Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

The Nokia E52 is the latest member of the E-series of business phones made by Nokia which is targeted at people who want a device which will help them with all their professional needs. The 3G connectivity ensures that the user will be able to send and receive e-mails in an instant. The phone was released during May.
The Nokia E52 is extremely thin, having a super – slim waistline of just 9.9 mm. It is also extremely light at just 98 grams, ensuring that the phone can be easily slipped into the pocket. The Nokia E52 makes use of a 2.4 inch TFT screen which is capable of displaying a maximum of 16 million colours with a resolution of 240×320 pixels. The phone also utilises an accelerometer sensor, which enables the screen to change orientation according to the way that you are holding it.
The Nokia E52 makes use of a 3.5 mm headset jack, which is great news for music lovers as you will be able to connect your favourite headset to the phone when listening to songs. There is 60 MB of in – built memory, which can be complemented by a further 16 GB by using a microSD memory card. This will enable you to store all your favourite songs as well as videos. There are some good connectivity options in the form of Class 32 GPRS, Class 32 EDGE, HSCSD and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth v2.0 with support for A2DP profiles enables you to transfer data between phones.
The Nokia E52 runs on the Symbian OS, which is extremely familiar to most people and has the added advantage of being extremely easy to use. There is a GPS receiver built into the phone which enables you to find places and will ensure that you never get lost wherever you go.

The Sony Ericsson W205 Walkmanis one of the newest phones to join the low price range in the market today. The phone features 2G connectivity and will be released some time later this year. The phone is one of the smaller lighter phones in the market. The Sony Ericsson W205 Walkman has dimensions of 92 x 47 x 16.4 mm and can be easily fit into your smallest pocket and into the smallest purse. At 95 g, the phone is easy to carry around as it won’t feel heavy in your pocket. You can even carry the phone around your neck if you want to as it can be easily fit on to a cord. The phone build quality is also quite good which is an advantage as this means that you can drop it a couple of times with no lasting damage!
The onboard memory of the Sony Ericsson W205 Walkmanis not impressive at 5 MB. This memory can be expanded to hold your music library up to a maximum of 2 GB using the microSD memory card slot. The range of connectivity options such as class 10 GPRS and class 10 EDGE is pretty impressive as this means that you can download files off the internet without too much hassle. You can transfer data from one phone to another Bluetooth enabled device easily.
The Sony Ericsson W205 Walkmanhas a 1.3 MP camera which is quite basic and cannot replace your stand alone camera. Photos taken with the camera are not clear, especially if the photos are captured in low light. The FM radio of the phone has RDS which allows you to get details about the song directly from the radio station itself. The information about the song is sent directly to the phone in the form of a text message.

The Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is the newest music phone to have been released by Nokia and is sure to be a success, considering how successful the Nokia 5800 has proven to be. The music playback is clearly the highlight of the phone as it has been targeted towards music lovers. The phone has robust speakers which are capable of emitting extremely crisp and loud sound. The media player is capable of playing a wide number of video and audio formats, with the ability to watch your videos on the TV using the TV-out cable provided with the phone. In addition, the radio function can also be used if you want to listen to some local stations. The 3.5 mm headset jack is bound to be a favourite among music lovers as they will be able to plug in their favourite headset rather than the proprietary one.

The Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is set to be released in the 3rd quarter of this year. The music player is not the only benefit that can be found on the phone. The camera is 3.15 megapixels and is capable of shooting pictures with a maximum resolution of 2048×1536 pixels. The camera makes use of Carl Zeiss optics. The camera is complemented with autofocus, video recording and LED flash. You will be able to view all the pictures and videos that you have captured on the big 2.9 inch screen. The screen also makes use of a proximity sensor which automatically turns off the screen during a call when your face comes close to it. There is also an accelerometer sensor and handwriting recognition.

The Nokia 5530 XpressMusic enables you to save all your pictures and videos on the phone itself. The phone has a memory of 70 MB, which can be expanded upto 16 GB via the microSD memory card slot.

