The Nokia N95 8GB is a mighty hard act to follow in anyone’s mobile book. Its powerful feature arsenal still towers above most of today’s smartphone competition. So is its successor, the N96, all conquering enough to trade in your Nseries powerhouse?

While its new look spec sheet undoubtedly improves upon N95 8GB, we’re still left wondering if Nokia has really pushed the envelope hard enough. Does a 16GB memory boost, slight design overhaul, added memory card slot, and a currently redundant built-in DVB-H mobile TV receiver scream essential upgrade? Not hiking the camera to a Samsung i8510-rivalling eight megapixels also feels like a missed opportunity but despite these initial misgivings, the N96 still proves to be a mobile dream machine.

Continue reading…

HTC is most definitely going for the iPhone’s jugular with its latest touch phone, the Touch HD. Where previous members of the Touch crew have flirted with the mechanised world, this Windows Mobile fuelled tickler represents its first 100% pure contact blower, even right down to its touch sensitive front keys. Should the Jesus Machine protect its neck?

Early signs reveal the Touch HD to be a supreme iPhone botherer. OK, its similarly sized torso it’s a tad heavier than its arch rival but its rhino hide-tough construction quality is equal, if not better than the tickler from Cupertino.

Continue reading…

If you could level one criticism at the leading touch phones like the Apple iPhone 3G, T-Mobile G1 and BlackBerry Storm, it’s their camera and video offering is pretty woeful. The same can’t be said of LG’s KU990 Viewty, with its sharp five-megapixel snapper and Hollywood slick video capturing chops. But, if that’s impressive wait until you tickle its follow-up, the KC910 Renoir.

Continuing LG’s track record for snigger-inducing monikered phones, the HSDPA enabled Renoir not only ups the megapixel count to eight but also weighs in with built-in GPS for sat nav, rapido Wi-Fi connectivity and some Dolby audio magic to brighten up the audio.

Continue reading…

The hoopla surrounding the world’s first ever open source Android OS-fuelled phone, the G1, may not have reached the blockbusting proportions of the Apple iPhone but with the all-pervading internet giants Google pulling the OS strings and HTC designing the handset,  hype-levels were always going to be cranked up to critical.

But can the G1 survive the crippling weight of expectation? Judged on first impressions the answer is a resounding no. The phone looks like it’s been shipped straight in from Toy Town/Early Learning Centre. We could slap the blame on HTC but rumours suggest Google’s design input was greater. It’s clunky, unwieldy and we have to admit a major turn off.  Just one minute in its presence and you’ll long for the iPhone’s sleek stylish torso.

Continue reading…

Motorola have been a bit slow on the megapixel uptake. Its first 3.2-megapixel camphone, the Z10, launched in September last year as its rivals were already hitting the five mark and now its debut five-megapixel blower, the MOTOZINE ZN5, arrives when heady eight-megapixel heights are being reached.

Still, it’s better late than never and a five-megapixel lens should never be dismissed so lightly. But while the ZN5 is loaded with the requisite photo skills for a sharp shooting camphone, true to Moto’s recent form, the handset infuriately skimps in other departments to make it an outright contender.

Continue reading…

With a sharp eye for style and a snazzy designed touch UI, HTC’s Touch smartphone crew has single handedly taken the hard corporate edge off Windows Mobile po-faced rep and found favour with the mainstream. The sparkly Touch Diamond is leading the populist charge but its new ticklish buddy, the Touch Pro, hasn’t completely abandoned its business roots.

Clock the Touch Pro for the first time and you would struggle to find major design differences with the Diamond. It’s not until its rolls onto its side that you see it’s gained a fair few pounds on the waistline. A sliding QWERTY keyboard is the reason for the new bloated figure; a boon for messaging maniacs but harsh on your Armani suit’s inside pocket.

Continue reading…

As it gets sunnier outside, the temptation to down tools and slink off to the park becomes ever stronger.

However, with the right mobile in hand, no one need know you’re actually soaking up the rays on a park bench rather than hunched over your PC in a stuffy office.

Continue reading…