Mobile phone blogs

Thursday, September 2nd 2010

Samsung will be unveiling its fancy new Galaxy Tab in Berlin today, a device which looks set to go head to head with the Apple iPad.

While it will obviously be a while until we find out which network operators will support the new tablet PC and how much it will cost, the hype around the Galaxy Tab has got us thinking about its namesake, the Galaxy S.

This smartphone has been heavily promoted by Samsung ever since its launch and measures up pretty well to a number of the most popular phones on the market, such as the iPhone 4.

It comes with a large onboard memory, a five-megapixel camera and a fast 1GHz processor, but despite this, it's available with no upfront cost from just £19 per month with Orange.

Tuesday, August 31st 2010

The new BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 has now been launched in the UK and, as ever, we've decided to shine a light on some of the best deals out there for anyone who wants to get their hands on one.

Research In Motion's latest comes with all the specs you'd expect of a new BlackBerry, including Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS, plus a feature-packed media player, a two-megapixel camera and a full Qwerty keyboard.

However, the Curve's real selling point is the fact that it does all this, but is still available on a number of low-price deals.

For instance, if you sign up with O2 on a two-year agreement, you'll get 600 minutes and unlimited texts - plenty for the average user.

Thursday, August 26th 2010

The ZTE Racer may not be the most glamorous handset on the market, but what it lacks in fancy marketing and trendy looks, it more than makes up for with its decent feature set and great value.

It's powered by the increasingly popular Android operating system - a platform used by 13.2 per cent of all the contract mobile phones sold in the UK between April and June of this year, according to GfK.

What's more, it packs a reasonable enough 3.2-megapixel camera, a sizeable 2.8-inch touchscreen display, 2GB of onboard memory and even built-in GPS.

However, the ZTE Racer's real draw is the bargain-basement price plans that 3 Mobile has made the device available on.

Tuesday, August 24th 2010

Last week's Ofcom report was full of interesting nuggets of information. Did you know, for example, that the average UK consumer sent 1,700 texts in 2009?

One of the least shocking elements of the study, however, was the finding that smartphones are more popular than ever. Over a quarter of people now have one of these high-end handsets, more than double the amount who owned them two years ago.

It's hardly surprising that smartphones are becoming increasingly prevalent, what with the range of quality models on the market in recent times. Furthermore, feature-packed phones like the Sony Ericsson Vivaz - with its high-definition video recording ability and sleek looks - are available on a number of cut-price deals.

Thursday, August 19th 2010

We were as excited as anyone to hear that HTC's latest flagship handset, the HTC HD, could be with us sooner than expected.

The device hasn't even been confirmed by the manufacturer yet, but as we reported yesterday, one eagle-eyed Electricpig.co.uk reader noticed a product entitled HTC 99HLZ001-00 ACE/Desire HD listed on Amazon's website.

As interesting as this news is, we've got to stress that the Desire HD is still in the box marked "rumour" and will remain there until HTC makes an official announcement about it, so it may still be a while until it sees the light of day.

Tuesday, August 17th 2010

Tablet PCs have taken off this year, thanks to the snazzy looks, elaborate marketing campaigns and sheer brilliance of two of our favourite such devices - the Apple iPad and Dell Streak.

Despite being launched at more or less the same time as the iPad, the Dell Streak has refused to be overshadowed by its higher profile rival. This is partly down to its impressive feature set – including a five-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and a 1GHz processor - and partly due to the fact you can pick one up on some great value price plans.

Thursday, August 12th 2010

The announcement of the new Motorola Droid 2 has got us thinking about the manufacturer's current Milestone handset.

After being released a few months back, the Milestone - which was essentially a European version of the original Droid - was somewhat overlooked by the media and even the UK's network operators, thanks to a number of high-profile rival launches such as the Apple iPhone 4.

However, since then the quality of the Motorola Milestone, with its full Qwerty keyboard, 3.7-inch touchscreen display and Wi-Fi connectivity, has really shone through and the phone's popularity has grown and grown, boosted by the fact that it's now available on some great value deals.

Tuesday, August 10th 2010

Research In Motion, the company behind BlackBerry, has had a busy few weeks.

Far from taking a breather after releasing the Pearl 3G 9105, the north American manufacturer has announced the BlackBerry Torch 9800, describing the handset as one of its most important launches ever.

