X-Series from 3 Puts the Internet on Your Mobile

Hutchison Whampoa has announced the global launch of the X-Series from 3, which it says marks the beginning of the Internet via mobile broadband, and heralds a new way of doing business for mobile network operators.
The X-Series extends several of the core applications and uses of the broadband Internet to the mobile handset, with a new pricing model. 3 says the initiative will be supported by the leading Internet companies, cutting-edge handsets from the worlds leading mobile manufacturers and premium customer service.
In launching the X-Series, 3 has today also announced global partnerships with Google,  Sling Media  and Orb, building on global agreements announced earlier this year with Skype, Microsoft, and Yahoo! The service will be available initially on two X-Series-compatible handsets, the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i.
Customers will be able to make unlimited calls from their mobile using Skype, watch their home TV via their mobile using Sling, access their home PC remotely using Orb, and have access to Internet and messaging services from Yahoo!, Windows Live Messenger and Google.
The X-Series from 3 will be priced like fixed-line broadband. It will offer use of mobile Internet services free at the time of use, for a flat fee, charged on top of the customers basic subscription. The access fees will include all you can Skype, all you can chat by instant text message and all you can search and browse. All X-Series services will, however, be subject to fair usage limits, and there will initially be an additional access fee for customers who take higher-bandwidth services like Sling and Orb. The X-Series will be available in the UK from 1 December and in 3s other markets around the world in early 2007.   
The key features of X-Series from 3 are:

Voice  – An X-Series customer will be able to make and receive unlimited Skype calls with Skype PC users anywhere in the world, and to any other Skype 3 mobile customer.  Skype to Skype calls on a 3 mobile will be free,

TV – An X-Series customer who purchases a Slingbox will be able to watch anything they are able to watch on their own TV, including their terrestrial TV, Freeview, cable, and satellite TV, at the same time, on their mobile. Slingbox will also let X-Series customers control their home personal video recorder (PVR) to watch shows they have recorded, pause and rewind live TV, or even queue a recording when away from home using their mobile.

PC content – The partnership with Orb means that 3 customers can access the digital content that they have stored on their PC at home, including music files, playlists, digital photos and videos, on their X-Series handset. Orb has specifically designed a user interface for X-Series handsets, which will ensure the X-Series customers taking Orb will receive the best user experience.

Messaging  – X-Series from 3 will offer customers instant text messages, to or from Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger, to another X-Series handset, or a PC.  Sending and receiving text instant messages with an X-Series mobile will be free.

Open Internet access and search  – 3 customers will be able to search the Internet without limitation from their mobile using a Google or Yahoo search engine, depending on their choice and the search services available in their country.  Searching and browsing the internet on mobile will be free. 

Internet shopping with eBay – X-Series customers will be able to shop on eBay in real-time.Searching, browsing and bidding will be free. This will give eBay users with access to 3 the ability to enjoy enhanced opportunities to buy and sell on the go and not just when they are at their PC.   

This is the Internet as it was meant to be, and what people have been waiting for says Hutchison Whampoa Group Managing Director Canning Fok. Mobile broadband is the natural next step for mobile services, extending the full power of the Internet to mobile handsets. By partnering with the leaders of the Internet and the leading handset makers, the X-Series from 3 will give everyone access to more of what they want, when they want it, and however much of it they want, all free when they use it.

Theres no word yet on the price of the service but this should come later this morning at the official launch event. This takes place in London, starting at 10.55 GMT this morning. To see a live webcast of the event, click here.