The T100 measures 99×43.5x 17.7mm and weighs 75 grams. It has up to 4.5 hours of talktime and up to 200 hours of stand-by time.

It features a gallery of 30 pictures 15 animations and 10 sounds which can be sent with 10 SMS templates for often-used messages. New images can be created with a picture editor.

Also from Sony Ericsson comes a stereo FM radio hands-free unit.

The HPR-20 radio and control unit connects to the phone with a cord and comes with a shirt clip and two stereo earpieces.

It has a blue-light display in which the frequency channel volume channel preset and bass level are shown. It too ships from next month says Sony Ericsson.

The Waltham Abbey-based company was part of the European Telecom group that went into receivership in May but operated as a separate company.

Over the past two years the company had seen its turnover fall from 4.4 million in 2000. In 2001 turnover was half that figure. The company had lost a number of clients including DX Communications and The Pocket Phone Shop which left when One 2 One (now

T-Mobile) acquired it and used its own accessories group.

Most recently the company lost its account with Virgin Mobile.

TAG was investigated by Luton Trading Standards officers in January 2001 for allegedly distributing faulty mobile phone chargers.

An investigation found the chargers to have false CE markings and certificates but TAGs Far East supplier was blamed.

O2 couldnt confirm how many dealers have been axed. However a spokesperson explained the network had tried to work with dealers to meet sales targets before referring them to a distributor.

The performance of our dealers is reviewed every month with them. If targets are not achieved the account manager will work with the dealer to try to improve targets said the O2 spokesperson.

This could include additional training or local marketing initiatives. If performance still does not improve then a further review will take place with the account manager.

If the decision is made to terminate the direct relationship we refer them to a distribution partner they may wish to work with.

On this basis we will during any year lose and gain trading partners. While it is regrettable that relationships do come to an end our account managers always work with each dealer to give them the means of improving performance.

The rumour followed last months news that Vodafone sacked about 50 dealers for not making enough connections (Mobile News May 27).

Iain Graham Vodafones head of dealer sales told dealers that they would be better off working with a distributor as they might get a higher upfront payment (see P28).

Handspring and mmO2 are getting together to develop new devices for use on mmO2 networks in Europe.

The announcement coincides with the launch of the Handspring Treo communicators that combines a GSM phone Palm OS organiser wireless email SMS and internet access.

The agreement means 3s services will be available in The Links 290 stores.

In December 3 signed similar retail agreements with The Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U adding a further 795 outlets to 3s three flagship stores and the unspecified number of stores-within-stores that will appear in Superdrug outlets throughout the year.

The Link managing director Nick Wood said:

Becoming an official distributor for 3 fits our profile perfectly. Our customers and visitors to our Futurelook Web site are very keen to know what 3G will offer.

Were delighted that 3 is giving us the opportunity to showcase its services on the high street and were looking forward to taking this next step in partnership with 3.

(see John Barton interview P14)

According to 57 per cent of people surveyed by WapOneline text messaging is also the preferred means of communicating on public transport because it eliminates the stigma of making calls in public.

Plimsoll has placed 162 companies in the dreaded Danger financial rating in its latest analysis.

The new 305 study based on the top 486 companies in the industry gives each company one of five ratings based on its financial standing over the last four years.

Companies are rated by Plimsoll as either Strong Good Mediocre Caution or Danger. The basis of this rating system is to easily spot good performance from the bad.

The mobile phone industry has too many companies chasing too little market says David Pattison senior analyst at Plimsoll.

These companies rated as

Danger have been in decline for years with a combination of increasing debts and low margins.

Many of these companies are at a stage where their debts are severely restricting the ability of the management to make even normal business decisions concludes Pattison.

Plimsoll Publishing says 82 per cent of 68 recent mobile comms company failures were rated as

Caution or Danger up to two years prior to their demise.

Around 115 companies were given a Strong rating as they benefit from less debt stronger balance sheets and average margins at a healthy 8.1 per cent.

Plimsoll Publishing has been rating companies on overall performance since 1987.

Called SafetyNet the system allows phone numbers diary dates and other important information to be uploaded onto a database then downloaded onto a new smart device if the original is stolen or lost.

SafetyNet will also enable owners to wipe the stolen device clean of all its information thus preventing thieves from misusing it.

One of the worst things about having a mobile stolen is the difficulty of reclaiming all the information that was stored on it said Paul Fennemore business development director at Intuwave.

Most people dont tend to keep written records so having an automatic back-up system will prove very useful.

This will become even more important as smartphones become prolific and the drive to ensure maximum safety of the increasing amounts of valuable data they hold becomes critical added

Fennemore.

Ian Upton associate director of advanced mobile solutions at CMG added:

This is not just a consumer product. Many UK businesses are currently looking to encourage more of a work/life balance.

To do this employees need to be able to work from home and have access to information on the move. But the trade-off is that employers then face the challenge of data security on mobile devices.

However if wireless device back-up was built into their strategy this would be far less of a headache he added.

Smart devices can be set to automatically send information to a remote storage facility throughout the day and night. If a device drops out of coverage while this process is happening it completes its update as soon as the signal returns.

The technology backs up non- file-based data such as internet settings and users and personalised set-ups such as contact telephone numbers and ringtones.

The technology is targeted at packet-based networks (GPRS or 2.5G and 3G).

The company won a Bronze World Medal for Best Design for its brochure called People You can Connect With.

It revealed this after its results to March 30 published last week showed its handset sales had fallen eight per cent over the last year compared to an industry average of 40 per cent.

However Carphone Warehouses figures for last month show its sales have recovered to the levels they were a year ago before networks raised the price of pre-pay handsets.

Carphone Warehouses connected 260000 customers last month compared to 208000 in May last year.

The increase was aided by an extra net figure of 69 stores taking CPWs total UK store base to 461. Around 30 poorly performing stores were shut during last year.

The Carphone Warehouse claims it now has a 20 per cent market share in the UK and plans to increase this further by expanding the size and reach of its stores.

Chief executive Charles Dunstone claims The Carphone Warehouse will make life tougher for its competitors by improving the quantity and quality of its stores.

It was a very tough year across Europe. Handset sales were down by 40 per cent on average across Europe.

In spite of this the business traded strongly and we are back to a period where we have comparable sales to the point where networks pulled away from pre-pay last year.

We have a programme to increase the size of 30 of our existing stores either enlarging them by purchasing the shop next door or relocating completely to bigger stores.

We are clearly the market leader. We have 461 stores in the UK and plan to expand to over 500.

Dunstone predicts the market will be flat

We are out to grow our market share open new stores and make life harder for our competitors.

We are delivering increased sales without the benefit of picture messaging and the first 3G services which are still to come. When 3G finally does launch it will be an added bonus concluded Dunstone.