This price increase will affect anyone with a Three contract taken out before 8 March 2012. Pay-as-you-go, 1 month SIM only and business customers are not included. If you’re an applicable Three subscriber expect to receive a text, email or letter very soon.

Three is upping costs by 3.7% in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) as of 17 April. While it will increase the charge on your monthly package this does exclude add-ons.

Under Ofcom rules operators must give 30 days notice of price changes and allow customers to cancel, however the terms of a Three contract (and indeed every other major operator) also allow the company to raise prices once every 12 months up to the current rate of inflation.

This means that even if you’re unhappy with the increased cost you won’t be able to use it as a way of ending the contract early without penalty. It may be possible to claim that the higher price is of “material detriment” and will have a negative impact on your life but you’ll have to be able to show that a 3.7% increase means you can’t afford to eat, for example.

As Three is operating within the rules complaining is unlikely to have much effect. Orange was criticised last year not allowing customers to leave without penalty following a price increase which was just below the rate of inflation. The cost of a T-mobile package also went up by 3.7% last month without much fanfare.

If you’re coming to the end of a phone or mobile broadband contract with Three now might be an excellent time to look for a new deal. Check out our smartphone and MBB comparison pages for the latest and greatest offers. 

One of the big changes it made recently was splitting up the phone partnership with Ericsson. That was finally completed last year and Sony has begun launching its own smartphones, still under the Xperia brand.

Past performance in this sector has been mixed so there was some optimism that post-Ericsson Sony was taking charge and putting in a major effort. Unfortunately we're only going to add to its woes albeit in an incredibly minor way: the Xperia S isn't that impressive. Not terrible, just not quite enough to be worth recommending over the many other Android phones.

Going purely on looks this is a really smart smartphone, so a huge improvement in that respect. Once we'd gotten hold of it though disappointments began to mount. Plastic construction is never a good start but the Xperia S features some other questionable design decisions.

On the other hand it does have one of the finest displays we've ever seen on a smartphone and the camera functionality is great. This might well be enough for many of you to overlook the downsides, so check out our full review to find out more. 

Axis promises a new way to search the web by presenting results as a stream of thumbnails, rather than a list of links, through which you can swipe or click. The tool is available as either a plugin for desktop browsers such as Firefox and Chrome or as a standalone browser app for iPhone and iPad.

Images are a little low res when it’s used on a desktop computer and it’s difficult to imagine many giving up the convenience of navigation bar searches, but Axis does work extremely well on iPad where the thumbnails are easier to browse and select than a text link.

Unusually Axis currently lacks advertisements, and indeed Yahoo! has pushed it on the basis of going straight from search to page, which seems like an odd move for a company which makes a very large amount of money from online ads.

Back in the 90s Yahoo! was the name in internet search, famed for its web portal and numerous services including the very popular Yahoo! Mail, but over the last decade its fortunes waivered as a little outfit called Google become synonymous with search and online advertising.

In two years Yahoo! has had three different CEOs and just last month the company laid off 2,000 workers. Many of its former executives must be kicking themselves for not accepting Microsoft’s $44 billion offer in 2008.

Speaking of which, Microsoft - another one that has had some trouble in online search - announced this week it is opening up the snappily-named So.cl to the public. It was previously restricted to students in the US.

So.cl is a social networking tool which encourages users to create collages of content (via Bing search results of course) and share them with friends, allowing you to join with others of similar interests and start a “video party”.

While it sounds like the love child of Google+ and Pinterest Microsoft is keen to stress that So.cl is not a standalone social network itself but an experimental layer which integrates with other services, so you are able to log in with a Facebook account for instance. This could be a smarter route than Google’s bold attempt at tackling Facebook head on and by encouraging the use of Bing might also help Microsoft gain some leverage in the search market.

Bemilo is a MVNO - mobile virtual network operator - using Vodafone to provide its service and boasts of being the ‘safest mobile network’. Its unique selling point is parental control, offering extensive capabilities to monitor and manage a child’s mobile phone usage.

With Bemilo parents can restrict who the child contacts, or who contacts them, control spending and even say when they are able to use the phone and access the internet. 

