BlackBerry Storm 9500 Smartphone Review

September 1st, 2010 | Blackberry, Mobile Phone Reviews, Touchscreen

The BlackBerry Storm 9500 is the first BlackBerry mobile phone to incorporate the clickable touch screen, meaning you have to actually press down on the screen as opposed to tapping the screen like you do with an iPhone. The screen is large with the benefit of sharp clear images which is perfect for the playback of videos or viewing photographs taken on the handset’s built in 3.2 megapixel camera.

The latest mobile phones are offering helpful functions such as GPS and the BlackBerry Storm 9500 doesn’t fail to continue the trend. Boasting fast email transfers both with the receiving and sending of data, this handset is popular for those who like to be able to connect on the go. The stylish but sturdy design won’t disappoint even the most hard to please users.

The lack of Wi-Fi really disappoints where the Storm is concerned and the camera, although fine for shots taken on a clear day or with good light fails to reach expectations when used under poor lighting conditions. The touch screen will not be to everyone’s taste and for those used to using the iPhone the Storm can appear a little ‘clunky’ and not so easy to navigate. When you factor in the very poor battery life, this handset may have too many negative points for some users, but for those looking for a reliable BlackBerry mobile phone with good features then the BlackBerry Storm 9500 will tick all the boxes.

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3 Mobile Broadband Review

August 31st, 2010 | Broadband, Mobile Broadband

3 Mobile leads the way in the United Kingdom with 3G network technology, which allows for much faster data transfer via a mobile phone network. As a result, their mobile broadband service is understandably one of the strongest in the market today.

As with any mobile phone technology, 3 Mobile Broadand’s performance depends entirely on the network strength in a given area. However, should you use a mobile broadband dongle from 3 Mobile in an area of strong network strength, then you can expect speeds of up to 2.8Mb/s. This strong download speed, unlike most quoted on the market, is what 3 Mobile Broadband does actually achieve and is not just the potential speed of a network.

Along with fast mobile broadband speeds in strong coverage areas, 3 Mobile Broadband also provides its customers with no risk 14 day money back guarantees on all deals, contracts which range from pay as you go to 24 months, 24/7 customer support and a service specially optimised to use VoIP programmes such as Skype. Some of 3 Mobile Broadband’s more generous deals include free laptop computers, mobile broadband routers or USB ‘dongle’ modems.

3 Mobile Broadband also offers their users generous usage limits on some deals. Most mobile broadband providers severely limit the amount of data which can be downloaded via their connections, however some of 3 Mobile’s top of the line broadband deals allow for up to 15 GB to be downloaded monthly.

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Motorola Dext – comes with Google Android OS

August 27th, 2010 | Google Android, Mobile Phone Reviews, Mobile Phones, Motorola Mobile Phones

The Motorola Dext is just one in the range of Motorola mobile phones that are on offer at the moment.  This is an Android phone which offers users all that they have come to expect from an Android operating system.  The touch screen is an elegant addition to the phone and there is a wide range of apps that can be downloaded.  Users will be pleased with the real QWERTY keyboard as the keys are laid out well and typing messages or emails is easy.

 Motorola have added MotoBlur which gathers all your information from sites such as Twitter and Facebook and keeps you up to date with your friends automatically.  If you lose the phone the GPS function can track it and wipe all personal information from it.  The screen is a good size and for those who like to listen to music on the move, there is an excellent music player and 3.5mm headphone jack.  The camera is fairly basic but is functional although there is no flash. Images can be easily uploaded to the internet or to your PC.

The Motorola Dext is available from most mobile service providers as one of their contract mobile phones.  These often offer the phone free of charge in return for a minimum contract commitment, which can be anything from 12 months to 2 years.  Tariffs will also vary depending upon the length of the contract and by shopping around you may find that there is a mobile phone deal to suit you. 

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Sony Ericsson Yari – the gamers choice!

August 26th, 2010 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Sony Ericsson

A Sony Ericsson Yari review reveals a dedicated gamer’s phone. If you are into gaming and want to combine the practicalities of a mobile phone and game console then the Yari is for you. The main feature of the Yari is its gesture control, which operates in a similar style to the Sony Wii remote, where hand movements are interpreted into character actions. 

This is a fun function but not necessarily one you would use in public. There are however more conventional games like Tetris for these occasions and the phone comes preloaded with a wide selection.