The Torch 9800 - which will be available on Vodafone and Orange when it's shipped to the UK - features a touchscreen display, which got us thinking about the only other current BlackBerry to offer this facility - the Storm2.

It may not be the newest handset on the market, but it still measures up well to the majority of more recent releases in terms of its specs. What's more, it's now available on some great value deals.

Tuesday, August 10th 2010

The Apple iPhone 4 is now available from all of the UK's major service providers, which makes this the perfect time to cast our expert eyes over the best ways for you to get hold of the handset.

Both 3 Mobile and T-Mobile added the fourth generation iPhone to their ranks in the past couple of weeks, while the likes of O2, Orange and Vodafone have sold it since its release back in June.

While it may not be the cheapest device on the market, there are still some decent deals available on the Apple iPhone 4. If you're not prepared to pay anything for the handset up front, then we reckon Vodafone's your best bet.

Thursday, August 5th 2010

To no one's great surprise, Nokia is still the biggest handset manufacturer in the world, according to the latest figures from ABI Research.

Somewhat more unusual, however, is the fact that the analyst claimed Samsung is hot on its heels and that the South Korean firm could make further inroads into Nokia's lead if its latest smartphones are well-received.

Nokia itself will be releasing the long-awaited N8 at some point in the not-too-distant future, but the smartphone battle between the two manufacturers got us thinking about one of our current favourite devices from the Finnish giant - the N900.

Tuesday, August 3rd 2010

Samsung is putting faith in its current generation of smartphones to help it secure the position of the world's biggest handset manufacturer, according to ABI Research. If it's going to succeed in this task, it'll need to shift plenty of units of its Wave S8500 device.

Given that Nokia has held the number one spot pretty much forever, it may seem a little far-fetched for Samsung to usurp the Finnish giant. But we think the Wave is a great phone that's available on some excellent value deals, so we're not betting against the South Korean firm achieving its aim.

If you're just looking for a flashy handset with plenty of usage, then we reckon the deal for you is on Orange over a 24-month basis.

Thursday, July 29th 2010

There seems to be a new study released every month highlighting our love for new mobile phones powered by the Android operating system.

This month has been no different, with GfK declaring that sales of handsets running the OS rose by a staggering 350 per cent between the first and second quarters of 2010.

With that statistic in mind, we thought now seemed like an appropriate time to cast our expert eyes over the best offers available on one of our favourite Android smartphones - the HTC Tattoo.

It may not be the flashiest phone on the market, but we've always had a soft spot for the Tattoo, thanks to its solid feature set - including integrated GPS and 3.2-megapixel camera.

Tuesday, July 27th 2010

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro is one of our favourite handsets on the market right now and ever since its release, we've been beavering away to bring you the best ways to get your paws on it.

It's a wonder how the team at Sony Ericsson have managed to pack so much goodness into the X10 Mini Pro. It measures just 90mm tall, 17mm deep and weighs just 120g, but still manages to include a five-megapixel camera, a 240 x 320 pixel screen and space for up to 16GB of expandable memory.

If you're as keen as we are on Sony Ericsson's latest, you'll be glad to learn you can get hold of one without having to break the bank.

Thursday, July 22nd 2010

Research In Motion's shiny new BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 has hit the market and, as promised, we've had a look at the best ways for you to get your hands on one.

Although it's still early days for the Pearl 3G - it's only currently available on T-Mobile and Vodafone, while Orange has said it's coming soon - there are still some great new deals available.

A quick glance at the Mobile Offers comparison pages will show you that the BlackBerry Pearl 3G can be yours from as little as £18 per month when Orange does launch the device.

Normally, we'd advocate having a look at all the tariffs available before signing up, but we can't see any flaws in this Orange offer.

Tuesday, July 20th 2010

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion has been thrust back into the spotlight once again, with one new handset just released and another apparently in the pipeline.

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G has recently been launched on T-Mobile, while the Curve 9300 is due out over here in August 2010, according to the techies over at Omio.

Watch this space for a comparison of all the best deals on the two new handsets, but while we're waiting for the UK's network operators to sort out their promotions, we thought we'd have a look at some of the most value-packed tariffs on the current flagship BlackBerry device - the Bold 9700.