Mobile Phone Reviews

Archive for the ‘iPhone’ Category

Apple has been the foremost maker of smartphones ever since it launched the iPhone in 2007.  For a long time, it looked like phones with Android technology were always destined to play catch up, regardless of the fact that there were so many more Android phones available on the market.  However, for the first time, sales of phones with Android operating systems overtook those of iPhones in the last quarter of 2010.  That is good news for Google. However, phones with Android operating systems and iPhones are still playing catch up to Blackberry, the market leaders.

But What is Android Technology?

Android technology was invented by Google to work with Droid smartphones.  It provides an effective platform on which to build various apps that work on phones with Android.  This technology has increased in popularity over recent years because, with Android, apps can easily be downloaded on the phone itself.  You can also buy Android applications directly over your mobile phone.

Its applications include business applications, social networking and games.  One of the reasons phones with Android technology are so popular is that the operating platform is available to download from the internet.  It is also free

The phones with Android technology are based on Java® software.  They need a software development kit which you can easily be downloaded from the internet.  That is also free.  Those reasons all help phones with Android technology to surpass the iPhone in terms of sales.

For this reason, and because it will work on multiple operating systems, many software developers prefer the Android™ technology over what is used in other smart phones.

The most distinctive features Apple is presenting to consumers in their latest iPhone include a faster processor, extended battery life, a front-facing camera with their new FaceTime video calling technology and a shaper Retina Display screen.

The shaper screen offers much clearer images when zooming into photos and web pages.  For game players, the iPhone 4 has a built in gyroscope, which results in additional motion sensing for games.

Its new physical appearance has made it slinkier than its former model, resulting in a slimmer and flatter piece of hardware.  It also has a toughened glass coating on both the rear and front with a stainless steel band of reinforcement running around the edge.

The phone’s camera has been upgraded to include an LED flash, so the camera can be used at night.  It is also much faster at taking snapshots.  This mobile phone has the capability to record HD video at 720p resolution.  Once recorded, Apple’s iMovies application allows you to share them via email, MMS or upload them to YouTube.

The FaceTime application works very well, without any distinct audio or visual distortion.  With the phone’s ability to automatically detect if the person you are calling also uses an iPhone 4, users can switch between rear and front cameras if they want to share their location.

The phone also provides its user with a great multi-tasking ability, providing the ability to group applications into folders.  For those who are more into running multiple applications, the new iPhone 4’s battery life is very welcome.  Apple iPhone 4 deals are available on the internet.

The HTC Magic is the second Google mobile phone, following the G1. It is an Android mobile phone; created by Google in partnership with Android Inc. Android phones allow for free application creation by users using open source software.

The HTC Magic is 4.45 by 2.17 by 0.54 inches. It weighs 4.18 ounces. Its specifications include 7.5 hours of talk time battery life, and 18 days of standby time battery life. Its main screen has a 320 x 480 pixels resolution, measuring at 3.2 inches. Its main screen is capacitive rather than resistive. Multimedia features include an MPEG4, 3GPP video player and an MP3 music player. It has 288 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM software memory. It has Wi-Fi and 2.0 Bluetooth. It also has GPS.

The Android software used in the second Google phone is version 1.5, also known as Cupcake. The high quality of the touch-screen features strongly in the HTC Magic’s reviews. The screen is responsive and easy to use. The HTC Magic is smaller than the iPhone, but this works in its favour in terms of ease of manual manipulation.

A drawback of the HTC Magic is the relatively poor quality of the music player. There is no headphone jack, limiting the use of the music application. Compared with the iPhone 4, its main competitor in many ways, the HTC Magic is less stylish in its design. The white model of the mobile phone can discolour quite easily.

The HTC Touch 2 is equipped with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, which has limitations but these are helped a great deal with the installation of HTC’s TouchFLO interface.  This improves the usability of the system and helps the user to navigate through the menus. 

Windows 6.5 does offer an Internet Explorer browser which can display full web pages with a zoom in function to make viewing easier.  The operating system also gives access to My Phone.  This is a service from Microsoft which can back up all your data via a remote server.  This ensures that if the phone is lost, the information on it is not.

Users can make use of applications which allow instant messaging for keeping in touch on the move and GPS navigation for helping you to keep on the move.  Additional applications can be added if required.  There is a 3.2 megapixel camera and a 2.8 inch screen, though some may find this restrictive when viewing videos.  Extra memory function can be added with a removable memory card and a USB connection allows for easy data transfer. 

The touch screen requires more than a gentle pressure from the user and the phone has no feature to allow the screen to adapt to the way it is being held, unlike some handsets that will rotate the screen if the phone is turned.

The phone is a compact smart phone which is a good choice for those looking for a smaller alternative to the iPhone, but it does have a few limitations.

The Apple iPhone 3GS is a tweaked version of the iPhone 3G, with Apple engineering the internal workings rather than completely redesigning the handset. The result is a faster phone available with either an 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB hardrive. Its faster data speeds mean that the camera and video functions give excellent photo and video rendering.

Greater speed is the main improvement on the 32GB; this has been one of the main criticisms of all the smart phones and was particularly true of the iPhone. The system and applications now boot up more quickly and game players will certainly notice the difference when playing on the 3GS.

They have also increased the specification of the camera to three mega pixels. Though it is not top of the range it works well when used with its other features such as auto focus, macro shooting and an easily adjustable on-screen focusing system. The inbuilt video is also an excellent improvement, which is simple to use, with a built in editing facility making downloading to sites like YouTube fast and painless.

While things like the on board compass may seem a bit pointless, when used with the maps application its rotating direction finder will make getting lost difficult for even the most hard pressed of directionally challenged people.

Although they have included a better battery and power system, the Apple iPhone still uses a lot of battery power and heavy apps users may find this frustrating. You can close off 3G to save power, but that then defeats the point of having it in the first place. This is a good phone for first time iPhone users but it is debatable whether it is worth the upgrade quite yet.  If you are interested look for some Apple iPhone 3GS deals, they are around.