The 2.4 inch screen is sharp and clear and rotates with the phone making it nice to use. It includes GPS so location apps like maps and Nearme are useful additions. The Yari has a 5-megapixel camera, which is perfectly adequate, if somewhat tricky to get used to. It produces good pictures, has a smile detector and its share facility for downloading onto the internet or by Bluetooth is easy to use.

Ericsson still has the same design problems and the habit of annoyingly over complicating their button design, and the Yari is no different in this respect. The music player is standard with nothing overly exciting about it, but the sound quality from its speakers is fairly good.

Sony Ericsson has however produced a stylish, slim and novel phone in the Yari, a great boon for gamers and still with sufficient functionality to work effectively as a phone as well.

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MOTOSLVR L6 Review

August 23rd, 2010 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Mobile Phones, Motorola Mobile Phones

This very slim and nicely designed mobile phone can capture and share quality digital photos and videos and take you anywhere around the wireless world. It comes with Bluetooth, integrated VGA camera with 4x zoom, video playback and download facilities and all this is housed in a slim line, compact design.

Connectivity is excellent with Bluetooth class 2, web browser, GPRS class 10, USB 1.1 with 12 mbps as a maximum speed so it is compatible with most Bluetooth and wireless gadgets and a range of other built in mobile phone tools.  It comes with built in games, Caller ID with a picture ID and the capacity to hold five hundred individual phone book entries. It is video capable, with FM radio and 22 kHz polyphonic speakers which can play the following formats: H.263, MPEG-4, 3GP. 

Physically the handset is what is called a candy-bar shape measuring 113 mm by 49 mm with a depth of 10.9 mm and it weighs eighty six grams. The display screen size is 128 x 160, 65k CSTN. The antenna is internal.

This particular model does not have a huge amount of memory but it gets by with 10 MB, 32 MB internal ROM and 8MB internal RAM.

Overall this is an attractive little phone although it does not have the high specs of many of the up to the minute ones. It is possible to find some excellent deals on cheap mobile phone sites. It is light, easy to use and ideal for those who just want a basic phone with radio and a few extras.

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Tips to get faster broadband speeds

August 20th, 2010 | Broadband

It is quite common for customers to get only a fraction of the speeds that are advertised but there are a few things you can do to speed up your broadband connection.

Not long ago the minimum speed that would be considered as broadband was around 512Mbit, but with the latest in video streaming technology 2Mbit is really a more realistic minimum speed allowing users to take advantage of broadband connections.

Whether speed is really important to you does depend on what you use your connection for. If you only use your internet connection to send and receive email and, say, for online banking you could probably get away with very little – even just a fraction of an advertised speed of 8Mbit will do just fine. However if you enjoy video streaming such as BBC iPlayer you would need a connection that is substantially faster.

So, if you are saddled with a connection that is too slow for your needs, what can you do to improve speeds? It might not be readily apparent but very often your broadband provider can increase your speed if they take the time to fine tune the settings on your broadband line, so it is definitely worth giving them a call.

If you use an old Wi-Fi router to link your laptop to your broadband modem you might want to try upgrading to newer technology.

You could also consider changing to a broadband provider that uses a different technology to link your home to their equipment. If you are some distance away from your exchange you may want to switch away from ADSL technology – used by BT Total Broadband, Talk Talk broadband, Tiscali broadband and so on to, say, cable technology such as Virgin Media broadband.

Thankfully technological improvements are resulting in increased broadband speeds all the time. Also, the government has committed to ensuring that every household has access to at least 2Mbit broadband, so you might see a bump in available speeds even if you are in a rural location.

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Nokia 6700 Slide Overview

August 19th, 2010 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Mobile Phones, Nokia

The Nokia 6700 Slide is a unique slide phone which looks to bridge the gap between modern smart phones and the older, smaller styles of technology which we all know and are familiar with.

The Nokia 6700 Slide features a D pad navigation below its screen for quick and easy navigation along with a slide down, 1-9 hard keyboard for the more in depth tasks. All the usual smart phone applications can be found on the Nokia 6700 Slide too, with links to Facebook, Twitter, Nokia’s Ovi store and a web browser all available on the home page.

However, despite having all the practicalities that you would find on one of the latest mobile phones, trying to integrate them into a slide phone setting can cause some teething problems.

The 1-9 keypad can make typing long emails and text messages hard at times, something that is much easier on a smart phone, and the D pad can be hard to use without accidentally hitting the surrounding buttons. Web navigation too can be an issue thanks to the Nokia 6700 Slide’s slightly untidy D pad.

The vibration setting is also a common thorn in user’s sides, as its aggression means it is often quieter to keep the phone on ring.

