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Would you like an iPhone for free on a £24 contract? Sure you would, but you can’t have one. You can, however, bodge together an iPod touch and a MiFi wireless modem, add a dash of wishful thinking, and just pretend.
Mobile network 3 is offering a MiFi and an 8GB iPod touch, including 5GB of data per month, for £24 a month over a two-year contract.
The iPod touch can do much of what an iPhone can do, such as running apps from the Apple App Store, but it’s not a phone. It is possible to make calls on it, however, thanks to the many voice-over-IP (VoIP) apps — Skype, Truphone or Nimbuzz, for example. But you have to be on Wi-Fi to use them, because the networks don’t want us clogging up their 3G pipes with VoIP calls.
The MiFi is a palm-sized box that converts a 3G signal into a Wi-FI hotspot. Connect your iPod touch — along with up to four other devices — and you’re ready to start making VoIP calls.
You can also stream music, watch TV on BBC iPlayer, download apps and everything else you can do with an iPod touch on your home Wi-Fi. But the signal is still travelling over the mobile phone network, so don’t expect normal broadband speed or reliability.
One more thing — you’ll need headphones with a microphone too, because the iPod touch 8GB doesn’t come with them.
Update: The iPod touch and MiFi bundle is available from 3’s Web site.
