Best Phone Blog

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.

Yes it is. No it’s not. Yes, it is. No, it is not. Yes! It is! No. It is not. Is. Not. Is. Not. Is is is….

etc and so on and so forth. So go most of our conversations with younger folk. Cousins, nephews, friends’ sprogs – anyone with a snotty nose, an inability to survive for themselves and the great joy of still being able to carry round their lunch in a lunchbox – we just always seem to find ourselves getting into arguments with them. And, somehow – through some weird kind of child logic that we haven’t yet learnt to overcome – they always win. No matter how many times you tell them that the Tellytubbies aren’t real, or that Santa Claus is a myth designed to brainwash them into bugging their parents to buy consumer products, they won’t have any of it. Sent on our way, more often than not, with is is is is is is is, ringing in our ears.

And, more and more, we find that mobile phone manufacturers are like nothing but big (bloated, multi-national) children. Because no matter what the truth might be, no matter what anyone with anything above a six year old’s logic could see in a second, you’ll quite often find a mobile phone manufacturer singing and shouting about something that is the exact opposite in their press releases, adverts and promotional videos.

The Sony Ericsson Jalou, for example, is an ugly phone. Look at it. If that phone were a child in fact, it would most likely spend the whole of its adult life in deep therapy, so painful and persistent would the bullying be. Sony Ericsson would have you believe that this is a phone worthy of the world of high fashion. That it’s the best looking phone since sliced, erm, diamonds. That it’s the must-have accessory for all you glamorous girls out there. The Sony Ericsson Jalou is nothing but a terrible attempt to be any of those thing though.

Fair enough, as this Sony Ericsson Jalou review shows, it’s not a bad phone in itself. And some people might actually be tempted by its “distinctive” looks. (‘Hey guys, look at this, look at how god damn ugly my phone is – my phone so ugly it looked about the window and got arrested for mooning…’). But can’t Sony Ericsson just admit that. Well, judging by the video below, they can’t. Not by a long way. Because it is a pretty phone. It is it is it is it is it is. Is is is is is….

As the middle of summer approaches we thought that we would compile a list of the hottest handsets on the planet right now and then tell you the cheapest contract that you can get them on. We opted for the middle ground of an 18 month contract on all handsets, although you can save even more by going for 24 or even 36 month deals, although we have no idea why anyone would want to commit for that long! So here is what we found
1) Nokia N97 deals – The hottest Nokia handset on the planet right now, we’re not sure that there is anything that it can’t do. It is a little pricey at £40.00 per month, but for that you are getting 800 minutes and unlimited texts on T-Mobile and let’s face it, a phone like this deserves a big monthly allowance.
2) Nokia 5530 deals – If you don’t want the QWERTY keyboard and want to pay about half the price of the N97, then the Nokia 5530 is the one for you. Just over £20.00 gets you a wopping 600 minutes and unlimited text messages on Vodafone. You also get the added bonus of an Xpressmusic subscription for unlimited download of tracks.
3) Sony W995 deals – Sony Ericsson have produced a superb phone here, although the camera does not quite live up to the one on the C905 (no more LED flashes please). However the music functionality is excellent. You can get the W995 for £21.00 per month with 400 minutes and 500 texts on Orange.
4) HTC Hero deals – The best Android phone out there and a true iPhone rival in our opinion. The ting is with HTC is that you always know there is something better just around the corner. However until that is made known you can get the Hero for £31.00 per month on Vodafone with the ever popular 600 minutes and unlimited texts.
5) Samsung Jet deals – Another Android phone and one that hasn’t received the marketing push it truly deserves. We love this handset and with the ever increasing amount of Android Apps available we reckon it is well worth spot number 5. 400 minutes and 3000 texts on Orange for £21.20 per month is a bargain as well.
6) Blackberry 8520 deals – The latest Blackberry to hit the shelves sticks to its well known looks and design. You know what they say, if it aint broke, don’t try and fix it and this is exactly what Blackberry have done. Our pick is the O2 deal with 600 minutes and 500 texts with £170 automatic cashback for £35.00 per month.
7) HTC touch diamond 2 deals – A very much improved version of the original touch diamond, the interface is much more user friendly and it looks great too. O2 win the day here, offering 400 minutes and 500 texts for under £30.00
Samsung Pixon 12 deals – For the serious mobile phone user, the Pixon 12 sports a much better camera than the original handset, but you are looking at a £40.00 per month deal with 900 minutes and unlimited texts.
I’m sure we have missed some great phones out and if you find a deal that you think should be on here, let us know in the comments section and we will let everyone know.

Hello, Mr Sony Ericsson! Welcome to the present! A time or joy and happiness that we’ve all been living in for quite some time now, but to which you have arrived annoyingly late.