The Sony Ericsson S312 Snapshot is one of the new camera phones to be released this year. The Sony Ericsson S312 Snapshotis also known commonly as the Athena. This device will be launched later this year. The device will feature at the lower end of the price spectrum and is a budget phone with a candy bar form factor. The phone can be carried around in your pocket as its rounded edges make it seem more compact that it actually is. The standard number keypad which lies below the screen is easy to use as it features large well spaced keys. The display is more on the small side with a poor resolution.
The inbuilt memory of the S312Snapshot is likely to be below 20 MB and cannot be used to store an actual media collection on. Even connectivity options of the Sony Ericsson S312 Snapshot will be limited as the phone will be a 2G phone with no 3G connectivity. This means that you have to download files onto your phone at slow 2G data download speeds which can be quite irritating.
The Sony Ericsson S312Snapshotwill have a basic 2 MP camera which should be good enough for simple use thought you cannot depend on it to replace your standalone camera. The main criticism about the camera on the Sony Ericsson S312 Snapshot is that this camera will not have the autofocus feature which means that you cannot capture the photos with the best resolution unless you focus on the object that you want to capture properly which can be quite difficult. The small screen of the Sony Ericsson S312Snapshot will also be annoying as this makes the screen seem pretty cramped. The price of the phone has not been released yet.

The LG GT505 is the newest social networking phone to have been released by LG which will be much more than just a mobile phone. With high speed internet, top – notch features and a super clear display, the phone is sure to be a big hit among all the people who use the phone as the internet function along is sure to wow them.

The LG GT505 has a touchscreen bar and comes with a 3 inch touch screen display which is capable of displaying a maximum of 256k colours. The phone makes use of the A-Class user interface, which gives you an absolutely amazing experience rather than the boring S-Class user interface. High resolution photography, video recording and geo tagging are all possible via the 5 megapixel autofocus camera which is complemented with the LED flash. A secondary call camera is present for making video calls.

For internet enthusiasts, the LG GT505 has a good set of connectivity options, including 7.2 Mbps HSDPA for high speed internet access. You can also go to a Wi-Fi hotspot and surf the net using the Wi-Fi network present. Since this phone is meant mainly for social networking, you can make use of ‘push’ updates, whereby users will be able to see the latest updates on their social networking profile and update their status from time to time. The phone has a WAP 2.0 browser and also comes with WisePilot, which is a navigation service.

The LG GT505’s only colour scheme is black and is capable of being used on all networks. The media player has support for all audio and video formats such as MP3 and MP4. All your songs, pictures and videos can be stored on the phone, whose memory can be expanded upto a maximum of 8 GB via the microSD memory card slot.

The Sony Ericsson Aino is one of the new mid range media user targeted phones to be released. The phone will be launched later this year in the fourth quarter. The main thing that makes this phone stand out from other Sony Ericsson phones is that this phone will feature a touch screen. With a 15.5 mm thickness, the Sony Ericsson Aino is definitely one of the bulkier phones to be released. This, along with the fact that the Sony Ericsson Aino weighs 134 g, makes the phone difficult to carry around in your pocket. The Sony Ericsson Aino features a 3 inch TFT touch screen. This screen is very colorful as it allows up to 16 million colors to be displayed. This makes it fun for the user to use this screen to view media on. The screen has an accelerometer which allows you to rotate the screen and then view your media in landscape view. The keypad can be slid out and has large keys that are well separated from each other. This makes it easy for you to get used to typing out messages in a short time.
The Sony Ericsson Aino has an onboard memory of 55 MB. This memory can be expanded up to 16 GB using the microSD memory card slot on the side of the phone. The Sony Ericsson Aino allows you to access a range of networks. These include class 10 GPRS, EDGE, and Wi-Fi. If you want to transfer data across a short distance, you could use the Bluetooth 2.0 feature. This won’t be useful if you want to transfer either a large file or a folder. For this kind of transfer you have to use a USB cable. The best feature of the Sony Ericsson Aino is the 8 MP camera with flash and autofocus.

The HTC Snap is one of the new smart phones to be released into the mainstream Smartphone market this year. This device is similar in shape and function to the blackberry which is a business targeted phone. The phone is not that thick when you compare it to the other smart phones in the market right now. At 12 mm thickness, the phone can be easily slid into your pocket. The only downside is that the phone is quite heavy. So even if you manage to slip it into your pocket, it can be felt all the time. The HTC Snap has a TFT screen which measures 2.4 inches diagonally and is clear and bright. The screen allows up to 65000 colors to be displayed. The full QWERTY keyboard that the HTC Snap has is pretty easy to use as the keys are nice and large. The keys are also well spaced which is an advantage as this means that you can type out messages and emails easily even if you have large fingers.
The HTC Snap has an onboard memory of 192 MB RAM and 256 MB ROM. This memory is sufficient for you to read through web pages without any unnecessary delay due to processor overload. The memory can be expanded using the microSD memory card slot on the side of the phone. The maximum memory that the phone can process is 16 GB. The connectivity options in the HTC Snap are top class with class 10 GPRS and class 10 EDGE. Accessing high speed internet is easy using the 3G and Wi-Fi feature. The HTC Snap has a 2 MP primary camera which is good enough for casual use thought it cannot replace your stand alone camera. Videos captured turn out to be quite blurry even when the surroundings are well lit.

