Sony ericsson mobile phone

The CyberShot range of mobile phones was undoubtedly a stroke of genius from some Sony Ericsson designer but it may have surprised the leader of the mobile phone world in relation to just how successful the range would actually be. As with every range, there is a phone to suit every budget and if you are on the lower end of the affordability scale then the latest offering may well be your handset of choice. The Sony Ericsson C510 is reportedly a very comprehensive little phone, but is all the hype correct or exaggerating its usefulness?

The CyberShot Appearance

The Sony Ericsson C510 CyberShot handset has an incredibly sleek interface and is a stylish little phone all told. The casing is solid black aside from a silver and blue striped edge that highlights the clean lines and gives its sophisticated appearance a little fun edge. The screen is crystal clear and dominates the handset but the buttons that are placed just below it do not suffer as a result. They are a good size and are easy enough to press without making mistakes. Although the Sony Ericsson C510 handset is slim at just 12.5mm, it feels solid enough to inspire confidence that it will last for some time.

Camera Focus

The main feature of the Sony Ericsson C510 is obviously the camera, which is logical considering that it is a CyberShot handset. At 3.2MP, it is not the most powerful camera phone on the market but it is a good quality camera given the budget nature of the phone. The images that can be taken using the feature are of a good quality, possibly because of the availability of the full camera feature list. It incorporates a Photofix application to fix errors, a dual LED flash and an integrated YouTube app as well to send your videos straight to the Internet.

In addition to all of the camera functionality that is outlined above, the Sony Ericsson C510 has a good level of connectivity, with a full web browser, USB and Bluetooth all incorporated into the handset. As such, you can do whatever you wish to stay in touch with the Sony Ericsson C510 and that is what having a mobile is all about. The basic call features and SMS capabilities are incredibly well put together so no complaints there.

The Niggles

There are a few issues with the Sony Ericsson C510, but they may or may not matter to you if you just want a camera phone to capture the moment once in a while. There is a little shutter lag, which can be annoying if you want to take a series of images in quick succession. The lens is also not very well protected given the flimsy nature of the lens cover. As such, the camera does have two flaws that other more high end models in the range do not have. There is also limited connectivity, with no GPS present at all. However, if you can live with these faults then the Sony Ericsson C510 is worth investing in.

Unlocked mobile phones

Did you know that cell phones are locked by providers in order to help ensure customer loyalty? If you want to use the cell phone of your choice, and you don’t want to switch providers to do so, look for unlocked cell phones. Unlocked GSM cell phones can be purchased easily and quickly, so you can start using the cell phone you want to as soon as possible.

Unlocked cell phones are those which have been designed so that the phone itself does not need to rely on a singular cell phone provider Subscriber Identification Module card. Cell phones are created with these Subscriber Identification Module cards, or SIM cards, in order to store the information and data for the individual subscriber or client – such as yourself! A locked cell phone will only recognize the SIM card of the cell phone provider for which the phone was made.

This means that if you purchased your phone and your cell phone contract through Company X, your phone will only be able to read a SIM card from Company X if the phone is not one of the now readily available unlocked cell phones. The lock is put in place on the phone in order to keep the cell phone owner ‘loyal’ to the cell phone company that sponsors or provides the phone. Unlocked cell phones are those which can read the SIM cards from any cell phone service

provider, not just company X. As a result, when a person wants a cell phone from a provider that they don’t presently use, they will want to find an unlocked cell phone so they can use the phone they want to without changing cell phone providers – which can cost a great deal of money if you have to cancel your present subscription, all just to get the phone of your choice.

Unlocked cell phones are created simply by unlocking the software system on the phone which prohibits the phone from reading alternate provider SIM cards. All cell phones are GSM phones. GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications. Landline phones need a physical line and/or cord to make the phone function. GSM is a digital standard which was first offered in 1991. ‘Unlocked GSM phones’ is a phrase equivalent with ‘unlocked cell phones’. Unlocked GSM phones will allow you the same benefits and positive attributes of utilizing the unlocked cell phones discussed in the previous paragraph.

