Sony Ericsson Elm Is O2′s Greenest; But No iPhone Or Blackberry In List

It’s not made of recycled toilet paper and it doesn’t draw energy directly from the heart of the sun, but the fact that it is made from recycled plastic and Sony Ericsson couldn’t be bothered including a manual means that the virtually unheard of Sony Ericsson Elm has been awarded the prestigious (in some peoples’ eyes we’re sure it’s loaded with prestige) title of being O2′s greenest handset. To be fair, Sony Ericsson did also go to the trouble of stamping their GreenHeart branding on the allegedly low power charger.

O2 has listed 65 of its mobile phone and smartphone handsets in order of how green they are. Apple and RIM (they make Blackberry handsets by the way) turned down the opportunity to have their phones ranked in the list and while Apple has had little to say on the subject, RIM have at least said that they should be included by the first quarter of next year.

The rankings were awarded by O2 in conjunction with Forum for the Future and were based on the environmental impact the phone had during manufacture and use. It also considered packaging and other aspects.

Scoring a 4.3 out of 5 the Elm (which must be environmentally friendly because it’s named after a tree) took top spot of the list which included 93% of the provider’s handsets (although in terms of market share you’d have to question that figure).

Honourable mentions needed to go to almost all of the rest of the phones in the list with the Nokia 1800, Nokia 6700, Nokia C7, Samsung GT-S8500, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini, Sony Ericsson Mini Pro, and Sony Ericsson Zylo all scoring 4 out of 10.

The Palm Pre Plus should be ashamed of its performance bagging just 2.7 out of 10 and at the bottom of the pile showing that you basically have a choice between feature rich or smug green.

Will you be rushing out to buy the Sony Ericsson Elm (it’s cheap, at least)?

Join us on Facebook and give us your opinion – you could win some gadgets for your trouble.

Samsung SWYPE Key Pad Helps Woman Break World Text Speed Record

Just about everybody has heard the humerous anecdote about mankind evolving into a more efficient texting animal and while this may not have yet come true, mobile phone manufacturers are certainly doing their bit to help us move forward (if that’s how you want to view it). A British woman, who just happened to be passing a Motorola roadshow, was invited to try out the Samsung Galaxy S with its new SWYPE keyboard that enables users to send a text without removing their finger from the keypad.

In just 25.94 seconds she typed out the message “the razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human” beating the previous world record by a sliver under 10 seconds. While the potentially world record breaking time has yet to be verified by the Guiness Book of World Records it looks likely to have texted Melissa Thompson, aged 27 and from Salford, Greater Manchester, in the record books. It’s also a nice piece of marketing for Samsung.

She puts her success down to the experience she gained texting boyfriend Chris but believed that she had lost the knack sinec the couple had moved in together and she had started working. Melissa’s record breaker means that Samsung really can claim that the new technology enables people to send texts at speeds never before possible.

Presumably, people have grown more accustomed to texting and emailing, and the most recent figures of silver texters and silver emailers certainly seems to back that up. 71% of people aged over 65 use email to update loved ones with their news while 15% say that they use text for such actions. Not quite so popular is Facebook, although they still manage to amass a 4% share of the over 65 market.

Are you over 65?

Do you text, email, or Facebook big news to friends and family?

Microsoft Could Soon Challenge In Smartphone Wars With XBox Live Integration

Microsoft has finally confirmed the details of what could be a major change in the smartphone wars having given full details of the crossover between XBox Live and Windows Mobile 7. If you own a phone that rocks up Windows 7 then you will be able to play XBox Live games directly on your phone. You will be able to bag achievements, play multiplayer, and download some high quality games.

What’s more, Microsoft has announced the initial list of games which noyt only includes some of the titles that certain other mobile phones have been offering for a while but it also includes console specific titles like Halo Waypoint and Splinter Cell games.

The phones will also offer full avatar, achievement, and gamerscore support so pretty much whatever you can do on your XBox 360 you’ll be able to do on your Windows based mobile phone. It could well turn out that the new mobile phone operating system is the only choice for the 360 owning gamer. At launch, there will also be a good range of more casual titles such as Bejeweled and Uno which will help attract those that are probably less likely to own a 360.

