In this video, some of the useful functions of LG’s new Optimus One smartphone are shown off. In the words of Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company:  ”The LG Optimus Series is aimed at challenging the notion that one device can meet the needs of many,”

“At LG, we believe in providing people with many different choices because our customers are not all alike. We want to provide devices that suit all needs and simplify people’s lives” said Ahn.

In this treasure hunting video, we can see the Optimus One’s camera, image search, navigation and  augmented reality applications. Judging by the One’s specifications and looks, it seems LG are certainly trying to make this a smartphone for both the technology and style-conscious.
The handset carries a 600MHz chip, 3.2-inch 320 x 480 LCD capacitive touchscreen, and the usual wireless package (802.11b/g WiFi, A-GPS, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and FM radio). Although perhaps not as cutting-edge as some of the high-end smartphones, it’s clear LG have focused on usability and fitting the right technology, for the right price. With the Optimus One, it’s fair to say LG are definitely at the Smartphone party – but can they challenge the likes of Apple, HTC, Nokia and Samsung?

In this latest video from Nokia, you can see how people are really getting creative with the N8 handset. From hamster-powered phone chargers to a device that actually scores your real-life skateboard tricks as you pull them off, there really are some great ideas!

One feature of the N8 that allows a multitude of applications has to be the high definition camera. With a large 12 MP sensor and Carl Zeiss optics you can capture great images. The Xenon flash allows you to take good pictures in low-light conditions as well. Also there’s plenty of room to store pictures and video with reams of internal storage and a high end media player.

The N8 is the first Nokia handset to use Symbian^3 – the latest version of the open source OS. Symbian^3 has been created with touch screens in mind and supports gestures such as multi touch, flick scrolling and pinch-zoom. Symbian^3 also promises better memory management for faster multi-tasking, which is great news for another reason: the general day to day UI should be a much more pleasant experience to use, which has been something of a criticism labelled at the high end phones like the N97 and N97 mini.

Find out more about the projects and the brilliant people behind the innovative uses for the N8 at nokia.com/nseries or pre order yours at www.nokia.com/n8

Phone contracts can have you stuck with that provider for typically two years.   If your contract is about to expire and you want to take a different route, then look into the option where you can  pay monthly phone deals.  This is also called pay-as-you-go and allows you to not be tied down to one provider.  You pay each month for the amount of minutes you want and texting can be part of that cost.  You choose what you want and are able to switch providers at the end of your month. 

In the US, the monthly phone bill is what is common but in Europe, it is the opposite. These are also known as the prepaid service and are now becoming popular in the US now.  This month to month factor is what is drawing many of the US people away from that long term contract.  Getting out of that contract is cost in the area of two hundred USD. 

Some of these US contracts do offer rollover or a flexible plan but when your allotment of minutes is not enough, you pay dearly for each minute you go over your agreed minutes.  Credit issues is another reason for people to switch to the prepaid system.  If you compare the two types of offers, you will see that Virgin Mobile is the best priced in the mobile phone industry and Sprint reseller draws in the flexible, no contract offer.

The TU720 is great at video streaming and the screen is amazing to watch TV in. If you get it with a good Internet package, you’ll be getting crazy speeds – 7.2Mbps! It has all the normal features you’d find on a phone like this, such as calendar, notes, memos, and a few kooky extras like a tip calculator and the ominously titled “D-Day Counter”, which is basically a glorified appointment reminder.

This phone is probably the best at its price-range and I’d recommend anyone to take it for a spin as soon as humanly possible.