It used to be that all a mobile phone could do was make a few calls, send the odd text and if you were lucky take a grainy picture of the lads on the piss at the weekend. Today you have to ask what your mobile doesn’t do, as email, web browsing satellite navigation and gaming are fast becoming standard features of the new breed of mobiles; the smartphones.
JOE takes a look at four of the smartest.
Palm Pré
Available exclusively from O2 
You have to feel sorry for the Palm Pré which hasn’t fared well in Ireland since its launch last year but for those who did pick one up they would have discovered a great piece of kit that can go toe to toe with any other phone out there. The wonderfully responsive touch screen is complemented by a full QWERTY keyboard hidden under its slide design, along with a 3.2MP camera complete with flash. The only thing that really lets this handset down is the number of available apps, which are not in the same league as its competitors.
Blackberry Storm 2
Available from Vodafone and O2
Blackberry handsets have always packed a punch but RIM’s touch screen phone delivers on all fronts. Lacking a little of the personality and the fun of the iPhone, the Storm excels in delivering productivity with email and office applications that are unmatched on any other handset. Its large touchscreen interface make web browsing a doddle thanks to a clickable screen unique to the the phone – this really helps to eliminates some of the fudging when navigating web pages.The only real drawback is the lack of Flash support, something that stops it from delivering a world-beating web experience.
iPhone 3GS
Available on O2 and Vodafone
Despite strong competition, the iPhone is still the one to beat with its brilliant touch screen interface and the marvel that is the App Store. Hardware issues such as poor battery life and camera along with the lack of multitasking are holding it back at the moment, with every other phone in its class pulling ahead of it in this regard. A hardware and software upgrade due this summer will almost certainly fix all this along with some more typically magic Apple flourishes that will wow the public yet again.
HTC Hero
Available from Meteor and Vodafone
A classy looking phone that brings the wow factor to almost everything it does, the HTC Hero is suitably heroic. A large multi-touch screen has a great feel to it as you flick around its features. The phone runs Android; Google’s mobile operating system which delivers gaming, email, web browsing (with Flash support) and a dedicated app store that is finally starting to deliver some decent applications. Excellent battery life and the inclusion of a 5 MP camera are the icing on the cake.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Conor Sketches | Tiger Woods loves Ger Loughnane and cosplaying as Charles LeClerc
