Just recently RIM announced the latest handset in the BlackBerry range, the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900. The device builds on everything that has worked to make BlackBerry devices so popular, and seeks to add even more fans to the brand with the adoption of a new operating system.

At first glance, there is little to distinguish the Bold Touch 9900 from previous blackberry handsets. The shape and design bear all the classic BlackBerry trademark looks, with a 2.8 inch landscape display sitting above a four row QWERTY keyboard, separated by the traditional BlackBerry control keys; a central navigation/selection key, flanked by send/end keys, a back key and the iconic BlackBerry menu key.

The differences are noticeable though, from the moment you start to use the phone. The display on the handset is now a TFT capacitive touchscreen, which makes selection of menu features as simply as touching on the screen. With the new operating system comes a refreshed UI, with some new icons, which give a fresh feel to the device. In the past, one of the main criticisms that could be aimed at BlackBerry devices was the overly complicated menu system, and the new user interface is a significant improvement.

The BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 is a handset that looks to bridge the gap between the main groups of users of BlackBerry handsets. Primarily the first group would be formed of business users, and others who value being able to get instant access to emails on the move, whilst the second group is comprised of younger users, who value the integration with social networks as well as the increasingly popular BlackBerry Messenger service.

The Bold 9900 weighs in at 130g, about average for a modern day device, and measures in at 115 x 66 x 105mm. Historically BlackBerry handsets were never very good at connectivity, with lack of support for mobile data connectivity, but that is not an issue for the 9900. The device offers support for Quad Band GSM, and Tri Band HSDPA, with support for download speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps. WiFi 802.11 b/g/n is included, and the device also offers a WiFi Hotspot feature, which lets the handset become an impromptu WiFi Hotspot, so other devices such as MP3 players can connect to the web via the BlackBerry data connection.

Local wireless connectivity is handled by Bluetooth 2.1, with A2DP and EDR. A Micro USB port is used for connecting the device to a PC via data cable, and also doubles up as a charging port. The Bold Touch also includes a GPS receiver, with aGPS included, and will ship with BlackBerry Maps pre-installed.

One of the benefits of the new operating system is the option to include support for NFC, or Near Field Communication, which is included on the 9900. NFC is a technology that is still finding its feet within the industry, but as the move to contactless payment systems grows apace, having a device that supports NFC will be a real bonus.

Being constructed as a business device to access emails on the move, BlackBerry devices have always seemed just a little bit functional, and to be blunt, even a little boring. With multimedia support now such an important element of mobile phones, and with a growing youth user base, RIM have acknowledged the necessity to improve the overall media aspects of their handsets. Whereas in the past the camera on a BlackBerry felt as if it had been included as little more than an afterthought, nowadays we can expect something a little better in the imaging department.

The camera on the Bold 9900 is a 5.0 Megapixel camera, with LED flash, and support for autofocus, face detection, image stabilisation and geotagging. The video camera has also been improved, with support for 720p HD video recording; however there is no front facing camera, which rules out face to face video calls.

A full media player is included on the handset, with support for MP3, WMA, MP4 and WMV formats. There is ample memory for storing pictures, video and music, with an internal memory capacity of 8 GB, which can be expanded with Micro SD Memory cards, with support for cards up to 32 GB in size.

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Powered by a 1.2 GHz processor, the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 has a snappy feel to it, with no noticeable lag perceptible in use, and the new UI does a lot to make the device more user friendly. All the usual aspects of BlackBerry handsets are to be found on the 9900, which means support for mobile email, as well as superb social network integration via the official BlackBerry apps for Facebook and Twitter, and so on.

Overall, it would seem as if the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 has enough to offer to keep all of the core BlackBerry users happy, both those who want a reliable handset for retrieving email on the move, as well as those who prefer the more socially connected aspects of the RIM devices. Available initially in Black, the Bold 9900 is expected to launch in Q2 2011, and should be available across a range of UK networks.

