Energy charges to surge by 15% from next month

BRITONS face energy price rises as soon as next month, rather than in the autumn as originally expected.

With wholesale gas prices going up because of unrest in the Middle East, as well as the nuclear crisis in Japan, costs are expected to increase by 15 per cent.

Experts initially said this would come into effect later this year, but have now warned that it is likely to be much sooner.

A surge in demand from China and India has put extra pressure on oil and gas supplies, which led to prices soaring even further.

The wholesale gas price for the next two years has hit 70p per therm – a 56 per cent rise on last year – according to energy analysts ICIS Heren.

The spot price, or what it would cost to buy tomorrow, is 56p per therm, up 75 per cent on 12 months ago. This has already led to all the Big Six suppliers scrapping their cheapest deals and replacing them with more expensive tariffs.

The average annual energy bill, for both gas and electricity, is £1,150. A 15 per cent rise would add £172.50, taking the average yearly bill to £1,322.50.

Price comparison website Energyhelpline.com said suppliers would probably implement part of the rise next month and the rest in the autumn.

The news comes as fuel is also at a record high. Yesterday petrol cost 136.18p per litre while diesel was 142.27p.

Fuel is expected to continue rising by a penny per litre each week.

All the Big Six suppliers have already increased prices during the past six months, by an average of 5.9 per cent. Gas bills have increased by 91 per cent since 2003.

Energyhelpline director Mark Todd said: “Rumours are rife in the energy industry that there may be more price rises for consumers as early as May.

“Wholesale prices continue to rise because of world events, and many investors are not happy with some energy company profitability levels and want prices to go up even more.

“A major price movement of about 15 per cent is expected in August to November, but suppliers are thought to be considering smaller spring price adjustments before then.”

Mr Todd added: “Customers wanting to switch energy should do so as soon as possible, to not miss out on the best deals.”

Some experts have warned that price rises could eventually be higher than predicted.

The Sabien Technology group, which makes and supplies energy-efficiency products, said wholesale costs could double by the winter.

Chief executive Alan O’Brien said “a perfect storm of factors” would push up energy prices higher than expected. He added that as well as wholesale prices rising, the cost of the Government’s climate change policy would also be added to bills.

“Consumers are likely to be hit,” he added. “Households will typically face rises of 15 to 25 per cent as a direct result of climate change policy.”

22.04.2011 - Express.co.uk

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Death of the text? Mobile phone users turn to free instant messaging as electronic communication of choice

Number of texts to 'drop by 20%' in the next two years

Mobile text messaging could become extinct within a generation as millions of young people turn to other forms of electronic communication.

Teenagers are increasingly using instant messaging from mobile phones and social networking sites such as Facebook.

Experts predict the amount of texts sent in the UK will drop by 20 per cent in the next two years.

It comes as teenagers and students are increasingly using a BlackBerry, instead of iPhones and other smartphones, because the device has a free BBM messenger.

Sales in the phone, that was once the preserve of the corporate boardroom, have  increased six-fold during the past year, mainly due to being taken up by 16 to 24-year-olds.

A study for broadband provider TalkTalk found only 51 per cent of Britons in their teens or early 20s say email is their first choice of communication.

Industry experts believe that if this trend is followed into adulthood then text messaging could disappear within a generation.

Instant messaging is extremely similar to texting, but faster and cheaper. It is free on BlackBerry phones even for ‘pay and go’ customers and is used by 39million people across the world.

Communication consultants Mobile Youth said the main drop in texts is down to the rise in instant messaging.

Graham Brown, the firm’s managing director, said: ‘We’ve seen SMS usage fall  among young people and the main driver is BlackBerry.

‘Teens and students were picking up BlackBerrys as hand-me-downs because  parents were upgrading and started playing and exploring.’

Richard Windsor, a mobile analyst at Nomura, said: ‘Once text messaging starts to decline, I think it could continue to decline until it hits zero.’

A recent report found that instant messaging will also overtake emails and make that form of contact extinct too.

It comes as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg declared that ‘email is dead’ as he launched the new instant messaging service on the social networking site last November.

The report found the electronic form of contact is already becoming 'grey mail' with the most devoted users being pensioners, followed by middle-aged Britons.

Although inboxes are still filling up daily all over the world, experts believe emails are dying out because they are too slow, too inconvenient and simply not fashionable any more.

Email took 20 years to develop into the phenomenon it is now, but could take just half as long to die out again, said report author Professor David Zeitlyn, from University Of Kent.

Experts believe people prefer the 'one and done' style of message, which is where a short message like those on Twitter, can be sent to all contacts at the same time.

Other email alternatives, such as instant messaging, texting and social networks like Facebook, are quick and easy and can be done anywhere with modern technology.