Yes, verily it is true: Sony Ericsson have finally given up with their frankly offensive insistence on proprietary technologies. For the lexicon challenged out there, proprietary technologies are things that are owned/used exclusively by the companies that make them. This has meant that in all recent Sony Ericsson smartphones, you can only use memory cards made by them, and can only plug headphones in made by them. And, not surprisingly, most of you (like us) found that really ****ing annoying. Not so with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 though, which comes with the ability to plug in the standard (and cheap) microSD card to expand its memory, and which also features a lovely 3.5mm jack socket for your favourite ear-bleeding headphones. Hurrah, Mr Ericsson, it’s nice to welcome you here indeed. The Sony Ericsson xperia X3 is also a mighty fine phone in just about every other respect too, as it’s also the first SE phone to boast Google’s Android operating system. Double hurrah indeed, as operating platforms simply don’t get any better than this.

So keep your eyes peeled, as the X3 is going to be big… well, with its 4-inch screen it’s already big… but you know what we mean. In the meantime, have a little look at this Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 review, at these Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 deals, or just sit back and watch the beauty that is (at least a concept of) the User Interface.

Too, too many blog writers web reviewers and other mobile phone followers out there are guilty of the crime of being too nice. Yep, you read write: being too nice is a crime, a crime we think this great thing called the internet needs to eradicate with all haste. Whether it’s because they want to keep their supply of free phones and invites to brash phone launch bashes, or if it’s just because they lack functioning cojones, we’re not sure. All we’re sure of is that’s it’s wrong, and it should end. And what prompted today’s little rant? The little Sony Ericsson T715 did. It’s not the Sony Ericsson T715’s fault that it is a poor/mediocre phone (read this Sony Ericsson T715 review for a full rundown of all its stats). It is, in fact (if you read between the lines of this outlandishly ridiculous official press release) meant to be mediocre because Sony Ericsson are going to be flogging it mostly in poorer countries to poorer people. It’s fairer to say it’s a cheap phone then, rather than a bad one. And, as our drawers full of Aldi and Lidl receipts testify, we’ve nothing against the cheaper things in life.

But have a little look at some of this tid-bits and try telling us we’re not on to something

“Sure, it’s not the prettiest phone, hell, it’s not even the most fully functional but Sony’s recently announced Ericsson T715 slider is new, and that’s why we care about it.”

So if I did some toilet business, put it in a box and posted it to you, you’d be happy because (if there wasn’t a postal strike, at least) it would only be a day old when you got, you’d be happy?

“Many of you will be pleased to hear that the T715 will happily accept microSD cards.”

No, no I am not pleased to hear that. I am not even mildly satisfying. Or even remotely interesting.

Why, reader, why can’t people just be more honest and less nice? Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we were all a little bit more unpleasant? We think so. Which is why we’re going to tell you to **** off now. Go on, **** off. Watch this video then stick your ****ing **** in your **** and **** right off.

Sony Ericsson, unlike most manufacturers, like to release (very) very big lists of specs, features and applications for their phones. And so they might, given that they’ve recently been hitting us with some impressive little things. But the spec list for the Sony Ericsson Satio takes some beating, running as it does across several pages. Some random snippets for you:

• 3.5 inch widescreen nHD TFT
• True 16:9, 640 x 360 pixels
• Symbian Foundation operating system – thousands of applications available online

fair enough you think, that sounds great.

• Exchange ActiveSync
• Handwriting recognition
• On-screen QWERTY keyboard

Okay, you say to yourself, still going well

• HD and 3D games
• Facebook application
• TV out

Really, TV-out, okay, and what? More?

• Document editors
• A-GPS
• Google Maps

And enough already, enough! Because what we realised after our eyes started to hurt too, was that the Sony Ericsson Satio is just about as fully packed as phones get these days. It may look like a camera, it may not be the smallest, most pocket-friendly thing you’re ever going to find, but in terms of value for money, this thing is likely to knock most of its rivals out of the water come its release in the near future. For a full, eye-bleeding list of all of those specs, check out this Sony Ericsson Satio review. Or have a less painful look at this Sony Ericsson Satio video instead.

Chances are, if you’ve not already got a Playstation 3, you probably won’t be getting one at all. Sony might hope that the recently announced Sony Ericsson Aino might change your mind, but we think all it’s likely to do is either, 1. if you haven’t got a PS3, to ignore it altogether, 2. if you have got a PS3, make you a little bit more smug and more annoying than you already were. And why is this? Well, the Aino has a couple of features that directly link it to the PS3 and all it can do:

Remote Play – Opens up the hard drive of the PS3 with all your saved music / photos / etc. to direct access from your phone. So whether you’re linked wirelessly to the thing at home, or in some far-fetched but still connected part of the world, you can synch up and use whatever you’ve got saved on the PS3 on your handset. Nifty.