The general consensus has always been, to get the best from a smartphone, you need a larger display to view all the multimedia content, browse websites, and so on. Then Sony Ericsson came along with their Xperia X10 Mini and Xperia X10 Mini Pro and proved the whole argument wrong. If there was any idea that the X110 Mini and X10 Mini Pro were just to prove it could be done, then the arrival of the Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro should show that Sony Ericsson are serious about delivering compact handsets that pack a serious punch.

As with the previous two devices, the Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro are almost identical, save for the fact the the Xperia Mini Pro delivers a full, four row slide out QWERTY keyboard. The addition of the keyboard also adds a few millimetres and a few grams to the overall size and weight of the handset, but in terms of other features there are no differences.

The original X10 Mini Pro offered a reasonable 2.55 inch TFT Capacitive touchscreen, and weighed in at 120g. The Xperia Mini Pro is slightly heavier than this, weighing in at 136g, but it does offer a larger 3.0 inch LED backlit LCD display, with a superior resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The display itself is covered with a scratch resistant surface, and there is support for multi touch. The device also includes the Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine, which serves to make images appear sharp and crisp with richer colours on the Reality Display. The Xperia Mini Pro runs the proprietary Sony Ericsson UI Timescape, which offers a visually pleasing way of interacting with the handset.

The phone does feel good in the hand, compact and well built, but strangely you do notice the 18mm thickness, even though it does not feel out of proportion. The handset supports Quad Band GSM connectivity, as well as HSPA Mobile Broadband for super fast web browsing from the mobile, The device can handle HSDPA at up to 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA at up to 5.76 Mbps. WiFi 802.11 b/g/n is available with support for DLNA and a WiFi Hotspot option that allows you to connect WiFi enabled products to it such as certain MP3 players and portable games consoles, which can then connect via the GSM connection to browse the web. Quite handy for some sites if your portable device has a larger screen than the one on the phone.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro comes with the latest version Android OS, v 2.3 onboard. The Xperia Mini Pro is powered by a 1 GHz Scorpion Processor, and includes 400 MB of internal storage, which can be expanded with Micro SD cards, with the device officially supporting cards up to 32 GB in size. Local data connectivity on the handset is covered with the inclusion of Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, and there is a Micro USB port for connecting to a PC with a data cable, and which also doubles up as the charging port.

On board the handset delivers an impressive 5.0 Megapixel camera, with autofocus and an LED Flash. Other camera features include geotagging, smile and face detection, image stabilisation and touch focus, which lets you simply touch an area on the display to focus in on a particular area of the image you are about to shoot. The camera can also record 720p HD video, and there is a secondary front facing VGA camera for video calls.

Music features well on the handset, with a full media player, as well as a stereo FM Radio with RDS support. Being a Sony Ericsson device the handset also uses the excellent TrackID, which allows you to record snippets of songs and tag music, ending the frustration of hearing a track without knowing who the artist is or the track name.

The phone is well connected with strong support for all the usual Google services found on Android phones, with Google Talk, Google Search, Maps, Calendar, YouTube and Gmail all included. There is also tight integration with social networks, via the Timescape UI, as well as having the option to access your favourite service via multiple third party apps downloadable from the Android Market.

The handset will ship with a 1200 mAh Lithium Ion battery, which is a significant improvement on the 930 mAh battery that was used in the X10 Mini range. Quoted battery times for the handset are up to 331 hours on standby and 5 hours 40 minutes talktime from a single charge.

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There is a lot to like about the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro, a device that is sure to appeal to the younger user, as well as first time smartphone owners and people who like the idea of smartphone features without sacrificing to a larger device. The handset is due to release in Q3 2011, and will be available across all UK networks in a variety of colours, including Black, White, Pink and Turquoise.

Today Sony Ericsson has officially unveiled the next generation Xperia Mini handsets, two new compact smartphones running on the Android operating system, as well as Facebook inside Xperia, a new experience in Social network communication.

The Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro are packed with features, and look set to build on the popularity of the original Xperia pocket devices, the Xperia X10 Mini and Xperia X10 Mini Pro. The handsets are each powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and will ship with the latest version of the Android OS onboard, Android 2.3.

The Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro utilise Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine, and will also include 720p HD Video recording. The display on the handsets measures in at 3.0 inches, which is pretty impressive for such compact handsets, and offer a scratch resistant surface with multi touch support.

The Xperia Mini Pro offers a slide out QWERTY keyboard, and includes the smart functionality seen on the Xperia Pro. The smart keyboard automatically launches a predictive text application when it is opened, and a smart Type & Send function eliminates the necessity of opening a specific app for each message type. The Xperia Mini Pro will come with Office Suite and McAfee Anti Virus software pre-loaded, offering a level of security when accessing emails on the move.

As well as the two new handsets, Sony Ericsson has also announced Facebook inside Xperia, which will be in the two new handsets, and will also be rolled out across the existing Xperia range. Facebook inside Xperia integrates connections to the social network throughout the handset, giving quick access to Facebook from most areas of the handset, such as the music player, picture gallery, calendar and phonebook.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro Key Features:

Android 2.3
1 GHz Snapdragon Processor
Reality Display with Mobile Bravia Engine
5.0 Megapixel Camera
3.0 Inch Display
Bluetooth
WiFi
aGPS
USB 2.0

Nokia has enjoyed some healthy success with the Nokia N8, focussing on the major imaging capabilities of the device. To further enhance the broad appeal of the N8, Nokia has announced the pending release of a pink version.

There's nothing new with Pink phones, the colour has proven to be a popular option across a wide variety of handsets over the years, and with Pink voted as colour of the year, it seems that the craze for pink phones is far from at an end.

Hardware wise the pink N8 is the same, bringing a 12.0 Megapixel camera, HD Video recording, 3.5 inch touch display and free Nokia OVI Maps. There are some additional software options, including a pink diva theme and a pink neon clock, as well as an Elle fashion app. Curiously, it seems that the new pink N8 may also be sporting the new Symbian Anna OS, at least judging by the photos.

It would be obvious to assume that the N8 in pink is a handset aimed at the female smartphone buyer, but there is a strong percentage of men who also choose to buy in pink. The N8 is already available in a variety of colours, including Orange, Green, Blue, Silver White and Dark Grey, and although Pink came last in a recent 'Choose the next N8 colour' poll on the Nokia Conversations blog, Nokia decided it was the colour to go with. Currently Nokia N8 deals are available across all networks, with deals starting from little more than £18 a month.

Rachael Bell, Senior Designer at Nokia said: “Following the fantastic response to the range of colours we launched for the Nokia N8, it seemed a natural step to extend this choice. The Nokia N8 in pink compliments the original line up well with its expressive, intense hue.”

RIM, the manufacturer of BlackBerry handsets, has announced the forthcoming launch of two new BlackBerry Bold handsets, the Bold 9900 and Bold 9930.

The Bold 9930 is designed for the American CDMA networks, whilst the Bold Touch 9900 will be for GSM/3G networks.

The BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 is designed in a traditional BlackBerry style, with a full four row QWERTY keyboard, sited beneath a 2.8 inch super high resolution 640 x 480 Liquid Graphics display, which as the touch name suggests is full touchscreen.

The handset is powered by a 1.2 GHz processor, and also includes NFC (Near Field Communication) as well as a 5.0 Megapixel camera with geotagging, face detection and image stabilisation, 720p HD video recording, HSDPA, HSUPA, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and EDR, and an internal memory capacity of 8 GB, which can be expanded by Micro SD memory cards.

The Bold 9900 Touch has a built in GPS receiver, with aGPS support, and comes with BlackBerry Maps pre-installed. A digital compass is also included.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 Touch runs on a new version of the BlackBerry OS, OS7. As well as giving support for NFC, there are new icons, and more options for customising the homescreen view. One major disappointment to BlackBerry fans is the news that OS 7 is not backward compatible, so owners of current BlackBerry handsets, even the recent 9800 Torch and 9780 Bold will not be able to use the new OS.

