Over the years we have seen that cell phone carriers did not want to listen to customer demands and went ahead with something, even if it meant upsetting them. This is just what Vodafone Australia faced when they announced that they were to start charging per megabyte instead of the preferred kilobyte of data usage. However, it seems as though the carrier has gotten ethical and are to charge per kilobyte rates on all prepaid options.

While this does not change the fact that users will no longer have unlimited data usage for services such as Facebook and YouTube, at least their usage will not be rounded to the nearest megabyte. This would have been costly because customers would have been paying per megabyte even if they had only used a few kilobytes.

This would have been a far bigger issue for those with an iPhone and use the iMessage service, but at least this is now a none-issue. It does seem as though Vodafone Australia listened to their customers following a recent survey conducted by 10,000 angry customers, but that’s not all because only some prepaid plans were going to switch to the new rates but now all their prepaid plans will make the change.

It’s reported that many other carriers should make similar changes because we all know how confusing data charges can be, although I still have unlimited data so I don’t have the worry or stress of a large bill each month. While we did say above that it shows that Vodafone Australia was listening to their customers, they should never have tried to bring such an unethical proposal out in the first place.

You will find a number of handsets on the official upcoming Vodafone phones page, which currently includes the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820, Sony Xperia Z, Windows Phone 8S and 8X by HTC, and also BlackBerry 10 phones following the planned event this month. After looking at a few forum posts and comments on Vodafone’s website we can clearly see a lot of frustrated users, and the Nokia Lumia 920 tops the list of upcoming smartphones that Vodafone users are frustrated with waiting for a release date.

One long-term customer explained they have been with Vodafone for “nearly eight years” and that they’re “starting to lose patience with Vodafone over the TBC” statement. We understand that there’s a process that needs to be completed and the To Be Confirmed message is part of that process, but it seems some people don’t understand why some handsets take so long to launch.

Another customer said “come on Vodafone give us a date for Nokia Lumia 920 availability“. The colours and release date is currently set to “TBC“, and the Lumia 920 has been out for a while so it seems strange that a vague launch date hasn’t been offered on the official page.

You can see the official upcoming Vodafone phones page here, which shows handsets expected at some point in 2013. Vodafone explain they will be updating this page with other phones when they become available.

What phone are you waiting for on Vodafone UK, and how much longer will you wait if your contract is up for renewal?

Last month we told you about some changes to the pricing for the 3G data plans by AT&T in the US, and now over in the UK Vodafone has revealed some price and bundle details for the 3G version of the PS Vita. It was revealed back in November that Vodafone was going to be the provider for the 3G version of the device.

According to an article on T3.com the 3G version will be available at Vodafone stores for £279, which also includes a free 4GB memory card along with a Pay-as-You-go SIM card. When users top this up with £5 they will get WipEout 2048 free, as well as 250 MB of data that will last for up to thirty days offering full 3G connectivity from the carrier.

This will also provide owners full access to the PSN and will allow instant messaging and share and compare gaming Trophies. The 3G version of the PS Vita also offers built-in GPS that will also let you track what your friends are up to.

If the 3G version is not your thing the Wi-Fi version is available at online retailer Amazon for £218.99, while rival retailer Play.com has the device listed for the same price. Earlier today my colleague Alan Ng told you about the latest firmware update to hit the PS Vita, and liked the new Google Maps feature now available. In the meantime there is a video review of the PS Vita below.

The small goblin like creature is 900 years old and will be used in several new TV commercials for the network to demonstrate how strong the ‘Force’ is with them. The aim of the campaign is to encourage Vodafone network users to get the most out of their mobile devices by using and experimenting with new apps and functions.

As the Mirror reports, the ads are also being produced by a visual effects team that is part of Lucasfilm called Industrial Light & Magic with the voice of Yoda coming from actor Tom Kane. In the first commercial Yoda is seen trying to use his powers in order to help a couple with dilemma of transferring contacts from one mobile to another. Of course he finds that his powers are not necessary thanks to Vodafone’s Red Box service, which automatically does it for you.

One spokesperson for the company said ‘The campaign with Yoda shows that you don’t need to be a Jedi Master to unlock the power of mobile internet.’ The first ad is scheduled to be aired in the UK tomorrow between 8pm and 9pm on Channel 4 but if you cannot wait until then you can watch it here below. What do you think of the advert? Will it entice you to take advantage of Vodafone’s services?

The carrier has officially announced the availability of the device as they make a later entrance to the ICS party. If you are interested in getting the device on the carrier you can get it for free on a two year contract priced at £41 per month. According to USwitch this will get you 1200 minutes along with unlimited text messages and 750MB of data.

If you want a shorter contract you can have the same allowances on an eighteen month contract for £46 per month. For a smaller monthly outgoing you can pay £99 upfront for the Galaxy Nexus and a £36 monthly charge will get you the same allowances as the above contract but with 900 minutes of talk time.

The contracts from Vodafone will also offer subscribers the carriers Data Test Drive deal, which will give you all you can eat data for the first three months of the contract. On top of this you can also get 2GB of data at various BT Openzone hotspots.

Vodafone had revealed they would be offering the handset when it was first launched, but for some reason only just made it available. This has led some to speculate the delay was down to the issues surrounding the volume bug, which has now been fixed following the release of a software update. Other retailers have recently stated that they have received fresh stock of the device without any bug affecting them.

