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Although the iPhone4 is fresh off the shelves, there are already promising sim only deals from 3 for those who were lucky enough to get their hands on an unlocked version of the popular new mobile phone.

It is more difficult to unlock or obtain an unlocked iPhone 4 than any other mobile on the market currently, but if you are able to find one, sim only deals may be the way to go, since they provide a user with maximum flexibility and of course offer of free sim cards, making the transition to this type of service simple.

The unique part of these sim only deals is that they are suited to work only with the iPhone4 since this particular mobile contains a microSim card compared to other traditional sim cards that are on the market.

So, in order to use any sim only deal it has to be a microSIM only deals otherwise the sim card will not be compatible with the device.  Currently, the microSim deals are available from 3 and should be grabbed quickly while they last.

Customers of 3 will also be interested to hear that the major mobile provider is also offering customers that have monthly tariffs the opportunity to switch to microSim deals so that they can use the iPhone4 on the network.  The plans were launched from 3 on July 25^th and include two different options that are based upon how much data, minutes, texts, and GB of mobile internet use a browser thinks they will need.

The first offer is for £15 per month and comes with 300 minutes, 3000 texts, 1GB of data, and 2000 mobile to mobile user minutes on the 3 network.  As with any other sim only deal, those who choose this option are free to cancel at any time so long as a thirty day notice is given without any termination fees.

The second offer from 3 is for £25 per month and includes a year-long contract with 2,000 minutes, 5,000 texts, and 5,000 mobile to mobile use minutes but as a tariff cannot be cancelled.  Thus, the sim only deal is the much better choice for those who are trying on the iPhone4 for size and attempting to see what they will really need, since the option to pull out is always available versus the tariff plan.

In the world of smartphones, it takes a lot for those in the industry to get truly excited at a new development. There have been too many well-documented problems, from disappearing signals, to phones that have screens with a tendency to crack upon being laid down upon anything more substantial than a pile of quail feathers. Can the new Samsung range of smartphones buck that trend?

Initially, the signs are promising. First up is the entry level Samsung Wave, also known as the Samsung S8500. For a starter smartphone, it certainly looks the part. It’s just 10.9 mm deep, 56 mm wide and has a height of 118 mm, making it dainty even by traditional mobile phone standards. However this is no ordinary mobile phone, its touch screen is 3.3 in square and powered by super AMOLED technology, giving fantastic definition and clarity, even in poorer light conditions.

It comes with a 5MP/VGA camera, with 4x digital zoom making taking pictures and video a doddle, even for a hapless photographer. A nice feature is that the battery lasts a good while, giving seven hours of talk time while using the 3G band. This means that your Samsung S8500 won’t spend the vast majority of its life sitting in a charger, but can actually be used productively.

It comes with the usual array of games, apps and connectivity you’d find in an introductory level smartphone and for the price, it performs all of the tasks asked of it very well and it looks rather stylish too. After the S8500, came the Samsung i9000, also known as a Samsung Galaxy S, which is an appropriate name because this phone is light years ahead of the rest of the competition.

The Galaxy S is longer (122.4 mm) and wider (64.2 mm) than the cheaper Wave, but is incredibly just 9.9 mm deep. This isn’t just a smartphone: you could even use it as an expensive bookmark!

Only it does a lot more than simply identify where you’ve read up to in the latest Bill Bryson offering. Its 4.0 in super AMOLED screen is the best quality viewing ever produced on a smartphone. When used to bring up real time digital information around any UK city, it is not only quick, but also up-to-date and accurate.

Editing this document using ThinkFree Office Mobile, included as standard, is simple and the Turn-by-Turn navigation means that getting to a rented office in Liverpool via the one-way system that even has quantum physicists confused, is child’s play.

Everything the Samsung i9000 smartphone does, it does cleanly, crisply and with a degree of style that is hard to match. Even clumsy initial attempts at texting soon become much speedier with the new Swype system of texting.

The system is innovative and it works beautifully. For an entry level smartphone, the Samsung S8500 is an excellent example and is available at a great price, but if what is desired is something special, from another world even, then go for the Samsung Galaxy S.

Every thrifty online shopper competes for the best price for any product available over the internet, but when it comes to certain technological gadgets, such as the brand new, in high demand, iPhone 4, the competition gets fiercely intense.

At this point, if you are seeking out the best iPhone 4 deals you will need to be a bit more aggressive and ready for some hard work browsing, searching, price checking, and navigating, because Apple keeps pretty close reign on all of its new items pricing for a lengthy time period following their release.

At this point, you may be inclined to head to eBay or to Apple in order to secure great mobile phone deals out of the misguided belief that a refurbished model or wholesale model will be cheaper than those available at major retailers or through network providers.

However, the problem with these methods (which usually do work with other mobile models), is that it will be quite some time before enough iPhone 4 mobiles are returned to supply refurbished models, and most wholesalers do not get their hands on an overwhelming amount of the models in the short term anyway.

So, you find yourself in a precarious position, you can shell out the large amount of money that Apple or the network providers are asking, or continue your search for the best iPhone 4 deals.  It is easy to give up the search and resign yourself to paying the standard Apple price, but if you are willing to search just a bit more, you will find that there are some clever wholesalers and retailers that have managed to finagle the Apple iPhone 4 for a much more reasonable price than the one Apple want you to pay.

There are other ways to save on the iPhone 4 outside of its upfront costs, because while Apple has tied the hands of many retailers in terms of pricing on the iPhone, retailers are offering perks that Apple cannot control that are tied into the purchase of the popular mobile.

For example, a popular electronics retailer is offering its visitors a gift certificate with the purchase of the iPhone 4.  In this scenario, you may have to pay the same price up front, but if you visit the electronics shop on a regular basis you have in essence made some cash.