Ben Smith, Rafe Blandford, and Ewan MacLeod sit down for the next 361 Degrees smartphone podcast, and in this episode talk about network operator-supplied handset insurance… something MacLeod forgot he’d signed-up for. But do these policies offer good value for money and how should you choose who to buy from?

In the first regular episode of 2012, the team discuss:

• Why we do (and don’t) buy handset insurance (and a few war stories).
• The difference between network operator-provided insurance, independent providers and other types of policies.
• What we want (and value) from our network operators.

About 361 Degrees

361 Degrees is a podcast all about mobile technology. From consumer to enterprise and from fun to industry analysis, we investigate and discuss mobile technology and the mobile industry.

Created by Ben Smith of Wireless Worker and co-hosted by Ewan MacLeod of Mobile Industry Review and Rafe Blandford of All About Symbian / All About Windows Phone.

You can follow and subscribe to 361 Degrees on the dedicated mini-site, on Soundcloud, on Audioboo, with an RSS reader or podcatcher, via iTunes via Zune or on any of the hosts' sites.

In working together to create the 361 Degrees podcast, Ben, Ewan and Rafe hope to create an offering that would give the readers, of all their sites, a sampling of a broader range of topics than might usually be covered. They're keen to hear your feedback so please leave your comments below, or on one of the other sites hosting the audio content.