Updated March 2, 2010

O2's recent decision to offer new iPhone tariffs means that the marketplace for the shiny gadget has suddenly become a lot more interesting.

Indeed if you are an O2 early adopter who has an iPhone 3G or 3GS and is coming out of contract you can slice your monthly outgoings down to just £15 a month and keep all the perks such as unlimited data, Visual Voicemail and access to BT's wi-fi network of hotspots.

For just a fiver extra you also get all the flexibility of a 30-day contract - ideal if you're waiting for the mythical iPhone 4G which is due to arrive in June 2010.

But it's not just at the bottom end that O2 has made changes - it's introduced a raft of new monthly tariffs and also cut prices to the iPhone hardware - which is still pricy but not quite as extortionate as it was. O2 has also lifted its limit on texts to the 'unlimited' bracket - but has sneakily introduced a charge of MMS texts at the same time.

If you look carefully, though, you will find some unique offers for non-O2 users who don't have an iPhone. For instance, Tesco has brought the monthly contract cost of an iPhone down to £20 for the first time - albeit with very steep up-front charges for the handset. It is also the only carrier to offer a 12-month contract.

But before you all rush into your local superstore you should note that Tesco is a virtual operator that leases its network from… O2. Yes the same O2 that recently admitted that all the bandwidth being used by iPhone users was breaking its network. Ah well, Plus ça change…

So check out our take on the positives and negatives of all the various iPhone contracts and offers out there. And keep us posted if you hear of any changes or updates. Happy hunting!

Tesco iPhone deals

12-month, £20 per month Tesco iPhone tariff

24-month, £60 per month Tesco iPhone tariff

Tesco advantages:

• Only tariff that offers a 12-month contract and a new iPhone
• You get Club Card points on the purchase
• You may be able to buy the iPhone on credit rather than pay up front
• Half-price calls to 5 nominated numbers

Tesco disadvantages:

• Steep up-front cost of the handsets on 12-month contract (£222, £320, £407)
• Uses the O2 network
• No tethering
• No Visual Voicemail

Ideal for...

• The 12-month contract is perfect for someone who has a Club Card, makes calls to a small number of friends and wants a low monthly outlay.
• The 24-month unlimited contract is probably the best deal around for someone who makes a hell of a lot of calls and texts - it undercuts rival top-end contracts from Orange and O2 considerably.

Orange iPhone deals

Orange £30/month, 18-month iPhone tariff

Orange £35/month, 24-month iPhone tariff

Orange £75/month, 18-month iPhone tariff

Orange advantages:

• The 3G network coverage is better than O2
• You can 'downgrade' your tariff after 9 months
• Great value tethering bundles: £4.89 for 3GB/month
• Supplementary benefits, eg 2-for-1 Wednesdays, Magic Numbers

Disadvantages:

• 750MB fair usage cap on 3G data - but see note below about how much of a disadvantage this is
• 750MB fair usage cap on both The Cloud and BT Open Zone Wi-Fi networks (but how do they enforce this?)
• No Visual Voicemail (although this may change soon)

Ideal for...

• Orange customers wanting to upgrade to the iPhone with the minimum of hassle
• Film buffs who fancy 2-for-1 Wednesdays (and there's an app for that too)
• O2 users sick of dropped calls and slow data speeds in their area

Orange UK iPhone prices and deals

Vodafone iPhone deals

Vodafone £30/month, 18-month iPhone tariff

Vodafone £35/month, 18-month iPhone tariff

Vodafone £40/month, 18-month iPhone tariff

Vodafone £50/month, 18-month iPhone tariff

Advantages:

• All tariffs feature unlimited texts
• The £30/month 18-month tariff has the cheapest handset costs of all providers at that contract length and price
• Free Vodafone-to-Vodafone calls for the duration of your contract if you pre-order before January 12
• Reasonable tethering costs from £5/month for 500MB

Disadvantages:

• Still no Visual Voicemail
• 1GB data bandwidth cap (but again see note below)

Ideal for:

• Vodafone customers wanting to upgrade to an iPhone without hassle
• O2 users sick of dropped calls and slow data speeds in their area
• A heavy call and text user may find the £50/month, 18-month contract hits the sweet spot

Vodafone UK iPhone prices and deals

O2 iPhone deals

O2 £15/month SIMplicity 12-month tariff

O2 £20/month SIMplicity rolling 30-day tariff

O2 £30/month, 18-month iPhone tariff

O2 £35/month, 24-month iPhone tariff

O2 £75/month, 18-month iPhone tariff

Advantages:

• The cheapest monthly tariff if you own an iPhone
• Visual Voicemail
• No data cap on 3D data or Wi-Fi
• Free itemised billing on all monthly contracts
• Only network to offer SIM-only, rolling 30-day deal
• Preferential treatment at O2 music events and venues

Disadvantages:

• Patchy 3G and call network coverage - possibly due to so many iPhones

Ideal for...

• People who've finished their initial contracts and are waiting to upgrade to the iPhone 4G - Simplicity 20/15 is the perfect option
• Heavy 3G data users an elusive O2 network sweet spot
• People who really need Visual Voicemail
• People who've bought a second-hand iPhone that's locked to O2

O2 UK iPhone prices and deals

Check out our complete list of every iPhone contract tariff in the UK

Check out the latest iPhone deals and prices in the UK

Note from the author: A monthly data cap of 750MB or 1GB may seem restrictive at first. But I've owned an iPhone 3GS since it went on sale in July and since then I have downloaded a grand total of 1.3GB of data over the 3G and EDGE connections. That works out at a monthly total of just 220MB. Would I swap to a network with a 750MB cap if it could guarantee better 3G connections and fewer dropped calls? In an instant...

Compare all UK Apple iPhone prices, tariffs and deals - updated daily

Compare all UK Apple iPhone prices, tariffs and deals - updated daily

Apple has a problem. It's a problem the company has created for itself. It wants full control over all content on its portable devices, and now the company has it - warts and all.

Apple has decided to ban "some" apps from its iPhone/iPod touch/iPad App Store and leave "some" other similar ones there for everyone to purchase. We're talking about apps that show women (and men, occasionally) in various states of undress - mostly shots of women wearing bathing suits or underwear.

The catch here is that key word, "some". It seems that if small company made an app that allows the user to, say, wipe clean a dirty window to reveal a woman in a skimpy bikini, then that app has been removed from Apple's App Store. Same for the app that lets the user virtually 'jiggle' the boobs of a girlfriend's photo.

On the other hand, if a large corporation produces an app for the annual Sports Illustrated "Swimsuit Issue" showing women in various poses wearing skimpy bikinis, then those kinds of apps stay. Similarly, Playboy's app featuring and endless stream of scantily clad bunnies is still sitting pretty in Apple's App Store.

You get the point? Money talks!

The man in charge of this - or, at least, the guy taking the heat - is Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. Schiller's is one of the names that always pop up when there's a discussion of Apple execs who would be in-line to take over if and when Steve Jobs steps down.

The New York Times quotes Schiller as saying that Apple now believes a small number of app developers have submitted work with "objectionable content." He said Apple was getting an increasing number of customer complaints from women and parents.

The Times also quotes Schiller as saying that the Sports Illustrated app was different because it comes from a "well known company, was previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format." I'm not sure I would have taken that path, or used the term "broadly".

This is a dangerous tightrope that Apple now has to navigate. I understand that the company has to make its App Store products friendly for everyone but, at the same time, not exclude large portions of the app buying public.

This is the same Apple that, through its iTunes store, sells TV shows and gazillions of movies and videos to watch on its devices. Some of those offerings include late-night cable shows such as "Californication", "Tell Me You Love Me" and plenty more. Then again, how about some of that "music" Apple sells that could never be played over the radio? How does Apple justify that when it's also busy banning apps with pictures of women in swimsuits?

Apple says it has parental controls in place that should keep youngsters from being able to buy and download any App Store content deemed inappropriate. So what's the problem? If that system doesn't work Apple should fix it, rather than make small app developers victims while big media companies are allowed to keep selling racy content. All of these apps in question, including those like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit app, could be restricted to buyers of an appropriate age.

But, I also want to know about the parents' role in all of this. If they've given their youngsters an iPhone or iPod touch or plan to give them an iPad, then they have a responsibility to know what their kids are doing with those devices. They should not be able to put all the blame on Apple. If you wouldn't let your child buy inappropriate items from a local store then why would you let them do so online?

If women or anyone else, for that matter, finds these apps offensive they shouldn't buy them either.

Google seems to be taking a slightly different approach with Android applications. At least, at this point, Google is taking a hands-off approach with developers. Google doesn't screen apps beforehand but will remove offenders if they violate corporate policies. It's a similar system to YouTube's.

It should be very interesting to see how Apple continues to handle its ambiguous app policy - and customer feedback - going forward.

Contact Gary Krakow via email or follow @GaryKrakow on Twitter. First published on Know Your Cell

We’d almost got to the point where we didn’t expect to see Windows Phone 7 Series, after it was repeatedly delayed and Microsoft seemed to be more interested in its Zune HD device. But Windows Phone 7 Series stole the show at this year’s Mobile World Congress, and for good reason.

It finally looks as though Microsoft is back in the running for the smartphone throne, with a superb feature list that’s got developers as excited as users.

Xbox Live
It’s about time Microsoft began to unify its technologies, and it looks as though Windows Phone 7 Series is likely to be the nexus point. Xbox Live has established itself as a hub for Microsoft gamers, who use the online resource as a social network every bit as much as a game download store.

Harnessing the Xbox Live infrastructure will be a powerful tool for Windows Phone 7 Series. Linking up to the achievements system, as well as established friend networks, gaming communities, news and information while on the go is the kind of feature that could sway a smartphone buyer’s decision.

Details are a bit thin on the ground at the moment, but our fingers are crossed that we might even get some cross-platform gaming going on, which isn’t entirely unreasonable when you consider the kind of hardware likely to be sporting the new Windows Phone 7 Series.

Next-gen hardware
Even though Windows Mobile 6.x has struggled to keep up with the likes of Android and iPhone, hardware manufacturers have continued to turn to Microsoft’s smartphone stalwart when they wanted something reliable and supported. However, HTC has been veering wildly toward Android of late, though even a superficial glance at Windows Phone 7 Series has prompted the premier smartphone designer to reaffirm its support for Microsoft.

This is coupled with The Vole’s ultra-strict hardware requirements, which will demand all devices have a minimum processor speed (currently pegged as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon powerhouse), a multi-touch display, three hardware buttons, digital compass, accelerometer and an 800x480 pixel fixed ratio screen (and OEMs can include a slideout Qwerty if they wish).

This might sound overly strict, but it’s actually very important as it will help Microsoft avoid the hardware fragmentation that’s plagued Java, and is currently threatening Android.

Microsoft Games Studio
Microsoft’s internal, first party game studio might not churn out games at a rate of knots, but it’s well known for producing some seriously top quality games. With the right hardware bubbling beneath the screen, Xbox Live integration could easily see enhanced support from the company’s dedicated roster of AAA titles.

Alan Wake, Crackdown, Dead Rising, Fable 2 (and 3), Gears of War, Ninety-Nine Nights, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing, Saints Row and, of course, Halo 3 are all games that aren’t likely to appear on any other systems, yet could provide a backbone for cross-platform gaming between Microsoft’s living room console and its new line of hard-hitting smartphones.

Windows Marketplace
As much as Windows Phone 7 Series is apparently not backwardly compatible, it seems this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Some software is still expected to work, so right from the outset there’s going to be a wealth of smaller, more basic smartphone applications and games waiting for the new Windows-based handsets.

But Microsoft is looking more at establishing Series 7 in its own right, and has already prepared a revamped Marketplace designed from scratch to present its hot new mobile games. This app store appears to be built very much around its slick new user interface, which not only makes access to its games easy, but very attractive.

Already Microsoft is insisting it’ll be targeting quality and not quantity when it comes to populating this new marketplace, which is certainly no bad thing – so long as there’s still a decent quantity of quality games on there, of course.

Zune HD
During the lull before the Windows Phone 7 Series storm, we started believing Microsoft was more interested in the Zune HD than smartphones, though the iPod touch-killer didn’t really seem to gain much traction either. Rumours filtered out about the possibility of a Zune HD phone, and while that’s not quite the angle that Microsoft has taken, it appears it’s not far from the truth.

Instead, it’s Windows Phone 7 Series that looks set to absorb the Zune HD, and that’s exciting for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Windows Phone 7 Series hardware requirements are considerably higher than Zune HD’s, and secondly the media player has –albeit briefly - shown its gaming potential.

The Zune multimedia delivery system has been confirmed for inclusion in WinMo7 (just as it has with the Xbox 360) but the Zune name carries a lot more promise than just music and videos. For one thing, it could well be these smartphones that deliver the Zune HD (in disguise) to the rest of the world, and offer up a far more console-like gaming experience for Microsoft’s new gaming-on-the-go visage.

Google's Android smartphone platform has been one of the stars of the show at Mobile World Congress 2010, with numerous announcements of devices and applications. Here, we highlight ten of the latest Android models that have been unveiled for the first time in Barcelona this week...

