In today’s mobile phone market, manufacturers often attempt to lull consumers in to a false sense of security, selling handsets that boast excellent features and come complete with innovative gadgets, when really the basic necessities have been excluded from the overall package. In this article, we review the different flaws and faults that are often at the heart of the phones we invest in.

 
With a camera without flash, you can forget night photography

Despite sporting top-of-the range, 5-megapixel cameras, many camera phones do not actually have flash capabilities, which is very disappointing.

Since the invention of flashlight powder way back in 1887, flash photography has developed to become a camera must-have, an essential, especially when taking shots at night time or in poor light conditions.

In fact, when flash is not present within the camera, photography can be made as equally difficult during the daytime as at night. Not only does this useful technology permit extra illumination to be added to dimly lit scenes, it also enables quickly moving objects to be captured clearly.

All things considered, without flash, photos taken in negative light or at high speeds will be practically useless, even if the camera boasts an impressive 5 megapixels.

Getting connected must mean WiFi

WiFi is the modern world’s answer to connecting to the internet. Basically, it translates to wireless networking or wireless fidelity. If a phone sports WiFi, that’s half the battle over in terms of connectivity. This is because not only is it fast, but it is reliable and comes at a relatively low-cost to the user.

Typical WiFi (also known as 802.11) networks are faster than any of their rivaling competitors - even EDGE, 3G or ASDPA. In truth, WiFi offers such a high transfer rate per second – a mobile phone without it is practically unbearable, especially in the cosmopolitan society we are part of.

The reasoning behind WiFi’s electrifying pace is due to its smaller service range, i.e. each connection operates over a small, local area, meaning that when outside of the locality, the connection cannot be sustained.

Another decisive factor that separates WiFi from the rest is the fact that you can often access it in public spaces. Many airports, coffee shops, libraries, hospitals, colleges, hotels and fast food restaurants now offer a WiFi connection – free of any added charge.

Adding to the thread of positivities, promising initiatives are up and running on a worldwide basis to cut costs for internet users in city residences through the provision of a local WiFi connection. Government plans imply that this kind of service could be delivered at an attractive, low fee, or else entirely free of charge.

Poor battery life equals poor performance

Many modern mobiles offer so many stimulating applications and additional features that they completely and utterly exhaust themselves – quite literally.

Phones which flaunt the most extravagant features often also offer the worst performing batteries, many of which only last for 12 hours or less– even if they are untouched within that time period. When your phone struggles to make it through the working day, you must begin to worry somewhat.

There are various ways in which you can improve battery life, for instance, by putting your phone in a low-power state, but the implications of such terrible charge cannot be evaded entirely. Eventually, despite all of your desperate attempts to prolong the battery life, your handset will succumb under the pressure.

Purchasers often find themselves in a state of sheer shock when their phone appears to fail after such a short time, but the stupefaction rapidly transforms in to irritation as to why your phone needs to be re-charged on a daily basis. Particularly when you have forked out a great deal of cash to pay for a phone, the last thing you expect is for it to continuously cut out on you.

Consumers beware: even if your phone does offer gripping games, enticing extras and awesome applications, what is the point if it doesn’t last past the hour?

Empty boxes could leave you out of pocket

Upon purchasing a mobile, you ordinarily receive a box of some description, containing not only the handset, but the vital accessories necessary to get the maximum potential out of your phone.

Most manufacturers are considerate enough to include the bare minimums at least, i.e. a fully compatible charger, USB cable, USB headset, an SD card, a headphone jack, a battery and a user manual.

However, some of the more sinister companies will leave you very disappointed indeed; excluding the majority of the above stated necessities from the boxing, which is quite ridiculous considering that mobiles don’t come at a low cost in the first place.

Without a charger – what purpose does a phone serve over a prolonged period of time? Without a user manual, how is the user supposed to fathom out the ins-and-outs of their mobile? Ultimately, if you are missing one or more of the above essentials, you will eventually have to cough up the cash.

To make matter worse, having to fork out for these accessories at a later date often delivers quite a killer punch where it hurts – the pocket. Under most circumstances, you won’t even be able to cut corners by purchasing the additional items from a secondary retailer, as only the exact manufacturer will sell the much-needed part (a common example with Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones, which both have custom-sized headphone sockets).

All in all, it really is imperative that you investigate what your desired mobile really has to offer; especially in a market where conning the customer is unfortunately a common occurrence.

Does the handset of your dreams really meet up to the high expectations that you have come to think of it? Does it provide the bare essentials, or just elaborate extras to masquerade the missing links? By not distinguishing the truth at the beginning, you could well be letting yourself in for a wide array of problems in the long-term future.

