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Mobile phones have gone through a huge transformation over the last 20 years. Aside from getting much smaller, the actual technology and functionality of a phone has changed dramatically. Mobile phones used to just be for phone calls, and then came text messaging, then music, then the internet and now applications for thousands of different things.

If we’re honest, most of us would probably admit to being too reliant on their mobile phone. Due to the innovations of smart phones, our mobile phones have become more and more of a useful tool in our everyday life. If someone took our mobile phone away for a day, then most of us would struggle to keep up with what is going on in the world. We wouldn’t be able to keep up with news, email, work and even what our friends are doing.

In reality the reason we are so reliant on our phones is that they are just so useful. We spend a lot of time on them because they help us to keep up with modern life. These phones help to keep us in touch with things whilst we are on the go.

However, most of what a mobile phone does still revolves around communication. Both conventional phones and smart phones help us stay in touch and pass information between each other. The only real difference between the two is that smart phones help us to communicate in more advanced ways, however, if you’re only interested in calling then a conventional phone is perfect.

It’s not a secret that the economy has been struggling over the last couple of years. The global credit crunch and the resulting recessions have led to a number of negative issues that affect a large number of us.

At its worst, the recession causes redundancy. In times of recession, people spend less which means to business profits falling which in turns leads to companies cutting costs by reducing staffing levels. This is a regrettable thing to happen but the fact is that it does happen and will happen again in the future.

An easy way for anyone looking to raise some funds is to receive cash for mobile phones. Getting cash for old mobiles is a lot easier than you may think. There are many companies who carry out mobile phone recycling where they take your old unwanted mobiles, give you cash and then recycle your phone.

You may not think that you’ll get a lot for your old mobile, you may think that as you don’t want it then surely no one else will pay anything for it. If you are of this opinion, then you may be very wrong. For example, even if you just have an old Nokia 6230i, some companies will happily pay £10 for this. At the other end of the scale, if you have an 8GB Apple iphone then you could receive a minimum of £90.

If you’re in need of some quick cash then it makes perfect sense to get some use out of your old mobile rather than letting them gather dust and depreciate even further.

Broadband packages that some providers are offering on broadband comparison sites might well appear attractive at first. However, before committing to what might seem to be an unmissable bargain, it is strongly recommended that full terms and conditions are thoroughly checked out first.

A promise to keep monthly charges low, for example, might well be outweighed by high set-up costs, or by a contractual obligation to purchase the broadband provider’s own expensive modems or routers. Alternatively, such lower monthly costs may only be available for the initial few months of the contract, with subsequent monthly payments being far less competitive.

Likewise, any extras offered free by certain broadband providers may not be worthwhile if the contracts are long and the monthly rates relatively high.

The offer of a free laptop, for example, might be restricted to one of the cheaper, less powerful models with fewer features and relatively low memory capacity. If the package costs more per month than those offered through other broadband deals, and involves a long contract (of, say, 24 months or more), it might be worth checking whether it would be cheaper to buy the laptop outright and switch to a less expensive broadband provider.

Similarly, offers to bundle an expensive broadband service with free add-on extras such as a premium multichannel TV package may only be worthwhile should the customer actually intend to make full use of the TV service on offer; it may be that a cheaper TV multichannel service, together with cheaper broadband provision, would be more beneficial.

Broadband opens up the world to the user but it can in turn also expose the unwary to unwanted intrusion and even criminality. There are however several ways to protect both user and machine by way of premium software, some of which may be available through the complimentary incentive offerings of some broadband providers.

Firstly, before even looking at premium protection options, the wireless broadband user should go into the router’s configuration page on internet explorer and take the following two steps: encrypt the data being sent out by choosing a unique code; and, choose a personal Signal Service Set Identifier (or SSID) that essentially ‘hides’ data from wireless hackers.

The next step is to look for software that can protect against viruses, phishing, spying, and spam.

