However a less well-known fact is my brief dalliance with BlackBerry; thanks to a BlackBerry Pearl that came my some months ago, I attempted to use it as my new primary phone. Unfortunately, this was the first release Pearl model – various functions available in the superior later models (such as GPS!) weren’t included, and as a mobile worshipping road warrior it just wasn’t a suitable phone for me.

In considerable contrast however is the new 3G Blackberry Pearl – it’s as if someone dragged the phone kicking and screaming into the 21st century!

The new 3G model is also Wi-Fi ready, and boasts a 625 MHz processor, quite a step up from the old model. With a slimmed down, less curvy body, 256 MB of memory and MicroSD expansion slot to hold up to 32 GB of extra storage, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G rewrites the whole “trendy BlackBerry” model of the original version by also making it “office ready.”

Developments to the BlackBerry app store mean that the usual social networking tools are also available, so there is plenty of opportunity to update Facebook while out with friends, and thanks to a superb 3.2MP camera with autofocus and LED flash, you can share your images straight away!

I’m honestly blown away with the difference between this phone and the original Pearl – it even looks a great option for some productivity tools such as the WordPress app thanks to its new design QWERTY keyboard and predictive SureType technology. Underneath it all, the superior BlackBerry OS5 holds the various apps and functions together in what is probably the best mobile OS for multi-tasking.

UK readers can head straight for www.phones4u.co.uk to find out more – and maybe even buy one!

Enabling visitors at MWL2010 to keep up-to-date with real-time feeds, this new app also provides a wealth of practical information on exhibitors and itineraries. With augmented reality geotagging offering detailed information on the best places to grab post-exhibition dinner, drinks and hotels, this iPhone app looks a surefire winner.

Making use of the iPhone camera, and combining image recognition with augmented reality, the revolutionary MWL2010 iPhone app is packed with the latest digital technology. The app’s image recognition function enables visitors to source exhibitors’ Twitter feeds, websites and contact numbers, simply by pointing their iPhone at the exhibitor’s logos.

Augmented reality geotagging comes courtesy of The Hedonists’ Guide, and enables the user to locate local restaurants, bars, clubs and hotels, co-ordinated by the iPhone’s internal GPS to coordinate where the user is in relation to the local amenities. General data is allso on offer to keep the user updated on general show information, Twitter feeds, itineraries, schedules and keynote presentations.

“This app will arm MWL2010 visitors with real-time knowledge of everything going on at Marketing Week Live,” said Mark Choueke Editor of Marketing Week, “and provide them with a fantastically interactive exhibition experience during the two days. Such apps will change the landscape of future exhibitions and we at Marketing Week are delighted to be leading from the front.”

To find out more about MWL2010: www.marketingweeklive.co.uk. To keep up to date with all the news and show updates, follow on Twitter @MWL2010, or visit on Facebook!

However regardless of the enforced hype/early launch (they’re not exactly short on stock in the UK at the moment, although that might be less to do with Apple and more to do with people tightening their belts) the last coupld of months has proved to demonstrate exactly what tis site was set up for.

On our About page, you can see:

…an independently-run portable hardware (gadget) review blog, intended for use both as a buyer’s guide and a record of attitudes and opinions to various products. In time, these attitudes and opinions will provide a unique reflection of prevailing attitudes to technology in the early 21st century.

We’ve already – as a gadget-centric society – gone bananas for the Apple iPhone 3G.  What is next?

There are reports across the web of devices freezing, being remarkably delicate compared to the 2G predecessor on top of all the launch day blues with crashing networks and the like.  Better still are the vast array of failings in the device, such as the lack of a video camera and the persistent presence of a 2mp camera – not to mention the jaw dropping lack of a cut and paste function (a technology championed by Apple and ever more vital today).

To add insult to injury for Apple and their iPhone customers, the device has been compared to Microsoft’s Vista operating system amid claims that the device was rush-released.

Independent analyst Rob Enderle says. “A star product like the iPhone does a lot of great things for Apple, but when things go wrong, it can bring down the entire image of a company.”

What’s more, I’m sick to death of hearing about it.  I just want my busted Vario II back home.

The shortage doesn’t seem to show any signs of being alleviated in the near future.

