Welcome to the spring of 2010, where the HTC Desire has just landed in the UK and been immediately crowned the ‘King of Android.’ If the Galaxy S is a flashy sports car, the Desire is a finely tailored Savile Row suit, sophisticated, understated, and incredibly well-built. It is effectively a twin o…
Palm Pre
It is the start of 2010 in the UK, and the O2 shops have finally taken delivery of the ‘Great Lost Hope’ of the smartphone world. The Palm Pre is a technical and aesthetic departure from everything else on the market, designed by a team led by Jon Rubinstein (the man who essentially fathered the iPo…
BlackBerry Curve 8520
Welcome to August 2009, and RIM has just released the phone that is about to become the unofficial uniform of every teenager in Britain. The BlackBerry Curve 8520, better known simply as the ‘Gemini,’ is a technical masterclass in ‘accessible’ engineering. It has ditched the premium chrome and leath…
HTC Hero
It is mid-2009, and the ‘Hero’ has arrived to prove that Android isn’t just a geeky experiment, it’s a genuine contender for the smartphone throne. Following the clunky G1 and the slightly anonymous Magic, the HTC Hero is the first Android device to feature ‘HTC Sense,’ a technical and aesthetic ove…
Apple iPhone 3GS
It is June 2009, and Apple has just released the ‘S’, which stands for ‘Speed.’ While the external chassis is identical to the 3G, the technical internals of the iPhone 3GS represent a massive leap forward that has made every other smartphone in the UK feel like it’s running in slow motion. The 3GS …
Samsung Jet
Welcome to the summer of 2009, and Samsung has just released a phone that is trying to prove you don’t need a smartphone OS to have a smartphone experience. The S8000, better known as the ‘Jet,’ is a technical powerhouse that runs on a proprietary Samsung OS but features a processor faster than the …
Nokia 5800
Welcome to the end of 2008, and Nokia has finally entered the touchscreen arena with a handset that the UK press has immediately dubbed the ‘Tube.’ The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is a critical moment for the Finnish giant; it is their first mass-market touch device and the first to run the touch-optimis…
LG Cookie
It is late 2008, and LG has just released a phone that is doing for touchscreens what the Nokia 3310 did for buttons: making them affordable for absolutely everyone. The KP500, better known as the ‘Cookie,’ is a technical marvel of cost-cutting and clever design. While the tech-elite are spending £5…
HTC Dream
It is late 2008, and the mobile world has just felt its first major tremor of the Android revolution. The HTC Dream (launched in the UK as the T-Mobile G1) is a fascinating, slightly clunky pioneer that represents the world’s first commercial implementation of Google’s Android OS. For the British te…
Apple iPhone 3G
It is July 11, 2008, and the atmosphere in the UK is electric. If you thought the frenzy for the original iPhone was intense, you haven’t seen anything yet. The iPhone 3G has arrived, and Apple has addressed almost every technical grievance the British public had with the first model. While the orig…