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Whilst the BlackBerry models have always appealed to the wider business user market, thanks in the main to the excellent support for corporate email, BlackBerry is gaining a lot of popularity amongst younger users with BBM an increasingly popular service. Realising the dual appeal of the BlackBerry brand, the new OS offers the facility to segregate personal and business contacts, making it easier to keep in contact with friends and business colleagues. As well as separating business and personal contacts, BlackBerry Balance manages personal content, Twitter and Facebook, and email, whilst retaining full security for corporate access.

The BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 is expected to launch during Q2 2011, networks and pricing to be confirmed.

Video calling has been around for a long time, pretty much since the launch of 3G devices, video calling has been touted as the communication medium of the future.

Thing is, many people were not taken by it, preferring to stick to the tried and trusted standard voice call, but as technology becomes more and more a part of our every day life, so has a subtle acceptance of video calls.

Services like Skype which offer the opportunity to video call friends and family in far away places has helped, along with the ability to video call on IM services such as Windows Live Messenger. Apple recently made a big fact of their Facetime video calling facility, and now Google are going to be offering Video Calling as an integral part of the Android OS.

The main benefit of the Google service is it will link in neatly with Gmail and Google Talk on a PC, meaning users of Android devices can easily make video calls direct to someone who may not even have an Android device themselves. The service is not restricted to WiFi either, allowing calls to be carried across most 3G and 4G networks.

All you need to do is select the video chat button that appears next to your Google Talk contact, and connect the call. Very easy and simple. The service will be rolled out initially to owners of the Google Nexus S in the next firmware update, and will be available to any Android device that receives an update to Android 2.3+ in the future. Which may disappoint many who have only recently invested in an Android handset, where waiting for an update can be a painful experience, as you tend to be at the mercy of the manufacturer to roll out the update and any network customisations that need to be included.

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Despite the recent, much publicised tie up between Nokia and Microsoft, which will lead to Nokia smartphones running the new Windows Phone 7, there are still Symbian based smartphones in the Nokia pipeline, and one of these is the newly announced Nokia E6.

The development of a mobile phone takes a long time, from concept to production, so it is no surprise that Nokia will continue to release Symbian based devices in the near future, to try and recoup the outlay on all the research and development. Although the focus moving forward will be squarely on WP 7, the Symbian operating system is a mature platform with an established database of applications available, and historically Symbian devices deliver excellent hardware. The problem with Symbian was always in the cumbersome user interface and cumbersome menu system.

Forthcoming Symbian handsets, as well as some recently released devices such as the Nokia N8 and Nokia C7 will get an updated interface, code-named Anna. One of the new handsets that will include Symbian 'Anna' upon release is the Nokia E6.

The E6 sports a familiar style, seen on previous handsets such as the Nokia E63, Nokia E71 and Nokia E72.One improvement over these earlier devices sees the Nokia E6 sport a touchscreen, and although the screen is a rather small 2.4 inches, the display supports a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, which means text should appear crisp and easily legible. The TFT Capacitive touchscreen supports up to 16 million colours, and is covered with Gorilla Glass, a tough surface that should cope with the everyday knocks and bumps suffered by a mobile phone.

Weighing in at 133g, the E6 measures 115.5 x 59 x 10.5mm, making it a comfortable fit in the hand. Along with the touchscreen, the E6 offers a standard four row QWERTY keyboard, with keys that are a good size, so despite the compactness of the keyboard composing a message is straight forward. The handset supports a wide range of messaging features, including push email, and full integration with a wide range of social networking services, such as Twitter and Facebook, and other Instant Messaging services.

The Nokia E6 is aimed mainly at business users who want a reliable, proven device, yet brings a desirable range of other features. Chief among these is the inclusion of an 8.0 Megapixel camera, with fixed focus and a Dual LED Flash. The inclusion of fixed focus may be an issue for some, but Nokia believe that it makes for a faster operating camera, and although the focus is fixed, the E6 is capable of producing results that will be more than good enough for most. The camera is also enabled with Geotagging and face detection, and can record 720p video at 25 frames per second. An additional front facing camera is included, of VGA resolution, that allows for face to face video calls.