Viruses are often hidden in innocent-looking download invitations which, when opened, can permanently corrupt computer data. Phishing is the practice of tricking users into uploading personal information into the hands of online criminals and fraudsters. Spying is a sophisticated infiltration whereby keystroke actions such as the typing in of passwords can be comprehended. Finally, Spam, is an annoying deluge of online advertising that can easily overwhelm a machine’s memory capacity and may well contain messages unsuitable for younger family members.

Software to combat these problems can be expensive so it is worth looking on broadband comparison sites for any broadband packages that include anti-phishing, anti-spam, anti-spy, and virus protection elements. The best broadband deals may well offer combined protection against two or more of these problems.

The latest games consoles can now also double-up as web browsing tools, and can also allow the user to link up interactively and play against other console users worldwide. In addition, each of the main games consoles on the market has particular features designed to make broadband access more attractive.

Microsoft Xbox 360, for example, offers an optional ‘gold’ service which, for an additional annual fee, permits among other features: online access to games, HD movies, and a special online chat facility. Sony PSPs, on the other hand, permit online voice calls through Skype.

Nintendo Wii offers access to BBC iPlayer, whilst its DS models feature a unique 12-digit ‘Friend Code’ facility as a means of protecting the user from impersonation by other users of the console.

Finally, Sony PS3s are built ready to connect to the services of compatible wireless broadband providers without the need for further hardware.

In order to take advantage of these online surfing and gaming facilities it is first necessary to choose one of the broadband deals that offer a service compatible with the console.

Besides compatibility, one of the key features to look for on broadband comparison sites is download speed. Download speeds are expressed in terms of megabits per second (Mbps or simply Mb). These usually range from 8Mb to 50Mb. The larger the Mb, the faster will be the online access.

The second recommendation is to choose from broadband packages that offer either an unlimited broadband allowance coupled with relaxed fair usage restrictions; or a broadband allowance of at least 60 gigabytes (or 60 GB).

When trying to decide between different mobile broadband deals, broadband allowance is one of the most important factors to consider.

Broadband allowance is the maximum cumulative broadband capacity usage permissible for each customer per month. If this maximum broadband allowance is exceeded then the customer will have to pay additional charges.

The amount of surfing and downloading activity each broadband allowance permits is dependent on how much bandwith the particular activity takes up and how long the activity takes place. A maximum broadband allowance of 3GB for example will give the customer on average:

• The ability to send 2,000 emails OR
• 100 hours of internet surfing time; OR
• The ability to download 200 tunes; OR
• The capacity to download 200 minutes of video

The higher the maximum broadband allowance the more expensive the deal is likely to be.

Those who are infrequent users of mobile broadband and who may already stick to just using mobile broadband pay as you go, might well find that a smaller and cheaper maximum broadband allowance, of 1GB say, will meet their needs quite adequately.

Those, on the other hand, who are heavy users of mobile broadband may well benefit from trying to find the cheapest deal on a large maximum broadband allowance. Some broadband providers offer allowances of 5GB or more, whilst others may even offer ‘unlimited’ internet access. It is important to study the terms and conditions on ‘unlimited’ deals however as there may still be a penalty should the customer exceed what the broadband provider considers to be ‘fair usage’.

The selection available in the mobile phones market is rapidly becoming less hardware dependent and more software dependent over time. Unlike the personal computing market, where the vast majority of users are selecting a machine based on hardware capability believing they will get the best user experience that is available, the choice of mobile phones is heavily geared towards the whole user interface experience.

Apple may not have started this entire process, but they have clearly shouted the loudest about it and have heavily influenced the marketplace through a combination of making this noise and offering a still unbeaten user interface. Android, from Google, is the system that is most likely to challenge this market leading status and clearly possess the muscle to take this challenge to Apple.

Android version 2.2 is reportedly being tested on mobile phones right now, which means a launch date is most likely looming. Android already offers the ability to multitask in a way that iPhones cannot. Benefits of the new 2.2 version of the Android software are reported to improve the efficiency of the operating system by as much as 250% and offer the ability to automatically update app software.