Remember: look beyond the glorified aura of the phone, get down to the clear-cut facts and avoid any unpleasant disappointments.  

With dozens of touch-screen phones being released by mobile phone manufacturers by the quarter, the consumer is being dazzled by more and more extravagant features that would have been unthinkable in a phone just three years.

 
Things are presented to you very graphically

One of the defining things that make this phone stand out from the others is the 3D user interface. The phone’s graphic uses a cube to allow you to flick between your multimedia, contacts, widgets and shortcuts – everything that matters to you.

The phone takes accessing your files and information a lot more interactive. A great example of this is the contacts list – when slipping in your SIM card, you find your contacts presented to you on a film reel of sorts (very similar to the Cover Flow seen on iTunes). The good thing that the interface has is consistency – this film reel design in contacts is similar to those seen when you access your music and photos, meaning that when you master using one aspect of the phone, you have more or less mastered them all.

When it comes to music, the phone is versatile in the file format it accepts. One point of appeal is the way it accepts the AAC+ format. AAC+ is the type of file you purchase off iTunes – this phone is very rare in the way it is iTunes compatible.

The type of touch-screen is advertised as ‘real touch’ by LG. When you get to grips with the phone, you can see what they mean. Navigating around the phone, the brightness and accuracy of the touch-screen brings a sense of realism to the experience you have when you are using your phone.

The layout is arguably very similar to iTunes in some respects – especially in how the menus are presented. The four by four square icons just scream iPhone.

 
It’s more than a phone – it’s a multimedia hub, too

The different features which develop this phone into a centre for your multimedia are excellent. The phone has an outstanding Dolby Mobile system which brings surround sound to the Arena – and it is awesome. Using Dolby Mobile really is a credit to the mobile if anything, because if you were to just use the player constantly, you would get 30 hours of playtime – showing the battery life of this phone is spectacular.

With a 5MP camera integrated into the phone, picture quality makes the requirement for a camera questionable – and that is without the face-tracking and image stabiliser that comes as standard. The super-high resolution screen (conveniently widescreen) makes viewing your masterpieces an extreme pleasure.

This phone is so powerful, it requires two chipsets. This power is truly put through its paces when you run the camcorder – which can shoot video of DVD resolution quality: outstanding for a mobile phone. Alas, when in low-light, graininess comes into play and the lack of 2 flash LEDs really compromises the lighting of your imagery – making the subject of your photo look rather artificial. Of course, such quality requires a high storage, 8GB is the standard microSD card which is included with the mobile, although the card slot accepts memory of up to an impressive 40GB.

 
If there were any criticisms… 

Typing was certainly not easy on the KM900 Arena. It seemed to be very hit and miss when it came to texting because the on-screen keyboard was simply too cramped to use. This can be quite inconvenient, especially if you are in a rush.

Lastly, zooming was quite an issue when using the phone. Considering it was a touch phone, the accuracy was found to be quite off to navigating the Internet for this review. It was a hassle having to zoom in when every single web page loaded, as the Internet software was defaulted to zoom out. Hopefully, this could be fixed in future with a bug fix of some sort, but I wouldn’t be too sure.

All in all, the KM900 Arena has impressive battery life and all of the standard features you would expect of a touch-screen phone. The memory capacity, camera quality and surround sound are just some of the things that make this phone stand out from the rest – not to mention the way you can hook up your phone to the TV, which hasn’t been seen in many phones before now. The LG KM900 Arena has great cheap mobile phone cashback deals on the Internet, you can easily manage your budget with the terms they are offering.

They have given it six years, but finally, Nokia have put the last nail in the coffin in their N-Gage gaming service, which has been deemed as one of Nokia’s most notable failures in the 21st century.

Originally launched in 2003, with an N-Gage phone which accompanied the service, the evolution of the mobile gaming world through the launch of the Apple iPhone, the humble app and other services has meant that the N-Gage service suffered. According to executives from Nokia, the service will wrap up its current operations in September 2010.

The relaunch of the service in 2008 also failed to capture the imagination of those who love to game whilst on the move. All of the current games that are currently in the store are going to be available on the Ovi Store from the next Autumn. Only a few fans have been saddened by this anticipated decision from Nokia, as it will mean that the N-Gage community will be no more.

A statement was released by Nokia on the N-Gage blog, where they defended their decision. They said that they strongly believed that all of the mobile games which are available at Nokia should be downloadable from one place, and they wrote: “Mobile gaming is one of the most popular activities in the Ovi Store, with games being the second most downloaded category for premium content.”

