Best Phone Blog

We have all seen the impressive concept videos of “future smart phones” made of transparent, super thin, flexible touch screen displays and many believe that the technology has plenty of potential to make mobile phones even more convenient to access.

But as cool as having a wrist mounted device would be, nothing is more practical than the concept devices that sit safely in the pocket or a bag (as having a fragile electronic gadget on the wrist is not really conducive to commuting and any other activities).

Augmented reality will play a very important role in the future, as it allows users to instantly pick up relevant information about where they are and about the things around them. The functions can serve from simple visual instructions on where to go, what do to and what time things will happen. Take the Tube for example, bringing up a handset will give the user arrival and departure schedules as well as destinations, possible stops and even ticket prices. Some phones can do these now at a considerable length, future technology is aiming to make it instant.

HD is making a serious show on mobile phones these days as 720p video recording is fast becoming the new standard for high end smart phones. DivX encoding is also being supported more as well. Eventually, most media formats might be compatible with handsets as well (such as OGG, MKV and others).

While high definition video is making a solid mark on the mobile phone industry, the same cannot be said of the 3D technology. Considering that many people have only recently switched to HD, only a few are willing to invest in a 3D television. This is even more the case for smart phone users as handsets are not exactly good for 3D video –even with the glass-less parallax technology.

As impressive as the new Windows Phone 7 mobile platform may be, many gaming fans are still disappointed that there is still no announced lineup of games that the smart phone operating system will be supporting.

This is a major factor that many gamers are considering. For the most part, the hardcore market of gamers are not always too keen on spending money for mobile phones, many would be happy with basic GSM handsets and simply allocate their money for great games or updates to the console. And with Microsoft’s Kinect for the Xbox 360 announced to be pretty pricey (as well as the new Xbox 360 “slim” type), they will need a very good reason as to why a gamer should also get a WP7 handset.

The integration of the Xbox Live Games service on the new OS did not really come as a surprise for the gaming industry; though many appreciated that existing accounts are reportedly useable in the new mobile platform. Despite this, there are some gamers concerned about the accumulation of gamer points and in game achievements as many still view the mobile app gaming industry as a casual gaming market. For points and achievements earned there to be counted along a player’s console rating is considered by some to be an affront to their skills.

As stated, there is still no announced lineup of games for the WP7 operating system. While it has already been demonstrated by Microsoft that games can be transferred from the phone to a computer or to a console, there are not titles that would be making use of the feature.

According to reports, Microsoft is offering various incentives to developers to create games for WP7 but with the production details becoming too complex for some independent creators, they still turned down the offer.

While it has already been confirmed more than a month ago, the acquisition of smart phone manufacturer Palm by Hewlett Packard is still underway. For the most part, the two companies are already considered as one. Technically, there are still papers to be signed and various other proceedings to be followed through.

In any event, the deal is already pushing through and despite the initial statement from HP that hinted at the possibility that they would not be delving into the smart phone industry, it seems that HP is now intent on ‘speeding up’ their entry to the market. In any case, it is hard to tell what the famous (yet fickle) company is planning on doing at this point.

Regardless of how Hewlett Packard decides to play this out, many industry believe that the acquisition of Palm can nothing but a great thing for HP. While Palm’s WebOS has made it well known in the phone industry, it has yet to make a name for itself with the average market. Even the older Palm PDAs and pocket PCs were catering to a very niche crowd, and their later venture into smart phones was little different.

HP on the other hand, caters to a larger market. These general use devices such as printers and laptops are used both by enterprise and general buyers. Being tied up to HP’s name and brand will help spread Palm to a larger market range –a feat that it failed to achieve before the acquisition.

At the same time, HP will have a new operating system and the entire library of patented technology that Palm has developed throughout the years. For now, existing Palm owners will be happy to know that the WebOS mobile platform, as well as the Palm smart phones will continue to be supported and developed for by HP.

If you just recently bought a smart phone, then chances are you are new to apps. While the technicality behind it may not be so unfamiliar, there is still a significant degree of difference to the mentality behind getting apps for a mobile phone and apps for other electronic devices like a computer or a laptop.

Unlike desktop computers, laptops and other hardware, the smart phone is an in-pocket tool that people carry around almost the whole day, every day. While fitting it in with plenty of apps is tempting, that would prove to be very counterproductive, what is important is determining what apps are needed and what are not. And there are plenty available, whether you choose the Bada operating system (as seen in the new Samsung Wave 2), the Google Android OS (with it’s flagship phone, the Nexus One) or the latest iPhone.