Most controversially, Bemilo logs text messages and calls, making the info available to parents.

These functions come at a monthly cost of £3.95, or £34.95 for a year. Top-ups are extra but it’s a barebones service with no free data, text or call packages. Instead you’ll pay 10p/pm for voice, 10p per text and 25p/Mb for data. This could quickly become expensive so the price cap controls are going to be essential, though it’d fit the bill if you only want your child to have a phone so they can call home.

There are already software solutions for Android, iPhone and other platforms which do the same thing as Bemilo however as this is part of the network it's not dependant on a particular operating system, though as Bemilo can't intercept online communications it won't be much help if a child is using instant messaging or social networks, besides locking down net access entirely.

Given recent concerns over bullying using text messaging and Facebook it’s not hard to see this becoming relatively popular, especially as many parents may find themselves left behind by tech-savvy youngsters. 

Players found that accounts became inaccessible, many being booted offline with a message telling them that someone else had logged in. Afterwards they discovered that they’d been cleaned out as gold, weapons and other items acquired in-game were transferred to other characters.

Blizzard has rolled back some affected accounts but its forums are filling with complaints from people who have been denied account restoration, as well as those who claim to have suffered an attack despite using Blizzard’s own authenticator. The authenticator comes in the form of a hardware dongle or free smartphone app and supposedly offers far greater security but if these reports are true it appears to offer little or no protection against the exploits.

Action RPG Diablo 3 was created by Blizzard, the company responsible for smash-hit MMO World of Warcraft. The previous title in the series was released in 2000 so gamers have waited a long time for this latest installment, but the game has been dogged by controversy since it was announced.

Blizzard has been widely criticised for forcing users to remain online and connected to their servers. “Always-on” DRM which requires an internet connection is not new but Diablo 3 is the most extreme example yet. Vital game assets are stored on Blizzard's Battle.net servers making it completely impossible to play without an internet connection. While this has - so far - prevented piracy it’s also inconveniencing legit users.

As well as suffering lag and losing progress when a connection is lost gamers have been prevented from logging on due to the servers being filled to capacity. Following the hacking incidents the servers were offline for four hours this Sunday.

If you suspect your Diablo 3 account has been compromised you should contact Blizzard support. Blizzard also recommends making use of its authenticator service, while players have been advising that you only use the online co-op mode with friends rather than public grouping with strangers.

Home broadband site ISP Review surveyed its visitors to gauge their thoughts on the scheme, proposed by MP Claire Perry following the recent parliamentary enquiry into online child protection.

The survey also found that more than half of the respondents thought internet service providers (ISPs) were already doing enough to protect children, with just 23 per cent saying they weren’t (the rest being unsure).

However it could be argued that visitors to a website such as ISP Review aren’t exactly a proportionate sample of internet users; it’s a techy help site focused purely on home broadband. This makes the result interesting; almost one in four voters still thought ISPs aren’t doing enough to protect children, despite them really upping their games over the last few years.

Unfortunately, as is always the case with governments, a knee-jerk reaction to any issue is to be expected. How much we need a nanny state, versus how much responsibility should fall to parents, will always be a hot topic of discussion with strong views on either side. But it’s always easy to work around these kinds of enforced restrictions anyway, so where we are right now would seem a sensible place to draw the line.

But ultimately we tend to agree with ISP Review founder Mark Jackson, who said: "It's encouraging to see ISPs offer customers more options to filter out adult content and we'd like to see that continue. But at the same time we should be careful not to impose mandatory opt-in internet filters, which risk lulling parents into a false sense of security and encouraging state sponsored censorship through mission creep."

You're the happy owner of HTC's latest bleeding-edge smartphone, you've spent some time installing cool apps and showing off the graphical capabilities of its Tegra3 CPU with the latest games. Now maybe you fancy trying something new?

Rooting the HTC One X gives you write access to system files which are usually locked down and opens up some interesting possibilities.

At its most basic you can run a whole bunch of useful apps which provide even greater control over the handset, but beyond that you can also completely replace the operating system with a custom ROM. Enthusiasts build ROMs and make them available at sites such as XDA Developers, and not only is it fun to give your phone a fresh look once you're tired of the standard interface, it can often bring benefits such as bug fixes, better performance and increased battery life. If you're really keen you can even cook your own ROM for a completely unique and personalised handset.