Microsoft has kind of struggled to get the kind of attention it craves from its mobile operating system and the phones that boast it but this could be a move in the right direction. Not only is it offering decent quality but it’s also unique and plays on the fact that many people own and love their XBox 360 as a total gaming machine.

There will be 50 titles straight from launch and bearing in mind the fact that XBox Live on your console keep expanding with new features including Netflix video on demand don’t be too surprised to see a few other extra features added in time.

Will you swap to a Windows mobile to gain access to XBox Live on the move?

iPhone Owners Have More Sex Than Android Users

It could be the confirmation you were looking for or the reason you need to go out and buy an iPhone rather than a Blackberry or an Android mobile phone. According to a survey conducted by dating site OkCupid.com iPhone owners have more sex and with more partners than owners of other smartphones – wow, there’s an app for that?

Male owners of the Apple wonder phone will have had 10 different partners by the time they reach the age of 30 so it seems that antenna problems only stretch so far as the phone itself. Blackberry owners will manage 8.1 (we’re not sure about the use of decimal points in such figures because it makes us wonder how you have 0.1 of a sexual partner – a toe, maybe?) and Android owners are lagging behind with just 6 partners.

The figures get even more disparate for women too. Female iPhone users have 12.3 sexual partners by the time they reach 30. Blackberry owners only manage 8.8 and Android based smartphone owners rack up just 6.1 by the same age.

The moral of the story? The kind of people that buy iPhones are sexually promiscuous – you decide whether that means it’s time to swap phone or not.

The survey also looked at the type of photo that was most likely to make you appear more attractive on dating sites. Rather that considering whether photos of oneself taken in the mirror are considered good or bad, the dating site looked at far more technical details.

Apparently, sharp focus on the subject and blurred focus on the background makes the individual look more attractive. Photos taken late at night and late in the afternoon are best and the use of a flash is strictly a no-go if you want to appear more appealing.

What photo do you use on your dating site profile?

Which smartphone do you use and do you follow or buck the trend for sexual partners?

Blackberry Owners Don’t Know Who RIM Are; iPhone 4 Now On Vodafone

Blackberry Mobiles – Who Makes Them Again?

It also seems that the main reason people turn to the Blackberry is because they dislike the touch screen phones on offer. Approximately 65% of the users gave this as the reason that they use a Blackberry rather than the more popular iPhone.

Whatever the reasons for people choosing one phone or another, the RIM (we’re trying to drum up some branding for them) is not really a direct competitor of the iPhone because they have different target markets and different uses. The Blackberry phones are designed more for business use while the iPhone 4 and its touch screen and fun apps are aimed more at social and personal users.

Speaking of the iPhone 4, if you don’t have one yet and were waiting until it was released on a contract with a company that you preferred or you wanted to keep your existing Vodafone number then there’s good news. The Apple iPhone 4 is now available on Vodafone Pay As You Go contracts although you will have to shell out a few pounds to get one. The 16GB version costs £480 and the more sensible 32GB option is £570. You can still the older 3GS which costs a little less at £385. Early adopters will enjoy one year of free mobile Internet usage and 1 year’s free access to the BT OpenZone WiFi network.

Have you got an iPhone or a Blackberry?

Do you know who manufactures your phone?

5 Apps For Food Junkies

Whatever your love or addiction you can pretty much guarantee that there really is an app for that and while some may be completely pointless (which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not a little bit fun too) others are genuinely useful and beneficial little applications to carry in your pocket. Here are 5 apps that every food junkie should consider.

Get your food fill with 5 foodie apps…

Samsung Galaxy S Review

So you want a smartphone and you would like to see how the Samsung Galaxy S shapes up against the competition? Well, let’s have a look at it then.

Design

This phone has a lovely screen; big, clear and extremely detailed. It really is the best feature of the model and more than makes up for a slightly insipid casing and button design. It weighs not much more than 100 grams.

The Samsung Galaxy S is wafer thin (a hair’s breadth thicker than the current iPhone) and this, combined with the amazing screen display, makes it a great visual presentation.

