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.

Yes, it is the Apple iPhone again, still object of heated discussions among smartphone users. In Germany, only operator T-Mobile may sell the iPhone with contract (and SIM lock), devices available on the open market (and without SIM lock) are imported. Whichever way buyers choose in order to become part of the iPhone community, compared to most other smartphones the Apple phone is very expensive. At German stores, purchase prices for an imported iPhone 3G S without SIM lock begin at EUR 645.00. Still, it is one of the most popular mobile phones in the country. Now, it is also possible to get the iPhone 3G 8GB with a prepaid starter package of T-Mobile by finance purchase.

Good news: German mobile phone users can spare themselves the trip to an Apple store in Milan or other Italian cities in order to buy an Apple iPhone 3G S. In Germany, purchase prices for the iPhone have dropped to less than EUR 650.00: EUR 649.00 is how much customers pay for the iPhone 3G S with 16 GB memory at the web store RetailKeyShop, which in turn is approximately only 50 bucks more than they would have to pay at Italian Apple stores. The iPhone 3G S with 32 GB memory is available at the Retail Key Shop store for EUR 749.00. The Retail Key Shop web store can be found on the websites of the two German low-cost mobile phone providers Blau and Simyo.

Getting a new landline is pretty expensive, using call-through services is quite complicated – thus, two adequate alternatives for making international calls at low rates are not available to many phone users. Another way to make phone calls from Germany to other countries in the world at comparably low rates is to buy a prepaid SIM card of a German discount provider specialized in international calls. They offer cell phone plans with which mobile phone users can call family members, friends or acquaintances for rates beginning at EUR 0.09 per minute. However, prices vary and interested parties should select their prepaid starter package carefully.

Weltbild Mobil is a new discount brand in the German mobile phone market and offers a new prepaid cell phone plan. Users of a Weltbild Mobil SIM card pay EUR 0.08 per minute for mobile phone calls over the network of operator T-Mobile to other home phones and mobile phones and EUR 0.08 for each SMS message sent within Germany. Checking voice mail is free of charge. For accessing the internet via GPRS pr UMTS Weltbild Mobil customers are charged EUR 0.49 per megabyte. The Weltbild Mobil prepaid starter packages includes a SIM card and calling credit of EUR 10.00 and is available for EUR 9.95 at www.weltbild-mobil.de.

Discount provider Discosurf offers a cheap mobile data plan over the network of T-Mobile for notebook and netbook users. Subscribers of the mobile internet flat rate tariff pay EUR 19.95 per month as well as a one-time set-up fee of EUR 24.95 and get an UMTS surf stick for free. The monthly fee of EUR 19.95 is effective for the first six month minimum term, afterwards the charge amounts to EUR 29.95. Subscribers can cancel the mobile data contract with four weeks notification. If the subscriber does not cancel the contract after six months, the term extends for another month.

Mobile phone provider Drillisch has launched a new discount brand called Fiotel. Fiotel offers a prepaid price plan with low rates for mobile phone calls within Germany. For calls to home phones and mobile phones Fiotel charges EUR 0.08, for sending SMS EUR 0.08 per message. The prepaid starter package (SIM card for the T-Mobile network and calling credit of EUR 3.00) is available at www.fiotel.de for EUR 9.95.

The most important question for German smartphone users at today’s official presentation of the Google phone Nexus One has been answered: The Google phone Nexus One will not be available in Germany or any other European country at least for another few months. Even though Google partners with T-Mobile USA in selling the new Android smartphone, it is only available at the new Google web store at http://www.google.com/phone for USD 529.00 for an unlocked phone or USD 179.00 for a phone with a two-year contract of T-Mobile. According to today’s announcement by Google, Vodafone will offer the Nexus One phone in Europe in spring.

Prepaid mobile data price plans are suited for notebook and netbook users who need mobile internet access via GRPS or UMTS at irregular intervals or just sporadically. Since there is no long minimum term, such prepaid data price plans also lend themselves to being used by travellers, exchange students or business men abroad who stay in Germany only for a few weeks or months. This article gives notebook and netbook users an overview of current prepaid starter packages including an UMTS surf stick and a mobile internet price plan of mobile phone providers in Germany.

There are lots of cheap cell phone plans without monthly fees and without long minimum term by discount providers in the German market. Not all of these price plans are real prepaid offers, though. These quasi-prepaid offers are called prepaid price plans by the providers and for the user, they “feel” like prepaid price plans. But there are essential differences between these two types of mobile phone tariffs. In this article, the Phone Guide Germany points out the differences, explains what these differences mean to the customer and shows which type of cell phone plan suits travelers, exchange students, business men or people moving to Germany better.