As the Nokia 6700 Slide is mainly available on contract mobile phone deals, users can often end up getting a full smart phone for the same monthly cost as this attempted feature phone hybrid.

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Recycling your phone with Envirofone

August 16th, 2010 | Mobile Phone Recycling, Mobile Phones

Envirofone is a mobile phone exchange company that offers you cash for your old mobile phone. Using their service is easy; simply navigate to their website (envirofone.com) and search for the model of phone you wish to exchange for cash. If you like the price they are offering you can either choose a method of payment or have the cash donated to charity. Envirofone will then send you a padded envelope to return your phone to them free of postage costs and will test and validate your phone when they receive it. As long as it meets their and terms and conditions you will receive your payment. The speed at which you are paid will depend on the method of payment you selected.

Envirofone offers a variety of payment methods for their users. You can choose from either a transfer directly into your bank account, PayPal, Argos Vouchers, or receiving a cheque by post. Envirofone also offer to offset your mobile phone’s carbon emissions for a small fee that is deducted from your sale. This amount will be invested in projects that absorb or prevent the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So if you choose you can not only prevent the hazardous materials within the phone making their way into the environment but also offset the carbon footprint of your phone.

The majority of old mobiles that are received by Envirofone can be reused, which reduces the impact which mining for some of the materials has on landscapes across the world.

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The Samsung Galaxy Apollo GT i5801

August 13th, 2010 | Mobile Phone Reviews, Mobile Phones, Samsung, Touchscreen

It may be a little on the chunky side, but if you’re not prepared to pay the eye-watering prices currently on offer for a high-end Android phone, you’d do well to consider this little brute. OK, in the world of Samsung mobile phones, the Samsung Galaxy Apollo isn’t in the same league as the superb Samsung Galaxy S – one of the best smartphones out there at present. Excellent though it is, the Galaxy S is also distinctly expensive (currently around £450 for a SIM-only deal).

Like the Galaxy S, the GT-i5891 includes the version 2.1 Android operating system, and if you’re into contract mobile phones, the handset’s yours for free if you opt for a two year contract at £20 a month (SIM-free it’ll set you back £225 or you could opt for a pay-as-you-go deal for about £150). But there are other allures to the phone, too. Like its wonderfully responsive touch screen: it uses a capacitative (rather than a resistive) screen that supports multi-touch – just pinch your fingers together and you’ll zoom in on the webpage, map or image you’re viewing. A Qaulcomm processor drives the action, running at around 667 MHz. That’s zippy enough for the average user, but it tends to be a little tardy if you’ve got lots of widgets open on your screen. You’ll easily get two days of use from a single battery charge-up, though.

Samsung has thrown in a DivX-certified video-playing app (resolution 720×480 pixels) so you won’t need to re-encode DivX or Xvid videos on your PC first in order to view them. There’s also a 3.2 megapixel camera, and the supplied in-ear headphones give surprisingly good audio playback when you’re listening to music, with a pleasingly gutsy bass.

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BlackBerry Bold 9700 – great for business use!

August 10th, 2010 | Blackberry, Mobile Phone Reviews

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is a BlackBerry mobile phone targeted at the consumer market as opposed to BlackBerry’s traditional business market. The BlackBerry Bold 9700, compared with older BlackBerry mobile phones, looks slimmer, with more attention paid to the media functions.

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is 4.29 by 2.36 by 0.56 inches, and weighs 4.3 ounces. Its range of features include six hours of talk time, 19 days of standby battery life, a main display of 480 x 360 pixels measuring 2.44 inches and a camera with 3.2 megapixel resolution, flash, auto focus, image stabiliser and digital zoom. The multimedia features are video supporting MPEG4, H.263, H.264, DivX 4, DivX 5, XviD, WMV and flash video and a music player supporting MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, and AMR files.

The mobile phone has a full QWERTY keyboard, BlackBerry browser, microUSB, Wi-Fi and 2.1 stereo Bluetooth.

The excellent email functions and the superlative battery life are among the BlackBerry Bold 9700’s best review points. The replacement of a rollerball in earlier BlackBerry mobile phones with an optical trackpad is very successful. Although the screen is not the largest available in smartphones, generally it is clear and sharp. The QWERTY keyboard is easy to use and highly responsive.

On the downside, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 is quite complicated in its display of menus, which can be somewhat confusing to navigate.

The majority of BlackBerry Bold 9700 deals offer free minutes, unlimited texts and a free handset.

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