Apple is clearly not resting on its laurels and has real strength in its unchallenged 100,000+ apps available for the iPhone. For the G-mail user on the iPhone, OS 4 will rectify one of the limitations of using G-mail on the iPhone. The current inability to use the Gmail Archive feature will be resolved with this new OS upgrade.

With the number of new phone models, accessories, apps, etc coming out all the time it’s hard to remember a time without mobile phones…but it was not that long ago! The first mobile phone was invented in the early 1970’s, a Motorola. However, mobile phones only became a common accessory between 1998 and 2000. So, only about ten years ago!

Before that, when you made plans with someone – you turned up. On time. You couldn’t text, call or bbm them to say you were running late. Somehow, I think things ran smoother that way! This article will take you through some of the classic and most memorable mobile phones, games and related accessories we’ve used throughout the years!

As consumers, we are growing more and more demanding of what we expect out of our phones. Sure, nowadays we’ve all got our Blackberrys, Iphones, Htc’s, etc! But we didn’t always look so slick with our phones…I’m sure everyone remembers the ‘brickphone’ days! These phones literally weighed as much as, and looked like bricks! The battery life was pretty rubbish and they were pretty expensive! None of that mattered though…you were still pretty cool if you had one…even if the large antenna was sticking out of your bag all the time!

Snake – the original! Who can forget those days… good old Nokia! Even if they didn’t have one, everyone’s spent hours playing snake on it! I’m not talking about the high tech funky versions, but the old school original block snack! Good times! Remember your high score?

Not just any old nokia…but remember the 3210? Pretty much everyone owned one at some point! It was one of the first phones that didn’t have an antena sticking out of it. This was, hands down the most popular phone of the time! It was also one of the first phones to let you personalize ringtones…cool or what?

Who can ever forget the Motorola Startac! The original flip phone! There was no question that this phone was just plain slick! It was the first phone to start the ‘flip phone’ craze and many others followed suit after this.

How many of these have you owned in the past? And are we just becoming too demanding off our phones? Share your thoughts!

Virgin Media today announced it has reached one million mobile contract customers. Virgin Media has increased the number of customers signing up to a mobile contract by more than 40% in the past 12 months, thanks to a range of competitive tariffs, high-end handsets and some exclusive benefits for Virgin Media customers.

Graeme Oxby, executive director of mobile and home phone at Virgin Media said: “We’re delighted to have reached the one million milestone as we continue to build on our unique ‘quad-play’ line-up of mobile, broadband, TV and home phone. With market-leading mobile tariffs, built on simplicity and flexibility, exciting new handsets and outstanding value for money across all of our bundles, more of our customers are choosing to take more services with Virgin Media and are making the most of the digital world.”

Virgin Media recently launched a range of new, high-end handsets, including the LG InTouch Max, HTC Desire, BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Nokia X6. Alongside a relaunched mobile portal with instant access to Twitter, Facebook, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger and virginmedia.com, this range of high-end data-enabled smartphones, has helped the company drive mobile data usage as more Virgin Media customers enjoy the best of the mobile web.

Mobile from Virgin Media has built on its pre-pay, value-for-money heritage to offer a range of compelling contract tariffs, including unlimited texts and unlimited web access from just £20 per month. To support the company’s quad-play strategy, customers who also take broadband, TV or home phone services with Virgin Media can take advantage of exclusive benefits and savings, such as a choice of high-end handsets for less, additional minutes to other Virgin Mobile phones or even unlimited Virgin Mobile to Virgin Mobile calls, all available on selected tariffs*.

Recognising the growing number of customers taking all four services, Virgin Media has introduced free calls from Virgin home phones to Virgin Mobiles, a first in the UK. In the first fortnight of this innovative new offer, Virgin Media customers made over 70,000 hours of calls, collectively saving in excess of £100,000 each week.