The Samsung Tocco Lite S5230 is yet another one of the most recent touch screen handsets to have been released by Samsung, having been released in May this year.
The Samsung Tocco Lite S5230 has an extremely slim waistline of only 11.9 mm and weighs in at a very light 93.5 grams. It is extremely light when you consider the fact that it is a smartphone, thereby making it easy to slip into the pocket.
The big 3 inch TFT touchscreen of the Samsung Tocco Lite S5230 is able to display upto 256k colours with a resolution of 240×400 pixels. The accelerometer sensor enables the screen to be rotated to a landscape position according to your needs.
There is an internal memory of 50 MB, which can be expanded to a maximum of 16 GB via the microSD memory card slot. This will enable you to store a large number of songs as well as videos. The S5230 also has Class 12 GPRS and Class 12 EDGE amongst its connectivity options.
One of the biggest letdowns of the Tocco Lite is the lack of HSDPA connectivity, which automatically results in fairly slow internet browsing.
The other connectivity options include Bluetooth v2.1, which also has support for A2DP profiles. The camera, which is 3.15 megapixels, is able to snap pictures with a maximum resolution of 2048×1536 pixels. This will enable you to take crystal clear pictures even in situations where there is low light.
The stereo FM radio has support for RDS. This is a real boon as you don’t have to spend time tuning radio stations. Instead, you can just download the frequencies. The music player has support for most of the popular formats, which include AAC, MP3 and WMA. The Tocco Lite can be used for 3 to 4 days on a single charge.

The Samsung Pixon 12 is a top class touch screen phone. The Samsung Pixon 12 is one of the phones that feature at the top end of the price spectrum. It was launched earlier this year. Measuring 108 x 53 x 13.8 mm, the phone is one of the heavier models to feature in the market. It cannot be fit into your pocket easily as it also weighs a hefty 120 g. This means that not only is it difficult to stash in your pocket, but you don’t even have to option of slinging the phone around your neck. The Samsung Pixon 12 has a TFT touch screen which can display up to 16 million colors at a 480 x 800 pixel resolution. Measuring 3.1 inches, the screen is a touch screen and is both efficient and finger friendly. The keyboard lies below the screen and is easy to use as the keys are large and well separated. This means that you can use the keyboard easily even if you have large fingers.
The internal memory of 150 MB is more than sufficient to store all your contacts. You can expand this memory using the microSD memory card slot up to 16 GB. The connectivity options of the Samsung Pixon 12 are pretty good with class 10 GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA and Wi-Fi. Transferring data across a short distance is easy using the Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP. This is useful for quick data transfer across a short distance. If you want to transfer larger files or a folder, you will have to use the USB cable.
The 12 MP primary camera is the best in this class of phones. Photos captured turn out to be very sharp. The media player is also pretty good and can play a range of formats.

The Samsung Omnia 2 I8000 is one of the pricier phones to be launched by Samsung this year. This phone features a full touch screen and will be launched sometime later this year. The phone has a thickness of 11.9mm, which is quite thin for a phone in its class. This makes the Samsung Omnia 2 I8000 quite pocket friendly in spite of the fact that this phone is quite long and wide. The edges of the phone are quite rounded allowing you to easily slip the phone into your pocket or into a small bag. The screen is a TFT display with TouchWhiz user interface. This screen is bright and clear, measuring 3.7 inches diagonally.
The Samsung Omnia 2 I8000 has an internal memory of 2 GB. This is quite sufficient for most users who want to store a decent music library on it. If you want to store an even bigger library, you could always expand the memory up to 32 GB using the microSD memory card slot on the side of the phone. The connectivity options that this phone brings are quite impressive with class 10 GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA and Wi-Fi. This allows you to download files and music directly to your phone. If you want to transfer data across a short distance, you could always use the Bluetooth 2.0. This won’t be fast enough if you want to transfer large files. So for large files and folders, you could use the USB port. The Samsung Omnia 2 I8000 has a 5 MP camera with an LED flash. Photos captured, turn out to be bright and clear. The Samsung Omnia 2 I8000 also has a secondary camera to be used for video calling. The built in GPS receiver can be used for navigation. Media formats such as MP3 and AAC can be played.