Those looking to purchase the hottest phone on the market should be aware that not every deal and every contract are created equal. Thankfully there are some great deals being offered by many European cellular service providers.

One such deal is being offered by Vodafone through Phones4U. This deal requires a £25 a month plan with £39 due up front. For that price, you will get 100 calling minutes, 500 text messages and 500MB of mobile data allowance. Granted, this might not be the best phone for those who are heavy on the texting and calling end, but the data allowance is comparable and is even a plus considering it’s offered through Vodafone.

Better yet the phone is unlocked so it will be first in line for any Android updates that are pushed out by Samsung, something locked devices are not able to boast.

That’s not the only deal out there for the Samsung Galaxy S II, though. Why not check out the Samsung Galaxy S II contracts over at Best Mobile Contracts, where you can compare this deal with many others to find the best deal for you.

If you still have not purchased a Nexus One, now is as great a time as any. There are now a lot of independent retailers that stock the Google branded Android smart phone.

The device was first launched in the US last January 5. The unveiling event at the Googleplex gave the media a chance to see the new handset up close and also for the developers to showcase some of the newest features. However, along with the launch came the announcement that the device would only be available through the Google online store –which many tech reviewers saw a red flag for the success of the Android device.

As expected, the sales of the Nexus One were hardly anywhere near impressive. Google only managed to sell 20,000 units by the first week of sales. The company then took a different approach to the marketing of the Google Phone in the UK, the device would be offered directly by Vodafone and later on, by retailers. That time has already come; retailers now stock the Nexus One on store shelves and also on websites for online orders. In fact many of the best Nexus One deals can be found online.

This Google branded handset has been manufactured by HTC and has a spec sheet that closely resembles that of the HTC Desire (formerly HTC Bravo). Both handsets come with 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screens, 5 mega pixel cameras and 1GHz Snapdragon CPUs.

The new Android 2.2 Froyo is already available for Nexus One (and only for the Nexus One). This OS update makes the mobile platform up to five times faster thanks to the implementation of the new Dalvik VM JIT. It also has a fast web browser by using V8 which allows for better handling of JavaScript. Android owners will also be happy to know that this update will allow the use of the smart phone for USB tethering or even as a WiFi hotspot.

It looks like Vodafone’s operations analysts and financial advisers have agreed that the overall loss of productivity brought about by lowered employee morale would still be smaller than the amount of money they would lose if they do not push through with the cost cutting solutions they have made.

In an effort to save money and resources, mobile network operator Vodafone UK has just announced that it let go of 375 employees that held redundant positions in the company. The move also saw the closing down of six Vodafone stores (employees of which are among the 375).

While this is made to save money for the company, plenty of eyebrows are being raised internally as the operator’s own people are starting to feel the blunt end of the cuts. Many have been witness to the cold and harsh manner in which many of their colleagues were escorted out of the building in tears as they were told to leave on the same day that they were told that they would be losing their jobs.

While union groups such as CWU and Prospect have taken a stand in helping out former Vodafone employees affected by the cut, the atmosphere in Vodafone’s offices are all but cheery.

Adding on more despair is Vodafone’s decision to remove the 30% bonus being received by 150 of its employees in Warrington. The sudden announcement of the ‘pay cut’ has left many current employees unhappy with the situation despite Vodafone’s claims that the step was taken to ensure a fair rewards system for the entire company.

The 30% monthly sales bonus is a powerful incentive that Warrington employees have enjoyed for quite some time. With this suddenly removed, the office is currently “not a happy place”.

Get to know more about the Vodafone redundancies and the removal of the monthly sales bonus at Mobile Today UK.

Despite the fact that Vodafone will be launching several impressive smart phones and the Apple iPad this April, it has not stopped the mobile phone manufacturing from cutting down over 300 positions from the company due to redundancy. Details on the exact number of employees affected as still unconfirmed, but some reports are saying that 375 workers have lost their jobs from the network.

The sad news comes with comments from other Vodafone employees who have seen the whole affair unfold. It turns out that not a single one of the 375 workers were informed about the decision until the day itself. Employees were seen bursting into tears as they were escorted out of the company building in a most awful manner. Other colleagues in the company could not believe that their co-workers who have worked loyally for the company for years would be treated in such a cold and cruel manner.

The telecom union, Prospect has raised their own stand regarding the sudden job cut; national officer Steve Thomas states that:

“This is a disgraceful way to treat employees, particularly some very long serving and loyal members of staff who have been with Vodafone from the early days and have made the company a success.”

“We are also extremely disappointed to have learned about these cuts from the media and not from the company. We will be representing members throughout this process and we are advising all Prospect members to contact the union urgently before accepting the terms of any proposed individual agreement”

While it has been confirmed that both Prospect and CWU are helping out the employees, no details regarding compensation for the employees from Vodafone have been announced. In fact, it was just recently reported that bonus payments have been “slashed” for current employees as part of the cost cutting program.

