For all the bright lights, technology and potential, has the smartphone really changed how we live in the world? Ewan, with his tongue slightly in his cheek, says that they haven't changed anything.
Looking at LG's latest 'Secret', Steve Litchfield ponders on the mighty spec list, matching just about every smartphone blow for blow. But it's not all about specs - let's also remember why a smartphone is 'smart' in the first place - the native software which you can add to take it from being just a super-phone to being a true 'multimedia computer'.
Upon acquiring the i-Mate Ultimate 9502 for review, the first thing I thought of was its similarity to the Nokia E90. Not in terms of exact form factor, but in terms of feel, weight, spec and purpose. Here's my detailed head-to-head analysis...
Nokia is due to launch its innovative "Comes With Music" service this year, which will let owners of selected smartphones legally download as much music as they want and keep it forever. It sounds like commercial suicide, but it actually does make economic sense for both the music industry and the consumer, and this article explains why. We also ask whether such a scheme could be expanded to cover video, games and applications as well.
In which I rant a little about the glaring lack of common sense in today's navigation applications... and explain what's happened to the sat-nav group test that we promised six months ago...