Today you can choose between several different Blackberry models, Nokia, HTC and Samsung to name a few.  Not forgetting the latest Apple iPhone 4.  But what does a Smartphone allow you to do over a plain old mobile phone, and what should you be looking out for when making your choice?

A Smartphone allows you to do much more than simply send and receive phone calls and text messages.  It is rather like having a mini computer in your pocket.  Whether you need a phone for business or personal use smartphones offer advanced functionality including internet services and can run software programs known as Apps.

For the busy business person who is always on call and available 24/7, the Smartphone has become an essential ever handy tool that gives you email on the move, to view files such as spreadsheets, presentations and PDF files; while for the personal user it allows you to stream films, store and play music files; and with the growth of free or cheap Apps business and personal users can find a use for Apps covering the London Underground Tube Map, train timetables and keeping up to date with the latest news from around the world.

There’s no doubt that the introduction of the Apple iPhone was as responsible for the growth in smartphones for personal use as the Blackberry was for business users.  But now, more so than before it seems there is less of a distinction between which market smartphones are aimed at, as companies  look to grow in a busy marketplace.  But one of the most important things to consider when choosing a Smartphone is which platform or operating system it uses.

There are six operating systems to choose from for UK mobile phones.  You need to consider not only how good is the platform and how efficient it runs, but how popular it is among software developers who will migrate to new operating systems if there is a market to do so.

Android OS
Android OS is Google’s Operating System, and not surprisingly comes with an excellent web browser as well as integrating online tools effectively.

The Android software is regularly updated and as it becomes more popular is becoming a serious alternative to the iPhone OS as far as software developers are concerned.  The Android OS is ‘open source’ which gives developers free range over application building, unlike the restrictive practises of Apple Apps.  The Android platform can handle a vast array of different programs, including some comprehensive media bundles.

Windows Phone OS
No prizes for guessing the Windows Phone Operating System is owned by Microsoft.  In the past it has been called Windows Mobile & WinMo.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS is designed to mirror the desktop version of Windows in both design and functionality. As you’d expect, it is simple to sync your mobile Smartphone to your PC computer and share contacts and emails with the Exchange server.  Microsoft Office programs and the Windows Media player also come as part of the Windows Phone OS.

The Microsoft application store is aptly named Windows Marketplace where users can update and download an assortment of application software.  Microsoft has strict control over which Apps are available in the Windows Marketplace.

iPhone OS
The iPhone Operating System was developed by Apple for their own Smartphone.  The iPhone has taken the world by storm and as a late entry into the Smartphone arena, has been able to capitalise on incorporating the best of previous mobile phone technology. The iPhone range has regular software updates; and though Apple has a strict control over licensing Apps it is by far the most popular operating system for developers.  The result is the Apple App Store is currently blessed with the largest selection of Apps of all operating systems.

Blackberry OS
The BlackBerry Operating System has been developed by mobile phone manufacturer Research in Motion for its own BlackBerry Smartphones. The original bias of the Blackberry was towards business users with its stylish looks and excellent office applications, internet and email functionality.

The email management software allows you to simply sync your phone with your PC with the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software. Blackberry’s work well with business Apps such as Microsoft Office and the BlackBerry App World has a wide range of applications. Some models now come with a touch screen which has coincided with a growth in personal user popularity.

Symbian OS
The Symbian Operating System is Nokia’s own software, though it is used by other mobile phone manufacturers, too. The Symbian user interface is regularly updated and improved, making it a very easy system to navigate.

A number of different email servers are supported from Microsoft Exchange to BlackBerry Enterprise which makes using the Symbian operation system easy to use when syncing your mobile phone to your desktop email client.  Like Android, Symbian OS is open source making it easier for developers to create and share applications.  Nokia’s own App Store is called the Ovi Store but there are also other websites that offer Apps for the Symbian OS.

Bada OS
The Bada Operating System is owned by Samsung who are promoting their Smartphone range to all users.  Samsung are a relatively late-comer to the Smartphone party but appear to be gaining ground with their latest range of Smartphone models.  Applications and Apps for the Bada OS can be downloaded from the Samsung Apps store.

So, if you are looking for a Smartphone we recommend three steps:

1.    Make a prioritised list of the functionality you are looking for and whether it is for business, personal use or both
2.   Find out which operating system it uses
3.    Look online & in magazines at independent reviews

Do all three steps before you enter a shop or call a mobile phone company to find out about the best mobile phone deals.