Chinese mobile phones

Spend any time on the Shanghai metro and you’ll be impressed not just by its efficiency and cleanliness, but also by the number of thumbs racing over mobile phones, sending text messages to friends. While texting has yet to take off in the United States, where the low price of local calls makes it easy to just dial and talk, in China, SMS messages are all the rage.

(And if you’re wondering how people send text messages in a country with no alphabet and more than 50,000 characters, it’s actually easier - and faster - than you might think. Subscribers write in pinyin, a Romanization of Chinese, and then choose the character they want from a list. It’s fast and accurate.)

But it’s not just messaging that makes China’s mobile phone subscribers happy. Mobile users in the People’s Republic are also enthusiastic down loaders of color ring-back tones, tunes that play while the dialer is waiting for the call recipient to answer. General ringtones are popular too, giving cell phone providers and Internet sites plenty of reasons to smile.

In fact, China Mobile’s color ring-back tones and other services gave it revenues of 6.99 billion Yuan (US$872 million) last year, more than 2.5 times the amount generated the year before. It’s not surprising then that Chinese Internet companies too are scrambling to load up on tunes for users to download.

Although China’s population is well over a billion, much of the country’s new prosperity is on the east coast. Mobile phone use however, is popular everywhere. China has a relatively low rate of mobile phone use on a per capita basis but by virtue of a population exceeding 1.29 billion it is reviewed as the world's number two mobile phones market, only second to the US with more than 75 million subscribers.

Mobile phone offer

In light of the high street outlets offering better deals than the networks, exactly where should we be looking for the best mobile phone deals?

As soon as something closes in your High Street or shopping centre you can be almost certain that a few short weeks later it will reopen as a mobile phone shop. Such is the proliferation of mobile phones in recent years that we have created a distinct retail industry within the last ten years. Business is clearly booming for everyone concerned with the mobile phone market – the networks, manufacturers and retailers all have their eye on our wallet the very moment our existing contract expire.

The problem for consumers is that with an increased market size come increased consumer choice and finding the best deal becomes increasingly complicated. The networks themselves and the ubiquitous mobile phone shops offer a multitude of combinations of packages, handsets and incentives all of which seem to conflict with one another and before long you end up in a confused mire of free minutes, text messages, accessories and special offer gifts. The problem with choice is making sure that you get the best deal and don’t find a cheaper or better alternative once you’ve signed on the dotted line.

The answer is to do your research and comparing deals across the networks and retailers to find the cheapest rate, best handset or contract features to suit your budget.

Latest mobile phones

As well as the phenomenal growth of mobile phone usage they have rapidly become a cultural article, its’ attributes extending beyond the functionality of a communication device but also to the slightly more intangible fashion accessory. Like all fashions, phones change and great emphasis can be placed on having the ‘right’ or the latest mobile phone. But in an ever changing and fast moving marketplace it can be difficult to keep up with the latest mobile phone developments.

Camera functionality, Bluetooth and MP3 support have all become embedded features of mobile phone functionality. Keeping up with the Jones’ seems to be increasingly important in modern life and the mobile phone market is no different. But with phone contracts renewing only once a year how easy is it for consumers to keep up to date with handset trends to make sure that they have the latest phone?

If you are determined to keep up with the trends the web offers a suitable forum to research and choose your next phone. Reseller sites such as Dial-a-Phone specialise in offering the latest mobile phone handset and a brief browse around such sites allow you to research and select the functions and styles of handset that you want – even if your network provider seems unwilling to provide this. Similarly online forum and review sites offer an insight into the pluses and minuses of the latest mobiles from a user perspective. Comparison shopping is one of the web’s strong points and for a market which is rapidly evolving offers the consumer a place to research and keep up to date with the latest phone developments.

