Bang & Olufsen Serenata
Pros - with Band & Olufsen providing the necessary technology, the sound quality is simply wonderful.
Cons - The click-wheel, while useful for scrolling through content, makes text messaging and e-mailing frustrating.
Also Consider - The Sony Ericsson W880i is another phenomenal music phone only for a fraction of the price and size.
Killer Application - Music Player - With 4GB of memory and Bang and Olufsen’s audio technology, the Serenata’s music experience is second to none.
Verdict - The good far outweighs the bad with this device but it’s difficult to see it really taking off.
Danger Sidekick Slide
Pros - Using e-mail and IM with the QWERTY keyboard is a plus as is the Wi-FI. The carousel user interface and trackball are fun to use.
Cons - The Sidekick Slide is big ad heavy and only GPRS enabled for data.
Also Consider - Palm Treo 500v is another consumer oriented smartphone with mobile TV that can be watched in full and wide-screen format.
Killer Application - Messaging - With push-e-mail and instant messaging, this is a smartphone that may even get the youth market swooning.
Verdict - A well thought out handset that’s let down by its bulk.
Purchasing A New Mobile Phone
Many people become very frustrated when it comes to replacing their cell phone with all the models on offer; it can be very difficult keeping up with all the latest functions that you ‘can’t possibly do without’. Education is the key to successfully buying or arranging a contract; there are some important but basic facts, which every buyer should know, in this article.
Firstly, a couple of great places to look for great deals are Debenhams Mobile Phones and Woolworths Mobile Phones.
Battery life is always an issue and even though they last longer (and are smaller), they have much more to do, so always leaving your phone until it is almost drained of power can cause problems. If you do not want to replace your cell phone battery early then you must not continue leaving the recharge cycle until the last minute.
Whilst there are a number of methods that can help extend the life of your cell phone battery, one really easy way is to lower the brightness of the screen back light. It doesn’t normally have to be at full intensity for you to see what’s on the screen. Some areas of the country always have poor signal strength and coverage but it will still try to find a signal; however this uses up a great deal of your cell phone battery power so if you find yourself in an area like this, just turn it off until you find a better reception. Cell phones today have so many features, all of which drain power even though no conversation is taking place so keeping these to a minimum will increase the battery life.
One way that young people get caught out is with the many things they can now download onto their phones which are often chargeable even if this is not made clear at the time of purchase. For parents buying a phone for their child, most companies will now allow them to disable this download function so only the mother or father has control over it via a password feature that the child cannot override.
The two man types of agreements for cell phone users are pay-per use and a monthly contract which can run for one or two years but which option you decide upon will depend on how often you intend to use it. Users who make frequent calls will undoubtedly find a contact with a set amount of minutes the better of the two options available. Most companies supply people that have contracts with them, additional features not available with basic plans which means you could have caller id or a two number phone for example.
If you travel as part of your work then ensure that roaming charges are part of the contract you decide on and be careful of those hidden costs that are only noticed after you have signed the agreement. Some companies will replace your phone if it breaks or is lost or stolen so consider the insurance warranty before buying because they are typically carried around everywhere; which means they can easily get broken or damaged and a warranty will give you peace of mind.
When buying cell phones online, be sure the phone is up-to-date and carries all the features you want. You can then visit a local store to purchase minutes or to sign up for a contract but just be sure you buy from a company you trust.
Tesco Mobiles WAP Advertising
Tesco Mobile has announced that it will display banner advertising on its WAP portal, after running a consumer trial featuring mobile ad campaigns from the likes of Bee Movie, Nivea, ITV and Teletext.
Tesco Mobile said the trial, which was managed by mobile services company InfoMedia Services, delivered a click-through rate of between 3% and 7%.
To compliment the trial, Tesco and InfoMedia ran a survey which found that 69% of its customers would be prepared to click on a relevant advert.
Tesco Mobile said it recorded 300,000 unique visitors to its WAP portal in December 2007 and revealed that 60% of its WAP users are women and its customers average age is 36.