Have you been waiting to get the Galaxy Nexus on Vodafone?

Back in the summer Sony announced that in the US it would partner with mobile carrier AT&T, and have now taken to its official PlayStation Blog to announce the latest news. Vodafone will be the preferred partner for the consoles 3G connectivity at launch with the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Australia and New Zealand, and Vodafone’s Partner in France.

The new handheld console with the 3G and Wi-Fi compatibility will be sold in selected countries and come with a Vodafone SIM card. This will allow new owners to start enjoying social gaming experiences straight away out of the box. Consumers will also be able to pick up the console from various Vodafone retail outlets and online.

Customers will also get a PlayStaion Network voucher to download WipEout 2048 from the PlayStation Store. Gamers who purchase the PS Vita can also use another network provider though to connect to the internet, which is good for consumers who would like to use an alternative to Vodafone.

President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Jim Ryan, said “Partnering with Vodafone will enable PS Vita users in the selected countries to always be connected with their PlayStation life, friends and games, wherever they are.” The device will be available in the region from February 22nd.

The carrier beat market expectations to report a 4.1 percent rise in revenues to £23.5billion, and according to The Guardian saw 9.4 million new customers join the carrier in the last six months. The competition is pretty competitive in the UK where the biggest carrier Everything Everywhere, saw subscribers drop in recent months.

But Vodafone managed to add 325,000 new customers in the country to reach a total of 19.3 million subscribers. Revenues in the UK climbed by 2.7 percent to £2.6 billion with profits reaching £633 million, up 5.7 percent.

The carrier saw strong growth in Germany adding 804,000 new customers with Spain gaining 170,000, but it lost 148,000 customers in Italy on its prepaid service. Globally subscribers rose by 2.5 percent to reach 391 million. The biggest increases were from its subsidiary Vodacom in Africa, Egypt, and India.

Vodafone did see a drop in revenue from voice calls in Europe though of 270 million, but texting and data traffic saw big rises though. Almost 22 percent of the company’s users now use smartphones, which saw revenues from mobile internet climb 27 percent from £336 million to £1.6 billion.

Vodafone also confirmed its US subsidiary, Verizon Wireless would be paying out a £2.6 billion dividend in January of next year, and £2 billion of that would be passed on to shareholders via a special dividend.

Let’s start with 12 month contracts, if you only want to commit to 1 year with Vodafone there are four options. If 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 0.5GB of data per month interests you, you must pay £199.99 upfront and £36 each month. For the same deal with 600 minutes you must pay £139.00 up front and £41.00 each month, or if you want to bump this up to 900 minutes you pay £99.99 upfront and £46 per month. Finally you can pay £59 upfront and £51 per month for 1200 minutes, 0.75GB of data and unlimited texts.

As for 18 month contacts there are 8 options available to you. In our opinion the deal is one where you pay £41 per month, you don’t have to pay anything towards the smartphone and you get 600 minutes, unlimited and 0.5GB of date. You can see the other 18 month options below:

Finally there are lots of 24 month contacts on offer, the best deal in our opinion is one which you pay £38.50 for per month, you get the Lumia 800 for free and have unlimited texts, 800 minutes and 0.75GB of data to get through per month – you can see some other options below, interestingly some prices are cheaper if you buy the smartphone from the Carphone Warehouse.

You can pre-order your Nokia Lumia 800 from Vodafone here, but we don’t yet know exactly when it will hit he UK carrier, are you tempted by any of the prices?

The carrier has confirmed to TechRadar it will be offering the new handset to its customers, which will come with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and an impressive 4.65-inch display that has 720p resolution. It may not be the most powerful handset out there, but it will still be at the top end of the carrier’s range of handsets.

While no pricing has been revealed for the new handset yet, you can still expect to pay at least £30 per month linked to a 24 month contract with the Vodafone. There has been no word yet on a release date for the Nexus, but it is believed to arrive towards the start of next month.

Vodafone hasn’t said if it’s to be the only carrier in the UK to stock the handset, but it was the only one to carry the Nexus One and Nexus S when they first became available. But with the latest device in the Nexus range it is believed Google won’t be locking the handset to specific carriers in the markets it gets released too.

The biggest appeal to this new handset is that it will come with the latest Android operating system, which adds some great looking features.

Vodafone has cut pricing for the handset with a two year contract in a move to be more competitive with its rivals stocking the handset. TechRadar is reporting that the company has slashed £120 off the price of the 16GB version, and now customers have to pay £239 for the device with a £26 per month contract.

The 32GB version of the handset has also been cut by £80 that now costs £359, while the 64GB version has been dropped by £70 down to £449. Before these price drops, the carrier was by far the most expensive for initial outlay for the iPhone 4S compared to other networks.

With all of these contracts the more expensive per month it is, the less you pay initially for the handset itself. Vodafone has lowered the price on £31, £36, and £41 price plans, and if you decide to pay nothing up front on the £46 and £62 price plans, you get no discount.

The price changes affect both eighteen month and two year contracts, and Vodafone said they “wanted to ensure we remained competitive”. They added that demand has been strong so far for the device, and wanted “to offer the best value available”.

These price cuts can only mean good news for the consumer as the various networks battle to offer the best deals to tempt consumers to choose them. Where have you ordered your iPhone 4S from?