With the latest mobile phones seemingly becoming old hat within three months the notion of a mobile phone as a fashion accessory becomes problematic for the individual. While you may be mocked by friends for your out of date handset you can find some comfort in the knowledge that their gleaming new handset will soon be redundant itself, superseded instead by the latest mobile phone with increased functionality and enhanced aesthetics.

Samsung mobile phone

The Samsung F400 is a much more affordable music phone compared to previous releases from Samsung. In this review we will take a look at its design, features, and performance and give you all the information you need to know.

Design

A very important aspect is it’s 3.5mm headphone socket. Throw out your bundled cables because you don’t need them to use this handset. Although you’d think a music phone would automatically come with this feature and that it should be assumed that it was included—even the highest-end music phones forget this part.

Most slider phones are light-weight, almost as slim as a piece of paper, and break easily. However, don’t look forward to that with the F400—it’s built constructively and is very rugged. That doesn’t mean you should throw you new F400 against the wall to see how versatile it is! Although it would also make a great paperweight too!

Being most commonly a music phone, it comes with Bang & Olufsen mini-speakers integrated behind the screen. Undercover speakers… such a nice thought, right? Don’t hold your breathe! Simply slide the screen downward and you will see where they are. It does, however, come with a nice keypad that is big enough to set a high texting speed.

It comes packed with a 240x320-pixel (56mm or 2.2-inch) screen that is very clear and easy to use. However, keep indoors or the glossy plastic coating may become a problem in the sun’s rays.

Features

One impressive but not extraordinary feature is the microSD slot which allows expanded memory space for the things you normally wouldn’t be able to fit on the phone. It comes bulked with a 3-megapixel camera which produces good quality and it is even equipped with a LED flash making it top other phones in that aspect.

Don’t worry about compatibility issues with your music, the F400 supports many different audio formats, including but not limited to: MP3, unprotected AAC, WMA, and even songs purchased from services such as Napster. You can even enjoy listening to your “jams” on wireless headphones by using the built-in stereo Bluetooth, A2DP.

Enjoy the music while you can because you’ll be disappointed when trying to watch a video. Not only is it more difficult to access than your music, it seems like a full-time job just to meet the requirements of the phones capabilities with video files. It has strict file formats and you MUST obey resolution and bit rates. Don’t worry though; Samsung includes the [hardly] easy to use software that allows people to tweak their video conversion setup.

Mobile phone insurance

Although insuring your house and your car are seen by most as essential, the opposite can be said for mobile phone insurance. Insuring a mobile phone is seen as a luxury and something that you can do without. However, insuring your mobile phone can be worthwhile and can save you money. Here is some advice to help you decide whether mobile phone insurance is right for you.

How much does it cost?

Mobile phone insurance is relatively inexpensive, with cover starting at around £25 per year and going up to £100 depending on the level of cover that you want.

Ways to get insured
The two ways you can get hold of mobile insurance are to buy insurance from your airtime supplier or to go to an outside insurance source. The obvious advantage of using your airtime provider is that all your mobile phone costs are with one company. This means you can call to cancel your phone if it is lost or stolen and get a new phone sent straight away. Of course, the disadvantage is that the cost and level of cover you get may be different to what you need or are willing to pay. Your best bet is to shop around before you buy any mobile phone insurance.

Features of mobile insurance

When looking for mobile phone insurance there are a number of features you should look for. The main feature of the insurance should be the replacement of your phone should anything happen to it. Most insurance policies offer this, although you have to pay an excess payment on some whilst others will only send you a second hand phone of a similar specification. Another feature you should look for is cover for unauthorised phone calls should your phone be stolen.

Advantages of mobile phone insurance

The advantages of mobile phone insurance are that you are

covered should your phone be stolen, which is becoming an increasingly common occurrence. Losing or having your phone stolen can cost hundreds of pounds, because replacing the actual phone costs a lot more than getting a contract. Also, you run the risk of having huge phone bills run up on your stolen phone if you don’t report it quickly. For a small amount of money each year it does make sense to get mobile phone insurance.