PlayTVservice – So being a smug PS3 owner, you’ll know about all those free TV channels you can watch via the thing, right?Well, you guessed it, you can now watch these same channels beamed straight to the little Sony Ericsson Aino.

So, if you’re still reading, that means you do own a PS3. Luckily, there’s even more here for you too, including:

Media Home – Synchronise your PC (not only the PS3) with the Aino to make ensure you’ve all the files you want, all the time.

Media Go – An intuitive way of turning your phone into a remote control, this let’s you watch and transfer all your home computer files (photos, music, etc.) using the Sony Ericsson Aino itself.

Clearly this is a phone for you PS3-heads then. We’re not saying it’s a bad phone otherwise, but it’s so clearly aimed at the Playstationers (and luckily for Sony’s marketing team, there’s plenty of them) that the rest of us can happily ignore it. Check out a full Sony Ericsson Aino review here, or have a look at the video below.

All you PS3 lovers will be delighted with the announcement that Sony Ericsson is set to release the Sony Ericsson Aino, the first mobile phone to interact with your PS3 whether you are at home or at play.
This represents a major step forward in the collaboration between Sony and Ericsson, by cooperating between the major brands such as this it will surely do much to improve the product offering at a time when all manufacturers are vying for market share. For me it makes perfect sense to have Sony appliances interacting with Sony Ericsson mobile phones. Just think, you could use your mobile phone as a remote control or TV guide… the possibilities are endless.
Sadly the Aino is not set for release for a little while yet. So if you can’t wait and need a phone today, then we reckon you should check out some of the newly released Sony Ericsson W995 deals that are available from many of the major retailers right now. We have to say that this phone is the hottest Sony Ericsson handset in the marketplace right now. It has an impressive 8.1 megapixel camera and all the features that you would expect from the walkman series of mobile phones. Check out some of the Latest mobile phone contracts from Moby1 today, they compare thousands of Sony Ericsson deals from a multitude of retailers ensuring you get great value for money.

That is the big question. We are used to seeing manufacturers look to prolong the product lifecycle of their handsets by adding additional features, with limited success. Can Samsung buck the trend with the announcement of the Samsung Pixon 12? On the face of it not much has changed. There is a new 12 megapixel camera and a bright 3.1-inch AMOLED touch screen. Other than that it seems that it is a rehash of the original pixon, which was a huge hit last year when in was released.
However times are changing and with the impending release of the Sony Ericsson Satio we are left wondering can it really compete? Yes the Samsung Pixon 12 will be the first 12 megapixel camphone to market, but does it make it the best? In our opinion, no it does not. The Sony Ericsson Satio is a much sleeker design and represents what phones should look like for 2009/2010. So which should you go for? Well if you can’t wait, go for thePixon 12, but if you can hold on, we reckon the Satio will be well worth the wait. Sorry Samsung, but we think you need to do better to capture our imagination.

During the MWC 2009, one of the several phones which were ‘leaked’ before were officially unveiled, one of which is the Sony Ericsson W395 Walkman.

The Sony Ericsson W395 Walkman is a new slider which belongs to the Walkman series and has stereo speakers on board, which will make for great listening.
The Sony Ericsson W395 Walkman, meant for the youth market, is set to be quite affordable and will also have a 2 MPIX snapper.

The W395 does have an uncanny resemblance to a number of Walkman phones before with a 2” display and the very same Walkman player. However, one thing which could be seen was the sparing use of orange on the phone as a whole. Only the navigation key has an orange circle, as well as the normal Walkman logo on the back of the phone.
The navigation key is of a circular design, surrounded by an orange ring. There are also 2 soft keys present, the ‘call accept’ and ‘call reject’ buttons, a shortcut menu button and a ‘C’ key. The buttons are fairly tactile and the navigation keys and the center button function as music keys when you are listening to songs. The camera lens is at the back. The camera shutter and the volume rocker are present on the right of the phone.

However, quite diasppointly, there is no 3G support present on the phone. In addition, a measly 1GB card is present, when it was expected that a Walkman phone should ship with a minimum of 2GB. In addition, the keypad, which is the same as on the C903, is fairly slippery and might be prone to cracks!

You can have a look at The offical press release.
Once the phone is released, you could get the phone on a good deal at the Orange network.

For network specific deals, follow the links below:

Sony Ericsson W395 on Orange
Sony Ericsson W395 on O2
Sony Ericsson W395 on T-Mobile
Sony Ericsson W395 on Vodafone
Sony Ericsson W395 on 3 Mobile
Sony Ericsson W395 on Virgin