Responding to the demands of customers, HTC now officially allows rooting, providing its own tools which unlock the handset to make it open to development. This makes it easier and safer than rooting older models like the HTC Desire. Despite the number of steps it's quite straightforward.

Please note however that rooting your phone will void the warranty so if it breaks now or at any time in the future you'll probably have to pay HTC to get it fixed. While this does use a method provided by HTC that is no guarantee of success. Please read through this guide fully and make sure you understand each step before continuing. If you have any questions at all just post a comment and we'll do our best to help.

Should also mention that the phone we rooted was a UK version of the HTC One X. It should work for European models also, however those from the USA are not compatible. You will need to Google for an alternative method.

Before you begin:

• Fully charge the battery.

• Download and install the HTC driver. Can get this by installing the HTC Sync application but uninstall HTC Sync itself before beginning this process, the driver will remain on your system. The other option is to download the HTC Driver for either 32bit or 64bit Windows - extract the files in the zip archive to a handy location on your hard drive. These will need to be manually installed when you connect the phone.

• Download and install the Android SDK. We need this for the ADB tool. If you are not sure how follow one of the many guides available online, such as this one from Adddictive Tips.

• Download Clockworkmod Touch Recovery and SuperSU. You will find that some sites have packaged ADB and these items into one package but while this is useful you are not necessarily going to get the latest version so grabbing them separately from the original sources is always preferred. Move the Clockworkmod Touch Recovery file to the \platform-tools\ folder within the Android SDK directory.

• Register for an account at HTCdev.com.

• Backup text messages, contacts and any other important settings or files as rooting will wipe the phone. Photos and videos should be okay but you might want to save them just in case.

• Enable USB debugging on the phone via Settings > Developer Options.

Rooting the HTC One X

1) Connect the phone to your computer with a microUSB cable. Ensure the USB connection type is ‘Charge Only’.

2) If the drivers are correctly installed the phone should be recognised by Windows without any errors. Check Device Manager in the Control Panel (under System & Security in Windows 7), it should be listed under Android USB Devices as My HTC. If you wish to manually install drivers right-click here and choose Update Drivers then navigate to the driver files previously downloaded.

3) Open a command prompt window. The easiest way to do this is to open the /platform-tools/ sub-folder within the Android SDK directory, then right-click the mouse while holding shift and select Open Command Window Here from the context menu. You will need to be using commands in the correct directory for these steps to work so if you’re at all unsure leave a comment below.

4) Type adb devices in the command window. ADB will confirm your HTC phone is connected and detected, identifying it with a string of numbers and letters. Leave this window open.

5) Go to HTCdev.com.

6) On the unlock bootloader page use the drop-down to select the One X, or 'All Other Supported Models' if the One X is not listed.

7) HTCdev will now give you a series of steps to follow but just scroll to the bottom of the first page and skip to step 5, then skip to step 8 after that.

8) Hold down the power button on your phone and choose Restart, then hold volume down until the phone goes into bootloader mode. Use the volume key to select Fastboot then press the power button. Check that the bootloader says FASTBOOT USB.

9) At the command prompt type fastboot oem get_identifier_token. It should spit out a bunch of gibberish.

10) Right click in the command prompt window and select Mark. Click and drag to select all the text between Identifier token start and Identifier token end, including those lines. Press Ctrl+C to copy this info.

11) Go back to HTCdev and paste the identifier token code into the text box headed ‘My Device Identifier Token’. Hit submit.

12) Check your email as you should have received a special gift from HTC. Save the unlock_code.bin attachment to your hard drive, again in the Android SDK\platform-tools\ folder.

13) Back in the command prompt again, type fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin.

14) The phone will now prompt you to continue. Press volume up and power to apply the bootloader unlock. The One X will restart and you’ll have to go through the standard first-time setup again as it will have been wiped clean.

15) Go back to the bootloader screen (restart with volume down key held). It should say ‘Unlocked’. Success! Now we can install Clockworkmod Recovery.