They can certainly target the younger market in some confidence. The vast percentage of those who embrace new technology tend to come from the younger age range, but there is also a vast market of older users who may have different needs.

They may not be interested that the latest phone can download music, run an app to tell them how to bake a goat’s cheese and lemon terrine or that they can now access the Internet while they are pruning their hedges at the bottom of the garden.

Many of these users, as strange as it may seem to many of the younger folk, would just like a mobile phone that is simple, easy to understand and performs the seemingly forgotten art of actually calling someone to speak to them. Fortunately, this is where a website like www.phones4u.co.uk is so beneficial.

This autumn, many new students will be heading into colleges and universities across the UK. Parents can give them a head start by taking a look at the fantastic ‘student saviour’ deals on offer on the website at present. These are the best mobile phone contract/laptop package deals and the value to be had is truly astonishing.

Take the popular Samsung Tocco Lite, a fantastic little mobile phone using touch screen technology. For just £30 a month with 02, you receive this great little handset on a 24-month contract but for that you get unlimited texts over the two-year period (which will be invaluable when little Jonny forgets the power of speech while at University and decides to communicate only via SMS!), 600 talk time minutes a month (which will no doubt keep him from running up a huge phone bill ordering Chinese takeaway).

A great deal, but it gets even better when you learn that he will also get completely free a fantastic Dell Inspiron 11Z laptop on which to do his vital University work, or more likely, spend the day on YouTube watching videos of skateboarders fall clumsily to the ground.

If you are a techno-lover then you will no doubt want the latest technology and Phones4u once again delivers. They offer the full range of fantastic new smartphone packages, including the superb new Samsung Wave S8500 and the astonishing Samsung Galaxy S.

They also offer a comprehensive range of Blackberry handsets, the stylish new offerings from the likes of HTC, Nokia, LG, Sony Ericsson and of course Apple.

Yes, fans of the iPhone 4 will be understandably feverish with the news that Phones4u have some of the best deals available on this latest Steve Jobs creation.

For instance, the stylish Apple iPhone 4 16GB is available under contract from Vodafone for 24 months. For that you receive 1GB a month mobile Internet browsing and 900 free minutes and 3000 texts messages a month.

All for just £40 a month and a one off initial payment of just £89. Alternatively, if you are going to be using your brand new iPhone 4 online a great deal, you could opt for Orange’s similar deal, which is exactly the same price, £89 initially and £40 a month, with the same number of texts and minutes free each month, but which comes with unlimited browsing and WiFi included!

If you aren’t an Apple fan, then don’t worry. There are still plenty of great contract phones on offer to you, at a vast range of prices and on a suitable tariff to match your budget. Many also come with a fantastic free gift to sweeten the deal further.

This gift is often delivered the same day as your phone, no needlessly sorting vouchers, having to send them off to some obscure address in the remote Orkneys and then waiting three months for delivery with Phones4u! If you order a phone with a free gift then, pending satisfactory credit checks, they should be with you the next day!

For instance, let’s imagine that a customer wants the stylish Blackberry Curve 8520. Once they have logged in, checked the specifications of the phone and read the all-important customer reviews of the phone on the site, they then decide that they want to order the phone.

The choices available to the customer are frankly astonishing. If he wants a cheaper monthly package, he can take the 18-month 02 woo contract, which offers a quality phone free of charge, for just £20 a month. Plus the customer would receive 100 call time minutes and 3000 texts free each month!

However, if the customer wants a little more then they will surely be delighted to find that they receive a lot more for their money! If they opt for the Blackberry Curve 8520 on the Vodafone Blackberry your plan Text £30 contract, for his £30 a month he would get 300 minutes of talk time and 3000 text messages. A great deal, but one made even better when you consider he would get delivered, free of charge usually within 24 hours, a brand new slimline 120GB Playstation 3!

A quick browse of the offers for your choice of phone will highlight the myriad of free gifts, from games consoles, televisions to laptops, cashback and iPods, all of which are offered alongside some of the best deals available anywhere in the UK.

Pay as you go customers are not left behind either. Whether you don’t want to be tied down to a monthly contract and want a stylish, modern feature-laden phone, such as the new Samsung Monte or Sony Ericsson W995, then they are available on fantastic, affordable pay as you go deals.

At the other end of the scale, if you just want an emergency back-up phone to keep in the car, or a phone so simple even your mildly eccentric granny could use it, then you can spend the princely sum of £2.95 to get a rather elegant Nokia 1661 – when you buy £10 airtime with Virgin to credit the account with.

