Four Best Phones In the World as of 2012

Over the last ten years or so we have seen some major advances into the technology that goes into mobile phones, and the way in which many of us use them. In this highly competitive and ever changing market there are a few manufacturers that are producing handsets that set the standards for everyone else to follow. These are the current cream of the crop:

4. Sony Xperia S

The Ericsson brand has been recently cast aside and we can now expect Sony branded phones from now on. The Sony Xperia S is the first of the rebranded handsets for Sony and it is certainly a tasty piece of kit.

With a super-fast dual core processor, HD screen and 12MP camera, it has the makings of being one the best smartphones of 2012.

3. iPhone 4S 

There are few people who would argue that the iPhone's introduction to the market set the standards for which we have all come to expect from our handset these days. The iPhone 4s, which is the latest model available, is certainly the best yet with its brilliant retina display, siri voice recognition and superior battery.

Of course since the iPhone 4s the competition have stepped up their game, which means the iPhone is no longer at the top of most lists. But with the impending iPhone 5 release this year this is certain to change things.

2. Samsung Galaxy S III

  There are two handsets that are getting a lot of attention at the moment and one of them is the Samsung Galaxy S III. With the amazing success of the Galaxy S II, all eyes have been on this upgrade in anticipation of something special. Early indications certainly seem to point to the fact that Samsung have not disappointed.

The phone comes with the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, running on a 1.5gHZ quad core CPU. This makes it more than capable of handling all the action that this phone can provide. With its 4.8" Super AMOLED HD screen, 64GB of Internal Memory, and clever little touches such as eye tracking technology, it is clear to see why this phone is expected to be a big hit.

1. HTC One X 

The other phone that has got everyone all excited is the, slightly less hyped, HTC One X. This is an innovative and feature rich phone that will certainly give HTC's rivals in the smartphone market cause for concern. The phone has a powerful processor, beautiful design and a screen that is extremely kind to the eyes.

Also sporting the latest version of the Android Operating system, this powerful handset has a large HD screen which displays beautiful graphics, a feature rich camera and Beats Audio Enhancements along with so much more. Apart from a slight complaint with regards to the battery life, very few will find anything negative to say about this phone.

Conclusion

For a mobile phone manufacturer, making a handset that is fit to top "Best Of" lists is a difficult task. With the constant changes in technology and fierce competition, it is even harder to remain at the top of the list. In the last few years however a few manufacturers have emerged as market leaders and we can all look forward to great stuff from them in the near future.

HTC to launch the Desire C smartphone

HTC have announced that they plan to launch their latest smartphone, the Desire C, across the UK in June.

The Desire C will use the Android 4.0 Ice Cream system and will also come equipped with HTC's Sense 4.0 system that was previously featured in the One X. The phone itself is a moderate size containing a 3.5in screen and has a 600Mhz processor. On top of this, the phone is able to hold 4GB worth of data but there have been no announcements or comments mentioning if there is a slot for an SD card to add extra storage facilities.

Alongside the core components, HTC's new smartphone has good media usage capabilities. The phone has a 5 megapixel camera that is capable of taking high-quality pictures and video. The Desire C has also been announced to use a Beats Audio sound system which was added with the idea to try and improve and refine the sound quality that is produced through the phone's speaker system.

The new sound system was commented on by Jason McKenzie, HTC's President of Global Sales and Marketing. In a statement, McKenzie said: "Listening to music is one of the most popular things people use their phones for, so it's more important than ever that we deliver the power and emotion artists capture in the studio".

To fit with current trends involving networks and cloud storage systems, the HTC Desire C will give it's users the opportunity to store up to 25GB of free online storage of photos, videos and songs. HTC also announced that some variants of the phone would become compatible with NFC technology to allow users to monitor and make purchases with the phone once the system becomes available.

On the initial launch, the Desire C will be available in two base colours - black and white and also features a metal outer casing.

The Desire C will be available on all the major phone networks in the UK however only T-Mobile have announced their pricing schemes for its customers and they have announced it will be available both as pay as you go and on contract. For those looking to get the phone on contract, T-Mobile customers will look to pay at least £15.50 a month on a 24-month contract for the Desire C. Meanwhile, pay-as you-go users are looking at a price around £169.99 for the phone with a further £10 required for the initial top-up.

Whilst HTC have announced that the phone will become available in the UK in June, the actual release date has not been announced by the Taiwanese firm. Even though the Desire C may not have all the spectacular high spec tools and qualities of some of the more expensive and luxury smartphones, it is still worth the consideration for those looking for a smart phone that can fulfil all the satisfactory needs of the user.

