Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

Steve Jobs has already done his, uh, job. Anyway, the Apple iPad has been successfully launched this January 27 and now, it is all a matter of time before the little tablet finds its way to store shelves everywhere.

So the question now is, how much should we pay for it?

The newly launched Apple iPad comes in two types. The first is the regular edition iPad and the other is a 3G version of the device (much like the iPhone). Both phones come in 16, 32 and 64 GB versions and aside from the GPS support available on the 3G version, the two tablets are identical in terms of specs and look.

The iPad is slim, less than half an inch thick, it is easy to grasp and hold with one hand. The 9.7 inch touch screen display supports multi touch and has a scratch resistant surface making using the device easy. The screen’s native resolution is 1024 x 768 pixels, allowing users to view websites the way they were supposed to be viewed (as opposed to the sliced up view we see on mobile phones).

The iPad does not have a physical keyboard, but it does have an onscreen one that will enable users to write long messages, emails and even make documents using the built in the iWork application.

The internal battery on the device cannot be removed (as expected of an Apple product), but it is expected to perform at a high capacity. Apple claims that the iPad will last for a whole month on standby and will deliver 10 straight hours of usage.

Mobile Today estimates the price value of the iPad to be at the very expensive tune of £800. With the average net book costing much cheaper, it is hard to see the tablet selling well with that price.

Read more at the Mobile Today article on the iPad.

When people hear the word Nokia, they know exactly what to think. One of the most famous and influential mobile phone companies ever to exist, Nokia have revolutionized the way we use mobile phones, as well as they way they are manufactured and designed. The latest release from Nokia, is the Nokia X3.

Designed to combine technology with ease of use, the new phone revolves heavily around music, and is designed to be a music lovers dream. Coming with the Ovi store enabled, you can download any of your favorite tracks, with millions to choose from, literally. On some contract plans you receive unlimited free downloads, so you have an unlimited music collection at your finger tips. Using a 3.2 megapixel camera, you will always be able to take photographs of your favorite moments or events without worrying about bringing your digital camera out with you.

Once taken, you can transfer the photos across to your computer or upload them directly to sites such as Facebook or MySpace depending on the website. Most phones with a music player feature an annoying headphone output which requires special headphones, and if you lose the original pair you can end up having to spend a fortune on a replacement set. The Nokia X3 features a normal size headphone output, allowing you to use your preferred set of head phones. The X3 was meant to go on sale late 2009, and is available in most places but if in doubt then have a look online for what Nokia X3 deals are available.

HTC’s mobile phones are sprouting like mushrooms after the rain.

January started with the released of what is probably the most anticipated mobile phone of them all, the  Nexus One -which ironically did not sell much, only 20,000 units were sold in the first week. The news was later followed up by the confirmation that HTC’s Bravo (the HTC branded Snapdragon Android phone) would be launching at the end of Q1 this year.

Now, not more than four weeks later, there is news about the HTC Espresso, Obsession, HD3, Supersonic and plenty of other HTC phones. The reports range from confirmed to the incredulous; the HTC Obsession images are a hoax, the WinMo phone’s images clearly show an Android UI.

Anyway, images of the HTC Bravo and the HTC Supersonic (which are not hoaxes) have been revealed recently. The two phones are expected to be announced formally at the Mobile World Congress in February that will be held in Barcelona, Spain.

The specs of the HTC Bravo have already been confirmed since the device was leaked last year along with the rest of the HTC 2010 roadmap. The Bravo will come with the 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, the latest Android operating system, a 3.7 inch capacitive AMOLED touch screen and a 5 mega pixel camera with 720p HD video recording. Specs wise, the Bravo and the Google Nexus One are pretty much on par with each other with the Bravo having only the HD video recording as an advantage. For those who are not too keen on getting the Google phone through the online store, the Bravo makes for an excellent alternative.

As for the HTC Supersonic, details on this first ever WiMax Android phone are still scarce, but the initial images show a pretty stylish mobile device that is certainly worth checking out.

Get the full details and the rest of the news from Softpedia.

Acer have released all the details of their new phone, and it looks promising. Titled the Liquid, Acer has yet to set a release date, but from what has been shown it looks like it could be the phone of 2010. The phone runs on Google’s Android operating system, which is reliable and fast.

