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Hands-on smartphone shoot-out coming soon

Exciting news, smartphone fans. I've got my hands on four of the latest all-singing all-dancing smartphones, and will be reviewing them in depth over the coming days. I've already posted my hands-on Nokia E90 review, which is my own phone that I've been using since November 2007.

When I bought it, I was torn between the E90 and the Toshiba G900 Portege smartphone. Although I've no regrets at all with the choice I eventually made, I've always wondered how the G900 would have compared as a day to day smartphone.

Well, now I don't need to wonder, as I have its successor, the Toshiba Portege G910, here with me right now, and am half way through its review. I've also got my hands on a MWg Atom V and MWg Zinc II, two other Windows Mobile-based smartphones, and I'll be reviewing them individually and together, in one gigantic smartphone shoot-out.

If you missed it the first time, check out my Nokia E90 review. I should have the Portege G910 review posted on Thursday (13th August), followed by the MWgs early next week.

You'll be pleased to know this is just the start of a series of hands-on reviews. Stay tuned for more phones coming your way.

Why the Apple iPhone Nano patent means nothing

Apple may be working on an Apple iPhone Nano, if current rumours are to be believed. Although talk of an iPhone Nano has been around since as long ago as August 2006, nothing concrete has ever emerged about such a device...until now.

Actually, I say concrete, but there's nothing all that strong to go on. The current rumour is based on a patent application by iPhone accessory company Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO), who've patented a design for a "telephonic portable digital media storage and playback device" (i.e. an iPhone dock). What's exciting the fanboys is that the patent contains a diagram showing a phone whose features are remarkably similar to an iPod Nano.

The speculation surrounds the purpose of such a patent. MacNN asks:

"Why else would a prominent iPod/iPhone accessories developer invent and patent this design and/or form-factor if it weren’t to be a coming reality?"

Well, as someone who holds a patent for work commissioned by Orange that never saw the light of day, I'll tell you...after the jump.

Bend Mobile - a concept phone only its father could love

If there's one thing I love about concept phones, it's the fact that they're completely unconstrained by the laws of economics, business, marketing, or even in some cases, the laws of physics!

A concept phone is just that - a concept, showing what could be done if the phone were left solely to a designer without a care for whether or not it could actually be built, much less whether it could be built for a reasonable price.

Mind you, although some are undoubtedly stunning pieces of design, not all of them are what you might call attractive. You can see what I mean after the jump...

Top Ten mobile phones shows Samsung on a roll

This week's top ten mobile phones for the UK market shows Samsung on a roll, with five of its phones in the list of bestsellers, including the number one spot. Topping the lot is the Samsung F480 Tocco, which was only released a few months ago.

It's no surprise, though, as the Tocco is a great, full featured touchscreen phone that gives the iPhone a run for its money. Five megapixel camera with auto-focus, great flash and face detection, plus HSDPA and haptic user interface make the Tocco a seriously well-equipped mobile phone.

More surprising, perhaps, is the Nokia N95, which is still the number 2 and the number 8 best seller despite being around since March 2007. The N95 has always been a high-end mobile phone, and the fact that it's still number 2 shows just how far ahead of the competition it was when it launched, as its features still set the benchmark for other high end mobile phones.

Check out the full list of the week's top ten mobile phones after the jump.

TuneWiki shows how Google Android will revolutionize the mobile Web

Google Android phones should be with us later this year, and will need some captivating software right from the start if they're to capture the interest of users who are already used to the technological miracles of Nokia, Samsung et al. and the user interface wizardry of Apple.

Recently, though, there's been a few rumours that developers have been losing interest in Android, and that there won't be much software released for it.

Really? Just wait until you see TuneWiki, an MP3 player for Android phones that's like no other, then decide for yourself if developers are giving up on the platform before it's even launched.

Comparing the new Sony Ericsson T700 to the 5 year old T610

Sony Ericsson have announced the new Sony Ericsson T700, a mid-range phone that's the spiritual successor to Sony Ericsson's T610. For those of you who don't remember the T610, it was the first phone that put Sony Ericsson on the map. It wasn't a high-end phone, but for some reason it was extremely popular, and people not only bought it by the barge-load, they also seem to have a soft spot for it, too.

Given that the old T610 was released five years ago, comparing it to the new T700 gives an excellent impression of just how far phones have come in the past five years. So read on after the jump for a direct comparison between the T610 and T700.

Samsung Omnia i900 coming soon

Samsung announced the Samsung Omnia i900 just ahead of the Apple iPhone 3G launch, which was a bold move by the company given the level of hype surrounding the iPhone.

It was even bolder when you consider that the Omnia is being pitched as a direct iPhone rival; yes, not just any old touchscreen phone, but what many are considering to be a touchscreen phone that's actually better than the iPhone in many ways.

Whether that's the case or not, we won't know until Samsung actually launches the Omnia, but fortunately we won't have too long to late. According to my sources, it should be released either next week or the week after, and I'm hopefully going to be getting my hands on it some weeks after that.

In the meantime, read on for more details and pictures of the Samsung Omnia i900.

iPhone sales explode beyond all forecasts

The iPhone 3G seems to be the iPhone that everyone always wanted, at least if the number of iPhones now being sold is any indication. Foxconn, the company that produces the iPhone for Apple, has ramped up production and is now producing 800,000 iPhones a week!

Early estimates suggested that Apple would originally shift 25 million iPhones a year, but if they can sustain the current rate of sales, they'll be on target to shift 40 million. This should, of course, be put into context of the overall mobile phone market, with over 1 billion phones being sold each year, with Nokia selling 435 million of them. However, 40 million sales of just one product that's not even two years old yet is a tremendous achievement, and shows that Apple truly has broken into the mobile marketplace, and isn't about to crash and burn like some early forecasts predicted.

[Source: TechCrunch]

Nokia slashes prices in bid for market dominance

In a move that puts further distance between itself and its two floundering rivals, Nokia has slashed the price of its mobile phones by up to ten percent. The biggest fall in price has been made on its music and media phones (specifically, the Nokia 5310, 5610 and N81 8GB), putting particular pressure on Sony Ericsson's Walkman range and Motorola's ROKR range.

Nokia holds a commanding lead in the mobile phone market with 41% market share, and makes a healthy profit. In contrast, two of the big five mobile phone firms are floundering. Motorola has already announced it's spinning off its loss-making mobile phone division as the huge losses it's been making are dragging the entire company down. More recently, Sony announced that its profits were also being hit by its mobile phone division, Sony Ericsson.

Sony Ericsson made just $6 million in the April - June quarter, a massive 97% drop from the same period last year, when it posted a $220 million profit. The company announced it is shedding some 2,000 jobs to help stem the losses, but it may only be a matter of time before Sony decides to go down the Motorola route and spin off its mobile phone company from the main parent group (although this will be more difficult to achieve than it was for Motorola, due to Ericsson's stake in the joint partnership).

For us consumers, though, all this is good news isn't it? Price cuts, cheaper phones - where's the harm in that? Find out after the jump.