SIM card allows parents to monitor mobile phones

A new SIM card has been designed so that it can allow parents to manage and monitor how their children use their mobile phones.

The Bemilo SIM card can allow a parent to potentially monitor any form of usage of a mobile whether it's a call, text or on the internet. The aim of the new phone SIM card is to stop the number of children receiving abuse or bullying through mobile devices.

In a survey by Bemilo, they found that 25% of children under 16 had suffered from some sort of bullying through their mobile phone whilst 40% of children had become sleep deprived due to excess mobile phone usage at night.

New SIM card allows parents to monitor their children’s mobile phone

The SIM card works just like any other normal SIM however all the data from the mobile phone is sent to a computer where parents can then view how a child is using their mobile phone and when they are using it. Unlike apps or other software that become inactive if a phone is switched off, a SIM will keep working when the phone is off which will ensure that there is 24 hour monitoring capabilities.

Alongside giving added security measures, a child with the SIM can also make calls to their parents' mobiles even if the phone is out of credit. This is so that a child can get through to their parents in case of a emergency.

In an interview with the BBC, Bemilo founder Simon Goff commented about the reasoning behind the new device. He said that "if you put a child to bed, and we're talking about young adults here, those who are just under 16 years old, the parents often think they've gone to bed - but then they find out that they're texting very late into the night or accessing the web into the night."

Whilst the new SIM has been designed for use on all the major makes of phones, the SIM will be unavailable on Blackberry phones until autumn. This means that parents will not be able to monitor chat services like Blackberry Messenger which has proved extremely popular with teenagers over the last year or so.

The new SIM is likely to go down well with children charities who have recently highlighted the dangers and pressures facing teenagers and young adults in today's modern society. Dr Katherine Rake, chie executive of children's charity the Family and Parenting Institute told the BBC that "Today's generation of children are facing new pressures, such as mobile phone bullying, and parents want help in protecting them".

Initially, the Bemilo software will be only be available on Vodafone in the UK. The entire security will cost parents £4.00 on a month to month basis or £2.95 per month for a year's subscription. Calls will cost 10p a minute and texts will cost the same amount. It will also cost 25p for 1MB of online data.

Whilst some teenagers may not be happy with the thought of having all their mobile use monitored by their parents, it will certainly help parents have peace of mind and look to ensure that their children are safe from being tormented through their mobiles and the Internet.

UK Citizens Among Most Avid Tweeters

UK citizens have certainly embraced the role of the tweet in their every day communication with more than 10 million Twitter users. This makes the UK fourth in the world in terms of number of people tweeting. Recent figures have noted that more than 80 percent of Tweeters do so from their mobile phone or mobile device.

The tweeting trend has not gone unnoticed by the media and businesses. Even though Tweets are very limited in size, no more than 140 characters per Tweet, news and other important updates are often released first through individuals using Twitter, such as with the UK summer riots. The average citizen in on the scene can get news out much faster than a news crew and people are more informed about breaking news quicker than ever.

Business Profitability

Businesses around the world are embracing the fascination with Tweeting and using this media to entice customers to their business. It is estimated that there are more than 340 million Tweets per day and if even a small percentage of those are business related, it is a staggering number in terms of reaching the masses.

Tweets can be news about retail sales, coupon codes for discounts and other unadvertised specials that only Tweeters have access to. This type of marketing is almost priceless since many people re-Tweet their Tweets to their friends and thus one small sentence can go around the country in a matter of minutes.

In surveys conducted around the world, it has been shown the social media marketing, such as using Twitter or Facebook, is the new wave. More than half of all businesses surveyed are using social media for marketing. In the UK, approximately 20 percent of nearly half of all business' marketing money is earmarked toward social media marketing ventures.

If you look at recent technology and social networks, it simply makes sense. More people are connected to a mobile phone or device than ever and many people simply don't read junk mail. Flyers and mail campaigns are practically a waste of money that could be better spent sending out Tweets and advertising on social sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you are a business owner and have not yet started your own social media marketing campaign, you should get involved now and increase your exposure. It only takes a few minutes to have your name travelling the globe. There are not many marketing tools that can say that. So, join the rest of the flock and go Tweet, Tweet, Tweet all the way to the bank.

BlackBerry Curve 9320 Review

With all the focus that is currently being placed on Samsung, HTC and of course the Android Operating System, it could easily go unnoticed that there are other mobile phone manufacturers around still trying to compete for a share in the market. It can be said that, a few years ago Apple caused a huge shift in the mobile phone market and a few manufacturers who were sitting reasonably comfortable were caught off-guard. Research In Motion (RIM) is one such manufacturer that has really suffered since the market "shift".