With mobile broadband deals, laptop packages, special offers by the dozen, phone reviews and all the latest mobile technology news, the Phones4u website isn’t just about buying phones, but enhancing your life with them. Best of all, that applies if you are a techno-wizard who wants the most expensive gadget and gizmo money can buy, or whether you are of a more venerable age and want the simplest of phones to contact your family.

The name says Phones4u, but really they have phones, gifts, features and advice that is perfect for everybody.

Across the UK, thousands of people scan the pages of the press for the latest developments in smartphone technology, the new designs and the fantastic new apps that come with it. Those of you who invested in one of Samsung’s range of smartphones are unlikely to be disappointed.

First up, is the sleek and stylish Samsung Wave, which is also known as the Samsung S8500. What will impress you most of all is its daintiness. Considering this is a fully-fledged smartphone, the size is truly astonishing and fits snugly into a breast pocket or small handbag.

Not that you’d want to put it away that often! Given the superb clarity of its 3.3 in Super AMOLED screen, which offers unrivalled quality, even outdoors and in sunny conditions when screen glare is usually a problem.

With quality playback in HD and no motion blurring on video play, combined with a longer than standard battery life, the Wave is one of the best entry level smartphones available on the market today.

If you are looking for something a little special, however, then it is worth taking note of the Samsung i9000, or as it is more commonly known, the Samsung Galaxy. The impressive larger 4.0 in super AMOLED screen looks fantastic, and loses none of its luminescence even in strong sunlight.

The design is flawless, sleek, elegant and refined, yet sturdy enough to allow you to use the phone without worrying unduly about dropping it. The battery life is exceptional, given the amount of technical gizmos confined in the inner workings of the machine and the quality of the HD video playback has to be seen to be believed, especially when you link the phone to an HDTV using the phone as the remote control!

ThinkFree Office Mobile comes as standard, allowing you to work on the move, Samsung Around Me gives you access to real-time digital information wherever you are in the world, which is particularly handy if you are wondering what to do during a wet Sunday evening in the middle of Basingstoke!

The intelligent Turn-by-Turn navigation will soon have your car satellite navigation system boxed up and ready to be sold on eBay, while texting with the new Swype system is fantastically quick and surprisingly accurate.

In short, the Samsung i9000 does everything that all smartphones should. Only it does it a little better and a little quicker than most. The two genuine smartphones looked at here are both fine examples of what can be achieved with ingenuity, good design and intelligence. The Samsung Wave is a fantastic entry level smartphone with plenty to brag about, but the Samsung Galaxy is truly, as the name suggests, a stellar piece of technology.

The eagerly anticipated launch will see mobiles equipped with Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile 6.5 software, which can play music and open Word and Excel documents.

The new phones will be competing for a share of the market that up until now has been dominated by the Apple iPhone and Research in Motion’s ever popular Blackberry devices.

Microsoft also used the launch to announce the opening of a new online application store, where customers will be able to download and buy 246 applications for their phones.

Samsung Electronics, AT&T Inc and the Vodafone Group will be among the first manufacturers and network providers to offer the Windows driven devices.

LG WatchPhone

The LG Watchphone has been described as the must-have gadget of the year, not only a watch but a fully functioning mobile phone to boot.

The handmade GD910, has a scratch resistant touchscreen interface, VGA Camera, media player, built-in speaker and video calling.

A mere 13.9mm thick, the 3G Touch Watch phone is available exclusively on Orange and is likely to set you back in the region of £500, sim-free.  A limited number of the gadget will be available on a first-come-first-served basis at the Orange Store on Bond Street, London.

Samsung are also launching a mobile phone watch later in the year but this will initially only be available in France at a cost of around £400.

Welsh Language Mobile Phone

Orange have announced that from September 2009, the touch-screen Samsung S5600 will be available for Welsh speakers, featuring 44,000 Welsh words.

The mobile is the first to feature the Welsh language and includes predictive texts as well as Welsh menu’s for the client to navigate.

The phone was launched at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Bala, and will be available exclusively on Orange from the 1st September, and will be available in either a pay monthly deal or on pay-as-you-go tariffs.

A spokesperson from Orange said;

“The Welsh market is a vibrant and exciting marketplace and we hope that new initiatives like this and the opening of our first community concept store in Monmouth will ensure that Orange becomes the best-loved telecommunications company in Wales.”

An Irish version of the mobile phone was launched on July 2nd 2008 and was known as the Samsung Tocco.