iPhone Comes Out On Top For Photo Uploading!

It seems that when it comes to uploading your precious pictures, there’s one phone that’s head and shoulders above the rest. Social photo gallery site Flickr lets users upload there photos to share with friends and family wherever they are in the world and, as of November 2008, Flickr claimed to host more than 3 billion images. Along with capturing information such as picture size and GPS location, Flickr also tracks information on the camera used. So clicking on the “most popular cameras” page on Flickr will tell you alot about what cameras and camera phones people are using to upload their snaps, but what comes out on top for camera phones? The iPhone 3G of course.

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Top 3G Mobile Phones of 2008

3G.co.uk reviewed its first 3G Phone in July 2004 which was the NEC e606. Of course things have moved on greatly since then and never has so much progress been made than in 2008. We exit 2008 awash with mobile phones having 8 megapixel cameras and 3G HSDPA speeds.

A number of mobile phones were launched focusing on target market areas e.g. the INQ1 facebook phone and the G1 Google mobile phone. This will become an increasing trend in 2009.

3G.co.uk undertook over 100 3G Phone Reviews in 2008 and our list of the Top 3G Phones ( below ) is based on the findings and conclusions of these reviews.

In preparing our top list of Top 3G Mobile Phones for 2008 we excluded any mobiles which are not actually 3G dataspeed as a minimum.

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Nokia N97 Demo Video

If a picture paints a thousand words, then what is a video worth? Well it’s priceless to Nokia’s PR team it would seem as they look to continue to build on the buzz surrounding the Nokia N97. So, to set the excitement level to boiling point Nokia have released a short demo video showing off the skills of the first ever touch screen Nseries mobile phone, the N97.

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Sony Ericsson to Come Up with Android Handsets

Almost three months back,Sony Ericsson had shown its interest over getting Android on their recently launched range of high-end multimedia handsets, the XPERIA range. However for its first handset from the XPERIA range, the X1 Sony Ericsson stuck to Windows Mobile as the mobile phone's OS. It seems that, three months back Sony Ericsson was doing some serious thinking when it comes to the Android platform because the company has officially announced that it will be joining the Open Handset Alliance, consortium behind Android. Sony Ericsson has also said that, it is very much open to having Android on its forthcoming phones.

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AdWords Reaches iPhone and G1 Mobile Phones

AdWords has been available for mobile devices for quite some time, but now you can target iPhone and G1 users specifically with your ads.

To target ads for G1 and iPhone, go to your campaign settings tab in your AdWords account. Then for the “Device Platform” option under "Networks and Bidding," select "iPhones and other mobile devices with full internet browsers."

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Google Allows Desktop Ads To Appear On Mobile Phones

Google announced a new feature for its AdWords service today, which will enable ads that were once formatted and restricted to the desktop computer to also appear on mobile phones. Historically, it didn’t make sense to deliver desktop ads to the phone because if a consumer clicked on it, they wouldn’t be able to view the page correctly. But now that some phones have full Internet browsers, this is less of a concern.

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Nokia N97 Unveiled, The First High-End N-Series Touch Phone

It's been a long time coming, but after dabbling with touch on the midrange 5800, Nokia has finally brought a touchscreen to an S60 "N-Series" smartphone, the N97. Take a look at our hands-on impressions and the complete rundown on Nokia's new flagship.

But it's not quite a full dive into touch—there's still a horizontal QWERTY keyboard hidden below the 3.5" 640x360 resistive touchscreen and accesable via a smooth 30° flip mechanism. The N97 will run an even further touch-enhanced Symbian OS, S60 v5, which features the 5800's quick contacts bar and adds an assortment of customizable desktop widgets that can pipe in your Facebook info, RSS feeds and the like, much like those found on Nokia's internet tablet OS. The widgets will be open to third party developers and available via the traditional "Downloads" Symbian app "for now" says Nokia—so not quite the App Store equivalent fans would hope for, but customization via software add-ons is definitely the route being pursued here.