1. HTC Legend
   HTC continues to deliver the goods when it comes to high-quality smartphones, and the HTC Legend - the successor to the award-winning Hero - is a delicious looking aluminium uni-body device. Running on Android 2.1 and incorporating the HTC Sense user interface, it has a 3.2-inch, AMOLED HVGA capacitive touchscreen display and an optical joystick trackpad-style control. Wi-Fi, A-GPS an a host of high-grade features are present and correct.
2. HTC Desire
   HTC produced Google's Nexus One handset, and the HTC Desire is an enhanced version of that landmark smartphone. Built around a large 3.7 inch AMOLED WVGA display and powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, it runs  on Android 2.1 and supports Adobe Flash 10.1. It too has an optical joystick trackpad control under the display, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and stacks of smartphone functionality.
3. Samsung Beam i8520
   Debuting some neat new phone technology on its latest Android handset, Samsung's Beam i8520 features a pico projector, enabling users to project any images, video or other content from their handset onto a nearby wall. It's no slouch as a smartphone, either, packing Android 2.1 software layered by Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 skin. It features a large 3.7-inch WVGA touchscreen display, an 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of internal storage, A-GPS, and Wi-Fi, plus an in-built DLP projector on top of the phone. It's expected to launch in Q3 2010.
4. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini
   Building on the design of its yet-to-be-released Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson has announced another more compact version of its Android newcomer - the Xperia X10 Mini. Running on Android 1.6 with Sony Ericsson's UX interface on top, its will feature a 2.55-inch QVGA touchscreen display and weigh a mere 88g. Wi-Fi, A-GPS,a 5-megapixel camera and a 3.5mm headphone socket are among the specs.
5. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro
   Slightly bulkier than the X10 Mini but smaller than the original Xperia X10, the Xperia X10 Mini Pro adds a slide-out keyboard to proceedings. Otherwise it has a similar spec run down to the X10 Mini, with Android 1.6 inside and a 2.55-inch display.
6. Acer Liquid e
   Acer has upgraded its debut Android-powered Liquid device with the Liquid e. Running on Android 2.1 and boasting a Snapdragon processor under the bonnet, the Liquid e is a 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen device that ticks the usual Android boxes Wi-Fi, A-GPS and has a 3.5mm headphone socket and 5-megapixel camera built in.
7. Motorola QUENCH
   Motorola continues to re-boot its smartphone lineup with Android models, debuting the QUENCH - its eighth Android-powered device - at Mobile World Congress 2010. Sporting a 3.1-inch 320 x 480 pixels touchscreen and Motorola's social networking-friendly MOTOBLUR UI, the slimline Android 1.5 device will have touchpad control, pinch-to-zoom controls and feature the standard Wi-Fi, A-GPS and apps seen on previous Motorola Android devices. It'll also have a 5-megapixel camera.
8. T-Mobile Pulse Mini
   The Pulse Mini is the second own-branded Pulse-labelled Android device from T-Mobile. It is a slimmed-down budget Android phone that will sell for £99.99 on pay as you go packages in the UK. Produced by Huawei, the Pulse Mini features a 2.8-inch touchscreen, 3.2-megapixel camera with LED Flash, and runs on Android 2.1 software. Unlike the original Pulse, it also features a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
9. Acer BeTouch E400
   Another Android 2.1 device from Acer, the BeTouch E400 is a mid-tier smartphone that features a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen and measures a slimline 12mm. Running Acer's own user interface on top of the Android 2.1 platform, it has Wi-Fi and A-GPS inside and is powered by a 600MHz processor. Expect to see it on sale in April.
10. Acer BeTouch E110
    Acer's spreading the Android joy across its new smartphone range, with the lower-level BeTouch E110 featuring Android 1.5 software layered with Acer's own user interface. It will run on a 416MHz processor and have a 2.8-inch touchscreen display. It features GPS but there's no Wi-Fi on this model - just HSDPA mobile connectivity. It's scheduled for a March release.

From new smartphones, apps and operating systems to a whole new generation of mobile phone technology, there was a stack of stuff to see and play with at Mobile World Congress 2010.

Here we pick out some of the most interesting tech we saw and held over in Barcelona...

1. Windows Phone 7 Series
   Microsoft stole the show with its all-new Windows Phone 7 Series smartphone operating system. By completely re-imagining how its touchscreen smartphone interface should work from a consumer's perspective, Microsoft created a dazzling alternative to Apple's iPhone and Google's Android platform. With its live tiles-based user interface, a clear, intuitive Zune-like navigation system and high-spec hardware requirements, it promises much excitement for consumers when the first handsets arrive at the end of 2010.
2. HTC Desire and Legend
   Forget the hype about the Google phone - the HTC Desire is the Nexus One but with more on top, while the Legend is an object of desire in its own right. While Google's first own-brand handset may have grabbed the limelight a few weeks ago, its maker HTC has trumped it in the Android smartphone stakes with the Desire. Powered by a superfast 1GHz Snapdragon processor, the Desire's temptations include a 3.7-inch multi-touch WVGA AMOLED display with HTC's Sense UI layered onto the latest Android 2.1 operating system. Wi-Fi, A-GPS, a 5-megapixel camera... and oodles more smartphone goodness. Meanwhile, the Legend in its aluminium smaller-screen design is a terrific successor to the Hero.
3. Android smartphones
   The HTC Desire and Legend were just two of many smartphones powered by Google's Android operating system on show at Mobile World Congress 2010. Want to know where the momentum is in the smartphone market right now? Check out the roll-call of new Android kit announced, which included Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10 Mini and Xperia X10 Mini Pro, the Motorola QUENCH, Samsung Beam i8520, Acer's Liquid e device, the two HTC models, and many more.
4. MeeGo
   Nokia and Intel combining their Maemo and Moblin Linux-based software platforms to create a unified platform - MeeGo - may not have got the exposure of the Windows Phone 7 Series launch, but it may prove to be another significant consumer development. The initiative by these two major electronics industry players is aimed at producing a software platform that will work across multiple devices, from TVs to in-car infotainment gear, high-end smartphones and netbooks to multimedia products and iPad-like tablets. The scope of Nokia and Intel's ambitions go far, far beyond producing just another smartphone OS. This is certainly one to watch.
5. Pico projectors on phones
   Projecting images straight from your phone onto a wall could be the next must-have mobile gadgetry trick. We can see the advantages (and potential disadvantages) of the technology to show images, video, documents and just about anything else you have on your phone on a nearby flat surface. The tech is based around a tiny pico projector being built into the top of a regular sized handset. The Samsung Beam i8520 debut projector-phone makes this even more desirable, with an Android 2.1 operating system powering its large touchscreen goings on.
6. LTE
   3G? That's so last decade. LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the new mobile technology on the block, and this fourth generation mobile network technology was shown around MWC 2010 with much discussion about roll-outs, network agreements and so forth. And we got to see examples of the super high-speed network capability in action, including the first netbook with built in LTE from Samsung.
7. Better camera sensors
   While we all know that megapixel-count is far from the only factor in producing high quality digital cameraphone images, it's easy to get seduced by the mine's-bigger-than-your's megapixel numbers game. It's pleasing, then, to see higher quality imaging chips being rolled out at MWC 2010, notably Samsung's S5K4E2 chip and OmniVision's 1/4-inch 5-megapixel RAW sensor. Now, hopefully, we'll see quality rather than pixel quantity becoming the chief selling point of 'high-end' cameraphones.
8. Bada
   Bada bing or Bada blong? Judging from the first impressive specimen, the Samsung Wave, Samsung's new own-brand low-budget smartphone operating system could be a winner for the South Korean manufacturer. The ongoing smartphone land grab means it'll face extremely stiff competition from low-cost Android devices, but Bada could spread more sophisticated smartphone-style experiences further down the range for ultra budget devices.
9. New BlackBerry browser
   RIM's announcement of a new WebKit-based web browser for BlackBerrys to replace its creaking previous version is bound to please hordes of BlackBerry fans users worldwide. It's been crying out for an upgrade, and now it's arrived - or it will soon. The new BlackBerry browser - the result of development through RIM's Torch Mobile acquisition - is fast, smooth to use and renders websites impressively. Not a groundbreaker in terms of innovation, but it's what plenty of BlackBerry of users have been demanding.
10. Puma solar powered sports phone
    Solar powered, touchscreen and sporty: the much touted Puma Phone may not be the most high-tech of handsets but it certainly managed to get ahead of more higher-tech gear in the publicity stakes. Created in association with Sagem, it has an average touchscreen but plenty of youth-attracting sporty features onboard - plus a solar panel strapped to its back as standard. Which is admirable, we guess.

Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona has been the usual hectic mix of launches, seminars, presentations, behind the scenes deal-making and new product demos. Here we take a quick look at some of the winners and losers emerging from the biggest mobile industry gathering in the world.

WINNERS

Microsoft
At last, Windows Phone 7 Series has relaunched Microsoft as a  smartphone force to be reckoned with. It's taken a while for the software giant to respond to the challenges laid down by Apple's iPhone, but its new operating system brings a radically fresh, exciting and credible smartphone alternative to the market. Let's hope the devices live up to expectations...

Google/Android
It was a great show for Google's Android smartphone platform, with numerous devices announced and shown off at the event. Currently 26 Android-powered smartphones are on the market, and over 60,000 handsets are shifting every day, according to Google's CEO Eric Schmidt - while this pace will only increase as 2010 progresses. And Google's been given a generous nine months notice to prepare a response to the new Microsoft challenge...

Intel/Nokia
The merging of Nokia and Intel's Linux-based Maemo and Moblin platforms into one unified open source platform, MeeGo, may not have set pulses racing  in the consumer world, but it could open up enormous opportunities for these electronics industry giants to establish a software platform for a wide range of technology. High-end smartphones will pack it, but so could dozens of other bits of in-home, in-car, in-office and in-just-about-anywhere gadgetry.

HTC
Delivering desirable handsets in terms of both their Android-smartphone high spec functionality and sheer good looks, HTC is continuing to set the pace for (non-Apple) smartphone manufacturers. It may have been a touch in the shadows for the Google Nexus One launch, but HTC has emerged into the limelight for a very good reason - it produces some cracking products.

Smartphone application developers
With so many new mobile software platforms vying for the attention of smartphone application developers, there's plenty of opportunity to cash in on the smartphone boom with clever applications across multiple operating systems. All developers need to do is choose the platforms that'll be the winners... Simple.

LOSERS

Anonymous Microsoft person(s)
The person (or persons) who decided to burden the slickest, most eye catching smartphone user interface since the iPhone with a real clunker of a name: Windows Phone 7 Series. Nice one.

Nokia smartphones
While HTC was grabbing the limelight on the smartphone hardware front, Motorola was continuing its rival with another Android handset, and even Sony Ericsson was getting down to a bit of smartphone action, Nokia was unusually quiet at the biggest mobile show-and-tell event of the year (the MeeGo announcement notwithstanding). With a new version of the Symbian touchscreen platform on its way though, that's unlikely to last for long, and we expect more interesting stuff soon

RIM
With Microsoft transforming its smartphone game big-time with Windows Phone 7 and Android's onward march picking up pace, the BlackBerry's pre-eminence in the corporate email world could come under increasing pressure. RIM announced plans to offer a free version of its BlackBerry Enterprise Server software for SME customers - another reflection of how increasing smartphone competition could hit the BlackBerry's corporate lustre. But at least BlackBerry got some new improved browser software.

Apple
Steve Jobs was voted Mobile Industry Personality of the Year at the MWC hosts' Annual Global Mobile Awards, even though Apple was again absent from the show. Although Apple's fast-growing smartphone market share and iPhone desirability isn't immediately under threat, the volume of new Android devices and the emergence of a credible challenge (at last) from Microsoft has grabbed some of the spotlight from Apple. That is, until Mr Jobs next reaches into his pocket to reveal the next killer iPhone upgrade...

Windows Mobile 6.5 device launchers
Despite Microsoft revealing with a fanfare its spanking brand new Windows Phone 7 operating system, some manufacturers were still taking the wraps off gleaming new models featuring versions of the soon-to-be-redundant Windows Mobile 6.5 platform. OK, we can see that there will still be some demand before the end of 2010 from fans and corporate customers trying to get them while they're still available. But as far as most consumers are concerned, they're old news.

While Microsoft has lifted the lid on its ground-breaking new Windows Phone 7 Series operating system, and demoed it extensively at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, there are still a few questions left unanswered about the new smartphone OS.

Microsoft's MIX developer event in March should address many of the outstanding questions about the platform - and others will no doubt be resolved over the nine months before the first Windows Phone 7 devices begin appearing in stores.

Right now though, here are a few we've been wondering about:

1. Will it have real multi-tasking?
   So far Microsoft hasn't been exactly specific when it describes how Windows Phone 7 Series devices will deal with running multiple applications, something existing Windows Phone users, as well as other smartphone platform users have been  familiar for some time. Just because the iPhone doesn't yet do it doesn't mean consumers don't want it. Some sort of real multi-tasking capability with apps would be very welcome.
2. How much can controls be customised?
   With a dedicated physical button for Bing on the spec requirements, there doesn't look like much scope for using your own choice default browser and search engine combo. Is Microsoft going to allow other search engines to get a front row seat on its Windows Phone 7-powered devices, should the user want to swap?
3. Will Windows Phone 7 offer any Mac support?
   We think we know the answer to this one already: a big no. But can Microsoft get its device into the right hands of fashion-setting early adopters, and convince smart young users to choose Windows Phone 7 over Apple without making some concessions here? The iPhone-toting, Mac-owning classes would seriously appreciate it.
4. Will there be enough new apps at launch?
   Microsoft hasn't yet revealed anything firm about SDKs, developer polices and how applications might be restricted. Getting up to the mark in the application numbers game may be tricky, particularly with demands on developers' time and resources from multiple smartphone platforms. We're sure Microsoft has plans for boosting its application arsenal - and we're sure to hear more at the MIX event.
5. What do we do with old Windows Phone apps?
   Starting from scratch with a ground-up new operating system, Microsoft seems to have jettisoned the baggage of having to accommodate older software in high-powered new devices. But what about its loyal customers who've stuck by Microsoft smartphones through thick and thin? Particularly corporate customers for whom Windows Mobile was the fleet mobile device of choice. Any chance of an upgrade path or some credits?
6. How good will the Xbox LIVE experience be?
   The iPhone has shown how impressive gaming can be on a large touchscreen device, and the promise of Xbox LIVE support will surely grab huge gamer interest. But can Windows Phone 7 really deliver a gaming experience that will be exciting enough to live up to expectations? If it can, it could be a real winning application.
7. Has Microsoft left it too late?
   That's the question we're all going to have to wait and see. By the end of 2010 when the first generation of Windows Phone 7 devices hit the stores, the next generations of iPhones, Android devices, Symbian smartphones and others could well match the great ideas we're now seeing in Windows Phone 7. Could the wow factor have waned by the time real products are in the stores, or will Windows Phone 7 devices end up as 2010's must-have gadgets?