16) Once more back into the command prompt, type the following: fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-5.8.2.7-endeavoru.img. Remember to change the name of the clockwork recovery file to match the version you’ve got downloaded.

17) If it’s all worked you’ll see a confirmation in the command prompt, nothing will change on the phone display. You can close the command prompt window now, we’re done with that.

18) Reboot the phone again and this time choose the Recovery option with the volume key and power button. You should now see the Clockworkmod Recovery screen. Highly recommend using the backup tool at this point, it will create a copy of the entire operating system on the phone’s internal storage so you can easily restore it should anything go awry in the future.

19) Reboot the phone back to the Android desktop and connect it over USB as a disk drive. Copy the SuperSU zip file we previously downloaded into the root directory of the One X memory (simply open the folder in Windows and drag ‘n’ drop the zip).

20) Disconnect from USB and restart the phone back to the bootloader, then go back to Clockworkmod Recovery.

21) Select Install Zip from sdcard then Choose Zip from sdcard. Scroll down the list and find the SuperSU file, select it and hit Yes to install. Check the status messages to confirm this was successful. Once complete click Go Back then reboot system now.

22) Open the application menu and locate your new SuperSU app. Open it and allow the app to update binaries when prompted.

23) That’s it, you now have root. Using ClockworkMod you can create/restore a backup of the operating system, install new ROM files (though not many are available right now) and use apps which require root such as Titanium Backup and AdFree.

Previously, police forces have had neither the skills nor equipment to examine a phone without sending it off for specialist forensic analysis, an expensive and time consuming task. But using the solution supplied by a firm called Radio Tactics officers will now be able to copy mobile phone data - including photos, texts and call records - at the station.

The tech will initially be made available in 16 London boroughs, but could go national if the trial is successful. While this is no doubt going to save money and potentially aid investigations, it is worrying that the information acquired can be kept regardless of the outcome of a case.

Speaking to the BBC a Met spokesman said "data received from the handsets is retained and handled in accordance with other data held by the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service]" - regardless of whether charges had been brought.”

While the Met was keen to stress that this could only happen if there is “sufficient suspicion” of the mobile phone being used in a crime, going by past experiences it’s not hard to imagine officers justifying it in almost any situation.

Police in the UK have been criticised for stop and search tactics which, having apparently learnt little from the Brixton and London riots, show black people being 30 times more likely to be stopped. Copying their mobile phone memory is not going to make bobbies any more popular.

As the Beeb points out this has some similarities to the DNA profile scandal in which forces refused to destroy the DNA samples of people who were never charged with any crime until ordered by the EU. The contents of your mobile phone are arguably even more personal and certainly far more open to abuse.

As the old adage goes, information is power, and all over the world authorities are gathering more of our data in an effort to exert control. As reported recently our own government is working on an intrusive surveillance program, while countries such as China routinely record every bit which passes through their borders making international travel a security nightmare. 

Popular Android handsets such as the HTC One X and One S, and the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S3, feature screens which are well over 4 inches (4.8 in the case of the Galaxy S3) so this is seen as a necessary step in order for Apple to stay competitive in an increasingly cutthroat market.

According to sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, Apple has begun placing orders for a larger display to use in the next iPhone, with the work going to LG, Sharp and Japan Display Inc. The screens are expected to go into production next month, putting Apple on course for an October launch of the iPhone 5. The iPhone 4S was announced and launched in October 2011.

The WSJ reckons the screen is “at least 4 inches diagonally” but Reuters says it is exactly 4-inches, which is in line with previous rumours and seems the most likely option.

A 4-inch screen would allow the iPhone to stand up against the latest Android superphones but still retain a slim profile, particularly if any of the concept designs floating around the web right now turn out to be close to the truth. The above image was created by Jon Fawcett of [Fuse]chicken and imagines an iPhone 5 with 4-inch display and LiquidMetal casing.

Reuters also noted that a previous tip suggested the iPhone 5 would use a Retina display, a term Apple uses to indicate high resolution displays with a very high number of pixels per inch (ppi). This would not be a surprise, but given that the latest Android smartphones are boasting 720p screens it is likely Apple will at the very least match that resolution, if not leapfrog it entirely as it did with the iPad 3’s immense 2048 x 1536 screen. 