26.04.2011 - Daily Mail

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Mobile phone giants' merger claim £1billion savings will mean cheaper calls and smart phones

A TIE-UP between the owners of Britain’s biggest mobile phone network could signal cheaper deals for millions of customers.


France Telecom, which owns Orange and Deutsche Telekom, the firm behind T-Mobile, hope to save more than £1billion a year by combining their buying power.


The firms will shop together for £10bn of kit, including handsets, IT systems and network equipment.


Bosses said some of the savings could feed through to lower bills and cheaper deals for smart-phones such as Blackberrys or iPhones.


France Telecom’s Olaf Swantee hailed the joint venture as a “win, win, win” for customers, suppliers and shareholders.


19.04.2011 - Mirror


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Our look at the Samsung Galaxy S

Do you want to get your hands on what is known as the future of Smartphones?

Get the Samsung Galaxy S free from Reduce Comparison on a tariff as low as £30 a month!

With a staggering 4 inch Super AMOLED screen with Multi-Touch and a monster 1GHz Hummingbird processor – it’s time to get more out of your mobile.  With wider viewing angles, no motion blurs on video, longer battery life and all-round improved touchscreen experience, the Samsung Galaxy S is ready to amaze.
Set up the Galaxy S how you want it

You can personalise the homescreens on your Samsung Galaxy S, just like on all other phones powered by Android™. But as the Galaxy S is a premium Android phone you get up to seven of these homescreens. That means you could use one for social stuff, another for work, another for entertainment - and so on.

Choose your favourite apps

You can download the apps of your choice from Android Market&trade. It's jam-packed with over 30,000 apps, with more being added every day. There's an app for just about everything - from sport, weather and train times to social networks. You can also get business apps - like one that enables you to create PowerPoint presentations on your Galaxy S.

5 megapixel camera

You can take photos to be proud of with the powerful 5 megapixel camera on your Samsung Galaxy S. It comes with a clever smile recognition feature (which is not available on similar phones such as the HTC Desire and Sony Ericsson X10 ). So the Galaxy S won't just recognise people's faces, but know when they're smiling. You can also record video in HD quality on the Samsung Galaxy S - and watch it clearly even in direct sunlight on the AMOLED screen. Or you can connect the Galaxy S to your TV to see your video in even greater detail.

What else will my Samsung Galaxy S do for me, I hear you ask?  The answer is, pretty much everything!  The fastest internet speeds available on a phone with full Wi-Fi and HSDPA 3G internet, GPS and Bluetooth 3.0 you can connect any way you wish.  Do you want movies, photos, music and more?  Easy, the Samsung Galaxy has 8GB of internal memory, MP3 player and FM radio!  It’s time for you to take the jump to the Smartphone experience, you will not look back!

Key Features

• Admire the brighter, clearer and less reflective view with the huge 4 inch super AMOLED touchscreen
• Watch and record incredible video content with the outstanding 720p HD video player
• Have incredible power at your fingertips with the Samsung Galaxy’s 1GHz Hummingbird processor
• Masses of room for photos, music, applications and more with 8GB internal memory
• Get connected to the fastest mobile internet speeds with Wi-Fi
• Take snapshots as and when you need them with a 5.0-megapixel camera

So what are you waiting for? Get your Samsung Galaxy S from Reduce Comparison now.

The young generation are 'addicted' to mobile phones

Young people are now so addicted to their mobile phones it feels like they have lost a limb when they are without them, a study finds.

Some said they feel so bereft without their iPhone or Blackberry that it evokes similar feelings to the "phantom limb" syndrome suffered by amputees.

The findings, by the University of Maryland, show the growing reliance that the younger generation has on technology and how it has become central to their lives.

While phones were the most essential device, other technology such as computers, MP3 players and televisions were also considered essential to get people through their day.

Many young people reported mental and physical symptoms of distress and “employed the rhetoric of addiction, dependency and depression,” when reporting their experiences of trying to go unplugged for a full day.

“Students talked about how scary it was, how addicted they were,” said Professor Susan Moeller, who led the project.

“They expected the frustration. But they didn’t expect to have the psychological effects, to be lonely, to be panicked, the anxiety, literally heart palpitations.”

The study titled "The World Unplugged project" asked more than 1,000 students from 10 countries around the world, including Britain, to go without any media for 24 hours and monitored their feelings.

Prof Moeller said that more than 50 per cent of students failed to go the full 24 hours and everyone claimed to suffer some kind of withdrawal symptoms.

Ryan Blondino, a student at the University of Maryland who participated, compared the experience of going without digital technology to missing a limb.

“I felt something very similar to a phantom limb, only it would be like phantom cellphone,” he said.