If you have an emotional attachment to N-Gage, be it through the awkward phone or the unpopular service, it could be said that now is the time to say your goodbyes.  

RATING: 4.5/5 – It’s an eye-catching phone with a fun nature. With many surprises to be had, Nokia are continuing their philosophy of a simple interface with this amazing model. The camera is a bit behind the times, but all in all, Nokia have thrown their hat into the ring and mean business.

The phone was heavily anticipated by the mobile phone world – not only by consumers, but by rival manufacturers. Touch-screen phones have been around for a while now and the novelty has been beginning to wear off; but with Nokia’s presence on this scene fairly quiet, the hype was beginning to gather when this phone was announced.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic’s features are many – so much that the touch-screen, which is usually the focal point of such phones, is just the beginning of the fun. One of the defining features of this phone is its Xpressmusic feature, which allows the mobile phone to double up as a MP3 player. Many phones have tried to integrate a MP3 player into its interface and failed. Nokia has made the two work together seamlessly – this is mainly down to the touch-screen which makes navigating the user interface practical and easy.

Whether you go for the ‘Comes with music’ option which gives you unlimited downloads from a choice of millions of songs wherever you are (all thanks to 3G capabilities and a monthly subscription), a pay-per-song plan or the Nokia PC suite, music is never far away – and it would be an insult not to considering the feature-packed mobile software.

Wherever you are in the phone, accessing your music is easy. This is thanks to the Xpressmusic button which allows you to get there in seconds. Painstaking minutes navigating through various menus and options are now a thing of the past, with the 3.2inch resistive touch screen making using your phone pleasurable and quick. The ability to access your music by song, artist, album and playlist gives you all of the options that you would expect of a portable music player.

 
The phone that gives you options

The failing of many phones is the fact that the input is very restricted to the touch-screen. The Nokia 5800’s physical buttons allows you quick access to features like the camera and the volume controls - very convenient if you are in a rush.

When you are using the touch-screen, it isn’t too hard to adapt your phone use to your personal preference. Whether you want to use your fingers, the on-screen keyboard, the handwriting recognition software, the stylus that comes with the phone (or even a guitar pick!), you can make your phone and the way you use it as individual as you are.

The phone is built for storage and comes with an 8GB microSD card. The 8GB card holds up to 2,000 songs – one of the great things about this phone is the fact that you can expand your storage to 16GB if you have a large music collection using the card slot. Plus, chopping and changing between memory cards is simple.

 
Nokia’s little thoughts make big differences to your phone use

Some smartphones with touch-screens can cause you nothing but nightmares when it comes to answering phone calls – with some it can be just too easy to press buttons while in a conversation. The automatic sensor prevents you pressing unwanted buttons when you are in a phone call to prevent any unwanted interruptions: a nice touch on Nokia’s part.

What other phone manufacturers just don’t seem to get is that if you are buying a music phone, you want a high-quality loudspeaker. Flashing out your phone’s loudspeaker can be nothing short of embarrassing because of the mediocre quality. This is not an issue with the 5800, which has a beautifully loud stereo speaker to bang out your tunes with. One thing to like is the fact the speakers do not distort music when it gets louder – with the music remaining clear and crisp.

The user interface is even thumb-friendly, the 640 x 360 screen is rather big compared to other phones on the market – and Nokia has used this feature to its advantage with bigger icons, making even the chubbiest of fingers welcome on the screen.

This review could be the next War and Peace if all of the features of the phone were to be described in detail. It goes without saying that there are many pleasant surprises to be had when you are playing with the phone for a little while, like the impressive 3MP camera; the accelerometer which takes you from portrait to landscape without any hassle; and the beautifully bright screen. Nokia have seldom disappointed with their new offerings before, and now is no exception.

The popular Internet browser Opera has unveiled the latest version of its software for mobile phones which run on the Symbian operating system.

The beta version of Opera 10 is now available from the company’s website, as they address the final tweaks before the official version is released.

Some of the main features that the browser boasts include optimisation for those who are using both touch screens and keypads, addressing the difficulties that software companies have faced in light of the deviation from the ‘one size fits all’ model.

Statistics have shown that the browsing experience using Opera Mobile 10 is now 50% faster than it was before for those who are using a Nokia mobile phone with Symbian installed. This comes as the new browser has tried to compress web pages by up to 70% to make web browsing faster whilst also boosting the compatibility that mobile browsers have with websites which are designed for use on a desktop computer.