It's fresh, it's bristling with newness, imagination and user friendliness. But can any of the gleaming new Windows Phone 7 Series devices, expected towards the end of 2010, really be able to convince iPhone users to lay down their Apple mobiles and surrender to the Microsoft-powered onslaught?

Unveiling the iPhone back in 2007, Steve Jobs described it as 'revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone'. Three years later, Microsoft has done some serious catching up  But despite a neat interface, usability never experienced before on a Windows-powered smartphone, and a stack of user-orientated features, Windows Phone 7 Series is still unlikely to capture the hearts and minds of Apple iPhone users.

Here are 10 reasons why:

1. The Apple cool factor
   It's from Microsoft, not Apple. No matter how good the user interface or gadgetry, the cool kudos of packing an Apple-crafted handset will take a huge amount to overcome. Microsoft's not managed it so far, so there's no reason why we should expect them to do so with Windows Phone 7 Series.
   
   
2. Design
   Ok, so Microsoft has revealed an impressive list of manufacturers it already has onboard for Windows Phone 7 Series towards the end of 2010. But have you yet seen any of them produce a smartphone as elegantly proportioned and stomach-lurchingly desirable as the iPhone? Thought not.
3. What's coming next
   Nine months is a very long time in the smartphone world. By the time the first Windows Phone 7 Seres devices hit stores, all the other smartphone platforms will have moved on. Steve Jobs was recently reported as claiming that the smartphone opposition won't be able to keep up with the next iPhone updates. The next generation of iPhone hardware will have been around for some time by Christmas 2010, and we expect there'll be yet more new iPhone device rumours swirling around by the time the tinsel is up.
4. Over 3 billion apps downloaded
   Hands up who wants to throw away all the apps they've bought and downloaded? More than 3 billion iPhone apps have already been downloaded worldwide, and we don't expect many iPhone owners will be keen to ditch all that investment to switch. Apps bought for the iPhone - or any other smartphone system - won't be compatible, so swapping devices will mean saying goodbye to all that and hello to more download expense.
5. But will there be enough apps?
   The iPhone App Store offers over 140,000 downloadable applications. It's going to take some time and effort for developers to get up to that sort of software offering for the next generation of Microsoft-powered smartphones. Particularly as developers could be making much money over the 9-month Windows Phone 7 Series gestation period by instead putting their time and resources into developing apps for the iPhone OS, Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, Palm's WebOS, and so on.
6. No Mac support
   Sure, not everyone who owns an iPhone also has a Mac, but there is a significant proportion worldwide who do. The lack of Mac support you can expect from a Microsoft-powered smartphone system is going to reinforce a lot of Apple-user antipathy towards the new Windows Phone 7 Series platform. And it won't work with iTunes either.
7. What's really new?
   Despite a complete re-imagining of  Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, what can it offer that's really new, and that hasn't been done before by the iPhone, Android or other smartphone platforms?  Getting its user interface to work effectively doesn't necessarily mean that Microsoft has reinvented the smartphone experience. And while Xbox LIVE support may appeal to a new gamer audience, the Zune functionality onboard is unlikely to trump the iPhone's music player.
8. Where is it going?
   So there's a Bing button built in as standard? Does that mean we have to use Microsoft's browser rather than one of our own choosing? And what else in there has Microsoft tied up? Will there be restrictions on certain types of applications? There's still a lot we have to find out.
9. It'll be too businessy
   All right, there are loads of consumer friendly apps and a user-centred user interface - but can Microsoft resist bulking up its Windows Phone 7 Series platform with stuff to appeal to enterprise users - currently a hugely important market for the ailing Windows Phone operating system? The spread of manufacturers getting involved suggests there'll be plenty of form factors available, but the basic device requirements could shift the OS appeal too much towards business users.
10. ...And the name
    'Hey, what's that in your hand, is it an iPhone?'
    'No it's a Windows Phone 7 Series HP xxxxxxxx.'.
    Catchy, huh? It may have completely overhauled its smartphone operating system, but some Microsoft habits sure die hard...

What Is MeeGo all about? Nokia and Intel's announcement at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that they would be combining their two open source operating systems to create an all-new one named MeeGo was somewhat overshadowed by the landmark launch of Windows Phone 7 Series.

But the combination of the two electronics giants' Linux-based operating systems into MeeGo could still play out to be a significant move - whether that's in developing a new breed of smartphone devices, netbooks, notebooks, tablets or other connected mobile gear.

Nokia's Maemo platform has recently given an airing on the Nokia N900 smartphone. But what will be delivered smartphone-wise by the new MeeGo operating system remains to be seen.

In the meantime, here's the essentials should you know about MeeGo:

1. MeeGo is a Linux-based software platform that has been created from Intel's Moblin platform and Nokia's Maemo platform, and builds on collaboration between Intel and Nokia that was first announced back in June 2009.
2. The first version of the MeeGo platform will debut in the second quarter of the 2010 and the first devices using MeeGo will arrive later in 2010.
3. MeeGo isn't just a direct competitor for the likes of the iPhone, Android OS-powered devices, Windows Phone 7, Palm's Web OS and RIM's BlackBerry platform. It's aimed at a much broader range of applications. The Linux-based MeeGo platform is intended to cater for multiple types of device including smartphones, netbooks, tablets, connected TVs, mobile computers and in-car entertainment systems. 
4. MeeGo isn't going to replace Symbian as Nokia's smartphone platform of choice - not just yet, at least. Nokia's executive vice president of devices, Kai Oistamo, said at the MeeGo launch that the two operating systems would continue to co-exist.
5. However, the MeeGo platform will run on high-performance premium mobiles, according to Nokia's Kai Oistamo. MeeGo will offer a range of rich online and computing experiences with rich graphics, multi-tasking and multimedia capabilities. And not just on devices with Intel chips - it is envisaged as an open platfrom for  'multiple processor architectures', so can run on Arm chips favoured by the mobile industry.
6. The MeeGo platform will be developed as an open project hosted by the Linux Foundation.
7. MeeGo should be attractive to application developers, as it uses the Qt application development environment which enables developers to write applications just once and easily deploy them across variety of platforms and devices.
8. The MeeGo platform is being billed as an operating system that can enable seamless communication between a variety of connected devices in the home, office, vehicle – and in the pocket. That means users could be getting a very similar software experience whatever gadget they happen to be using, whether its a TV, phone, netbook or in-car entertainment set-up.
9. MeeGo applications for Nokia devices will be sold through the Ovi App store for Nokia, while Intel's AppUp Center will cater for applications for Intel-based MeeGo devices.
10. The next version of Maemo, Maemo 6, will be MeeGo compatible - but Nokia hasn't decided yet whether it will be distributed under a MeeGo name.

It's been hugely anticipated, much rumoured and, for many, long overdue - now Microsoft's complete overhaul of its Windows Mobile smartphone platform has been unveiled with the announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

There's been much criticism in the past about the user-friendliness of the Windows Mobile touchscreen platform, particularly when held up against the slick experience offered by Apple's iPhone and certain Android OS-packing smartphones. With the launch of Windows Phone 7 Series Microsoft is aiming to change all that.

Rather than updating its legacy mobile operating system with a tweak here and a re-sknning there, Microsoft has gone back to the drawing board with this version of its smartphone platform. Introducing a completely new user interface that puts social networking high up the agenda, brings the Zune HD player platform to mobiles for the first time and pulls in the Xbox LIVE experience, Windows Phone 7 Series could be the Microsoft paradigm shift most of us have been hoping for.

Here we look at the 10 reasons (in no particular order) why Windows Phone 7 Series should be hit...

1. User friendly touchscreen UI
   Windows Phone 7 Series looks like it addresses one of the fundamental weaknesses of Microsoft's smartphone offerings - a dated and not particularly user friendly UI. Despite a variety of efforts at re-skinning the Windows Phone user interface, under the surface the Microsoft smartphone OS has lor a while looked increasingly unwieldy compared to its more nimble smartphone OS rivals. Despite improvements with Windows Mobile 6.5, finger tapping control often had to be supplemented by stylus-led intervention on tiny menu options in graphically spartan lists that looked more old school desktop PC than iPhone-worrier. Now Apple's iPhone may experience a little more bother from Microsoft-powered devices.
2. Zune-style user experience
   The launch of a 'Zune phone' has been the subject of plenty of speculation. Now Microsoft's Zune HD portable media player has been incorporated into a mobile - but Microsoft's done more than simply fuse a decent music and video player with a smartphone. While Microsoft isn't exactly the first company to integrate a successful music player design ethos into a mobile phone, elements of the Zune HD's user interface have been worked through the new smartphone interface, providing a clean and different take for a mobile phone UI. It's completely different to what's gone before - large, clear text and more straightforward navigation options. Naturally, the Zune music player experience means you get a great tune and video player set-up in the package too - something previously lacking in many Windows Phone devices.
3. Well integrated social networking apps
   The 'live tiles' based homescreen set-up on Windows Phone 7 Series means users can customise their device to get regular automatic updates from favourite social networking sites and online services. These are well integrated with the phone's contacts, providing a user-friendly way of getting updates, managing and using services. There's plenty of user customisation options to keep it relevant and personal.
4. Xbox LIVE gaming support
   Now that gamers have a mobile phone platform that supports Xbox LIVE, Microsoft could find its smartphone platform reaching out to a new market. With over 23 million active Xbox LIVE members currently around the world, Windows Phone 7 Series devices could be on to a winner.
5. Multi-tasking support
   You'll be able to operate multiple applications at the same time on a Windows Phone 7 Series device. Although nothing new for some smartphone platforms, we're pleased to see Microsoft's rvamped OS continuing to support this way of running a smartphone OS.
6. Tighter control over hardware and UI
   As Apple's experience has shown, a consistent smartphone look and user experience works very well for consumers. So, although Microsoft isn't going to be manufacturing its own Windows Phone 7 Series handsets, it will be specifying certain handset hardware requirements and restricting the re-skinning by manufacturers of the 'live tile' user interface. Among the hardware requirements, Microsoft will be specifying a four-point multi-touch capacitive displays, processor, screen ratio, memory, plus a regular button configuration (including a dedicated one for Bing search). While the spec has the flexibility for additional elements such as Qwerty keyboards, the basic requirements should create a more consistent Windows Phone experience for consumers.
7. Support from key manufacturers
   Getting large volumes of devices on the market is key to getting momentum for a new operating system, and Microsoft has got plenty of partners onboard to try to achieve that. While it will still have to deal with whatever Apple, Android, Symbian and others deliver before Windows Phone 7 Series launches towards the end of the year, the major manufacturers it has working with it to launch products include Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc. That should provide plenty of consumer choice for handsets when the platform launches.
8. Business demand
   There are still plenty of corporate buyers and IT departments who'll opt for a Microsoft-based smartphone solution. Windows Mobile's market share may have declined significantly over the last year, but there is still a hard core of residual support that could be captalised upon if the hardware delivers. And although Microsoft may appear to be emphasising the consumer experience of its new smartphone OS, the business side of the smartphone business is also prominent in the spec list.
9. Application developer support
   Although the Windows Phone 7 Series operating system is a completely new, Microsoft can expect plenty of support from application developers to ramp up the apps market for its OS. It's no clear yet whether legacy applications will run on Windows Phone 7 Series device, but with strong support from manufacturers and mobile network operators, and keen attention from Microsoft itself, we expect the applications ecosystem should be pretty healthy soon after launch.
10. It's Christmas!
    Or rather, it will be shortly after Windows Phone 7 Series devices launch. Scheduled to be in stores 'by holiday 2010', we can expect some serious marketing effort to get hot new devices onto must-have present lists for gadget lovers. It good be a good Christmas for Microsoft if key models hit the stores with a positive buzz about them.

Why would you want a projector built into your mobile phone? We've had high spec multi-megapixel cameras with high definition video recording, plenty of phones that do TV-out via cables, and we've been able to share dodgy images in public onscreen or via Bluetooth for ages.

However, following the launch of the Samsung Beam i8520 mobile phone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we could all soon be nonchalantly projecting huge images from our mobiles directly onto nearby walls, to share with friends and complete strangers alike.

While the potential embarrassment factor is huge (stand up, Ashley Cole), Samsung is obviously hoping its projector gadgetry (using TI pico projector technology) will catch on. And there are several reasons why a projector in your mobile phone could turn out to be that great phone feature you never knew you needed...

1. Photos and video slideshow
   The obvious reason. Copy all your favourite photos and video clips into your phone or onto a memory card, and you can have an instant slideshow wherever you are. Project onto any nearby wall and stun/bore your friends and family.
   
   
2. Light work of presentations
   With document viewing software pre-loaded onto the Android 2.1-powered Samsung Beam, you can carry your presentations and projector in your pocket. Load up and away you go. Maybe not as impressive as the full works flatscreen presentation, but easier to operate in a bar - and less to lug around with you after you've been knocked back on the contract.
   
   
3. Public transport sharing
   Irritated by people playing tinny music on their mobile's loudspeakers while you're waiting for a bus? Retaliate by projecting an episode of Antiques Roadshow or your holiday video onto the bus shelter.
   
   
4. Projecting your image
   With the facility to project live pictures from the Beam's onboard camera, the possibilities are endless. Skip the queue at the bar, for instance, by projecting your smiling face to the bar staff as you mouth your order. And see how far that gets you...
   