For new users, the best thing to do is to avoid “tool” apps that are meant to enhance, change or alter the current performance of your phone or mobile operating system. The reason for this is that despite the fact that many experts would recommend such tweaks, the smart phone is a personal tool, and what might be convenient and effective for one person does not necessarily apply to you. Give the handset several months of use before you learn what kind of adjustments you would like to see and get the appropriate tool apps if available.

Games a major type of apps that people go for, and this is something that one should try out. Playing games will make a user more familiar with the control and response of a handset. Just be sure to download content in moderation and avoid storing too many rarely used games that would clog up your menu.

Lastly, check your interests. Be it personal or professional, there are plenty of apps for people have different interests. From media to travelling to food to clothing, these apps can range from simple reference guides to real-time internet based apps that provide you with the latest news, updates and even location based services.

Running out of batteries is a social phenomenon –it happens during the most unfortunate of circumstances. At least, that is how most of us remember it. The truth is, mobile phone batteries run out of charge regularly; even if the device is not being used, if it stays on standby long enough, the battery will eventually have to be recharged. But people do not always observe the rates at which their batteries drain, which is why it happens all too often that many forget to charge their devices or simply find themselves in an hour long trip with only 30 minutes of power left.

In order to ensure that a user are able to fully utilize a phone’s charged up battery, here are a few simple tips to keep the energy supply last longer.

First off, set things on low. Mobile phones have plenty of settings; speaker volume, ringer volume, LCD lights and more. If you need it, use it; but unless you are really hard of hearing, setting a ringer volume on a lower setting will help conserve energy (and it is also more polite to lower down the volume when in certain locations too).

The screen is one thing that many people tend to ignore. There are often settings for how bright the screen should be (especially for touch screen devices) as well as how long the backlights stay on. Lowering the duration of time that lights stay on as well as the overall brightness will conserve energy.

Second, stay offline. If you really do not need to see the latest live updates to your social network, it is best to disconnect from 3G. Not only will this save energy, it will also save you from exceeding the monthly data bandwidth.

There are many more ways to keep a phone from using up too much energy, but what matters most is keeping aware of how you are using that energy and knowing when you should recharge.

Now, if there is one form of electronic communication that people use, and more often than not, trust, it is Email. Email alone was enough to push mobile phone technology to develop better handsets and eventually smart phones (it was the need to have access to email that made RIM, Palm and Microsoft focus so hard on making pocket PC technology and later, smart phones).

Apparently, some folks at Facebook do not share the same idea, people like Sheryl Sandberg for example is one of them. Sheryl is chief operating officer for Facebook (though we now wonder how long she will be holding that position). According to her, Email is going away.

Now, the reason she states for this is mostly due to the fact that the ‘younger’ generation prefers to use the internal messaging and chat options of Facebook as opposed to having to open another browser window and sending an email (or opening up email software like Outlook). In this regard, yes, it is true; private messaging is becoming the favorite tool of choice for casual conversations.

However, email is also the individual’s private address on the internet, it is where information about banking details, account registrations, forum tracking, personal subscriptions and other such content are sent and stored. People even use an email address to sign up for Facebook as well.

So no, there is no need to shut down one’s email address today or even years from now.

Email will be around for a long time, it may take on a different form, hosted on a new server, or even start allowing users to send email content using various media (as opposed to simply attaching a file). In that regard, there is no way that a social networking site would ever be able to phase email out.

While Apple wanted to define the tablet as a separate device from the smart phone, other manufacturers have a different idea.

Take Samsung for example, the Korean phone maker has just announced the Samsung Galaxy Tape, which is packing a huge 7 inch super AMOLED capacitive touch screen and will enable users to make and receive phone calls. It has the best of both devices –a big screen and the ability to make phone calls.

On a side note, for this argument, having a big screen is a definitive factor for what defines a tablet –the Apple iPod Touch is basically a really small iPad, but nobody refers to the device as a tablet, which shows that the general consensus about what determines a tablet also factors in screen size.

With that said, many are wondering, what is the threshold for size?

The most common rule of thumb that people would be willing to accept is that any touch screen device that allows users to make and receive phone calls that fits into a regular pocket is enough to be ruled out of the tablet category. And in that same logic, if the Galaxy Tape is to be the new standard for tablets, then the iPad is lacking features as it fails to allow both voice calls and video chat.

