We have spotted two interesting cell phones at German operators’ stores: Vodafone is selling the lifestyle smartphone Puma Phone manufactured by Sagem Wireless. E-Plus is offering the dual SIM phone Samsung B5722 to its customers. The Puma Phone costs EUR 369.90 without contract and between EUR 29.90 and EUR 139.90 with 24 months contract at Vodafone stores. E-Plus offers the touch screen dual SIM phone Samsung B5722 for EUR 199.00 only to its customers who have to agree to an extension of their term commitment for another 24 months when buying this phone.

Several German mobile phone providers have released information about their mobile data tariffs dedicated to the iPad which will hit Apple stores in Germany on May 28th. Only some of these prepaid price plans of discount providers we have already presented as well as the offers of the network operators Vodafone and O2 Germany. Here is a new overview of all micro SIM packages with mobile data tariffs for connecting the iPad to the internet in Germany via GPRS or UMTS. This selection only includes prepaid price plans and postpaid price plans with a short minimum term commitment of just one month.

The X10 of the Xperia series is Sony Ericsson’s debut Android smartphone. The list of features is rather impressive, even though it shows that the Sony Ericsson X10 is no high-flyer: 1 GHz Snapdragon processor by Qualcomm, 8.1-megapixel camera with HD video capture, HSPA and WiFi connectivity, and A-GPS. On the other hand, it runs on Android 1.6 - an older version of the operating system geared towards the easy use of Google services such as Google Search, Google Mail, Google Maps or Google Talk by mobile. This is why Sony Ericsson has put its own user interface User Experience with its Timescape and Mediascape views on top of the Android OS. How older software and up-to-date hardware work together will this review of the Sony Ericsson X10 show.

There it is: Apple has started selling the iPad in the United States. Again, people were waiting in line to be one of the first buyers of the mobile internet device, even though it seems as if there haven’t been such crowds as on the day the iPhone came out more than three years ago. Apple fans in Germany will have to wait until the end of this month until they will be able to buy the iPad here. While first apps for the new device are already available in the German iTunes App Store, there are only hints that Apple is planning to release the iPad globally on April 24th. Buyers in Germany will probably have to pay higher purchase prices for the iPad than in the US.

More and more cell phones appear in the market as shrunk-down versions of other mobiles that have been launched earlier. The Nokia N97 Mini is just one example of this, the HTC HD Mini will be another. In a few weeks, Sony Ericsson will also ship the Xperia X10 Mini Pro smartphone to stores in Germany, which is a small version of the Android smartphone Xperia X10. The Xperia X10 Mini Pro runs on Android 1.6 and has a physical slide-out QWERTZ keyboard for heavy texters which makes it well-suited for using Google web services, social networks and messaging functions on the way. The new mini smartphone by Sony Ericsson will be available in Germany for a purchase price of EUR 349.00 without contract.

The HTC Legend smartphone is now available at Vodafone stores in Germany. With a contract over 24 months the touchscreen smartphone costs between EUR 79.90 and EUR 179.90, without contract the purchase price amounts to EUR 419.90. The smartphone’s body measures 112 x 56,3 x 11,5 millimeters and is made out of one solid piece of aluminimum with a brushed metallic finish and shows the same bend as the HTC Hero. The HTC Legend is powered by 600 MHz processor by Qualcomm and runs on Android 2.1 with HTC Sense user interface and is geared towards the use of classical Google web services such as Search, Mail or Maps, but it also supports Microsoft Exchange.

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.

Dirt, mud, rain, dust or shocks – these are things you want to protect your Puma Phone with its cheap plastic body against. And just because this mobile has been designed by the same company that is famous for its sportswear, this does not mean that the Puma Phone should be used when doing track and field or cross country. It sports a run and bike tracker with assisted GPS, a pedometer, a stop watch, a speed meter a yachting compass, but that’s about as sportive as it gets. Rather regard the Puma Phone as a nice and extravagant accessory to take with you when hanging out with friends. The operating system has been developed by Puma itself and it looks nothing like other mobile OS.

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.