Why do non-tech people spend so much on phones?

Posted on June 4, 2011 by admin

Have you ever wondered why people who don’t need top of the range phones spend so much money buying them? I’ve always thought that it’s crazy how many people who don’t have a clue about technology end up spending huge quantities of money on a handset and contract that they’re never going to use to its full capabilities. If you don’t know what 3G is, or if you rarely send emails, then why do you need a smart phone or a Blackberry? The answer is that you don’t – it’s important to get a phone that’s right for you not the one that everyone says is the best.

For example, the new Samsung Mini phone is definitely aimed at people who want a cheap phone that does the basics well. It’s perfect for people who don’t have a lot of money to spend on a phone and don’t really need all the advanced features that come with the latest smart phone. If you need a simple phone that still looks good then it’s definitely one to consider. If, on the other hand, you want a phone that’s got all the latest features and is capable of all the latest apps then you’ll need to pay more – but at least you’ll be paying for features that you’ll actually use. It’s fine to pay a lot for phones if you’re going to use all of its capabilities but not if you’re only going to use it for the basics.

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Next iPhone not until end of year

Posted on May 26, 2011 by admin

I was doing my daily rounds of reading about phone news and was quite surprised to hear that the next iPhone – the imaginatively named iPhone 5  won’t be released until near the end of the year. This breaks Apple’s cycle of releasing phones every Summer for the last few years, and makes me think that everything isn’t quite going to plan on their newest model.

Arguably, the additions to the last couple of iPhones have been obvious. Many people have realized that Apple intentionally leave out key features of phones so that they have something else to add in the next model. This makes good business sense, although it’s quite frustrating for people who want to keep up to date on the latest technology. Even so, it doesn’t seem to clear what Apple are going to add to this latest model. Are they going to do something completely different, or is it just going to be another incremental update that adds a few little things and makes the phone more stylish?

We’ll probably find out soon as the phone will be announced sometime in the summer. It’ll be really interesting to hear what Apple decides to do and how it can move its biggest brand on in the future. It’s obviously going to have to innovate at some point in the near future – that’s what Apple does best anyway – but the question is when it decides to do it and how.

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Next innovation in mobile phones?

Posted on April 26, 2011 by admin

The speed at which mobile phones have improved over the last few years has been astonishing. It wasn’t long ago that I was a proud owner of the Nokia 3310, showing off the latest version of “Snake” to my friends. Now phones are becoming ever more like small computers. The question is, where do phones go from here? Do the companies continue to try and make smaller phones that are more powerful, or do they need to do something more innovative?

In my mind, the Apple App store is the more innovative feature of any phone in recent years. It was a stroke of genius to allow other companies and programmers to basically do the job for them while creaming off the top and making a nice profit at the same time. The app store has so many apps and games that the iPhone – with the Android now catching up – has more options than anyone could have believed possible from a phone even a few years ago.

It’s difficult to see where the next big thing will come from though. There has been talk for a few years about phones that have keyboard projected onto the skin and things such as this, but they sound more like gimmicks to me and I don’t think any of the major companies would take them seriously. Apple tend to be the company that comes up with new software and hardware that breaks boundaries, although I wouldn’t put it past Google to really take the fight to Apple with the Android operating system.

It’ll be fascinating to see where phones are in a few years time. Will the companies just improve existing technology or will we see something completely new? What do you think?

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