The phone uses a huge 3.5 inch touchscreen, giving you freedom to control how you use the phone. The phones screen is high resolution, perfect for viewing videos or looking at photographs which you have taken using the built in 5 megapixel camera. Many digital cameras are around 5 megapixels, so by getting the phone, you are in a sense getting a digital camera as well, giving you 2 in one, perfect if you don’t like carrying around a lot of valuable items at once.

All the photos you have saved on your phone are in a carousel mode, allowing you to scroll through them using your finger, giving you easy access to them all. Not many of the actual applications are yet known, but the phone builds itself on using multimedia technology with menus appearing by dragging your finger across the phone. It will probably take some getting used to before you can use it well, but after you have mastered this it will save you a lot of time.

The phone was meant to be available in November 2009, but due to varying faults and contract deals not coming through on time, the actual release date has been pushed back, although no set date has yet been given. Still, we are looking forward to being able to pick up the Acer Liquid on contract so we can see whether this really will be the phone of 2010.

Keeping in touch with friends and family members is an extremely important factor in today’s society, with more and more people joining social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Latest figures revealed that Facebook has around 180 million accounts! Now whilst computers are the main access point for all of these websites, mobile phones have been constantly updated to enable use of such sites on the phone. What this gives you is access to your favorite sites wherever you are, be it on a long car journey or even whilst walking through a forest. The technology is being constantly developed, and Sony Ericsson’s next release, the Xperia X10 is made using all the latest technology to allow you to effortlessly connect to your favourite sites and to keep you in touch with the people you need to most.

The Timescape technology is designed to let you view all your conversations in one place. By looking at just one window you can see all your new text messages, email messages, Facebook messages and MySpace messages, along with any other program you set up to be able to use. This really allows you to save yourself the hassle of constantly switching between windows which takes up time and can often confuse you when trying to carry out many tasks.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 comes along with a built in FM radio, allowing you to listen to your favorite tunes whilst on the move. You can use the included wireless headset to listen to the tunes, especially useful when traveling on public transport or other areas where you cannot be too loud with your music. The Xperia X10 is due for release in the first quarter of 2010.

The Nokia 5330 was a popular enough model as it was combining new technology and new application with design, style and price. Nokia decided to release a new version of their popular phone, titled the Nokia 5330 Television Edition. This phone is basically just the same as the last one, but it uses fantastic technology to allow you to watch live stream TV from various channels.

When you sign up to a contract plan for the phone, you receive a certain number of real TV channels for free. You can watch these channels as much as you want, and you can play, pause, rewinding and fast forward the channels so you can always watch what you want. You can then opt to subscribe to additional channels. You pay a small fee for these but there are so many different types of channels from religion, sports, children’s TV, nature documentaries and much more.

If you thought that was not enough, the phone comes complete with a 3.2megapixel camera ideal for snapping up some photographs while you are on your travels. Once the photos have been taken, you can view them on the handy 2.4 inch phone screen. You can then transfer images to your computer for use later on.

The 5330 Mobile TV can handle a huge 6 hours of constant TV watching, around 12 television shows, or around 3 full length movies. As you can see, you will never be bored again, and this phone will literally keep you occupied for hours. Nokia expects to release in a further 20 countries within the next 2 years, the price tag for the phone is expected to be around £140 in the UK.

The manufacturers of the Lenovo LePhone just announced that the handset will be available in China by May of this year. This is only a few months away. It looks like those able to gain access to the phone will have the opportunity to purchase a really nice phone. The mobile’s specs are very impressive.

The Lenovo LePhone has a really big display. It is a 3.7 inch 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen. It has two cameras (one on the front of the phone and the other on the back side), Wi-Fi capabilities which allows individuals to connect to the internet wherever there is Wi-Fi. The LePhone has a built-in GPS system, 3.55 mm headphone jack and a 9 pin dock connector.  The LePhone is a clamshell, Android 1.6. Users will have the option of utilizing the aforementioned touchscreen or the phone’s external keyboard. Overall, the LePhone looks like it is going to be excellent phone.

There have been some rumors that the phone will be available globally (outside the aforementioned China) sometime this year as well. We, the public will just have to wait and see.

Lenovo is new to the mobile phone market with lots og big competitors like Nokia and Samsung. Up until now, they specialized in notebooks and mobile computers. Perhaps with so much money to be made in the mobile market, they decided to try their hand. With mobile phones becoming more and more like little computers, they already had much of the technology in place, therefore making it less of a jump then one might first assumed. They appear to be entering the market with a bang. The LePhone looks like it is going to be a quality phone. It utilizes the popular Android platform, has a nice, big display screen two cameras, Wi-Fi, touchscreen, and external keyboard

No word yet on the price of the phone or what companies will carry it. Since the release date is still a few months out, this information may not become available until it gets closer to hitting the market.