“I still felt like my phone was vibrating and I was receiving messages even though I didn’t have it on me.”

A student from the UK said: "Media is my drug. Without it I was lost. I am an addict."

The study found few differences in the way students used and relied on digital technology in different countries, despite those countries’ huge differences in economic development, culture and political governance.

It concludes that most college students, whether in developed or developing countries, are strikingly similar in how they use media – and how 'addicted' they are to it.

They all used virtually the same words to describe their reactions, including: Fretful, Confused, Anxious, Irritable, Insecure, Nervous, Restless, Crazy, Addicted, Panicked, Jealous, Angry, Lonely, Dependent, Depressed, Jittery and Paranoid.

In effect, cell phones have become this generation's security blanket."

The report was published by the International Center for Media & the Public Agenda.

19.04.2011 - Telegraph.co.uk

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One in five smartphones will have NFC technology by 2014

News from Reduce Comparison, check out our website for fantastic deals and recent news.

One in five smartphones will feature near field communication (NFC) technology by 2014, says Juniper Research.

NFC uses short-range wireless technology to transmit data which allows mobile phone users to pay for goods and services by simply waving their handset across a special contactless reader in a store.

Juniper says this equates to around 300 million handsets worldwide, with services in the US and the UK driving the growth of the technology. The research firm also revealed it expects North America to account for half of all the handsets with NFC.

"Although there are still hurdles ahead, NFC prospects have been boosted by the succession of mobile operator and device vendor announcements. France is a case in point where operators expect to sell one million NFC devices this year," said Howard Wilcox, the author of Juniper's NFC Retail Marketing & Mobile Payments Report.

Juniper's research comes as a survey by online voucher site MyVoucherCodes revealed 53 percent of Brits 'welcome' the introduction of the technology.

The site quizzed 1,267 Smartphone users and of those that welcome the technology, 67 percent believed it would make purchasing goods and services 'more convenient' while 19 percent said the technology would 'reduce the need to carry cash and credit/debit cards'.

"Most technology is created with an aim to make life easier, and NFC technology is really a means of making the system for purchasing goods more efficient. Whilst it may seem an odd concept at the moment, I am sure that in years to come we'll all be swiping our handsets at the till, wondering what we did before!," said Mark Pearson, chairman of MyVoucherCodes.

15.04.2011 - PCadvisor.co.uk

Our look at the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Need a super-efficient, full-featured smartphone? And what if it also had real game controls? You've got it. The Xperia™ PLAY. A PlayStation™ Certified Android™ smartphone that lets you immerse yourself in the games you want.


Get it free now from Reduce Comparison on a tariff as low as £25 a month!



The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play mobile phone otherwise known as the ‘Playstation phone’ is the ultimate mobile gaming device.

Coming with a 4.0 inch touchscreen and running Android 2.3 Gingerbread (the fastest Android software to date) the Xperia Play will satisfy anyone who’s searching for a real high end smartphone experience.

However when you slide the screen up you discover the hidden gaming control and see what the Xperia Play is really about. Thanks to the official Playstation certification, the phone comes complete with digital D pad, four Playstation buttons, shoulder buttons, and two analogue touch pads.

There’s also a 1Ghz processor and impressive Snapdragon graphics hardware so you are assured of silky smooth gaming, Crisp colours all operating with minimal power consumption.

Even with all of this, the Xperia Play still manages to stuff in a 5.0 megapixel camera at the back and VGA quality camera at the front. High data speeds and Wi-Fi capabilities.

An incredible phone and an unrivalled mobile gaming experience is waiting for you with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

Key Features

• Witness gaming at super quality with the vibrant 4.0 inch touchscreen
• Have the fastest Android experience to date with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
• Harness the power of the 1Ghz processor and internal graphics hardware for a silky smooth gaming experience
• Use front and back cameras for pictures and videos or make a video call when you want to brag about your new high score
• Unleash the full Playstation experience on your phone with the official Playstation certified gaming controls
• Don’t wait for downloading apps, or slow internet pages, load them quickly by connecting to Wi-Fi
• Get the latest Google apps from Android Market™ currently with over 150,000 apps available for download.

So what are you waiting for? Get your Sony Ericsson Xperia Play from Reduce Comparison now.

HTC Incredible S - Capture life in HD

At Reduce Comparison we are offering some fantastic deals on the HTC Incredible S. Here we explain some of it's amazing features.


The HTC Incredible S mobile phone is your portable entertainment station.

One look at HTC Incredible S and you know it's different. The elegant contoured design is so unique that it stands out from any angle. The look, the sound, the feel… it's a phone that impresses the senses.

