The phone which retails for £600 SIM-free is exclusive to Carphone Warehouse for six weeks. It comes with an all-glass front and is crafted from materials like titanium stainless steel and chrome.

Nokia director of communications Mark Squires said: The style and new materials used on this handset have made it unique and it seems to have caught the public interest.

We released it with the intention of bridging the gap between the two markets and it certainly seems to be doing that.

A spokesperson for Carphone stated that while sales figures were unavailable it is selling incredibly well and it expects that trend to continue.

The company is targeting around half a million phones this year. The Blow-It team is headed by configuration expert Paul Harris. He joins TMTI from European Telecom. Harris has experience of working with networks manufacturers and distributors on handset configuration.

TMTI founder Crispin Thomas said: TMTI offers a range of technical support services but until now we weren¹t involved in flashing ­ putting the operating system and customised content on the mobile. We¹ve now gone into that business.

Its a good match for us. After weve flashed the phone with the required software we can pop one of our technical support cards in the box. The TMTI brand will enable us to gain traction very rapidly.

Thomas added: Our pricing will be aggressive. We already work for the major players in the returns field and this can only strengthen relationships with our clients.

Blow-It will be run from TMTI¹s head office in Wiltshire but configuration work will be done at customers premises where required.

The 3GSM World Congress Asia which is set to take place in Macau in November will now be known as the Mobile Asia Congress. Whereas The 3GSM World Congress scheduled for Barcelona in February 2008 will be called the Mobile World Congress.

GSMA CEO Rob Conway believes the re-branding will emphasise the organizations commitment to providing better services to consumers. Conway said:

Both the GSMA and the Congresses are focused on helping operators use the potent platform provided by todays highly-capable and extensive mobile networks to better serve the many needs and desires of this industrys almost 3 billion customers.

The GSMA has also announced that John Hoffman has been appointed as CEO of GSMC the subsidiary company that runs the Congresses. Hoffman was formerly CEO of mobile technology suppliers Fastmobile and Roamware.

We appointed John to take on this challenging role because he has the in-depth understanding of mobile communications and the commercial acumen necessary to ensure that the Mobile Congresses in Macau and Barcelona remain at the forefront of this fast-moving and fast-growing industry added Conway.

The operator will cut the price of its Data Unlimited service from £45 per month to £25 and will rename the tariff Vodafone Mobile Broadband. Users will also benefit from being able to access 3GB of data each month increased from 1GB.

A new 24-hour tariff is also being launched which will enable users to access data in any European country for £8.50. But customers wishing to join the service will need to pay £120 for a data card to access the tariff.

Customers who subscribe to the Skype To Go package are able to register an international number and in returned are issued with a local number to be used as a proxy.

Users are able to dial the allocated number from any phone and are billed through their Skype account in addition the their standard network rate.

The package costs 2.30 euros a month and users have to download the relevant software to enable the service.

Skype vice president of telecoms Stefan Oberg said: With Skype To Go you dont have to think twice about the cost of making an international call from your mobile phone. If you have a friend living abroad you can now talk to him or her anytime and anywhere you want.

The survey also found that 54 per cent of UK users were aware of the iPhone although a European launch date and retail price has yet to be announced.

In the US iPhone has signed an exclusive five-year deal with operator AT&T to market the handset. Despite US customers being limited to one operator offering the device 19 million want to buy an iPhone according to the survey.

M:Metrics vice president Mark Donovan said: This data confirms that the iPhone has sparked the imaginations of consumers and is not merely a topic of conversation among insiders and technology enthusiasts.

These figures are very impressive although respondents in the UK were not presented with a launch price or any restriction of mobile phone carrier as in the U.S.

As a result Virgin Mobile will be able to offer its subscribers the ability to search the web WAP sites and Virgin Mobiles own portal and storefront providing access to ringtones games and other content.

Users will be able to search for any content or information using a single search box.

Head of Digital Services at Virgin Mobile Nick White said:

Virgin Mobile is a firm believer that the there should be no limit to the content available for our users so we are very pleased to extend our relationship with InfoSpace into this exciting new area.

InfoSpace Mobile Europe Managing Director George Fraser said: We have been working with Virgin Mobile on mobile content since 2001 so we know what their subscribers expect and demand.

InfoSpace already provides mobile search services for numerous operators worldwide including Sprint in North America.

Sky News published an article earlier this month stating police feared terrorists could use VoIP as the calls were difficult to trace and intercept.

Vyke vice president of business development Aaron Powers said that claiming VoIP services could allow terrorists to go under the radar was irresponsible.

Powers said: This attempt to associate public fears over the threat of terrorism with a new and beneficial technology amounts to nothing less than scare mongering.

Truphone CEO James Tagg said his company complied with the same laws as other communications companies meaning Truphone always validated user identities and complied with security service requests.

Tagg said: As a result Truphone always allows for lawful intercept.

Director of marketing for lawful intercept at communications provider SS8 Networks Scott Coleman said VoIP users could be located through their routers and those using standard protocols could have their calls traced like a normal phone call.

However Coleman said those who spent the time and money to develop their own unique protocol could be cause for concern but these users were uncommon because of the considerable effort involved.

Coleman said: Like anything governments would need to keep up with this technology but should already be familiar in dealing with this from their experience with other technologies.

The launch of MusicStation comes two weeks before the Apple iPhone is due to hit the global market. Omnifone has also announced a target of 100 million MusicStation handsets to market within the next 12 months compared with Apples target of 10 million iPhones.

Omnifone CEO Rob Lewis said: MusicStation allows consumers to legally access download and enjoy an unlimited amount of music from an international and localised music catalogue supported by the whole music industry for a weekly fee of E2.99 (£2.03).

MusicStation users can download music wherever they are at any time and with no charge for data.

The first MusicStation handsets were launched in Sweden on June 13 with further European launches to follow in the coming weeks. Omnifone said it would announce the launch only on the day handsets arrive in retail stores. It remained tightlipped on when it would be available in the UK and through which operators.

MusicStation has international licensing arrangements with Universal Music Group Sony BMG EMI Music Warner Music International and many major independent labels.

EMI vice president of business development Matthew Crosswaite said: We are very pleased to be working with Omnifone to reach millions of subscribers around the world through their mobile phone.

Steele leaves next month while Gow will depart once a successor is in place.

Both men were both co-founders of Virgin Mobile in 1999 and have been responsible for steering the companys development before and during the launch of Virgin Media.

The changes reflect the integration between Virgin Medias cable operation and Virgin Mobile particularly in distribution and IT. However Virgin Mobile will continue to exist as a brand and business unit in its own right.

Gow 51 became MD last year following his years as chief financial offer of Virgin Mobile. He joined the fledgling virtual network in February 1999 from One2One (T-Mobile). He had joined One2One in 1995 as Head of Business Planning and was part of the team that put together the original Virgin T-Mobile joint venture.

Steel 40 joined Virgin Mobile in February 1999 as marketing director. He was appointed Commercial Director in 2003 and a year ago he took on the role of deputy MD.

Before joining Virgin Steel was head of business development and head of mass marketing for BT Cellnet. He developed strategic partnerships with Barclaycard and Midland Bank.