Multiple connection options are included, with support for GPRS and EDGE, as well as HSDPA at up to 10.2 Mbps and HSUPA at up to 2.0 Mbps. WiFi 802.11 b/g/n is available, as is support for Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP. The E6 also supports USB OTG, allowing the E6 to double up as a makeshift USB Memory Dongle. The handset has ample on board memory, with 8 GB storage, and there is a Micro SD Memory card, with the device supporting cards up to 32 GB in size.

Entertainment also features strongly on the handset, which should help give the device a wider appeal from the core business user market. The onboard media player can support a wide variety of digital formats for both music and video, and there is also a stereo FM radio with RDS. TV Out support allows you to view content from the device on a TV; connect a Bluetooth keyboard and the device can even become an impromptu PC.

One of the major selling points of Nokia smartphones continues to be Nokia OVI Maps. With full voice navigation included, for free, OVI Maps can be stored on the internal memory card, making it an ideal option for use in areas where mobile signal is weak, or when travelling abroad. The Nokia E6 supports OVI Maps and includes a full GPS receiver with aGPS support for faster location lock on times. A digital compass is included, to help you orientate yourself, and makes the E6 a capable SatNav device.

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Constructed with Stainless Steel panels, the Nokia E6 has a firm feel, and gives the impression of a device that is built to last. Another area that is made to last on the phone is the battery, with Nokia quoting standby times of up to 681 hours, and almost 15 hours of talktime from a single charge.

The Nokia E6 will be available in Black, Silver and White, and is expected to be released in Q2 2011.

Shazam is offering free unlimited tagging to Android users, following a sponsorship deal agreed with eBay.

Shazam is a popular music tagging application, that works by recording a snippet of music played into the handset microphone and matching the digital signature of the track, then delivering info on the music track back to the handset, including artist name, track name and album details.

Until now, users of the free Shazam Android app were limited to five free 'tags' per month, but following the sponsorship agreement with eBay, all users can now enjoy unlimited tagging until 1st January 2012.

Android users can now also use the Shazam Friends feature, which allows you to see a real time feed of songs which have been tagged by your friends. Until now this feature was available only to users of iOS devices.

Shazam Executive Vice President of Product Marketing, Alex Musil, said: “eBay is a brand people know and love, and we're excited to announce them as our exclusive sponsor, bringing all Android Shazamers the benefit of unlimited music discovery.”

The free Shazam application can be downloaded from the Android Market.

Finally, after what has been an agonising wait for some, the White iPhone 4 has arrived, and is set to launch in territories worldwide tomorrow, following official confirmation by Apple.

We've known for a while that the handset was set to launch, and just yesterday we had detail that the release was imminent, and now Apple have given official notification that the device is set to launch tomorrow.

Many retail outlets have had delivery, and the device is set to sell in 28 countries – Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, UK and US. Additional countries will be added later this year.

Deals on the device should match those currently available on the Black iPhone 4, but stock is expected to be limited over the next few days.

When Apple released the iPhone 4, we were promised both black and white versions. Whilst the black version released according to schedule, the white was delayed, again and again.

Rumours were the white iPhone 4 would never see the day, as Apple were not happy with the colour finish of the device. It seems all issues are now behind them, as the white Apple iPhone 4 is heading out to retail stores now, and is expected to be available to buy in the next few days.

It may come as a surprise to some that Apple will be releasing the device, with the iPhone 5 due for release in the next few months, however given the almost mythical status of the white iPhone 4 there is sure to be a healthy demand for the phone, especially as many suggest the iPhone 5 may not release until September.

As such, it may well be Apple see the White iPhone 4 as a stop gap measure aimed to keep sales up of the iPhone 4 until the successor is ready to ship.

All available offers for the white iPhone 4 will be shown on our iPhone 4 Deals page as soon as they are confirmed by the networks.