The HTC Incredible S brings everything you view to life on a stunning 4" Super LCD screen. The display is perfect for viewing videos, browsing the web or admiring your photo gallery. Or if you want to truly immerse yourself then just plug in a headset to enjoy the virtual surround sound via SRS WOW HD.


If you need to do everything at once then the Incredible S has a 1Ghz processor which is great for multi tasking. Not only is accessing and running apps quick but streaming and downloading files is nippy too.

Running Android 2.2 (Froyo), the Incredible S offers a huge amount of Google features along with access to the ever growing Android Market. ‘Incredible’.

With it's 8.0 megapixel camera and high definition video recorder the Incredible S will capture and replay every one of your experiences in crystal clear clarity. You are able to social network with ease so there is no excuse not share and upload your photo memories and HD videos. You can even do it when out and about via HSDPA. Or if you need to do things face to face then there’s a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for video calling.



Key Features

• See things the way they were meant to be seen with the 4.0 inch super LCD screen
• Get a full host of Google features and access a world of apps and features courtesy of the Incredible’s Android 2.2 (Froyo) software
• Don’t get caught in the slow lane, thanks to the 1Ghz processor the Incredible is super quick
• Take it all in through the 8.0 megapixel camera, record in HD or make a videocall with the secondary camera
• Upload or download quickly even when Wi-Fi isn’t at hand with HSDPA

So what are you waiting for? Get your HTC Incredible S deal from Reduce Comparison now.

5 ways to cut your mobile phone bill

Three in four people are wasting an average of £200 a year by being on the wrong mobile phone deal, according to Billmonitor.

This Oxford-based research group analysed more than 28,000 phone bills and concluded we are wasting more than £5bn a year.

The biggest problem was people paying for expensive contracts that offered them more "free" minutes than they used; however, a significant number also paid over the odds by opting for the cheapest package available then receiving hefty calls charges for regularly exceeding their call allowance.

Many people don't switch price plans as they are confused by the range of available options. Though there are only five main mobile phone providers, between them they offer more than eight million different call packages and payment plans. Given this proliferation, perhaps it is not surprising most of us are paying too much.

The average person spent £439 a year on their mobile phone. But it is possible to cut your bill by following the five steps below.

1 Time your talk

You can't get the better deal if you don't have a realistic picture of how you use your phone. Request a copy of monthly statements for the previous three to six months.

Make a note of how many minutes you typically spent on the phone each month – and whether most were during the day, in the evening or at weekends. Also note the number of texts sent per month and, where appropriate, the time spent surfing the web via your mobile.

If you don't receive paper statements, this information should be available online, or you can call your phone provider, which will be able to give you an accurate summary of your monthly
phone use.

2 Review your contract

Now look at whether your usage matches your current contract. If it doesn't, it's time to switch plans. Ask your current provider about deals that more closely match your needs. When selecting a new plan it pays to have a slightly higher monthly call or text allowance than actual use, as charges can be costly if you exceed this limit. But it doesn't make sense to have a plan where you use only a quarter of the talk time, which many people do, says Billmonitor. That much of a buffer is clearly a false economy.

3 Compare other mobile networks

Check how this deals stacks up to other phone providers. Use specialist comparison sites to help. If you find a better deal it's always worth going back to your provider – many will match prices rather than lose a customer.

Remember, if you move to a different provider you don't have to switch your mobile phone number. Request a Porting Authorisation Code (or Pac code) before cancelling your current deal and this gives you 14 days to switch to a new provider.

4 Check for pitfalls

Those in the middle of a contract won't be able to switch providers without paying a penalty – which is likely to outweigh potential savings. But if you contact your provider it may move you onto a more appropriate tariff if you are significantly over- or under-using your allowance.

Likewise, check the coverage in your area if you are moving networks. Buying a new phone then discovering you can't make calls doesn't give you the right to an automatic refund. Martin Lewis of Moneysavingexpert.com says most providers offer free pay-as-you-go SIM cards. He advises getting one and testing it where you usually use your mobile. Alternatively, ask friends and colleagues what service they use.

5 Grab freebies

Most price comparison sites offer discounts on new phone deals. The trick is to find the right tariff, then get the biggest discount. Don't do it the other way round as you will probably end up paying more on an inappropriate phone deal.

These discounts vary, from a free upgrade to a better handset or a cashback offer. Be wary of deals where you have to claim this cash at a later stage, usually six months or one year into your contract.

Many require you submit paperwork on an exact date otherwise the deal is invalid. "Automatic cashback" deals can be better, though the upfront discounts tend not to look so large.

With these, you'll receive a cheque once you sign the deal. Also, many cashback websites such as Quidco offer good deals on mobile phone packages. But don't be tempted to switch your plan simply to claim a higher cashback deal.

Telegraph.co.uk - 12.04.2011

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