Vodafone brings full internet to mobiles

MySpace can be updated, YouTube viewed and eBay bids checked, plus all your other favourite internet sites can now be seen on a mobile screen. That's thanks to the launch of the new Vodafone Mobile Internet service.

Vodafone Mobile Internet is delivering a completely revamped mobile internet experience for Vodafone UK users. Vodafone has partnered with major internet brands, including Google , eBay , YouTube , MySpace , Yahoo Mail and Amazon , for the launch. And it promises to replicate on a mobile what users can do on a PC.

Vodafone has also brought together all major web email services into a personal push email service any Vodafone customer can use.

It's using its own compression technology to reformat internet content to suit mobile displays, making them easy to read and navigate on a phone. This means most customers won't need to upgrade to a new mobile to get the service; Vodafone Mobile Internet currently works on over 150 handsets.

Vodafone has completely redesigned the look and functionality of its mobile portal. The way it's displayed is more internet user-friendly than the previous Vodafone live incarnation. Google search is prominently displayed (in a similar way to T-Mobile's Web'n'walk service).

Mobile Internet favourites

Vodafone's new Mobile Internet Portal also features quick access to account details, areas to store bookmarks of favourite sites and quick links to favourite services. PC users can use their web browser to click on favourite sites and RSS feeds to send to your mobile, using a download from Vodafone's website.

"Vodafone Mobile Internet will revolutionise the way our customers use the internet," commented Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone UK. "They now have the freedom to explore a much wider world on an extensive range of handsets, experiencing the familiarity of the internet they previously enjoyed via a computer."

The revamped Vodafone Mobile Internet service coincides with a new set of lower rate data charges from Vodafone. A £7.50 a month bundle entitles Vodafone customers to up to 120MB of data usage per month. Alternatively, there's a pay-as-you use option, which offers up to 15MB of data per day for £1 (and below 500KB usage, users pay less than £1).