There are however, two types of tablets. The upcoming Android Galaxy Tape tablet and the Apple iPad are basic tablets. There are however, devices that come out before these two which are to be considered as computer or computing tablets (which are basically computers shrunk down into a tablet form). The difference between the two kinds is the purpose; normal tablets are only meant for accessing media, games and the internet. Computer tablets are basically tricked out desktop computers which have very little practical use.

It seems that the famous social networking tool (or to be more technically correct, micro-blogging device) Twitter has been having a few technical problems recently.

According to reports, the system was having availability and refresh issues on various areas and territories with the new features being added in as well as the improvements in Twitter’s overall performance. Despite the many complains that went up over the weekend, the micro blogging company says that everything is fine now and users can go back to their daily tweets.

Come to think of it, a slight performance hiccup over the weekend is not really a serious issue, particularly, when the symptoms were more of intermittent issues as compared to actual service removal. Yet, many people were reacting so quickly to it. It appears that our society is far more reliant on Twitter than originally thought. In fact, if Twitter can get a reaction like this, who knows what will happen if Facebook stays offline for about three full days?

In other Twitter news, it seems that mobile phone users who are fond of location based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla would be happy to know that the micro blogging site is about to launch their own Twitter Places function. The service will be combining both the phone’s GPS data with the Twitter app allowing users to add a location tag to their tweets.

While many are excited at the great possibilities that can be done with their new feature, there is concern as to what Twitter will be doing to the GPS data. While it is presumed that the feature will not automatically get user info when not allowed, there is always the possibility data mining.

In any case, the Twitter service has already been restored and according to the latest updates, users should no longer have any issues to deal with.

It seems that there is a new trend that the Android operating system is starting; having larger screens. With no doubt, this all started with the release of the Dell Streak (also known as the Dell Mini 5); with its 5 inch capacitive touch screen display it further pushed the accepted limits on what size screen works with mobile phones and with the large interest in the device, it proved that people are willing to sacrifice having a larger phone if it meant having a bigger screen.

As if the 4 inch sized screen on the XPERIA X10 was not enough, Sony Ericsson took on the initiative that Dell started and pushed the envelope further –for about half an inch more.

There is a new Sony Ericsson Android handset that has appeared in a few leaked images just last week showcasing a device that used a 5.5 inch touch screen display. The device looks even more compelling and curious to see with the images which clearly showed the handset sporting a slide out QWERTY keyboard and a hinge that allowed users to set up the device like a small laptop.

Korean manufacturer Samsung has also been playing around with large touch screen displays and from the looks of their latest device, the Samsung Galaxy Tape, they have the largest and fanciest screen displays available. The new tablet-phone hybrid device sports a massive 7 inch super AMOLED touch screen display. With a faster CPU and specs that easily outmatch the Apple iPad, this tablet is poised to take command of the industry when it launches.

With all the new devices using the Android sporting giant touch screen displays, it would not be hard to imagine Google coming with a second variation of the open source operating system that brings more functionality for larger screen displays.

The first Apple iPhone was released over two years ago. And at that time, people were already complaining about a lot of things: lack of tethering, no multitasking, no cut and paste (yes, there was a time when the iPhone did not have a cut and paste function), no removable batteries, no front facing camera, the list goes on and on.

In the time that has passed, Apple has gone out of its way to answer the complaints and provide some of these features, but until now some are still missing. This may not seem like a big deal, until one realizes that these features are actually present on other smart phones –as basic features (except Flash support).

Anyway, Apple fans and users have grown to get used to and tolerate these things, but at a time when new smart phones using the Android OS and eventually, the Windows Phone 7 are able to deliver a user experience that is as good as the iPhone’s, then Apple might want to change the way it makes products.

The lack of a removable battery is a simple matter. But the amount of convenience and freedom that Apple takes away from users is pretty noticeable. First off, people do not get the option of carrying around a spare battery. This is very useful for many who travel on business functions. Not everyone gets a chance to stay in the hotel for a couple of hours to charge the iPhone, busy people on the go simply carry a spare, charged battery that they will use when the phone’s battery runs low.

This also becomes an issue when the battery starts working less efficiently. As it is Li-Ion batteries can only maintain their optimum working capacity for set amount of time. After a year (or even several months) of use, batteries tend to lose the maximum capacity and since they are permanently stuck inside the iPhone, the whole device itself is considered broken (as opposed to simply needing a battery replacement).