Poor old RIM has been in the wars the last couple of years as it has battled to stay afloat in the increasingly competitive smartphone arena. 

It tried to take its BlackBerry range from king of the corporate smartphone market into the consumer realm, but while it was failing to do so against an increasingly dominant Android platform it forgot to watch its back as Apple stole in behind it and took the lead in the enterprise sector it had ruled for so long. 

So what now for the iconic Curve and Bold ranges?

Indicators point to the BlackBerry brand going back to its roots, content in its business beginnings and concentrating on tightening the ship and holding its still impressive corporate smartphone position. And the good news is, it hasn’t lost any of its quality in that area. While Apple may now be number one, this is more at the expense of the Symbian and Windows platforms than any real fall in BlackBerry share. I for one hope it’s not too late, because the BlackBerry Bold 9790 is a lovely phone.

I’ve been a BlackBerry fan for a few years now and the 9790 is my favourite so far. Slick, slim and light like a Curve but almost as powerful as the larger Bold 9900 it does everything well that a BlackBerry should: messaging, security, organisation – meat and drink for it. It will run reliably at full speed all day and be the personal assistant you need.

The only real obvious nod towards RIM’s attempts to chip away at the consumer market is the touchscreen and BlackBerry App World. To be honest I rarely use either (not deliberately anyway), but its progress of a sort I guess – it just wasn’t fast or far enough to make an impression.

That having thousands of apps to download isn’t enough to compete is a measure of quite how ridiculously far we’ve gone down this road. I don’t think its physically possible to reliably sort through millions of apps and finds the best one, but that’s what we do now. Progress, or choice for the sake of choice? Not for me this time – I’m happy with the small range I have here.

And I guess that’s where BlackBerry is right now: still holding onto its old fans, hoping that when it lets go it won’t fall flat on its face but manage to stay on its feet. I for one will stick by it as long as it makes handsets as smart and reliable as the Bold 9790 and if you’re looking for reliability, security and quite simply a phone that works beautifully, take a look at our BlackBerry Bold 9790 review.

ISPs which have signed up to the code agree to give potential customers a speed range estimate “as early as practicable in the sales process”. Ofcom regularly carries out mystery shopper checks to ensure adherence to the code, and the latest results have just been published.

They reveal that while there is some improvement a significant number of customers are still not being given details of potential speeds without first prompting the telephone advisers. Ofcom’s figures show that a speed estimate was provided without prompting in 59% of all the calls, with the best performance from Karoo and Sky, which achieved 76% and 72% respectively.

The worst figures came from BT and TalkTalk at 48% and 47%. According to Ofcom “both BT and TalkTalk have agreed to address this issue by amending their staff training and sales processes.”

In related news, the ASA has today banned TalkTalk from using the speed checker tool on its web site after claims it was overestimating download rates. The ruling came after a customer complained that the speed check gave an estimate of 2.1 - 5.3Mb, despite having already been told by TalkTalk that he could not get more than 2.1Mb. The ASA said TalkTalk had not make it clear enough that customers could receive lower speeds.

It’s worth noting that the Ofcom code states if you do find your connection is much slower than estimated by the provider and they are unable to resolve the problem, they must allow you to cancel your broadband service within 3 months of signing up without charging any penalty. For a list of ISPs which have agreed to the broadband code head over to Ofcom.  

Powerline networking uses your home’s electrical circuit to transmit data, allowing you to instantly network computers, consoles, routers and other equipment simply by plugging the adapters into any power socket. It’s faster and more reliable than Wi-Fi and incredibly simple to use.

The Netgear AV200 Nano Adapter provides up to 200Mb speeds in a compact, secure, energy efficient package. It shuts down when not in use to save power and can be secured with the push of a button.

To find out more about the AV200 kit check out the Netgear site.

In order to win you simply need to:

1) Use our broadband speed test.

2) Tell us the results of your speed test by sending a message on Twitter - @broadbandgenie. Don’t forget to include a link to this page in your tweet.

The winner will be chosen out of a virtual hat in a week’s time. Follow us on Twitter to keep an eye on the results. 

Please note that this giveaway is open to UK residents only.