TRENDY GADGET

Back in 1910, a man called Lars Ericsson installed a telephone in his car using long wires that were connected to telephone networks. This was, in essence, the first mobile phone. Who would have guessed back then that by the end of the century, pretty much everyone in the developed world would have one. As of 2008, there were 295 million subscribers on 3G networks worldwide.

With this many users, the options are equally overwhelming. So lets take a look at what Mr. Ericsson’s company has been doing lately. The company just recently announced their first 8.1 mega pixel camera phone, throwing their hat into the ring of competitive PDA’s.

The Sony Ericsson C510 is a beautiful little piece of eye candy. Sleek and regal at the same time, the real gem of this phone is that it carries an auto-focus camera with a flash! Using some of the technology only available in digital cameras, the C510 has smile shutter. Yes, this actually means that the camera’s shutter automatically goes off you’re your subject smiles! For those of you who return home from holidays with pictures where the background is sharp but your lovely granny in the forefront is blurry, this phone is for you, as it is also equipped with face detection technology. This means the camera will focus in on faces and ignore such things as trees, buildings and other background hazards.

If that isn’t sci-fi enough for you, you can also preload Google Maps onto the C510 and use it to navigate your way around to your destination of choice. If you happen to be bored while waiting at the dentist’s office, the YouTube capabilities of the C510 are quite good. The UMTS/HSPA 2100MHz support makes for fast viewing and the screen is just big enough for more than comfortable viewing.

Lest we forget that this is a phone, the Sony Ericsson C510 works very well as a phone device, with a clear and loud call quality. The quality of calls is not changed at all by the use of either an earpiece or the speakerphone. For its price, this is a feature-packed, fun, simple and functional mobile phone.

If you are looking for a mobile phone that you can also use as a Walkman, try the Sony Ericsson W595. This slider phone doesn’t just play your music, it literally makes you shake to it, as it has a built in “shake” capability. In other words, you can shake the phone left and right to switch tracks. You can control the volume by shaking it up and down. Give it a try and see for yourself!

I bet Mr. Ericsson didn’t see that coming!

The C510 and the W595 are both available from £10 a month with Vodafone. Visit the website for their full range of mobile phones.