   
5. Embarrassing your friends
   The other obvious reason. One of the principal functions of cameraphone technology can be given a whole new lease of life by a pico projector built into a smartphone. You don't even have to wait to upload images or video to the internet to spread humiliating content to a mass audience - simply slip out the phone in any crowded place, and away you go.
   
   
6. Getting the message
   A whole new medium to project your frustration in a passive/aggressive kind of way. Waiting ages for to be served in a shop? There must be dozens of sarky video clips you could  project towards tardy staff. Before they get their security staff to escort you off the premises, that is.
   
   
7. Creating multimedia taunts
   Football fans - why stick to old school terrace chants? Provide a true multimedia experience for 21st century player-baiting with images and video clips (where available). And if they come from the footballers themselves, all the better...

Is now a good time to be launching an all-new own-brand smartphone operating platform? Samsung thinks so - it's just debuted its first Bada-powered device at the Mobile World Congress, the Samsung Wave S8500.

While the Bada-driven Samsung Wave is an impressively specced 3.3-inch touchscreen device, there's not exactly a shortage of smartphone OS options currently available. So can Bada really compete with the fast-growing Android momentum?

Android is this year's smartphone flavour at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, with over 50 new handsets sporting the open source Google operating system expected this year. There's also plenty of buzz about the highly anticipated new Windows Phone 7 Series OS.

Meanwhile the Symbian OS, while getting its own Symbian^3 refresh announcement, still holds sway at the top of the smartphone sales chart. And Apple's iPhone's touchscreen OS still grabs the glamour while RIM's BlackBerry platform and Palm WebOS do the business for other sections of the mobile smartphone market.

Room for Bada?
Put simply, is there  room for Bada in this crowded smartphone space? And can Samsung gain the application development momentum to make it work as a sustainable smartphone OS?

The first Bada phone, the Samsung Wave S8500, certainly throws down the gauntlet with a high end spec list - including a superb 3.3inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, a 1GHz processor under the bonnet, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, and a tasty TouchWiz 3.0 based user interface and Social Hub social networking apps that at first glance offers much of the intuitive ease of use of the Android system. And all in a design that smacks of slimline high-end goodness.

Bada vs Android?
Yet Bada isn't quite pitched as an operating system to pummel it out toe-to-toe with Android. Instead, Samsung is very much looking for its open source Bada OS to spread smartphone functionality across the lower end of the mobile market - a 'smartphone for everyone' according to its launch manifesto.

It may be billed as a new smartphone operating system, but Bada is more about putting smartphone functionality into mass market Samsung TouchWiz touchscreen handsets than conquering the world with its own-brand OS. After all, Samsung has been careful enough over the years to keep all its smartphone operating system options as open as possible.

And it's still doing so.

Samsung is still rolling out Windows Phones, Symbian models and a growing number of Android devices, including the Samsung Beam pico projector model announced today.

Developer support
Getting developer support for bringing applications to the Bada platform is crucial to ensuring a successful and sustainable platform. The smartphone numbers game means developer resources are likely to be focused on smartphone platforms with momentum behind them. In the post-iPhone world, getting your apps to the greatest number of consumers possible is key, so Samsung has its work cut out to provide a vibrant apps marketplace for its Bada devices. And to get the numbers required to make development worthwhile.

Already there are over 140,000 applications available for the Apple iPhone and thousands for Android devices - and these numbers are growing extremely fast. In the case of Android, the number of new handsets soon to be available should accelerate this trend. And that's great news for the consumer who wants plenty of apps and services at their smartphone-tapping fingertips.

However, with only a handful of Bada devices scheduled for release in 2010, the Samsung Apps store is unlikely to create similar momentum on the apps front. While this is may not necessarily a deal-breaker for touchscreen buyers at the budget end of the market, it's not a great prospect for a would-be smartphone OS.

Nonetheless, with Samsung, the world's number two mobile manufacturer, aiming to triple its smartphone sales this year to 18 million handsets, and increase its small smartphone market share, Bada is no doubt an important part of its plans.

Its first Bada phone is impressive, and offer a glimpse of what other manufactures should be doing to spread the smartphone joy, but whether Bada can be more than a footnote in the smartphone wars remains to be seen...

With the arrival of HTC's new Android devices, including the Legend and Desire (previously the Bravo), come new features for the HTC Sense UI.

In addition to small tweaks and improvements, there's a lot that makes us even more excited about picking up the new phones. Yes, really.

Friend Stream widget
Previously on HTC Sense, you could view all of your contact's social networking streams from their contact card. Now there's a widget called Friend Stream that sits on your homescreen and streams every tweet, post, comment and new posting from every contact's Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. It's pretty similar to Motorola's MOTOBLUR, but we think it's clearer and therefore better.

Calendar widget
Another new widget that HTC has added with the new version of Sense, due to debut on the Legend and Desire, is an improved Calendar widget. Instead of just viewing your calendar by month, you can now see a calendar stream, so any new events that are coming up are displayed in a list view rather than a calendar per se.

Email
Exchange email has never worked as effectively on Android devices as it has on the iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices. Now, it's been improved with extra tabs to display handy options including unread mail and calendar requests. You can also search Exchange mail, whether it's been downloaded from the server or not.

Helicopter View
Helicopter View is probably the most exciting aspect of the new version of HTC Sense. Just by pinching the screen, you can enter into Helicopter View that displays a mini version of each homescreen. Sketched on each mini homescreen are the widgets (albeit 1-pixel icons). It's pretty much like a slimmed down version of Expose on Mac, but is pretty handy when you can't be bothered with sweeping across seven screens to find the widget you want.

People widget
Although the People widget was previously available on HTC Sense, the new improved version opens the widget up to groups. If you do have your phonebook divided into groups, rather than just contacts, you can add these to the People tab too, so it's not just limited to your favourite contacts anymore.

Apparently, older Android devices will be upgradable to this new version of HTC Sense (including the Magic and Hero), although some features won't be available, and HTC hasn't advised us of the release date. This will presumably be up to the operator if you have a network-specific device.

Mobile phones have evolved leaps and bounds in the last decade, and it appears that the next few years will not be any different.

We take a look at the top 10 most intriguing, innovative, and appealing concept phones on the horizon. Care to join?

The Google Chrome Tablet
The Chromium website has received a video from Glen Murphy, one of Google’s Chrome OS designers, revealing a tablet platform touting the Google name. If the video is any indicator, this iPad contender will be bringing some interesting features to the table(t).

For starters the interactive touchscreen keyboard has multiple layout façades including split, anchored, and attached to focus. Additionally this tablet will bring a very big fighting point in its battle against the iPad.

This Google Tablet will be able to multitask. Also, it will presumably not be operating with the micro-sim sin that apple has committed. With standards like multitouch, zoom, and a 5 to 10-inch screen, this Googlet will certainly draw a little enthusiasm from the tablet crowd.

Ovi Orion
Recombu has released a concept of a phone targeted for that much sought after demographic: hardcore mobile gamers. The phone, which was conceptualised with the Nokia name on it and under the moniker “Ovi Orion”, will have a game friendly user interface which will incorporate multiple gaming buttons on either side of the 4.3-inch touchscreen, all of which would offer tactile feedback.

It will also be Wi-Fi ready, leaving it poised to take on the big bite that iPhone has taken out of the mobile gaming market. This could be the platform that the good ol’ N-Gage was striving to be, but will Nokia deliver on this risky model?

NTT DoCoMo LTE device
NTT DoCoMo will announce its LTE handset prototype at the Mobile World Congress this month in Barcelona, Spain. The company, which is coordinating with NEC, Fujitsu, and Panasonic on this project, has been developing this LTE chip technology for over a year.

The chip is based on 3G technology and will supposedly be able to transmit data at an exponentially larger rate than previous phones could (actual figures are rumoured around 100Mbps). Analysts expect the phone to be on the market within the year, and say the handset technology will be widespread by 2011.

Shape shifter
Tired of the same old touchscreen wonderphone? Do you want more out of your mobile? Fabian Hemmert did, so he and his team of design engineers have collaborated on two phones that have dynamic and decidedly different properties to them. One model changes shape depending on its context of usage.

This means that if it is sitting in your pocket it will streamline itself to its smallest dimensions, however, if you are holding it in your hand it will taper itself to fit ergonomically in your hand by expanding and angling its back panel outward. The other model has the ability to fluidly shift its weight across an axis which spreads the length and width of the phone. The applications that these technologies may have is unclear as of yet, but they are certainly intriguing.

Synaptics Fuse
Synaptics hopes to break new ground with the introduction of its new phone the Fuse. This platform will have a full arsenal of sensors that will be used to provide users with a haptic touchscreen experience unlike any other.

The Fuse will have a touch sensitive back panel, touch and pressure sensitive side strips, and a cutting edge new touchscreen leading the charge on the face of the phone.

The idea behind the Fuse is seamless one-handed touchscreen navigation with out having to look at what you’re doing on the phone. Through a combination of touch, pressure, and tactile feedback, the Fuse will break new ground with this bevy of sensors.

<< Previous 1 2 Next>>

New Android phones, a handcart full of other handsets, and new operating systems are set to be unveiled next week at the 2010 MWC - Mobile World Congress. Here's our picture gallery of all the top rumours we expect to solidify at the event.

Mobile World Congress 2010 is on our doorstep, but what wonders does it have stashed away in it bulging briefcase? As happens every year, the conference’s secrets have started to seep out, giving us a good idea of what’s going to be laid out on those stalls.

We’ve had a snoop and a poke to find out each juicy bit of gossip that’s floating around the net. Predictably, many phones feature, and there are even a couple of new operating systems rumoured to be making an appearance.

• HTC Bravo

  We were slightly heartbroken when the HTC HD2 turned out to be a Windows Mobile phone rather than an Android handset, so we’re excited to find out more about HTC’s next high-powered Android, the Bravo. It’s rumoured to pack a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, displaying 480x800 pixels.

  The HD2 was admittedly a lot bigger, with a pocket-worrying 4.3-inches of display, but the Bravo is a big step up from 2009’s top Android phone, the HTC Hero. The 1GHz Snapdragon processor should ensure that it runs like a dream too.

  The HTC Bravo even reportedly features an FM Radio, which is sadly left out of many high-end phones these days. Some of us still love the old wireless, you know.

• Motorola Devour

  The Motorola Devour is a less intimidating version of the Milestone. It packs a physical Qwerty keyboard, but features a much smaller screen – 3.1 inches instead of 3.7 – and a reduced price tag to match. In-line with its more accessible feature set, the Devour uses Motoblur, the Motorola-made version of the Android OS focused on social networking.

  Motoblur uses home screen speech bubbles to keep you informed of the latest updates from Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other social networks. Read our Motorola DEXT review for more information – it was the first handset to feature Motoblur. A splicing of the DEXT and Milestone is a good idea, and that is essentially what the Devour is.

• Garmin-ASUS Android phone

  The Garmin-ASUS’s Android phone due to be unveiled at MWC reminds us of Acer’s entries to the smartphone market in 2009. Do we need their phones? Who are they aimed at, exactly?

  Plus, the Garmin-ASUS G60 phone revealed a year ago still hasn’t been released. When will this new Android phone actually hit the market? Who’s going to buy it?

  There are just too many questions about, and not enough interest in, this Garmin-ASUS Android for us to place too much confidence in it. No details have been leaked about the phone as yet, but we expect a mid-range offering sporting a mostly vanilla version of the Android OS.

• Zune phone

  We’ve been writing about the Zune Phone, or Pink as it has been called, for almost a year now, but we’ll actually get to see the device in the flesh at MWC 2010. It’ll sport an Nvidia Tegra chip and run Windows Mobile 7 if current reports turn out to be true. Zune rumours have been popping up for years now, so we’re not going to add any more to the mix before MWC.

  The Zune MP3 player never made it to many shelves over here, so the brand has some way to go in terms of recognition with your average UK phone buyer. Don’t hold out for the next iPhone killer just yet, but we’ll fill you in with the full scoop later this month.

• Google Nexus Two

  Google’s entry into the smartphone arena was met with a bang, but initial low sales of the Nexus One followed this up with a mere fizzle. The Nexus Two is set to plug the most notable gap in the Nexus One’s feature list with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, and will be manufactured by Motorola.

  The Nexus One is an impressive bit of kit, and we expect the Nexus Two will keep pace. Will it be strong enough to eclipse the Motorola Milestone, the current king of Qwerty Android phones? This is what we hope to find out at Mobile World Congress.

< 1 Prev Next 2 > Gallery

Have you ever bought an iPhone or iPod touch app that doesn't work as described? Perhaps you're using an app with bugs and the developer is no longer supporting it.

Apple seemingly does its best to make the App Store refund procedure a bit of a mystery, but luckily Know Your Mobile has put together a simple guide that will help you get your money back in the event an iPhone or iPod touch app developer just isn't providing the support needed to remedy your issue.

• First, open iTunes and select the iTunes Store link in the left-hand column
• Near the top right corner, click the arrow next to your user name (email address) and then select Account

• About half way down the screen, click the Purchase History button

• In the bottom portion of the screen, you will see your App Store purchase history -- click the Report a Problem button

• Locate the iTunes invoice with the application you would like a refund for, and click the Report a Problem link. If the app was bought a while ago, locate it in the Previous Purchases section and click on the expand arrow to bring up the Report a Problem link

• Fill out the form that follows and be sure to be as detailed as possible -- when finished, click Next

If your reason for requesting a refund is valid, Apple should respond within a few days and process your refund within a week. Remember to not abuse this process - when Apple refunds your money, the developer's commission is lost as well.

First published on our sister site Know Your Cell

Scores of journalists were out at the Apple Tablet event yesterday, getting their fingerprints all over those lovely new Apple iPads. However, some had video cameras pointing at them too.

We’ve scoured the net for all the best video previews of Apple’s device, which will be available in the UK in March.