Store Name Address Opening Time Closing Time
Aberdeen – 98 Union Street 98 Union Street, ABERDEEN, Scotland, AB11 6BD 10:00 17:30
Ballymena Unit 71, Tower Centre, BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland, BT43 6AH 09:00 17:30
Barnet Unit 18, The Spires Shopping Centre, BARNET, Greater London, EN5 5XY 09:30 17:30
Belfast – Castle Lane 14-16 Castle Lane, BELFAST, Northern Ireland, BT1 5DA 09:00 17:30
Belfast – Castlecourt Unit 21, Castlecourt Shopping Centre, BELFAST, Northern Ireland, BT1 1DD 09:00 19:00
Belfast – Victoria Square Unit Ug25, Victoria Square Shopping Ctr, BELFAST, Northern Ireland, BT1 4QG 09:00 19:00
Chesterfield Unit 24, Vicar Lane, CHESTERFIELD, Derbyshire, S40 1PY 10:00 17:30
Chippenham 11 Emery Gate, CHIPPENHAM, Wiltshire, SN15 3JP 09:00 17:30
Colchester 85 Culver Street East, Lion Walk, COLCHESTER, Essex, CO1 1LF 09:00 17:30
Coleraine 18 Church Street, COLERAINE, Northern Ireland, BT52 1AR 09:00 17:30
Ealing Ealing Broadway Centre, The Broadway, EALING, Greater London, W5 5JY 09:30 18:00
East Ham 103 High Street North, EAST HAM, Greater London, E6 1HZ 09:00 17:30
Exeter 241 High Street, EXETER, Devon, EX4 3NZ 10:00 17:30
Gateshead – Cameron Walk 43 Cameron Walk, Metro Centre, GATESHEAD, Tyne And Wear, NE11 9YR 10:00 21:00
Gravesend 31 New Road, GRAVESEND, Kent, DA11 0AB 09:00 17:30
Harrow 24 St Annes Road, HARROW, Middlesex, HA1 1LA 09:00 17:30
Ilford Unit 70 Middle Level, The Exchange Centre, ILFORD, Greater London, IG1 1AS 10:30 18:00
Leicester – Gallowtree 37 Gallowtree Gate, LEICESTER, Leicestershire, LE1 5AD 10:00 18:00
Lisburn Unit C1/C2, 65B Bow Street, LISBURN, Northern Ireland, BT28 1BJ 09:00 17:30
Liverpool – Central Station Unit 5 Central Station, LIVERPOOL, Merseyside, L1 1QE 10:00 17:30
Liverpool – Derby Square 1 Derby Square, LIVERPOOL, Merseyside, L2 9TN 10:00 17:30
Newry Unit 6, Buttercrane Shopping Centre, NEWRY, Northern Ireland, BT35 8HJ 09:00 17:30
Omagh Unit 4 Main treet, OMAGH, Northern Ireland, BT78 1BA 09:00 17:30
Oxford 6 The Clarendon Centre, Cornmarket Street, OXFORD, Oxfordshire, OX1 3JD 09:00 17:30
Peterborough – Queensgate 93 Queensgate Centre, PETERBOROUGH, Huntingdonshire, PE1 1NS 09:00 17:30
Preston – 50 Fishergate 50/52 Fishergate Walk, St.Georges Centre, PRESTON, Lancashire, PR1 2NR 09:00 17:30
Rochdale 63 Market Way, Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre, ROCHDALE, Greater Manchester, OL16 1EA 09:00 17:30
Weston Super Mare 39 High Street, WESTON SUPER MARE, Somerset, BS23 1HD 10:00 17:30

All in one mp3, video, phone and likely games  console the iPhone 3G has long since been touted as a possible catalyst for the portable gaming industry, with at least one recent article pointing out that:

Thing is, the iPhone can conceivably do anything the DS can, bar of course the dual-screen display. The iPhone offers full touch- screen operability, network connectivity, the ability to send and receive voice and video, plus it has the Wii-like trick of tracking the tilt and pitch of the device in your hands. Most of the games being developed for the iPhone now are based on this simple functionality, substituting a joystick for balance sensors.

Happy days!  It doesn’t matter how big or small the device is, or whether it has 3G – if I can play games on the new iPhone, Apple have got my dollar.

So I started to have a look at the 3 Skypephone, which is a neat and compact mobile on the 3 network.  It runs mainly on the 3G band, while allowing roaming and standard phonecalls to be made.

Of course, while using Skype for your calls, your call charges start to come down.

A Skype to Skype call is free, whether you’re talking to another Skypephone user or a Skype PC/Mac user.  Calling other mobiles and landlines is chargeable, as you might expect, while incoming calls are charged based on the callers network tariffs.

It really is a low cost option to mobile phone charges, and one that should be seriously considered if you’re on a budget. 

The handset is installed with the full Skype client, and as such allows the use of the instant messaging feature as well as the chat feature.  Plus the device comes with a web browser too.

What’s more, you can use the same Skype account that you use on your computer, allowing for ease of contact management.  Depending on signal strength, video calls are also available, utilising the 2mp camera. 

UK Tariffs range from just £12 to £24!  Bargain!

That represents a 75% discount…

For iPhone wannabes like me stranded in the UK, this is an astonishing and frustrating piece of news, and raises serious questions of O2, their price structure and the usual general issues of charging consumers too much that we see here on a day to day basis.

I mean come on!  Cheap iPhones!

These price cuts are expected to continue through to June, at which point the 3G incarnation of the iPhone is expected to be available, in the USA at least.

I wouldn’t expect it to be long before these low price handsets appear unlocked on eBay, however…

I currently hold a contract with T-mobile, and find their web’n’walk package to be invaluable in 3G coverage area should I be on the road with my laptop.

While both the German provider and Vodafone have unveiled new packages, the T-mobile package in particular interests me.

As the current owner of a T Mobile Vario II (HTC TyTn), I would be required to pay £20 a month to utilise this new service and receive a download speed of upto 1.8 mbps. I would then be able to use either a datacard or a compact USB wireless modem.

However as the owner of a Vario II with a short USB cable and a Dell laptop, I can achieve the same effect as part of my current package.

So exactly what are T-Mobile playing at here? No special discounts for long-standing customers?

Certainly if you’re an existing customer, this is one to avoid; more attractive packages will no doubt materialise over the coming months.