3 Mobile have announced that they are the exclusive sales channel for the new Nokia 6120 Pink and White Editions, Vodafone have laid claim to the Bronze Edition of the new Sony ericsson W910i and O2 are heavily promoting their newly won contracts for the Samsung D900i Candy and O2 Cocoon as well as being the envy of the industry for securing the exclusive rights of supply for the up and coming Apple iPhone.
You will notice that many of the above handsets are in fact colour variants of other popular models, this is no coincidence as the manufacturers are reluctant to give exclusive rights to the mainstream versions for a fear of lack of sales due to the smaller variety of tariffs one network alone can offer to consumers.
Christmas is always an extremely busy time of year for the mobile industry and it is not surprising to see retailers already securing these deals at this time of year in preparation, as news is filtered through press releases and mobile phone forums it only acts as a promotional tool to jog peoples thoughts to buying a mobile phone as a present this Christmas.
The latest exclusive agreement to be signed was between the UK network operator Orange and the manufacturer Samsung for the network to be the sole sales channel for the new Samsung F210 Pink edition.
This new handset is a part of the music orientated 'Stick' range of Samsung phones and is very unlike any other handset on the market, it is a phone that has been designed to look as close to a stand alone music player as possible, taking on the long, thin and compact qualities that are associated with products such as the iPod Shuffle and Sony Mp3 Players.
The F210 is a device designed to be worn around the neck on a lanyard rather than being hidden away in a pocket or handbag and features dedicated music control keys on the exterior for quick and easy play, pause, and shuffle options.
To activate the handset the user must swivel the main display screen around to 180 degrees to reveal a uniquely designed keypad with just two rows of buttons as opposed to the usual three, this takes some getting used to but once mastered makes for easy text input when text messaging.
The F210 is an upgraded version of the first phones to feature in the 'Stick' range, the X830. The F210 offers a superior camera with 2.0 instead 1.3 megapixels and enhanced music software to include playlist creation to suit genre, tempo or mood plus new 3D sound effects produce a deeper and broader sound quality. The camera also features a flash for low light conditions, digital zoom for close up photography and video support with record and playback. Music files can either be uploaded from a PC using a cable or downloaded direct from the mobile internet and stored on the handsets large 1Gb internal memory which can be expanded further with MicroSD cards.
Files can be shared wirelessly via Bluetooth with compatible devices, sending music tracks from handset to handset as well as connecting to Bluetooth enabled hands free car kits and headsets for safe driving whilst conversing.
Overall, the Samsung F210 Pink Edition offers exactly the same specifications, features and dimensions as the other colour variants of the model, but adds a Pink surround and backlights which gives the phone a female quality which is no doubt exactly what Orange will be hoping for.