Jon von Tetzchner, who is the CEO of Opera Software, had this to say ahead of the beta version being available for download from their website: “This beta continues our work to extend the desktop Web experience to mobile phones, allowing users to surf the Web without limitations, even while on-the-go. No matter the device in use, Opera delivers a faster, easier and hassle-free Web experience.”

There is no confirmation as to when the full version of Opera Mobile 10 will be released to the public.  

Mergers and acquisitions have become hot stuff in the mobile phone world at the moment and with T-Mobile and Orange now merged, it is understood that another significant partnership in the UK mobile phone markets could be underway, with 3 Mobile as a possible target.

This comes after the merger of T-Mobile and Orange meant that they collectively have the market share of the most mobile phone users in the UK. The crown was previously held by Vodafone who remain holding just over a quarter of the market in total; O2 are slightly behind by a little bit, too.

Even though the merger of T-Mobile and Orange is brilliant news for UK consumers according to experts, it is feared that the aftermath of the merger could result in dire consequences for Vodafone who may have lost the strong footing that they once had in the mobile phone market.

After Orange successfully merged T-Mobile, it seems that Vodafone and O2 have been left outside in the cold after both putting £3.5 billion each on the table in order to increase the market share that they have.

Now Orange and T-Mobile are in it together at 50/50, it could be said that they are going to try and unite as one entity rather than to carry on as two separate mobile phone operators. As a result, this may mean that mobile phone users are affected in some way.

One analyst said: “To date the two separate operators have struggled to close the gap on Vodafone and O2.”

The UK network O2 is set to be the exclusive vendor of the Palm Pre when it hits UK shelves sometime later this year (hopefully before the Christmas rush to benefit from sales), but what many of us are waiting to find out is whether O2 will have exclusive rights to the Palm Pixi as well.

Due to launch at Christmas in the US, it could be said that the Pixi gracing the UK with its presence could be set back to at least midway of next year. This comes after an O2 spokesperson was quoted as saying that Palm hadn’t confirmed any details of the Pixi coming to Europe, let alone O2 handling sales of the device.

The spokesperson added: “As our strategy is to have a broad range of products for our customers we would certainly be interested in ranging handsets such as the Palm Pixi but have nothing to announce at this time.”

There are fears that UK mobile phone fanatics could be receiving a phone that is obsolete as a newer and better phone is released in the States – this is despite Palm officially deeming the Palm Centro as the predecessor to the Pixi. The Pixi is by no means identical to the Pre and has a variety of new features including a lack of WiFi connectivity, internal storage and an external battery. Whether UK users will be able to get their hands on this anytime soon is a different matter.

There are a variety of phones that are expected to hit the retail market in the coming month. One of them is the INQ Mini 3G, which is set to be released in October on the 3 network.

It is understood that the phone is distinctive because of its functionality, despite the phone being relatively small in size. The INQ Mini has been styled as ‘the Twitter phone’ because of its ability to handle Twitter, Facebook and other social-networking services.

One of the most notable facilities on the phone is Skype, which 3 users can enjoy integrated into their phones. Messaging is also high on the list of the INQ Mini’s priorities.

Despite the phone sounding a rather nerdy choice, there are many things that INQ are trying to do in order for the phone to appeal to those who are image-conscious. With a detachable red plate towards the back of the phone, it is hoped those who like to be ‘in’ with the latest colours will consider buying other plates that are available in an array of seven colours.

There have been a fair few phones which have failed miserably in the market because they haven’t been given a powerful enough connectivity to handle all of the things that the phone can do. With 3G connectivity on the INQ Mini, it is hoped that this problem has been eradicated to an extent.

The owners of INQ have been making a conscientious effort to ensure that the phone appeals to all markets, particularly the budget market that they believe will be highly interested in the reasonably-priced £59.99 phone. The 2-megapixel camera, bright display and potential for extra storage should the mobile phone user so wish has meant that interest has been rife for the phone so far.

Some experts have been surprised that the INQ Mini hasn’t proceeded to become the successor of the INQ1 Facebook phone, which some people have seen as rather bulky and difficult to use. It is understood however that both phones will remain in stores so new mobile phone purchasers can take the pick of the one that is best for them.

It seems that many people are going to be spoilt for choice if they are into social-networking on their phones. The INQ Chat is due to be released soon alongside the INQ Mini in order for those who enjoy using Instant Messaging to have a better functionality of the service than what is usually expected on mobile phones. These two phones could be said to be the friendlier and cheaper models of the Palm Pre and the HTC Hero, which have also integrated social-networking websites into their fascia.