Joystiq
Joystiq’s Chris Grant captured a great video of the Apple iPad running Need for Speed: Shift. Grant demonstrates how the ‘upscale’ button works on the device, which is what you’ll be using to run any iPhone games that haven’t been optimised for use on iPad.

Check out the video over at Viddler

iPad Insider
If you want to see Steve Jobs checking out the iPad himself, take a look at this video of the press conference itself, as captured by iPad Insider. It’s a good quality vid, and the other parts of the conference can be found on YouTube.

SlidetoPlay
Most tech folks focused on the games featured in the press conference when taking video of the iPad, but SlidetoPlay was a little more ambitious, snapping vids of a handful of different games including Super Monkey Ball 2. Check out one of the previews below.

Fox News
Of course, the iPad isn’t just all about games. Fox News took a video demonstrating the e-book functionality of the device, showing how its page turning is quite different from that of the Amazon Kindle.

Engadget
For an all-round look at the iPad, Engadget’s video hands-on is a good bet. It runs through some of iWork’s features, the e-book reader app, iTunes, YouTube and several other bits too. It’s essentially a real-life version of what Jobs did in his presentation.

Check out the video here

Last night’s Apple iPad launch saw lots of the big US tech sites get their hands on Apple’s latest gorgeous gadget. Not all impressions of the Apple iPad have come back positive, but it’s worth getting a clear view of exactly what the iPad is all about before deciding if you’re willing to fork out the best part of £500 for them.

Here’s a round-up of what those present at last night’s event thought –

Engadget -
“…the Apple iPad doesn't live up to that potential. For all its horsepower, we're still relegated to one app at a time. For all its talk of being a great web experience -- and it is really snappy -- we still don't have Flash. The New York Times app showed promise for newspapers and magazines, but for now the experience unfortunately seems to be the exception, not the rule.”

CNET -
“Really, it's the casual computer user that will see the biggest benefit from the iPad. The kind of person who doesn't own an iPhone or a laptop and would be happy to browse the New York Times stories over morning coffee, if it didn't mean sitting at a computer desk. If you love showing off your digital photos but detest using your home computer to organize and display them, the iPad and its photo-import functionality and large display may be just the ticket.”

Gizmodo –
“Sure the iPad may not be as easy on the eyes as a Kindle. But you will be able to read in bed without an additional light source. You will be able to read things online without banging your head against a wall to get to the right page. And, once the publishers get their acts together, you will be able to enjoy comics, cookbooks, and children's books, with colorful images. Even before you set them into motion, dancing around the screen, they'll look way better than they would on e-ink.”

PC World –
“While the Apple iPad is super slim at only a half-inch (13mm) thick, we had some difficulty handling it. At around 680g, it is too heavy to hold in one hand, which is troublesome if you plan on using it as an e-book reader.

“Other e-readers, such as the Amazon Kindle 2 or the COOL-ER e-reader, are much lighter in hand than the Apple iPad, and therefore make for a much more comfortable user experience. Using two hands is much more comfortable, but if you're reading a long novel, that could get quite tiresome.”

Slashgear -
“In many ways it it feels like an oversized iPhone, and unfortunately some of the iPhone’s flaws have been carried over. The biggest – and most frustrating, given the turn of speed the iPad is obviously capable of – is the complete absence of multitasking.

There’s also no Flash support in the browser, a crime given how well it displays webpages. Over the WiFi connection here, SlashGear loaded up snappily and just as you’d expect from a desktop browser, bar any animations, but at least it flips between landscape and portrait orientations with no lag.”

So, what’s all this hype about then? The Apple iPad tablet may look good on paper, but there are some key features missing from our wish list, and some features that just aren't as good as they look.

Here's what just doesn't get our juices flowing:

Embedded flash
Considering smartphone manufacturers actually have the ability to implement flash into devices, it’s astonishing that Apple can’t integrate the technology into it’s phone, let alone something as impressive as the tablet. It would be fantastic to be able to watch video embedded in the browser, but no, Apple.

App Store
Although it has been confirmed that the iPad will work with the App Store, it's not guaranteed that all apps will work on the firmware. This could be a real issue, and has the potential for disaster with up scaling.

It's huge!
With a 9.7-inch screen, the iPad is pretty large. Sure, people use eBook readers, but we can't imagine many people cracking out this serious piece of kit out on the train.

iBooks
iBooks is a great idea on a device with such a large screen, but is it as god as an eBook reader? No. The screen has too much glare compared to devices that use e-ink, so it'll strain your eyes, and of course, consume a hell of a lot more power.

Pricing
Pricing is always an issue with Apple. They over-price their products, yet people will still snap them up. We think even the entry price of $499 is steep - let alone $829, even if it does include 3G

No camera
The iPad is meant to be a multimedia device, so it's a shame there's no camera, despite integrating an impressive gallery function. It would be great to take photos on the device, and an iSight web cam would be even better.

No multitasking
Although the Apple iPad features a CPU that's fit for multitasking, it still won't let you have multiple application open at the same time. Why do this to us Apple? Every other smartphone manufacturer can!

3G or not to 3G?
For this concept to really work, and be a computer away from your computer, all devices should include 3G. Nokia's Booklet is a great example of how integrating data technologies into a compact but capable computer can work. If it's only got Wi-Fi, you may as well stay at your desk and use your computer rather than

Capacity
For a device that's meant to be more like a computer than a phone, the iPad's capacity is pretty shoddy. starting at 16GB, it's the same as the entry-level iPhone 3GS, and although 64GB is an upgrade to the iPhone, we want more!

So it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for – the launch of Apple’s tablet and a whole new era of the mobile device.

Steve Jobs described the iPad as a convergence between a phone and a computer, and that's almost exactly what it is.

So, what’s this iPad then?

Here are 10 things you really need to know about the iPad.

It's just a big iPhone
Although this is pretty much what we were expecting, the interface of the iPad looks exactly like a swollen version of the iPhone's interface. It means not so much is crammed onto the larger screen, which make the viewing experience a lot friendlier. Hopefully, it'll also be easier to find things on the homescreen quickly - one issue we currently have with the iPhone. However, it's apparently designed for 'close up work', basically meaning Apple hasn't change the size of the text or icons.

Improved iTunes interface
With a product that's designed to be halfway between a computer and a phone, it's no surprise to see that Apple has had to tweak parts of its services interface to fit a larger screen. iTunes has been updated to fit the screen, although it'll be interesting to see what else has changed.

It's fast
Hurrah! Apple has upgraded the chipset from the iPhone to 1GHz, meaning everything will be faster. As there was a noticeable improvement between the iPhone 3G and 3GS, we're pretty sure there will be with this too. Apple has called the chip the 'Apple A4 chip'. Funny that, as it's about the size of an A4 piece of paper.

Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11n is integrated, meaning you can hook up to the net where there's a Wi-Fi connection. Handy really, as this is almost like Nokia's internet tablet series. Some iPads will have 3G connectivity too, which makes us very happy - it means you can access the net wherever you are, whether on a train, in a car, or in your house.

It's good for the environment!
Everyone's jumping on the environmentally-friendly bandwagon these days, so it's no surprise that Apple has made the iPad as safe for the environment as possible. It's recyclable because there's no mercury or arsenic in it to harm anything.

Game-tastic
As we predicted, the iPad will be able to cope with games very well indeed, probably down to the fast processor. Existing iPhone games can be up scaled, so you can play all your favourites on a massive screen. Handy, huh? Apple has support from quite a few games developers including Gameloft and EA, which means we'll be seeing quite a few of our favourite games on it.

The future of publishing
As quite a few tech-heads have predicted, the iPad will take publishing one step forward, allowing large publishers to develop iPad versions of their titles. The New York Times will have its very own iPad edition. It looks like a real newspaper, but obviously smaller than a broadsheet. The New Yorker is also developing a version of the magazine for the iPad.

iBooks
What a surprise, the iPad is also an eBook reader. There's an app called iBooks (imaginative, huh?), that allows you to choose books. It was designed by Amazon, which is pretty surprising as it's a competitor to the Kindle.

iWork
iWork is onboard, which means you can create, view and edit documents when you're on the move. iWork isn't the most intuitive software platform compared to Microsoft Office on Mac, so it'll be interesting to see how it'll work on a smaller screen. Included with iWork is iPad and a new version of Keynotes, specifically designed to be used on a smaller screen. iWork will cost $30 for the whole suite, or $9.99 for each of the apps.

Pricing and availability
The iPad will cost $29.99 a month for unlimited internet and $14.99 a month for 250MB of data on AT&T. There isn't a contract, which is handy for those who don't like to commit. It'll cost $499 in the US for a 16GB Wi-Fi only device and $699 for the high-end, 64GB version. For the small sum of $829, you can get the 64GB model with 3G and Wi-Fi.

The iPad won't be available from tomorrow as many reports have said, but instead you can snap it up 60 days from now worldwide for the Wi-Fi version, 3 months for the 3G version.

Pick a Apple Tablet prediction from the team or print and fill out the form yourself. We'll compare scores after the big Event which starts at 6pm tonight (GMT) - scores will be updated first thing on Thursday:

Clare | Mat | Maggie | Andrew | Zach | Blank form

Rumour & Description	Prediction	Reality	Score
Apple 'Special Event' in January Apple holds a special media event in January 2010 in San Francisco			+1
Apple Tablet confirmed Apple confirms that they are launching a touchscreen Tablet computer
Tablet price about £620 ($1000) Price point between £500-800 ($800-$1200) unsubsidised
Tablet screen size about 10 inches Diagonal measurement of the Tablet screen between 10-11 inches
The Tablet will look like a 'giant iPhone' The basic form factor, screen and functionality of the Tablet will mirror that of the Iphone
Tablet has mobile phone data connectivity As well as Wi-Fi, the Tablet will connect to 3G mobile networks
Apple Tablet SDK announced Apple will unveil a full software development kit (SDK) for the Tablet
Tablet Apps exclusive to the App Store Like the iPhone, the only way to download and buy apps for the Tablet is via the iTunes App Store following an approval process
Tablet runs existing iPhone/iPod Touch apps All software currently available in the App Store will run on the new Tablet
Tablet OS is a new Operating System The Tablet OS will not be OS X or the Mac OS but a new variant based on the OS X core
Third-party book, newspaper and magazine content announced Publishers will unveil 'print' paid-for content that can be viewed on the Tablet and available via the App Store
Tablet plays video content iTunes-compatible video content such as movies can be bought and viewed on the Tablet
Tablet plays music content iTunes-compatible music content can be bought and listened to on the Tablet
Tablet plays TV content iTunes-compatible TV shows can be bought and viewed on the Tablet as one-off purchases or with a monthly subscription
Tablet has a Dock The Tablet has an optional docking mechanism that connects it to a Mac, TV or keyboard
Tablet has a built-in camera An iSight-style video camera can take photos and video, and provide video chat capability
Tablet has optional external keyboard Tablet can connect to a hardware keyboard via Bluetooth or USB
Anyone can publish content for the Tablet Indie producers and individual 'home brew' self-publishers can offer content for the Tablet as well as big media companies
Tablet supports Flash Unlike the iPhone, the Tablet browser will have a Flash-capable browser
Tablet has educational text books Student textbooks will be a key selling point of the Tablet
Tablet goes on sale March 2010 The Tablet will be available for pre-order on Wednesday but won't arrive in stores until March 2010
Tablet features an OLED screen The Tablet will ship with a state-of-the-art, high brightness OLED screen
Tablet named Apple Tablet The Tablet will be branded the Apple Tablet
Tablet named Apple iTablet The Tablet will be branded the Apple iTablet
Tablet named Apple iSlate The Tablet will be branded the Apple iSlate
Tablet named Apple iGuide The Tablet will be branded the Apple iGuide
Tablet named Apple iBook The Tablet will be branded the Apple iBook
Tablet named Apple iPad The Tablet will be branded the Apple iPad
Tablet named Apple Canvas The Tablet will be branded the Apple Canvas
AT&T's iPhone exclusivity will end In the US, AT&T will no longer be the exclusive carrier for the iPhone
Bing on the iPhone Microsoft's Bing search engine will become an option on the iPhone's mobile Safari browser
Verizon support for the iPhone and/or Tablet Verizon will become an official carrier for the iPhone or Tablet or both
T-Mobile support for the iPhone and/or Tablet T-Mobile will become an official carrier for the iPhone or Tablet or both
Apple announces iTunes web version Apple announces an iTunes store that works via a web browser as well as through the iTunes software
Apple announces iPhone OS 4.0 The next version of the iPhone OS is showcased
Steve Jobs will wear a black turtle neck The Apple chief will wear his trademark black neck jumper during the presentation
Final Score

Based on a fantastic original idea by David Weiss. Play it yourself and download his PDF scorecard!

Alternatively check out his new Prediction app

As you've probably already seen, the Google Nexus One ships with Android 2.1 (AKA Eclair), and although 2.0 (Donut) was pretty good, the newest firmware update comes with enough newbie aspects to get Android user upgrading if their handset allows.

So what's new and exciting?