Get to know more about the details on Vodafone’s internal problems at Mobile Today UK.

Frankly, it is not even the fault of the company. Despite the argument that a large corporation such as Vodafone should be fully responsible for everything that is released under the company’s name, there is simply no way that one can fool proof an inside job.

It turns out that an employee of the company used the official Twitter account of Vodafone UK to post a very offensive Tweet over the weekend. Employees of the company were quick to respond by deleting the post and sending in their apologies and assurances that Vodafone has not been hacked and that the Tweet was the result of a severe breach of rules by staff. No word has been given to the identity of the culprit or culprits.

The case is now being handled internally and it is unlikely that Vodafone would ever release the results of the findings. The last word was that the “employee” has already been suspended. Seriously, for such an act, it would not be a surprise if the individual was terminated and blacklisted from ever working in the UK ever again.

On the lighter side of news, Vodafone is hardly going to flinch from such a minor event. The operator is enjoying a continued growth in the number of their iPhone subscribers. Reports show that the launch of the Apple iPhone for the operator was a big success with over 100,000 unit sales within the first week of launch. Recent reports showed that Vodafone’s superior 3G network has attracted subscribers from O2 to switch networks –a claim that O2 Mobile vehemently denies.

Vodafone’s 3G network has been upgraded and expanded for over a year in preparation for the launch of the iPhone, and from the looks of things, their efforts are paying off.

Read the rest of the news regarding the Tweet from Vodafone at Mobile Today UK.

Despite the entire buzz generated by the upcoming Google phone, HTC Nexus One, another headline grabbing topic has managed to snatch the spotlight away.

Now, the mobile phone industry is certainly full of tech-enthusiasts, communication visionaries and connectivity idealists who value product innovation, practicality and most of all, purpose in the many mobile phones being cast into the spotlight. Recently, all the news has been about nothing other than the Nexus One. The confirmation of the Google headset is a milestone event in the mobile phone industry, when an OS giant decides to make a phone for itself. Now that the iPhone will be released by Vodafone, the Google Phone is stepping away from the limelight –showing exactly how influential the iPhone truly is.

Anyway, the big news from Vodafone is the not the January 14, 2010 release date, the big news, is the price list. Much to the dismay of many people hoping for an aggressive price war, Vodafone has decided to play it safe and is offering plans that are not unlike what is already offered by O2, Orange and Tesco. Also, the seemingly cheap monthly tariffs will tie you up for a good eighteen months. Not a pretty picture, but that is the only plan they have that has the 32GB iPhone 3Gs for free.

Sign up for the 80 Pound, 18 month  plan and you get the 32GB model for free, 3000 minutes of talk time and the standard plan offers (1GB of data and unlimited messaging –it’s a wonder they bother to point out that WiFi is free as well).

At least iPhone is not jumping blindly into the bandwagon. Knowing fully well the common complaints of iPhone users, the UK carrier has promised that their network will provide stable speeds and fast connections. Of course, we will still have to see if Vodafone will deliver, for now, here’s to hoping that they do.

Vodafone’s new mobile phones consists of a Windows Mobile 6.5, and Android 1.6 Donut and a Symbian S60. The LG GM750 will be sharing its Vodafone limelight with a couple of other mid-tier smarts phones from other manufacturers sporting different operating systems. If that was not competition enough for LG, HTC has also brought out the HTC HD2, which is a Snapdragon powered WinMo 6.5 device.

Considering the competition, anyone willing to shell out loads of money for a WinMo 6.5 phone would do well to pass on the more practical LG GM750. As said, the GM750 is a practical device meant more for those in need of a decent Windows touch screen phone.

LG’s Windows Mobile 6.5

Unlike its predecessor, the GM730, the LG GM750 sports the latest Windows Mobile OS, version 6.5. This new version supports the recently launched application store, the Marketplace. The Marketplace has been up for a month now and has already received a few updates –such as compatibility for desktop computers, WinMo versions 6.0 and 6.1, as well as the inclusion of new anti-piracy measures.

Windows Mobile brings a lot of familiar yet updated features. Among the most useful WinMo applications is the Office for Mobile, which is used to handling Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and viewing PDF files. The Windows Media Player 10 provides excellent media playback capabilities as it handles many different audio and video file formats.

For those who are not too fond of the Windows Mobile operating system’s interface, LG has put in the S-Class user interface to make navigating the device a whole lot easier.

Vodafone Exclusive

The LG GM750 deals that Vodafone is offering will be the only carrier deals you will find for the LG GM750 until December. The device is available for free on certain plans. Other carriers have not confirmed the prices at which they will be offering the device when they finally launch it.