Official dates have not yet been confirmed for the INQ Chat, but it is understood to be soon and quite close behind the INQ Mini. Whether you rush off to a 3 store in order to get your hands on a Mini or wait a little while longer to see what else is on offer is your call.

Whether you’re moving away from home, attending university, taking on a travel heavy job, or simply looking for a more affordable way to keep in touch with your spouse and kids on a day to day basis, T-Mobile users still have the means to call, text, and exchange photos with family and loved ones without hurting their budgets.

With the release of T-Mobile’s new Family Booster plan, keeping in touch is no longer a hassle. Essentially, you can allow up to four other friends or family members to call or text you and each other as much as they like, all at absolutely no cost to them.

All you need to do is assign one member of your group to pay an additional five dollar fee on top of their usual bill. It doesn’t matter what kind of T-mobile plan you or your group members have—even pay-per-minute plans apply. However, the only requirement is that the person organizing the group must be on the Combi, Flext or Solo plans for it to work.

“We’ve brought out a number of family related price plans to give our customers more value.” said Steve Mitchell, head of the pay monthly at T-Mobile. “ … So, whether it’s your daughter ringing for a lift after school, your cousin wanting to know the answers to a pub quiz, or your dad sharing his latest joke, your family will always be able to stay in touch for free.”

Best of all, their short, simple one month rolling contract makes it easy to test this out among your friends and family members without locking you or them in a long plan. You can belong to a maximum or two groups, allowing you to include up to eight people on this incredible deal.

Once you’ve registered your four contacts, you can use you’re My T-Mobile account to tweak your contacts and groups according to each group member’s individual preferences. The My T-Mobile account allows you to add or change your group lists, manage your payment plans, and even send text announcements to one or more people on your group, all with a few simple clicks. However, keep in mind that many of the changes made toward your group can only be made once a month, so choose wisely.

With this in mind, it’s easy to see how this would considerably cut down monthly phone costs. Not only does the Family Booster plan make using your mobile cheaper and easier, but over time it will also lower any existing landline phone bills as well as you use your mobile more and more.

However, T-Mobile stresses that the benefits involved in their Family Booster plan are under a fair use policy. Should the company sense that you or any members of your group are calling or texting to an excessive degree, you may receive a request to tone down your usage. After this warning, the organizer may end up having to pay more than their usual five dollar fee to compensate. Additionally, if one family member does something to warrant an account suspension, then everyone on the group is suspended as well.

To learn more about how the Family Booster plan can benefit you and your loved ones, visit T-Mobile’s website today.

Both Orange and T-Mobile are still negotiating red tape to see whether or not they can get the merger that they want – however, if it does go ahead, it would almost certainly mean that the new mobile network which would form would be bigger than any other network in the UK and it would outstrip Vodafone and O2 of their titles as the mobile network market leaders in this country.

Even though it has been confirmed that the bids made have been accepted and that Orange and T-Mobile have agreed to working with each other, confirmation of the deal going ahead for definite are still a long way off – this is because of the issue of competition. In the UK, we have an association which is known as the Competition Commission that ensures that all consumers have enough choice in the retail market, regardless of where they shop or what they are shopping for.

T-Mobile and Orange’s aim is to ensure that all customers receive better coverage and streamlined customer services. In addition, it is hoped that the future could see other elements of the Orange portfolio, like Orange broadband, be reviewed and re-branded to coincide with the new network.

The concern of the Competition Commission is that the merger of T-Mobile and Orange could mean that consumers have less choice (the amount of main mobile phone networks would decrease from five to four) and that mobile phone companies would be able to raise prices without consumers being able to do anything about it.

T-Mobile and Orange are planning to close some of their stores in order for the Competition Commission to believe that the dominance the new network has is lessened in a way. A good way to think about it is this: the two networks will want to drop off any smaller operations that they do not need in order to get the merger off the ground, like dropping sandbags from a hot-air balloon.

Negotiations have been going on for months, with Vodafone and O2 all being contenders to join with T-Mobile also. Vodafone and O2 now have a lot on their plates as they have to negotiate the new ‘giant’ network that has formed. Both of them have been considering buying the smallest mobile phone network of the big five, the 3 network, but whether this would be allowed or not remains to be seen.

Hundreds of people are also set to lose their jobs here in the UK as Orange and T-Mobile try to streamline the services they have in order to enjoy success. Even though this new mobile network could be exciting news for some, it could signify bad news for others, with price rises and job losses all on the list of those who think that this is a bad idea. If everything goes to plan, a brand-new merged network could be seen sometime in 2010. Watch this space!