But alas, the downsides. Characteristically for Nokia, the N97 is aimed at Europe and Asia first. So big ballers in Moscow and Macau can expect to be toting an N97 sometime in the "first half of 2009," with a U.S. release (with the appropriate 3G bands) to follow "soon after." In Europe it'll run a hefty €550 ($695) unsubsidized.

The model we briefly handled tonight in NYC was, of course, the Euro version, with no U.S. 3G (and, sadly, no Wi-Fi network availabile). Its handlers were keeping it close to the vest, and with no connectivity there wasn't much testing to be done, but we can say that the hardware is indeed pretty—befitting a $700 Nokia piece. The desktop Symbian widgets look nice, but the drawbacks of a resistive touchscreen (there, as always, to ensure character recognition via a stylus for Nokia's Asian market) were immediately noticeable when dragging widgets around the desktop. A resistive touchscreen relies on pressing two layers of screen together with a fingernail or stylus to register a signal, so it is not as responsive as a capacitive screen which is driven by the natural electricity in your fingers.

Rounding out the gaudy specs are 32GB of on-board memory (with 16GB more available via microSD), A-GPS with Nokia's refreshed Maps 3.0 app and a compass, accelerometer for landscape/portrait screen switching, 5MP camera with Zeiss lens and LED flash, 3.5mm headphone jack, and N-Gage support.

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List of Most Downloaded iPhone Apps is Full of Frivolous Crap

With Apple hitting the 10,000 app milestone, they've just released the stats for the most downloaded apps in a number of categories. And boy, they sure do prove that you people like frivolous, stupid crap on your iPhones. Seriously, Koi Pond is the top paid app overall? No wonder we're in a recession, all that money spent on Koi Pond could have bailed out one of the big three automakers. And why isn't Bloom in the top music apps? Get on board with Bloom, people.

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Nokia could give Linux a spin in high-end mobiles

To anyone even remotely familiar with Nokia's history, this tidbit won't come as a surprise at all. In fact, we've been hearing "Linux" and "Nokia" in the same sentence for years. At Nokia World in Barcelona -- the same place where the almighty N97 (pictured) was unveiled -- Ukko Lappalainen, vice president at Nokia's markets unit, informed Reuters that "in the longer perspective, Linux will become a serious alternative for our high-end phones." Potentially more interesting was his followup line: "I don't see anything in Android which would make it better than Linux maemo."

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Nokia unveils flagship N97 phone

Details are in, Nokia has a new flagship phone. The N97 packs a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel (that's a 16:9 aspect ratio) resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and QWERTY keyboard into this sliding communicator with an "always open" window to favorite internet or social networking sites. Nokia calls it the "world's most advanced mobile computer." To back up the claim they've dropped in HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth radios, A-GPS, a 3.5-mm headjack, 32GB of onboard memory with microSD expansion (for up to 48GB total capacity), and a battery capable of up to 1.5 days of continuous audio playback or 4.5-hours video.

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QIGI i6-Goal Looks to Be the First 'Next' Android Phone to Actually Come Out

Compared to the ZzzPhone a modern marvel of engineering and/or MSPaint—the i6-Goal is sort of boring: it's got no QWERTY, 3G, two-week battery, male enhancement powers, etc. It does, however, appear to be real.

Announced by TechFaith Wireless and QIGI, two Chinese companies that very much seem to exist, the i6-Goal is a reassuringly modest accomplishment. The touchscreen phone is a relatively normal quad-band GSM phone, featuring a 2MP camera, GPS and an SD slot. The hardware actually looks quite similar to that of the HTC Touch, which perhaps not coincidentally can hackishly run Android.

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Mobile Substitution to Have Bigger Impact Than Credit Crunch on Fixed Voice Spend in Enterprises, Says Analysys Mason

The financial crisis may be putting the squeeze on business budgets, but mobile substitution will be a far bigger threat to fixed enterprise voice spend in Western Europe in 2009. Analysys Mason the premier adviser to the telecoms, IT and media industries predicts a decline of 15% in fixed voice spend next year as a result of mobile substitution.