1. Voice controls - Being able to control your phone via voice may not be at the top of everyone's list of features, but as the demo on the Nexus One showed, its implementation in Android 2.1 is immense. Not only can you demand it takes you somewhere and be presented with turn-by-turn voice directions, but you can also send Tweets, SMS messages and emails just by telling your phone what you want to say. Smart, huh?
2. Google Earth - The Google Earth app for Android will launch hand in hand with 2.1, and it does look mighty impressive from over here. It's pretty similar, well, to Google Earth on iPhone, but there's a new mode where you can apparently fly through the air like a bird. Nice.
3. Phonebook - The phonebook on Android 2.1 devices will automatically pull in contacts from multiple sources including Facebook, and although it was a feature found on many customised UIs such as Motorola's MotoBLUR, having it natively installed makes it much smoother.
4. Email - Android 2.1 will bring with it the ability to have more than one Gmail account working from the same inbox. This means if you have two Gmail accounts, you can get them both feeding one inbox, rather than having to set up separate accounts.
5. Weather App - The new weather app as featured on Android 2.1 will include dynamic weather updates that use GPS to give minute-by-minute accounts of the temperature, humidity and weather conditions in your current location.
6. Interactive wallpapers - OK, so this doesn't really improve the functionality of Android, but it will make Android devices look prettier. Animated wallpapers are onboard, and if you fancy it, you can interact with them too. For example, if you have an animated wallpaper featuring water, you can press the screen and ripples will appear.
7. Homescreens - The vanilla version of 2.1 will now ship with five homescreens rather than the measly three on 2.0 devices. It means you can cram in more apps from the rapidly increasing selection on the Android Market, and of course shortcuts and Widgets. Although customised OS Android devices (such as the Milestone, T-Mobile Pulse, HTC Magic) did previously have more than three homescreens, they're now there from the off!
8. Photo gallery - A new photo gallery feature brings a new way of viewing your pics to Android. Google took some of the functionality from COOLIRIS, allowing you to seamlessly browse your photos on a 3D wall. Albums are clustered by time, date and location too, so your gallery will be perfectly ordered.
9. App Launcher - Android's App Launcher has been revamped so you no longer have to drag and pull to get to the app menu. Simply tap a button and everything smoothly zooms into place.
10. Firmware upgrade - Although not directly related to the new firmware features, news is spreading that some lucky Android users will be able to upgrade existing devices to 2.1. The list so far includes the HTC Magic, Samsung Galaxy and Motorola Milestone, although we're sure most newer Android devices will benefit from the upgrade too.

Much as we can’t wait to get our hands on the Google Nexus One, we wouldn’t go as far as to call it a perfect Android handset – we’ve got a way to go on that front. It may improve on most of the Android phones that have gone before it, but does it go far enough?

The Google Nexus One is set to be the most popular Android phone of the first part of this year, but we’ve had a deep delve into its feature list in search of potholes and unpainted walls. We’ve found a few too, and it’s a repair job that’ll end up costing Google a lot of research and development money in the long run – probably in the form of the Nexus Two.

We’ve excavated the bad and the ugly for all to see:

1. Rubbish internal memory - While non-Android rivals frequently offer 32GB of internal memory without touting it as one of their main features, the Google Nexus One gives you just 512MB to play with. Rumours suggest a 4GB microSD card will be bundled with the phone but these days, that's a waste of a microSD slot. Anything less than 16GB and you're doing the phone a disservice when they can be picked up for less than £20.
2. Limited camera - A bugbear of all Android phones to date, the Nexus One's camera is nowhere near the level of remotely camera-centric phones available. The five megapixels are fine, ish, but a small flash and lack of a proper lens protector on the phone's back mean the Nexus One's camera places behind two-year-old Nokia phones.
3. Sub-iPhone looks - It may arguably be the best-looking Android phone yet, but it still doesn't quite have the iconic style of the Apple iPhone, much as it pains us to bow down to the Apple altar. The touch-sensitive front buttons and bog-standard trackball give the Nexus One a look that isn't all its own.
4. No HDMI video out - HDMI outputs are a rarity on all kinds of mobile devices, but part of us hoped that the Nexus One would come packed with one, especially considering the increased dimensions created by its large screen. This feature would take the Nexus One up to the next level of media player functionality, letting you use your Nexus one as a real portable media centre, especially considering the video capabilities of the Snapdragon processor. Alas, it's been left off the Nexus One.
5. That trackball - Using a trackball isn't a bad experience, but 2009 saw BlackBerry phones replace it with a touch sensitive panel - which worked amazingly well. A trackpad would have been able to be used as a more interesting aesthetically pleasing part of the phone's design too, to give the Nexus One more of a sleek, sophisticated look.
6. No front-facing camera - The lack of a front camera on the Nexus One means you won't be able to use it for video calling. It's not something we'll miss all that much, and it makes the phone look a little less cluttered than otherwise, but it's a style over substance choice that some of you might not appreciate.
7. No FM radio - Sure, you can use Spotify to stream music on the Nexus One, but why on earth wasn't an FM radio included. Oh wait, we already know - because the iPhone doesn't have one. Even ultra-budget phones often have FM radios on them, and they won't use up any data. Good old FM may be on the way out thanks to DAB, but it's not dead yet.
8. Average battery life - We obviously haven't had a chance to check out the battery life of the Nexus One for ourselves - it'll be a while before we get to subject it to the torturous review process - but the quoted figures aren't particularly impressive. Short battery life is still the bane of the modern smartphone, so it's a pity no ground has been made up with the Nexus One. That's the price of an 11mm body thickness.
9. No HD video recording - Just like the HDMI output, this one is still a rarity within phones, but that doesn't stop us hankering after it. Still, the 720x480 resolution you can record video at isn't too bad.
10. Vanilla OS - A case of stating the obvious, the Nexus One will feature a standard version of the Android OS. Sometimes, we prefer the vanilla version to any manufacturer-specific versions that have been faffed around with, but we did rather fall for HTC Sense when we saw it make its debut on the HTC Hero. Google may be able to put a shiny new version of the Android OS on its phones, but its more-or-less obliged not to do anything too fancy with it.

After the Android OS made significant headway in 2009, everyone's been very excited about the recent announcement of Google's first official Android phone. We now know its name, what it'll look like and exactly what's going on inside its shiny chassis, but is Google's Nexus One all it's cracked up to be?

Some folk have given a muted respons to the Nexus One, saying that it's not a big step up from the Motorola Milestone, but we beg to differ. For many reasons, this could prove to be the handset that takes the baton from the HTC Hero in making Android an attractive proposition for the everyday phone buyer, not just the phone-obsessed high-end user, in the face of the lure of the ubiquitous Apple iPhone.

We had a little think about exactly why the Nexus One has the potential to be such as smash, and this is what we came up with. Ready the drum roll.

1. The Nexus One is the first phone to use the latest 2.1 edition of the Android operating system. We'll have to wait to see every single feature and tweak this new version brings, but expect faster performance, an improved look and better memory management.
2. It's a fine looking phone. The top Android phones released so far have had a rather mixed approach to aesthetics. The HTC Magic was a cute looking handset, but you'll have a job finding one that's not white in the UK, while the angular look of the Hero isn't in-line with what we consider beautiful. The same goes for the Motorola Milestone. Those angles!
3. A 3.7-inch display represents more screen real estate than most Android phones you'll find on the market today - and most phones in general. Half an inch bigger than that of the iPhone or Hero, the Nexus One will make a fantastic portable media player.
4. On the subject of media, the 480x800 screen resolution is a huge step up for Android, which so far has largely been limited to 320x480 aside from the brand new Motorola Milestone. This means more potential getting detail on screen - which is important with that lovely big display.
5. The Nexus One features the 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU, making it the most powerful Android phone yet. Up until now, most Android phones have used a processor running at around the 500Mhz mark. While we wouldn't suggest that this will mean the Nexus One will run twice as fast as previous Android phones, it's got some impressive hardware under that sleek bonnet.
6. At 11.1mm thick, the Nexus one is one of the slimmest smartphones around. Compare that to the 13.7mm of the Milestone, the 12.3mm of the iPhone 3GS and the 14.4mm of the Hero and other phones start to sound positively porky.
7. It comes with a 512MB RAM/ROM combo inside. By traditional standards, the ROM storage side of things is still pretty poor, but it's one side of Android that hasn't developed yet. The Milestone offers just 133MB, and the Hero just 288MB. You'll still want to invest in a hefty microSD if you opt for the Nexus One, but that bump up in memory will help when upgrading the OS.
8. Considering the 3.7-inch screen, it's impressive that the Nexus One manages to still be one of the lightest Android phones yet. At 130g, it's lighter than the DEXT, Milestone and Hero. For an ultra-light Android, you'll want to hunt down the Samsung Galaxy or Magic, which are a good 10-20g lighter. It's a small price to pay for an extra half inch of screen space though.
9. The Nexus One uses an AMOLED screen, offering superlative contrast and black levels. The only UK Android phone released so far to feature this type of screen is the Samsung Galaxy, which used a significantly smaller screen.
10. The 5-megapixel camera may not be quite as superlative a feature as some of the Nexus One's other top picks - the Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Milestone and Hero all feature the same megapixel figure - but it's one feature that the Nexus One couldn't afford falling behind on. There's also an LED flash, which was left off the popular Hero. Sure, it's not a full Xenon, but then they had to leave some room for improvement on the Nexus Two. Or Nexus One 2. Whatever.

If you’re after a new phone, there’s a good chance the one you wind up with will have a touchscreen. More and more often, new phones feature them these days, and if you’re on a higher-end contract, contact with them is virtually inescapable.

However, if you’re planning on giving into the touchscreen trend, there are a few important things to consider. The most important of these is that there are actually two types of touchscreen predominantly used in phones – resistive and capacitive. The experience of using the two is quite different, so we’d recommend getting clued up on the two technologies before taking the plunge in either direction.

How they work

The main reason they’re quite so different to use is that the way they register the presence of your finger and its prods are poles apart. Resistive technology works the way you might first imagine a touchscreen would function – it senses pressure.

The resistive touchscreen itself is made up of several layers, the topmost of which flexes under your finger or stylus, and is pushed back onto a layer behind it. This effectively completes a circuit, telling the phone which part of the screen is being pressed.

Capacitive touchscreens don’t rely on pressure, but rather they use electrodes to sense the conductive properties of objects, such as your finger. So, they don’t rely on having an object pressing particularly hard on their surface, but will only react to certain objects. Prod one with a standard stylus and you’ll get nowhere.

In Practice

Thanks to these core differences, the experience of using each type of touchscreen is almost instantly recognisable. The most famous phone of the last couple of years, Apple’s iPhone, uses a capacitive touchscreen, which helps to give the phone its ‘light touch’ interface.

As capacitive screens don’t need much contact at all, you can swipe across them very lightly and get just as good a response as you would with a slow, full-fingered drag. By comparison, the vast majority of resistive touchscreen phones won’t normally react at all to a very light swipe.

More recent resistive touchscreen phones, such as the Nokia N97, HTC Tattoo and Samsung Jet have made their resisitive touchscreens much more sensitive than those of previous years, helping to bridge the gap between the two technologies, but we’re yet to see a resistive touchscreen that convinced us it was capacitive for any length of time. Using a finger, capacitive screens will seem much more responsive.

So, it may sound like a capacitive touchscreen is the way to go, without any doubt, but things aren’t quite that simple – resistive touchscreens have their benefits too.

The simplest is that they don’t rely on the organic properties of your finger, so can be operated with just about anything – just not necessarily successfully. A more important plus point of resistive screens is that they offer more potential for accuracy.

If you try to operate a either sort of touchscreen phone with your finger, accuracy will fly out of the window, but use a resistive phone with a stylus and you’ll be able to get relative pinpoint accuracy.

< previous 1 2 next >

2009 has been a big year for mobile, and 2010 will no doubt continue the mobile revolution.

We take look at some of the rumoured devices and technologies that will hit the market in 2010.

Motorola
Android has been the saviour of Motorola. Within a short space of time, the DEXT has been accompanied by the Milestone (aka Droid) and no sooner can eXpansys get more stock (the online retailer is the exclusive seller of the Milestone in the UK) than it sells out.

Motorola’s problem now isn’t producing devices, but getting the proper recognition it deserves with distribution by the UK networks besides Orange.

In 2010, two more models will be announced. One will be a version of the Milestone without a keyboard. The already slimline Milestone can therefore shave off a few more millimetres and potentially become the leader of the pack. The Milestone is an excellent phone, but arguably the keyboard offers little benefit over the on-screen keyboard that is probably quicker to use, thanks to the amazing capacitive touchscreen.

Motorola has another solution, with the phone that is being called the ‘Backflip’. The phone also has a QWERTY keyboard, but rather than slide away - it folds around to go on the back of the phone. When open, a touchpad on the back can be used for navigation.

Although the keyboard-less Milestone will be a Google-branded phone and come without the MOTOBLUR front-end that brings all your social networking content together, the Backflip will offer much the same specification as the DEXT, including MOTOBLUR. It will have the same resolution display (320x480 instead of 854x480) and come with Android OS 1.5 or 1.6.

Google & Android
A lot of fuss has been made in the last few weeks over Google deciding to release its own handset. Except of course, the Nexus One isn’t made by Google - but rather HTC. In fact, it’s more of a scoop for HTC, who already have dominance in the Android space and can now use this to keep ahead of the likes of Motorola, who are likely to catch up quite rapidly in 2010.

So what’s going to be so good about the Nexus One (to be formerly announced on January 5th, ahead of the CES)? Well, it will come with a speedy 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash and Android OS 2.1. The latest version of the OS includes a new front-end that offers animated and interactive backdrops.

However, impressive as the Nexus One is, we shouldn’t forget that 2010 is going to be the year for Android to grow even stronger. There will probably be many more amazing products announced not only at the CES but at Mobile World Congress in February, followed by the months after.

By the end of 2010, we’ll all be looking back and thinking the Nexus One was just the beginning. Let’s not forget Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 with an 8-megapixel camera and the same Snapdragon processor hitting the streets in February or March either!

BlackBerry
When we see Photoshopped images of amazing new BlackBerry devices, we’re always somewhat skeptical. RIM doesn’t do anything too radical, and that’s not a criticism but a compliment. RIM has an important market to retain, so shocking its audience would be financial suicide. The latest range, including the Bold 9700, is near-perfection in terms of design and usability, while the Storm 2 is gaining itself a much more positive welcome than its predecessor.

Unsurprisingly, this has led many to talk of a future device that will mix things up a little - by keeping the full QWERTY keyboard favoured by most users and giving the screen the extra benefit of touch.

