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New Tech Blogger’s Toolkit up and running

As promised, the new Tech Blogger’s Toolkit is now up and running. Check out the goodies, and keep checking back, as more new widgets, gadgets and other goodies will be added to make the life of the tech blogger just that little bit easier!
O2 drops the iPhone
Just when you thought the Apple iPhone hype had died down, we have surprising news that there are no more 8GB iPhones on sale in the UK. Carphone Warehouse has completely run out of stock, all online stores are telling their affiliates not to promote it anymore (no point, really, as there aren’t any to sell!), O2 only have a few more left in their stores, and no more additional stock is expected. What’s going on? Is this the end of the iPhone in the UK?…
Sony Ericsson G502 and Z780 with HSDPA and aGPS
Sony Ericsson have launched two new phones, and for once, they’re not CyberShot or Walkman phones! The Sony Ericsson G502 (above) and Z780 are low to mid-range phones that are similar to the Nokia 5320 and 5220 in that they bring super-fast HSDPA connectivity down to an affordable level. Although both phones are different in appearance, they’re very similar underneath, offering 2 megapixel camera, MP3 player, HSDPA and Google maps already installed.
The Z780 is the slightly more advanced model, though, in that it comes with aGPS, letting you navigate easily across Google Maps (either road view or satellite view). It also comes with a weather application that takes advantage of the high speed Internet connectivity and built-in GPS to tell you what the weather will be like in your area for the next three days.
Neither model will set the world on fire, but in terms of good quality phones with a good range of quality features, all for an affordable price, they’ll be hard to beat. With the addition of HSDPA, they’re also another indication of how the mobile Web is steadily coming of age.
More details and pictures of the Sony Ericsson G502 and Z780 after the jump.
Nokia 5320 offers HSDPA and N-Gage at bargain price
Nokia have announced the new Nokia 5320 and 5220 Xpress Music phones. The Nokia Xpress Music range has traditionally been pitched at the lower end of the market, and the new 5320 and 5220 are no exception, selling for between 160 – 220 Euros. What is exceptional, though, is the quality of the features that Nokia has been good enough to squeeze into them. Not only do you get a dedicated music device with 3.5″ headphone jack and dedicated audio chip for superior sound quality, but with the 5320, you also get HSDPA for super-fast downloads of your music direct to the phone.
As if all that wasn’t enough, you can also install the N-Gage platform to take advantage of the new range of games that Nokia are selling under the N-Gage brand, and storage of up to 8GB.
More details of the Nokia 5320 and 5220 mobile phones after the jump.
Samsung Soul, the last of the the Ultra Edition phones
Samsung have launched the new Samsung Soul, a new mobile phone from the company that actually has a name, rather than an awkward array of seemingly arbitrary letters and numbers (who could forget the charmingly-named Samsung SGH-P310 for example?!). Samsung chose the name Soul as it stands for “Spirit Of ULtra” (yes, really!), and it apparently “honours the completion of its exclusive ‘Ultra Edition’ series.” Not entirely sure why “soul” denotes the end of something, but it does imply that this will be the last in the extremely successful and highly-rated Ultra Edition range of phones, thereby paving the way for an ever better crop of phones from Samsung for the rest of the year
The Soul is Samsung’s new flagship phone, meaning it’s a high-end monster packed full of features. Better still, continuing Samsung’s recent theme, these aren’t just gimmicks – each feature is designed to work and work really well, rather than just acting as padding for the spec list.
More pics and full details of the Samsung Soul after the jump.
New LG-KF700, a touchscreen phone for touchscreen haters
LG have launched the new LG-KF700, a new touchscreen mobile phone that comes with no less than three different input methods. In case the touchscreen wasn’t enough for you, you can also use an alphanumeric keypad or a shortcut dial. Which, if you think about it, is a bit odd. If the touchscreen is up to scratch, you shouldn’t need the other two forms of input. It’s like adding a high-tech Tiptronic gearbox to a car, and then bolting on both a manual and an automatic gearbox just for good measure!
LG’s reasoning is that not everyone likes a touchscreen. We realize that touchscreens are a wonderful advancement, but they are not the solution for every problem or every user,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. “We looked beyond just touch when designing the LG-KF700 and studied how people actually use their phones. The LG-KF700’s three separate input methods provide unmatched convenience and mean that users don’t have to give up anything to gain a touchscreen.”
But surely the idea of a touchscreen is that you give up the older forms of input becaus ethe newer one (the touchscreen) is actually much better? In other words, you’re not actually giving anything up, you’re gaining an enhanced experience. Just ask an iPhone owner. No matter what you think of the Jesus Phone, its touchscreen interface is almost universally loved (at least for standard numeric input and menu navigation).
Forgive me for being cynical, but this seems a bit like a tacit admission by LG that its toucshcreens aren’t all that good, and are a bit, well clunky.
But enough of the cynicism. More details of the LG-KF700 after the jump.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 preview
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is one of the most-anticipated new smartphones to come from Sony Ericsson in years. Previous smartphones from the company focused on their P-range, with the P900 and its successors perhaps the most well-known. Although these have always been well-regarded, I’ve also found them a bit too fiddly to use. You either had to rely on stylus-based hand-writing recognition, which only recognized a single character at a time, or a keyboard so small only a 5 year old child could use.
The Xperia X1 changes all that, as it comes with a slide out keyboard similar to other manufacturers’ smartphones (such as HTC’s range or the Nokia E90). Better still, Sony Ericsson have had the good sense of stuffing the X1 with every conceivable feature they could think of!
Read on for a sneak preview of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 in action.
Comparing the Sony Ericsson K850 with a digital camera
The Sony Ericsson K850i is one of the best camera phones on the market today. Not only does it offer 5 megapixel resolution, it also offers auto-focus, all manner of automatic and manual aids for capturing the perfect picture, and comes complete with Sony’s seal of approval courtesy of its highly-respected CyberShhot brand.
At the end of the day, though, it is still just a camera phone, which begs the question: just how well does a camera phone compare with a dedicated digital camera?
A Moment of Site Ugliness

Forgive the ugly ads that might appear over the next few days. I’m optimizing the ads using YieldBuild, which sometimes comes up with some bizarre positioning and colouring ideas. It should all settle down in the next few days.
Leaked pics of Sony Ericsson P5i smartphone
While Sony Ericsson are busy teasing us with the specs of their forthcoming XPERIA X1 smartphone, they’re also working quietly on another smartphone currently codenamed the Sony Ericsson Paris. The phone will probably be called the P5i when it’s launched, and comes with some serious firepower.
For starters, it’ll have a touchscreen (which is par for the course these days), together witha 5 megapixel camera, GPS, WayFinder 7.0 software, and a curious weather application as well. From the sounds of it, this will give you a heads-up on what the weather will be doing where you now, by combining your current position with an online weather service.
More details and tonnes of pics of the Sony Ericsson P5i/Paris after the jump.