Notable Specifications

How do HD video capture and playback facilities sound to you? I thought so.

There is also the Android operating system, which has the power to do most of things you want to do at a very good speed. The pre-installed apps are pretty good and there is an FM radio built in too.

Value

It isn’t cheap, but then you didn’t expect it to be. For what it does and how it looks you will probably be happy to pay a premium price or snap it up on a contract basis.

Summary

This is a very strong smartphone contender which is visually stunning and has the hardware and power to let you get the most out it.

Buy it from the carphone warehouse – available on all networks

HTC Wildfire King For A Day

The HTC Wildfire is the latest smartphone from HTC and it is a serious piece of kit for those that love to social network. It has instant access to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr and much more. It has unique features such as an automatically updated Facebook status of the person that’s ringing you – this is made possible by complete integration between your contact list and your social networking accounts.

The Wildfire uses the Android operating system and benefits from the massive Android marketplace but so too can you and your mates. Using an app that you’re particularly impressed with? You can share a link to it in just a ocuple of clicks.

It’s also a multitasking monster providing 7 home screens and leap view which makes it easier to see what’s happening on each of the screens. Flash support makes browsing and using your apps easier and more enjoyable and to help announce the launch of this new smartphone, HTC is offering its Facebooks fans the opportunity to enjoy an experience of their lifetime along with all of their Facebook friends.

Tell HTC what you would do if you could get all of your Facebook friends together and you could win that very experience. Whether you want to be a king for the day or you really want to meet up with your Mafia Wars friends from the other side of the world, enter the HTC Wildfire competition to bag your dream prize.

Most used versions of Android

We love a good pie chart. Anyone else who shares our peculiar fetish will be delighted to see this ravishing little beauty, which quite simply tells us which versions of Android are used by what percentage of users, if you follow me.

Dragging its behind along the ground in last place is the predictable “other”, a popular backmarker in all pie charts. In this case it refers to older, obselete versions and comes in at 0.3%.

Next up is the latest version, Android 2.2, at a poor 3.3%. This is widely regarded as being far superior to earlier versions but has yet to grab a significant share of the user market.

Android 1.5 comes in at 18.9%. 1.6 takes a 22.1% portion of the pie but the undisputed champion of the world and big brother of the Android family is our old friend 2.1, which greedily hoards 55.5%  of the share.

The main problem in the Android world is that, although there is forward compability there is no backward compability. This makes using a later version a decision which developers have to seriously mull over.

Vodafone Now Offering New Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, And LG

Vodafone has announced that it is offering three new smartphone handsets to its customers – the Blackberry Pearl 3G, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro, and the LG Optimus. Prices will vary although there is no actual pay as you go price plan details available for any of the three models as yet so it’s possible that they will be contract only handsets. However with two Android handsets and the Blackberry it does offer a good choice of reasonable phones.

The Blackberry Pearl 3G is actually a bit of a step away from the usual business phone label that is usually associated with their handsets. Rather than a QWERTY keyboard, for a start, it opts for the more usual mobile phone alphanumeric keypad. It’s also considerably smaller and slimmer than other Blackberry models but it still packs some serious feature rich muscle. Wifi and 3G, GPS, and a 3.2mp camera are just the start. The phone also has multi-tasking and social networking features.

The Android based X10 Mini Pro from Sony Ericsson is also a very good little phone. It’s virtually identical to its very slightly older sibling, the X10 Mini except as well as being touch screen it also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The X10 Mini does sell on payg deals, and costs a happily inexpensive £200, so you would be forgiven for thinking that Vodafone will release this one in the same way too.

The LG Optimus is another Android phone and as it’s a mid range mobile you should expect similar prices to the X10 Mini Pro. Unfortunately, you can’t quite expect the same level of quality although if you’re an avid mobile social networker then you can perhaps expect to do a little dance of glee at the single touch social networking features. It also has a 3mp camera and a few other features although the list is a little disappointing.

Have you got yourself a smart phone yet?

Would you opt for the Blackberry, the Sony Ericsson, or the LG?

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