The question is, what benefit would a touchscreen offer when there’s a decent keyboard and trackpad to aid navigation? Having to move your thumb up to touch an icon seems rather pointless, although you could argue that if it costs little more to add it - it gives the user a little more choice.

Personally, we think that the ‘9900’ or ‘Pluto’ may not actually see the light of day, at least not in the way that we expect.

Sony Ericsson
We already know about the Xperia X10, the Android handset that Sony Ericsson perhaps unwisely showed off to the media a little before it should. It seems no such mistake will be made for the successor to the Satio. The U5i (to receive its own odd-sounding name when it is announced at MWC) is a smaller version of the Satio that will look very similar to the X10, possibly reflecting the new style direction for Sony Ericsson in 2010. Like the Satio, it will run the Symbian OS with Series 60 5th Edition.

Some have stated the U5 will be a cut-down version of the Satio, but Sony Ericsson is refuting such claims - stating that the phone will be its first to offer HD video capture, and still offer an impressive still-imaging experience from its 8.1-megapixel autofocus camera and integrated LED flash. The phone will also have a capacitive touchscreen, which could be the main reason why this phone will definitely rise above the Satio.

If that leaves Sony Ericsson with its flagship cameraphone taking second place, it leaves the market open nicely for another 12.1-megapixel equipped model to come later in the year. We hope it’s going to be running Android too...

<< Previous 1 2 Next>>

The news this week that Carphone Warehouse will give away two free airline tickets to anyone who buys a Palm Pre is the latest of many generous 'free' gifts that operators give when you sign up for a new mobile phone contract.

And even if you're not looking for a Palm Pre, if your phone contract is up for renewal soon you could sort yourself out with anything from a free Nintendo Wii or PlayStation 3 right up to a brand new Sony Bravia high definition (HDTV) flat screen TV set to play it on.

Of course, these free gifts aren't really free - you have to commit to a new contract, and in most cases the cash that would have subsidised your handset is used to pay for the freebie - so the quality of the phone you get generally goes down as the value of the gift increases.

So to help you out we've compiled a list of some of the best free gifts you can get with a new mobile phone contract - and singled out some of the best deals that go with them...

Free Nintendo Wii offers

The free Nintendo Wii is one of the most popular free gifts we've found - probably because the relatively inexpensive but highly desirable Wii comes bundled with some great mobile phones and decent value tariffs.

For instance, you can get the free Wii console - with the Wii Sports Resort game (complete with the nifty Motion Plus accessory) - with a decent free phone like a LG Cookie, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic or a BlackBerry Curve.

A typical tariff for the Free Nintendo Wii offer would be an 18-month contract at £25 a month on Orange - a decent deal. But there are plenty of others to choose from - 26,196 to be exact.

Check out all the free Nintendo Wii mobile phone offers

Free PlayStation 3 Slim offers

In contrast with the Nintendo Wii, the free offers for the more expensive PS3 Slim don't come bundled with particularly good 'free' handsets. Indeed if you want the equivalent of a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic or a HTC Tattoo you'd have to fork out a hefty £180 up front and still commit yourself to a 2-year contract.

Our guess is that the hard-core gamers who gravitate towards the PlayStation 3 may be the kind with an unlocked handset already - which explains why the most popular free PS3 deal comes with a very modest (but free) Nokia 1661 on a 18-month tariff at £30 a month on T-Online.

But there are over 11,969 free PlayStation 3 deals on offer - so there should be one to suit you.

Check out all the free PlayStation 3 (PS3) Slim mobile phone offers

Free laptop offers

The free laptop offer probably the daddy of of all mobile phone freebies. Famously Pioneered by Carphone Warehouse, there are currently over 100,000 currently available via our deals comparison site Omio.

The most popular offer gets you a free Acer Aspire laptop with a Samsung Tocco Lite for £9 on a 2-year tariff with Vodafone at £25 a month.

If you've got a decent phone already we'd point you to a variety of 12 and 18-month deals between £20-£30 a month with handsets starting from £9.99 that also get you a free laptop.

Check out all the free Laptop mobile phone offers

Free high definition TV (HDTV) offers

It may seem hard to believe but these days you can actually blag a 'free' high definition TV when you take out a new mobile phone contract. And these aren't small screen no-name brands either: depending on the tariff you can get a 32-inch Toshiba Regza or a 32-inch Sony Bravia. In the shops these would cost you between £300 to £400.

The most popular deal at the moment gets you a free Toshiba Regza and a free Nokia 1661 handset on a tariff of 18 months at £25 a month with T-Online.

But if you really want to go to town on the telly and have some cash up front then you can get a free 42-inch LG HDTV worth almost £500 - you'd have to pay £250 for the Nokia 6303 Classic and take out an 18-month contract with Orange at £35 a month. But if you were looking for a new big-screen HDTV and your phone contract was up for renewal anyway, it could turn out to be a great deal.

And there are still another 26,015 other free TV offers to browse through if those don't fit the bill. Happy hunting!

Check out all the free TV mobile phone offers

In 2008, the trend of having a smartphone was only just beginning to kick off, but with the launch of more consumer-friendly BlackBerrys, Google's Android platform, Windows 6.5 and an improved iPhone, a more intelligent, feature-packed handset has become the norm.

Nokia has released consumer touchscreen mobile phones for the first time in its history, Android has exploded onto the scene in a big way and Acer has become a rival to HTC with the launch of its Windows and Android-based smartphones.

Here, we round up our five favourite smartphones of 2009.

• Apple iPhone 3GS

  So the iPhone is no surprise in our top smartphones of 2009.

  Although it may not be as well suited to multitasking, which is one of the most important aspects of a smartphone, its interface is second to none.

  The touchscreen is super-responsive and the fact that there are so many apps to download make it much more than just a phone.

  The camera is a little disappointing though - it seems as though Apple doesn't see the need for any technology there.

  It's also not the best device for phone functionality, as the device has been plagued with problems on the O2 network more than once over the past year.

  Read our full Apple iPhone 3GS review

• HTC HD2

  Although we're not the biggest fans of Windows Mobile devices, the HTC HD2's hardware is second to none.

  Thankfully, it also uses the latest version of Microsoft's operating system - Windows 6.5, which is much more consumer friendly than previous incarnations.

  The HD2 also features the HTC Sense interface, usually reserved for HTC Android devices, but it does well here to make that Windows interface a lot easier to use.

  It's the screen that makes the HD2 such a high-flyer. At 480 x 800 pixels and 4.3 inches, you'll struggle to find a screen any better and it really is the most stunning, crisp, bright screen we've seen.

  Read our full HTC HD2 review

• BlackBerry Bold 9700

  The BlackBerry Bold 9700 has to go down as our favourite phone of 2009, and not because it packs in new technology, groundbreaking features, but just because it's so seamless to use.

  The keyboard is well-spaced and features angular keys to ensure they're comfortable to type on.

  The updated RIM OS 5 is a huge improvement on its predecessor and it steams along, while ensuring the battery will keep going for longer than any previous BlackBerry.

  The styling is sharp - shaving off a huge amount of the bulk seen on the original Bold and seamless synching (including with iTunes), plus a crystal clear screen and decent camera ticks all the boxes.

  Read our full BlackBerry Bold 9700 review

• Nokia N900

  Nokia's first foray into an alternative operating system has been the talk of the year, and its first handset on the Maemo OS leaves no doubt in our mind that it was a bad decision to move away from Symbian.

  Although the OS still has a way to go before it's instantly usable, the first attempt was more than enough o whet our appetites.

  Fully customisable homescreens, huge, responsive and crystal clear touchscreen, coupled with a Qwerty keyboard makes the N900 a simple to use handset.

  Its spec list doesn't disappoint, with everything ticked, including HSDPA/HSUPA, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack and even an infrared port, plus a top-end camera, media player and video playback.

  Read our full Nokia N900 review

• Motorola Milestone

  Many of the devices in our top smartphones list have been released over the last quarter, and its not because the previous contenders were bad, it's just that new platforms have evolved so well over the last 12 months.

  The Motorola Milestone is one example of how the Android platform has moved on.

  There's not much to dislike about Moto's most recent device - the implementation of Android is spot on, its hardware is sleek - although there's still room for improvement in the sliding mechanism and keyboard layout - plus there's nothing missing on the tech specs. Even SatNav comes preloaded, although you'll have to pay to extend its free trial period.

  Motorola has included the best Android OS too - version 2.0 -which supports multitouch, plus combined inboxes to name just two new features - something missing on previous Android devices.

  Read our full Motorola Milestone review

These aren't the only smartphones we view to be the stars of 2009, but there have been so many fantastic devices this year, it's hard to pin down just five. The HTC Hero was our favourite earlier in the year, the Palm Pre was hugely hyped, but looked better on paper than in the flesh, and the Samsung Omnia i8910 HD wouldn't have been too far behind those mentioned here.

What we have learned this year, though, is that mobile phones are evolving and becoming much more than just something to use for calling and texting. Social networking has boomed, cameras have almost overtaken compacts and applications are the future.

Roll on 2010 where we can expect to see more Android, a new iPhone, Samsung's Bada smartphone platform, and even different technologies becoming integrated into devices, such as NFC for contactless payments.

Contracts are getting longer, but when they end excitement is sure to follow – because it means you can ditch that old phone in favour of a brand spanking new handset, packed with all sorts of features guaranteed to make your eyes widen. Well, that’s the fantasy anyway.

Whether you end up with the phone of your dreams or one that’s disappointingly similar to your previous handset, you can cushion the transition financially by getting rid of your old phone. There are several ways you can go about doing this, but which one will reap the biggest rewards? We took a look at the most popular methods of dispensing with an ageing phone to find out.

The simplest option is to just take it down to a high street retailer that’ll buy it straight off you, like CeX, and be done with it but it’s not necessarily the best option. Dedicated online services and even eBay may be able to net you some more cash. Let’s find out which one is the best all-round option.

Price

The first concern whenever you’re flogging some of your worldly good has to be how much you’re going to get for them. It’s not the only concern, granted, but it is the biggie.

We took a look at how much you can get for some of the top phones people are looking to get rid of around this time of year to see which method would raise you the most cash. Here are the results:

As you can see, the results vary here substantially. CEX fares surprisingly well considering it’s a high street retailer, but then these are the prices for an A grade device. If your phone is a bit on the worn side, you can slice a hefty chunk off all these prices. You can’t pull the wool over their eyes either as it’s the store assistant that’ll grade your phone rather than yourself.

Online phone buying services like Mazuma and SellOldPhone on the other hand generally work on just a two-tiered scale. They just want to know if your phone works or not. It doesn’t? Even that doesn’t matter too much - you just have to drop the price a bit.

There’s a wide range of these services available though, so we’d recommend checking out a comparison site like Sellmymobile, which offers an excellent selection of prices from all the main competitors. We found that it wasn’t generally the big boys like Mazuma that offered the best prices for our phones anyway.

On eBay, it’s up to you to responsibly attest the condition of your phone and the price depends almost entirely on how desirable the phone is. However, prices never drop that low for phones released in the last few years, so it’s often a better bet for phones that would only net you a tenner or so from the online services like Mazuma.

If you do use eBay and accept Paypal as your main payment method, you’ll have to consider the extra fees involved here, which generally amounts to around 10% of the final price of the auction, all in.

<< Previous 1 Next>>

With such a rapidly changing environment, it's no surprise that mobile technologies have advanced almost beyond recognition.

This week we're unearthing our favourite retro mobile phones from years gone by. By comparing five old school mobiles from Apple, Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson and Blackberry with their modern equivalents we can chart the developments of the mobile phone market over the past fifteen years.

While there are obvious improvements, many of today’s leading phones share similarities with their forgotten older brothers.

Apple Newton vs. iPhone 3GS
The Apple Newton Message Pad, released in 1993, was hailed as the first ever, consumer friendly, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It included applications we now take for granted such as such as Notes. Names, and Dates, as well as simple tools such as a Calculator, Currency Converter and Time-Zone Maps. However the in-built handwriting recognition tool was the Message Pad’s most interesting feature.

The phone could recognise words written with a stylus on the monochrome screen and convert them into computer text which could be saved, printed or transferred to your PC. At 184.8x114.3x27.5mm, and 400g, the Newton Message Pad was't the sort of object you could just slide into your pocket.

Because of its size and weight, most of the Message Pad's interest came from businesses, not the consumer market.

As versions of the Newton were released during the 90’s, Apple clearly recognised that applications were the way to attract consumers. The main selling point of the iPhone has been its exclusive access to Apple’s App store. Users of the new 3GS have access to more than 100,000 apps online.

In comparison to the Newton the iPhone has evolved in all senses. It is slimmer, lighter and equipped with a capacitive, 18-bit colour, touchscreen. With rapid internet connection and an iTunes based multimedia package, the list of advances is endless.

Nokia 9000 Communicator  vs. N900
Just after Apple introduced the Newton Message Pad, the Nokia 9000 was the first in the Communicator series and ultimately the most retro. The phone, which led the market at the time, weighed in at a hefty 397 grams. Introduced in 1996, the Communicator featured a greyscale screen, 8MB of memory and ran on an Intel 386 processor.

It had no camera, no Bluetooth, only came in black and provided simple monophonic ring tones. Despite this, with its flip form design, the phone was a must have, achieving world wide publicity in the 1997 re-make of ‘The Saint’ where the mobile is intricate to Van Kilmer’s mission.

The Communicator series led the way for Nokia’s smartphone range, currently headed by the Nokia N900. Nokia has continued with its hidden key pad design, this time making it slide from underneath the screen.

Other than this similarity, the N900 has forged ahead offering a 3.5-inch resistive touchscreen, full internet services, a 5-megapixel camera and an advanced multimedia package. The N900’s Bluetooth feature also allows for the use of wireless headphones. Van Kilmer will probably opt for the N900 if ‘The Saint 2’ ever comes to fruition.