BlackBerry Curve 9320

Since Apple launched the revolutionary iPhone onto the world, other manufacturers have found that the only way to claim and keep their share of the market is with creativity and innovative new technology in each new handset. RIM are well known for their Blackberry handsets, which are primarily targeted at the business end of the market. So what have they done since things changed? Well not a lot really. In fact the company has been on a slippery slope ever since and are really only surviving thanks to some die-hard fans.

So what should a mobile phone manufacturer that is struggling to keep its share of the market do? Release a fresh new handset to wow the crowds of course. Blackberry's answer to the problem at hand is the Blackberry Curve 9320. Not quite the innovation many tech fans would be impressed with but it might please the die-hard lovers of Blackberry.

The BlackBerry Curve 9320 is aimed at the budget end of the market and is a respectable upgrade for those currently using the Curve 8520 or Curve 9300. The budget friendly price for this latest handset is around £150 and for that you will actually get a decent phone.

Key Features:

• 3.1MP Camera with LED flash
• Micro SD Slot
• Blackberry OS 7.1
• 2.44in – 320×240 pixel screen

The phone itself is fairly chunky, considering its relatively low specs, it measures in at 109×60×12.7mm. However it is reasonably light, weighing in at 103g which is surprising considering it is packing a hefty 1450mAH battery. The overall design is certainly not one could call innovative but this can be quickly overlooked given the price.

One thing that might be music to loyal Blackberry fans ears is the fact that the headphone jack has been moved from the side to the top of the handset. This makes it easier to pocket the phone while listening to some tunes. The keyboard is also pretty decent with just spacing to enable most people with average fingers to type away speedily.

The Blackberry Curve 9320 is the first from this manufacturer to come shipped with their latest operation system, 7.1. However with the lack of any decent specs such as a bigger screen, better processor or even a touch screen, it will hardly be noticeable that the OS has been upgraded at all.

In conclusion, the Blackberry Curve 9320 is certainly not likely to convert any of the followers of Samsung or HTC. It is certainly a worthwhile upgrade for those looking for a new Blackberry though. Things like the improved rear camera, the front facing camera, the repositioned headphone jack and what promises to be excellent battery life should temp many current users to stick it out the Blackberry, at least for the time being.

Met Police to access mobile data with new software

The Metropolitan Police are soon going to start using software that will enable them to access phone data remotely to help improve the efficiency of criminal investigations.

The new software will be able to access various call data such as past call records and even past locations of where a particular phone was used. The software would also be able to access even encrypted SIM cards or those that aren't being used at a particular time.

The software, developed by Southampton based Rain Tactics, is designed to help police get access to some forms of evidence that can help be presented in court. It also means that individuals being investigated will not have to give their phone to police during the length of a case.

Mobile phones are increasingly used
in criminal activity

Whilst the technology has already been implemented recently by some other police forces, the Met Police are the largest force to use the software. It will be used initially in cases such as burglaries and thefts.

In an interview with The Guardian (see article Met to use software that can crack mobile phones even with locked SIM), the new Police Commissioner for the Met Police, Bernard Hogan-Howe said that it was time the force implemented new technologies to help improve their methods. He said "If we ended up with less people but better technology, and ended up being better at fighting crime, I'd say that wouldn't be a bad thing."

Even though some of the data is stored by a phone network provider, some of the other relevant data is stored on the SIM card. Even though this is protected by a PIN number, the police can apply to a network for a Pin Unlock Code (PUC). This code can then allow the police to bypass the Pin and access the data on the SIM. Whilst some people may argue the legality and morality about the software, the police are allowed to these devices to access data under the Police And Criminal Evidence Act.

The move was further justified by Met Police deputy assistant commissioner Stephen Kavanagh who commented about phones growing use and importance of mobile communication. He told the Guardian that "mobile phones and other devices are increasingly being used in all levels of criminal activity."

"When a suspect is arrested and found with a mobile phone that we suspect may have been used in crime, traditionally we submit it to our digital forensic laboratory for analysis. Therefore, a solution located within the boroughs that enables trained officers to examine devices and gives immediate access to the data in that handset is welcomed," he added.

However, the software will have some difficulty accessing Blackberry's with RIM software as it has an encryption device built in to prevent access to the data. It is only possible to access the necessary data by entering a decryption key to unlock the SIM. Therefore, the key would have to be obtained from the user to get all the key data. Whilst the new software can enable the police to obtain the data they need and to help put criminals away, it may raise further questions about privacy issues surrounding personal data stored on mobile devices.