In the report, Fixed-mobile convergence in enterprise voice in Europe: forecasts 2008-2013, Analysys Mason notes that fixed voice providers will find that the global financial crisis will reduce enterprise fixed voice spend by 1-2%. Ultimately, however, mobile substitution will have a far bigger impact on enterprise voice spend.

"Enterprises are finding it cheaper to give staff mobile phones for all their calls than to put a new VoIP phone on a desk," says the report's author, Margaret Hopkins. "In addition to this, the financial crisis will increase pressure to conserve cash and make it even less likely that enterprises will install a VoIP PBX when their old phone system ceases to be supported by the vendors."

Other key findings from the new report include:

-- Spend on FMC services, where the mobile phones are seamlessly integrated into the enterprise voice system, will grow at a CAGR of 41% between 2008 and 2013, albeit from a low base, while spend on standalone mobile and fixed voice services will decline by 9% and 15% respectively over the period.

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Singapore's StarHub Offers Femtocell Service

Singaporean operator StarHub is rolling out a femtocell service that allows mobile subscribers to make calls at home using their broadband Internet connections instead of the cellular network.

StarHub's Home zone service costs S$16.05 (US$10.62) per month with a 1-year contract. Users must also have a mobile-phone and broadband Internet accounts with StarHub for the service to work.

Each Home Zone account can support up to four StarHub mobile phone numbers.

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Nokia to end phone sales in Japan

Finish mobile phone giant Nokia has said it will stop selling its handsets in Japan after struggling to grow its market share in the country.

Nokia said it would continue selling its luxury Vertu brand in Japan, and would dedicate its Japanese business to research purposes.

Samsung and LG have also faced problems in Japan - a market dominated by sophisticated domestic phones.

Nokia said recently that it would cut costs because of the global downturn.

"In the current global economic climate, we have concluded that the continuation of our investment in Japan-specific localised products is no longer sustainable," said Nokia executive vice president Timo Ihamuotila.

Nokia has nearly 40% of the global market for mobile phones, but it reportedly managed to take only 0.3% of Japan's market last year.

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Nokia says shipping touch-screen phone

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia Oyj has started deliveries of its first touch-screen phone, the 5800, the mobile phone maker's answer to Apple Inc's iPhone.

Nokia said on Thursday the phone is, or soon will be, available in selected markets globally, including Russia, Spain, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Finland.

Nokia said last month the model will cost 279 euros ($360) before operator subsidies and taxes, substantially less than the iPhone.

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iPhone Advert is banned by Advertising Standards Authority

The use of ‘very fast’ in TV advert misleads viewers on the iPhone’s internet capabilty

An iPhone 3G television advert has been banned as a result of a judgment from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA ruled that the advert wrongly advertised the device in terms of fast internet speeds.

The ruling marks the second time Apple has breached standards. The first time was in August and was over misleading claims on the navigation of the device.

The use of ‘very fast’ repeatedly in the advert caused 17 viewers to complain about the advert.

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Phones 4u cuts prepay prices as Christmas countdown begins

Retailer drops prices to up the competition with non specialists and Carphone

Phones 4u is looking to seize the Christmas prepay market after cutting prices on many of its pay-as-you-go handsets.

The retailer has gone toe-to-toe with low-cost non-specialist rivals, such as Asda, Tesco and Argos, with some prices slashed by up to £70. The cuts also bring many of Phones 4u’s prepay prices in line with Carphone, which also reduced pay-as-you-go prices recently.

Phones 4u’s biggest price drop is on the LG Viewty, which has come down from £199.99 to £129.99. Meanwhile the Samsung U800 price has dropped by £99.95 to £79.95 and the Nokia 6300 price has dropped from £79.95 to £59.95. Many other handsets have also been reduced.

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LG heavily invests in its brand with Formula One sponsorship

LG hopes Formula One brand will reconnect consumers with the LG brand

LG will attempt to re-brand itself by forking out on a five-year Formula One sponsorship deal. Dermot Boden, LG’s chief marketing officer said: ‘It is a hefty investment for our brand.’

The deal will make LG one of the sponsors for the entire sport, largely increasing its marketing spend even in the economic downturn.

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