Motorola StarTAC vs MILESTONE
When released in January 1996, the Motorola StarTAC was the smallest mobile phone on the market. Its pioneering clamshell design set the trend for a new generation of phones.

Such was its impact on the mobile phone world, PC World voted it number six in its 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 years in 2005. It was one of the first consumer mobiles to allow SMS text messaging and was the first phone to vibrate due to Motorola holding the patent.

Weighing in at a mere 94 grams the StarTAC came with a £1000 price tag. Due to its position at the top of the market, the StarTAC has wracked up a decent number of Hollywood appearances including the Nicolas Cage led film 8mm.

Known as the Motorola Milestone in the UK, the Droid has sold big in the USA since its November 2009 release. The Droid represents Motorola’s latest attempt to dominate the smartphone market. The touch screen mobile features a slide out Qwerty keypad and runs on Google’s Android operating system, coming equipped with Google’s range of apps such as Maps and YouTube.

Although possessing impressive multimedia features such as a 5-megapixel low light capable camera, the Droid is almost twice the weight of the StarTAC. Following in the footsteps of its ground breaking older brother, the Droid recently scooped an award with The Times hailing it as 2009’s greatest gadget, ahead of the iPhone 3GS.

<< Previous 1 2 Next>>

Are you looking for a phone to buy for a loved one this Christmas? Well, it’s a tough business, what with the dozens of available models and hundreds of feature details floating around, so we’ve got together what we think are 10 of the best phones to buy for someone this Christmas.

There don’t have to be any contracts involved with these phones either – just buy them and then feel the warm glow that comes with that slightly smug satisfaction of knowing how generous you are.

You can also check out the best deals for each phone – after all, although it may be the season of giving, that doesn’t mean you can’t net yourself a bargain.

• Samsung Genio Touch

  Latest Genio Touch Prices

  Top feature – Great touchscreen

  One of the newest phones in this list, the Samsung Genio touch boasts a capacitive touchscreen, which is generally only used on much more expensive handsets.

  It’s smaller than most touchscreens too, so while it might not be as good for watching videos as, say, the LG Cookie, it’ll fit more easily into your pocket. You can customise its home screens fully too, giving you an Android-like experience for only a fraction of the price.

  The Genio Touch uses Widgets rather than fully-fledged apps, but there’s plenty of scope for access to built-in weather reports, news feeds and Social Networking updates like Twitter. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have 3G, so Internet surfing won’t be massively quick.

• LG KS360

  Latest KS360 Prices

  Top feature – Slide-out Qwerty

  The LG KS360 has been available for more than a year now, but it’s hanging on in the phone charts because of its sheer value for money factor. Not only does it have a touchscreen, albeit a little 2.4-inch one, the KS360 also has a slide-out Qwerty keyboard.

  This makes it one of the best phones at the price for obsessive texters that aren’t satisfied by a mere keypad or virtual touchscreen keyboard.

  Get yourself a Mobile Internet bolt-on and it’ll make a great emailing device too, although if you’re looking to do a lot of Internet browsing, it’s worth seeking out a phone with 3G connectivity.

• Nokia XpressMusic 5530

  Latest Nokia 5530 Prices

  Top feature – Wi-Fi

  The XpressMusic 5530 is a lot like a cheaper version of the 5800 XpressMusic. Available for under a hundred pounds, the 5530 packs in most of the features of its big brother, including a large touchscreen, Wi-Fi and the full Symbian OS.

  This makes it an impressively versatile device if you want to get on the smartphone bandwagon without spending a small fortune. There’s no 3G, but if you’re looking to browse the net for free over your home broadband, this is one of the best budget ways to do so.

  The camera is also pretty good too, boasting three megapixels, autofocus and a flash for those late-night party shots.

• BlackBerry Curve 8520

  Latest BlackBerry 8520 Prices

  Top feature – Mini Qwerty

  The BlackBerry 8520 was something of a trailblazer for RIM’s popular emailer phone series. It features the new trackpad navigation method, rather than the trackball, and introduced a lot of new BlackBerry users to an advanced phone device.

  You’ll have to pay a bit extra each month to get BlackBerry’s email service tacked-on, but it’s really worth doing so. With this, you’ll get unlimited access to your emails and unlimited browsing too.

  Even though it’s a relatively low-end entry to the BlackBerry series, the Qwerty is still remarkably good. It’s got a great screen too, and Wi-Fi for your home and work-time Internet browsing.

<< Previous 1 Next >>

Orange has become one of the leading networks for innovation in both products and servies, introducing a, innovative Orange TV platform for French consumers and much more besides.

The mobile sector has become Orange's recent focus, shrinking down desktop and much larger products to fit inside a mobile phone.

We were given a sneak preview of some of the innovations coming to mobile from Orange in the 10th La Collection, the network's innovation showcase to see what we could be welcoming on our mobiles in 2010.

TV on Mobile via Wi-Fi
Orange launched TV on mobile app last year in France, and now that app has been updated to allow TV to be viewed on mobile inside the home.

The Orange TV app on Android allows Orange TV customers to access the mobile service from home and watch TV on their phone as they would watch it on TV through their Orange set top box.

Half of the mobile TV usage in France happens at home, so it’s not surprising Orange has made this step forward.

The app’s interface itself is very similar to the interface on Orange TV – you can watch live TV and films, on demand.

Via Wi-Fi, it’s high definition too. All you need to do is walk into your house, where the mobile phone instantly connect to Wi-Fi, or you can connect to a Hotspot while out and about.

The service costs comes as part of Orange TV subscription, so it’s free too!

When will it be available?
The app itself is already available in France, although it can only be used via a data connection at present. In 2010 it will be available on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry in France.

Orange SoftPhone
Orange SoftPhone connects your mobile phone with your mobile. In one click you can use your mobile phone as your landline in your house.

When your home phone rings, so does your home phone and PC. You can decide which one you want to answer on.

The call is an HD voice call, and it really does sound like the person on the other end is in the same room as you.

When you decide to make a call, you can choose whether you want to use your mobile operator or use SoftPhone.

If you phone using SoftPhone, the landline number will be displayed on the other end of the line.

SoftPhone uses your mobile phone’s address book and brings that to your landline with HD sound.

When will it be available?
SoftPhone will be available in 2010 in France

<<Previous 1 2 Next >>

If you haven't yet heard of augmented reality technology and its potential with the implementation in phones, it's time to get up to scratch on what it is and how it works.

Augmented reality combines the image from your phone's camera with generated data and imagery, and in simple terms, will allow you to find places, view media based on where you are and play games that appear to be happening in the real world.

Augmented reality applications in mobile phones often use the phone's GPS and the compass in the iPhone to work out where you are.

We've picked out our top applications that use augmented reality on the iPhone with video so you can get a taster of what they are and how they work.

Layar Reality Browser
Layar.BV
Free

Layar Reality Browser is the most fully-featured example of aumented reality on the iPhone. It collates information from a number of third parties including Wikipedia, TheGigMap, London Tube Stations, UK House Hunter, Brightkite, Mazda, and London Theatres in addition to Layar's own POI directory. Layar calls these 'layars'.

These are promoted almost as if they're widgets across the favourites and popular tabs at the bottom of the screen. You can also search for a specific layar using the search tab or add them to your favourites for quick access.

When you pick one, the screen displays what can be seen through the camera on your iPhone, overlaid with a net-like graphic. This is spotted with all POIs found in each category or 'layar'.

The number of different functions is what is particularly impressive about Layar. It's not as detailed as other specific applications such as NearestPlace, but packs a lot more information in.

Here's a demo from Insanely Great Mac:

Download Layar Reality Browser from

Nearest Tube
acrossair
£1.19

It's always unnerving when you're trying to find your way back to the nearest tube station after a night out in an unknown part of London.

Nearest Tube from acrossair has developed an iPhone app in an attempt to help you find your nearest tube stop quickly, using augmented reality.

Although there are loads of augmented reality navigation applications on the App Store, we found Nearest Tube to be the quickest and most easy to understand.

Like any augmented reality applications, you simply launch the app and face your camera towards your surroundings. The nearest tube stations will pop up as an overlay on the camera's image with the distance and which lines the tube is on.

Tap on a station to pull up a Google map of how to get there with your route mapped out.

Take a look at acrossair's official demo of Nearest Tube here:

Download Nearest Tube from

DishPointer Augmented Reality
DP Technologies
£5.99

Dishpointer is an augmented reality app for nerds. It overlays the position of satellites orbiting the earth onto a map, so you know their exact position.

It displays them alongside their orbiting distance too.

You can choose exactly which satellites you want to display on the tick list in the settings menu.

At first glance, DishPointer seems a little complicated, but once you come to understand what the numbers mean, you'll be following the satellites around like a pro.

Take a look at a vdeo demo here:

Download DishPointer Augmented reality from

NearestPlaces
acrossair
£1.19

NearestPlaces is an attractive augmented reality app that shows you where the nearest PoIs are. When you launch the application, you're presented with a carousel-style menu where you can choose your point of interest, whether it's a bar, restaurant, hotel, bank, or 'parkings' and car parks are described.

Once you've chosen what you want to find, all the places that fit into that category are displayed atop the view from the iPhone's camera, detailing their distance from you. The places appear in the general direction of the PoI's location.

Tap on the box that displays the venue's information and a full-screen page pops up, with distance, address, phone number (which can be called straight from the app), star ratings and the choice to rate it, plus share options and directions.

Watch a video demo of NearestPlaces here:

Download Nearest Places

Magicam
I.M.A.G.E Ltd
£0.59

Magicam is an example of how augmented reality can be fun as well as useful for navigation.

It allows you to add an object to your surroundings.

When you open the app up, an alien appears on top of whatever your camera is pointing at. Tap the circle on the bottom right to access a full list of the objects you can place. You can move the image around and pinch to make it smaller, tilt the object or make it bigger using the iPhone's multitouch screen

To capture the image, tap on the camera button in the cetre of the bottom toolbar. It'll then be saved to your photos folder.

Take a look at our video of Magicam here:

Download Magicam from

NearestWiki
acrossair
£1.19

NearestWiki is a service that combines Wikipedia's data with augmented reality.

Like other augmented reality apps, it will locate PoIs in the area using GPS, and small information boxes appear on top pf the camera's image where there's something interesting to see. Tap on a box and the Wikipedia entry will appear in your Safari browser.

It's a cut-down version of Wikipedia, but this makes it much easier to view on your iPhone's screen.

Take a look at NearestWiki in this video:

Download the NearestWiki application from

London Tube
Presslite
£0.59

London Tube is an app to help you find the nearest tube station, just like the Nearest Tube application.

London Tube also includes other features to help you plan a tube journey, find your location and view the whole tube map.

The augmented reality aspect is only used for the location part of the app, both to search for nearby stations and PoIs.

View our video of the London Tube app here:

Download London Tube from

Cyclopedia
Chemical Wedding
£1.19

Cyclopedia is another encyclopedia application that uses augmented reality.

The interface is a lot busier than NearestWiki, displaying arrows at the top of the screen indicating where PoIs are and degrees to the north, south, east and west at the bottom.

As you approach a PoI, they will appear at the bottom of the screen in orange boxes. Tap on these to find ut more information about them

Watch our video of Cyclopedia to learn more:

Download Cyclopedia from

Over the past decade mobile phones have become an integral part of every day life. This has not gone unnoticed with film makers who have been casting mobiles in key roles on an increasingly regular basis, no doubt encouraged by generous advertising fees.

We explore product placement at its best by assessing the top five mobile phone appearances in recent blockbusters.

The Saint
Nokia took its first step to movie domination by handing Van Kilmer its 9000 Communicator in this 1997 thriller. The phone headed the early mobile market at the time despite its monochrome screen and chunky aerial.

However its digital voice and personal organiser functions made it the must have phone of the day. Kilmer plays a high profile thief and uses the phone throughout as he attempts to avoid Russian authorities.

Minority Report
Nokia’s domination at the beginning of the decade continued in this multi award winning blockbuster. The film, set in 2054, features Tom Cruise as a detective whose team use psychics to arrest people before they commit a murder.

Naturally the movie is crammed full of futuristic technology with Nokia providing a custom made mobile for Cruise to use as he goes on the run after the psychics foresee a murder he is going to commit. Nokia also launched the 9260 and 7650 in line with the film in 2002, leading the way for the now common practice of involving a product with a movie’s advertising campaign without any appearance on screen.

Cellular
This action packed hit features a mobile phone as its main character. The plot is centred on a young man who receives a random call from a kidnapped Kim Basinger on his Nokia 6600. He has to stay on the line during his search for her with any battery or signal trouble resulting in her death.

Nokia made sure their then leading mobile got plenty of up close screen time. In one early scene the soon to be hero receives a video message featuring a bikini clad girl with the sender stating “this is the single greatest phone ever made”. Have a guess at how much that line would have cost Nokia!

Crank 
Not content with its previous success, Nokia found a new way to promote the stylish 8800 Sirocco in fast paced thriller Crank.

Jason Statham’s character receives a number of calls throughout the film, however it is not the handset that is the focus but the ringtone, which starts clear and loud before fading as if the phone is breaking. Of course movie goers went hunting for the ringtone online which they could buy – from Nokia!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
While Nokia is the undoubted kings of product placement, LG has also emerged this year as potential competitors for the throne while also giving us a glimpse at the future of mobile phone advertising. LG struck an exclusive deal with Paramount Pictures to promote Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen which hit the cinemas back in June.

The partnership included product placement which resulted in over a minute of screen time for LG technology during the film. LG in return conducted a massive marketing campaign through print and television. One advert features a robot from the plot suggesting a man’s LG Versa is an evil Decepticon.

The mobile/robot subsequently changes form into a camcorder, then a GPS device before expanding into a laptop. More advertising mastery is expected from LG alongside the release of Iron Man 2 in the summer of 2010.

Part one of Mobile movie stars

View more mobile phone features