Time to rejoice Android smart phone fans; the Samsung Galaxy Portal i5700 is being subsidized by T-Mobile in the UK.

With an exclusivity deal for a whole month, T-Mobile will be bringing out this impressive little budget Android in its many deals and offerings. Grab the device from pay as you go or get it for free under some of T-Mobile’s various plans. One good deal makes the device available for free (18 months, £23 per month).

Originally named Galaxy Spica outside of the UK, the Portal seemed like it would never hit UK shores until a news update from Samsung popped out about a week ago. The Galaxy and the Galaxy Spica would be receiving Android updates from the original version 1.5 Cupcake to the much newer 2.0 Éclair.

With the news came the excitement that the Spica might just get a UK release after all. Looks like Android phones seeking a UK release need a name change first. The same thing happened with the Motorola DROID when it was ported over; the device was renamed as the Motorola Milestone.

The Portal will be exactly the same as the Spica in terms of specs (it is the same phone after all). First off, the device will come with a nice big 3.2 inch TFT touch screen –a great upgrade over the usual 2 inch touch screen on other budget devices. The resolution is 320 x 480 pixels, and the display capacity is 16 million colors so expect to get a lot of depth and detail when viewing images you shoot with the phone’s 3 mega pixel camera. The camera comes with auto focus and supports geo-tagging, but it lacks LED flash so be careful of lighting when shooting photos.

Head over to Softpedia and get all the details.

The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition utilizes the latest technologies in mobile entertainment.  Individuals will be able to watch television, take pictures and play music. Users have the opportunity to watch up to 6 hours of live TV. The handset comes with a Nokia headset for private listening.

The 5330 gets great reception. Users will be able to conveniently flip through the channels and adjust the volume as needed. The handset has a feature that allows users to peruse through the program guide so that they can see what television shows are upcoming. For those not satisfied with the channels that come standard, it’s possible to order additional and premium channels.

Offering live television is a huge departure from most mobile phones. While camera and video has become standard, television is definitely an upgrade. Users can watch standard channels or purchase premium ones.

Though, television viewing is the phone’s biggest and best feature, the Nokia 5330 offer users more then that. The phone comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and video. It has a music player and FM radio. The handset’s display screen is 2.4 inches QVGA screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The phone is available in high gloss black and matt white.

The 5330 comes standard with a BL-4U 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery that offers users 400 hours of standby time, 30.5 hours of music playback time, 6 hours of television and 5.2 hours of talk time (GSM).

The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition is a really cool phone. It is a multi-media phone with most of the features that come standard with mobile phones these days. It stands out however, in a big way with its ability to play live television. Those persons who are often on the go and worried about missing their favorite television shows might find this phone to be ideal.

A Google press event was held January 5th, 2009. The purpose of this highly anticipated event was to officially unveil the popular, search engine company’s Android Smartphone, the Google Nexus One.

The buzz surrounding the phone has been tremendous for sometime now. Electronics blogs, website owners and their readers have been speculating for some time about the phone’s appearance and specs. There were many anonymous insider reports complete with entire lists of features and specifications. While reading such information was interesting and even exciting, there was no way to determine if it was true or not, at least not until now.

While the official announcement was made yesterday, the company was “scooped” by several official reviews one night before. I’m not sure if these were actual scoops. The blogs doing the reporting obviously had accurate information, complete with pictures, both which were likely supplied by Google themselves.

The Google Nexus One will first be available for purchase in the United States. Individuals can buy the phone directly from Google. They also have the choice of buying it from T-Mobile. It is a lot more expensive if individuals choose the former. Mobile handsets purchased from Google will cost $529 (£331). Individuals willing to sign a 2 year contract with T-Mobile will be able to buy the phone for a mere $179 (£112). After it is released in the U.S., it will be available in Europe via Vodafone.

The Google Nexus’s specs are very nice. The phone includes a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, 3.7 inch touch screen display, voice recognition, GPS, compass and 1GHz snapdragon processing.
Now that the Nexus has been released, individuals will be able to determine if it has been worth the wait. Technology lovers have been quite excited for some time about what the phone. Now, they are able to see for themselves if it is everything that they thought it would be.