Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

There are plenty of reasons why Samsung and Sony Ericsson should be happy. After all, the past few months has seen the companies release a whole new line of Android devices and of course, the continued growth of market demand for the Google made platform.

Sony Ericsson has been in financial turmoil last year and has taken most of 2010 getting back in the game. But with both feet now planted firmly back on the ground with a strong line up of new devices selling plenty in the past couple of quarters, it is not surprising that the Swedish Japanese joint venture is enjoying it newfound success. Of course, the icing on the cake would have to be the award from EISA which celebrates the XPERIA X10 Mini smart phone.

Obviously, the X10 Mini is not as powerful as the XPERIA X10. In fact, compared to that powerhouse, the device seems very much like a toy. But looking closer at the specs, one realizes that the Mini is far more practical –especially when price is concerned. The phone is much cheaper than the X10 and it is almost as functional. Sure, the processor is slower and the screen is much smaller. But given that the device is far cheaper –then it is a better choice.

Samsung also got a little award as well. While Sony Ericsson got off with the best mobile phone award, Samsung was still able to nab the best smart phone award. The recipient is none other than the Galaxy S with its’ impressive high end specifications. Naturally, the phone’s impressive touch screen display technology which makes use of super AMOLED technology surpasses most screens available –including the retina display on the iPhone 4.

Expect to hear more about these two devices as the EISA awards are certain to bring the spotlight back on them.

New smart phones are always fun to look forward to, and when leaks start popping out, that is the time when we really want to get to the bottom of things. These last few days have been filled with updates and new rumors regarding Sony Ericsson’s upcoming handsets and here is a quick review of everything that we know so far.

Originally, three handsets have been revealed; the XPERIA Shakira, a new Walkman handset and an unnamed device that has a 5.5 inch touch screen, a slide out QWERTY keyboard and is reportedly an Android smart phone. While the Walkman handset was rumored to be a new Android device that was based on the X10 Mini (the two phones do share similarities), it was later confirmed that the device is actually the W150 TeaCake which is not an Android handset.

The Shakira on the other hand is pegged as the phone in between the X10 and the X10 Mini, which was later confirmed by Sony Ericsson after they announced that the handset would be named as the XPERIA X8. Despite the new name, SE has yet to announce any further details on the specs of this Android smart phone.

Just recently, there was also news of an upcoming Windows Phone 7 device from SE, the Julie. The phone is reported to have a touch screen display and a slide out QWERTY keyboard. While no further details have been released it is possible that this device and the rumored 5.5 inch Android might be one and the same. If it is, then many Android fans would be disappointed as the handset was shown in pictures as having a hinge that allowed it to be used as a very small netbook.

With the XPERIA X8 named, expect to see more official news from Sony Ericsson in the next few days.

New devices are always being reported on the news and with mobile phones; leaks are a very common occurrence. But there are occasions when some bits of rumors and leaks are simply too good to ignore and let pass. Here are a couple of such devices.

The first is the BlackBerry 9670 or the BlackBerry Clamshell. Seriously, we think that the Clamshell nickname has to go. But aside from that, this handset is pretty much good enough as it is. Of course, RIM has yet to give out an official spec list so no one really knows how big the screen is or that the CPU speed is like. But that aside, we already know that this smart phone will be packing the BlackBerry OS 6 and of course, a clamshell form factor.

The portrait keyboard translates well to this form, but some user might feel that the overall design is too feminine, even when the device is all black. It is mostly because the shape, but overall, the design is not bad. The slight elevated ridge below the keyboard might seem like it will get in the way of typing, but with no actual device to test, it is hard to determine if that will really be an issue.

Another impressive phone that we simply cannot get off our minds is the Sony Ericsson Android mini-tablet/phone/netbook. Now that might seem like a mouthful, but the new smart phone sports a big 5.5 inch touch screen, a slide out QWERTY keyboard and a hinge that lets you set it up as a small netbook.

So far, there no other specifications reported about this handset aside from the size of the touch screen display and the fact that it will be an Android OS. But even with just that, this smart phone just made it to the top of our wish lists.

Everyone already knows that global warming is an issue that has to be dealt with, and but no one really considers mobile phones as a heavy contributor of greenhouse gases –though it is easy to forget how big a handset’s carbon footprint truly is.

The first thing that people do not realize is that phones use energy. Sure, we charge phones on electric outlets, but the amount of energy that mobile phones consume each year is roughly the equivalent of taking an airplane ride from London to New York, and that is pretty big. Considering that almost half of the world’s population makes use of mobile handsets, the overall impact of this tiny bit of technology is actually pretty huge.

Of course, the biggest concern still lies with manufacturing. As much as usage consumes energy, even more is spent on making these handsets. This is why many mobile phone manufacturers are being ranked by order of their eco-friendliness. In fact, many companies are now trying hard to catch up with their target CO2 reduction quota –the cutoff for which is 2015.

Sony Ericsson and Nokia are currently on the extreme lead (according to Greenpeace) thanks to their efforts in changing the way the produce mobile phones.

On long standing argument against going green is that change will be expensive –what many manufacturers do not realize is that by switching to renewable energy, changing the composition of raw materials, and changing the internal policies would actually prove to be cheaper in the long run. Implementing changes costs money and resources, but the amount that would be saved later on is significantly bigger.

According to recent reports, there are over 2.7 billion handsets that are being used (some people have more than two phones so this is not a population estimate), if the users of these devices cut down on their energy usage rate, the world can save tons of energy in the process.

At present there are just some mobile phones which are being shipped for consumer use with NFC or Near Field Technology. As reported by Stuff.TV, the VP, systems architecture of Sony Ericsson has announced that all the mobile handsets which will be available in the market by early 2010 will come with this new technology.

With NFC technology you don’t have to carry your wallet. When you buy anything, it will just require holding your mobile phone in front of the reader. Even on public transport like train, bus it will be possible to use your handset in place of a ticket. In fact you will be able to buy as well as receive a ticket of a concert by touching the poster with your mobile phone.

Near Field Technology will let you share media, only by touching both the devices, bring your mobile phones together and pictures or video will be transferred immediately. This new technology will be available in all the new mobile phones including the ones from HTC as explained by Håkan Djuphammar at the Business Innovation Forum in Stockholm. This makes the handset work like a reader and is a collaborative, bio-directional RFID communication linkage.

According to CNET, Djuphammar clarified that the SIM Card will have a secure place in the mobile phone which will store ‘secure elements’ allowing the handset do the other tasks like credit card etc.

Some people are worried that it will lead to more frauds, but Djuphammar argues that this will rather help in detecting frauds by reading the credit card transaction anywhere in the world. There are a few countries which face more credit card frauds so for their own benefit the issuer of credit card will have to match the situation. When the phone is from where the credit card is issued the risk of fraud is less but when if the phone shifts suddenly from where it is generally used that particular transaction can be verified.