone has changed the smart-phone world dramatically and the users have benefited from that. The Samsung Galaxy S is just one example of how simple to use a smart-phone with such a broad range of features can be. Here is my short review of the new Samsung smart-phone and some information on how to buy it in Germany at a comparably low purchase price.

The Android smartphone Samsung Galaxy S I9000 is now available at stores in Germany. Web stores offer it for purchase prices beginning at € 465.00 including delivery. O2 Germany has been the only German network operator announcing the Samsung Galaxy S as being available in its shops at the end of this month. But eventually mobile phone users will find this touch-screen smartphone of manufacturer Samsung at all other network operators’ stores as well. In this article, I am summarizing my first impressions of this phone after having tested it for two days.

The Samsung B5722 is now available at E-Plus and Base stores. E-Plus sells the touch screen dual SIM phone for EUR 199.00 only to its existing customers, while other German web stores offer the Samsung B5722 for purchase prices beginning at EUR 170.00 without contract. That’s quite a lot of money for a mobile phone that does neither support UMTS or HSPA for faster mobile data transmissions nor WiFi for accessing the web at hotspots. The Samsung B5722 also lacks a built-in GPS receiver for the use of location based services and it is not equipped with business software that goes beyond mere organizer features. What, on the other hand, the dual SIM phone Samsung B5722 does offer, shows this review.