Apple slammed over iPhone, iPad location tracking

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer – Fri Apr 22, 12:59 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Privacy watchdogs are demanding answers from Apple Inc. about why iPhones and iPads are secretly collecting location data on users — records that cellular service providers routinely keep but require a court order to disgorge.

It's not clear if other smartphones and tablet computers are logging such information on their users. And this week's revelation that the Apple devices do wasn't even new — some security experts began warning about the issue a year ago.

But the worry prompted by a report from researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden at a technology conference in Santa Clara, Calif., raises questions about how much privacy you implicitly surrender by carrying around a smartphone and the responsibility of the smartphone makers to protect sensitive data that flows through their devices.

Much of the concern about the iPhone and iPad tracking stems from the fact the computers are logging users' physical coordinates without users knowing it — and that that information is then stored in an unencrypted form that would be easy for a hacker or a suspicious spouse or a law enforcement officer to find without a warrant.

Researchers emphasize that there's no evidence that Apple itself has access to this data. The data apparently stays on the device itself, and computers the data is backed up to. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.

Tracking is a normal part of owning a cellphone. What's done with that data, though, is where the controversy lies.

A central question in this controversy is whether a smartphone should act merely as a conduit of location data to service providers and approved applications — or as a more active participant by storing the data itself, to make location-based applications run more smoothly or help better target mobile ads or any number of other uses.

Location data is some of the most valuable information a mobile phone can provide, since it can tell advertisers not only where someone's been, but also where they might be going — and what they might be inclined to buy when they get there.

Allan and Warden said the location coordinates and time stamps in the Apple devices aren't always exact, but appear in a file that typically contains about a year's worth of data that when taken together provide a detailed view of users' travels.

"We're not sure why Apple is gathering this data, but it's clearly intentional, as the database is being restored across backups, and even device migrations," they wrote in a blog posting announcing the research.

Allan said in an email to the AP that he and Warden haven't looked at how other smartphones behave in this regard, but added there's suspicion that phones that run Google Inc.'s Android software might behave in a similar way and is being investigated.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alex Levinson, a security expert, said the tracking Apple's devices do isn't new — or a surprise to those in the computer forensics community.

The Apple devices have been retaining the information for some time, but it was kept in a different form until the release of the iOS 4 operating software last year, Levinson, technical lead for the Katana Forensics firm, wrote on his blog.

Through his work with law enforcement agencies, Levinson said he was able to access the location data in older iPhones and warned about the issue over a year ago. The location data is now easier to find because of a change in the way iPhone applications access the data, he said.

"Either way, it is not secret, malicious, or hidden," Levinson wrote. "Users still have to approve location access to any application and have the ability to instantly turn off location services to applications inside the settings menu on their device."

The existence of the location-data file on the phone is alarming because it's unencrypted, the researchers said, which means that anyone with access to the device can see it.

Charlie Miller, a prominent iPhone hacker, said a security change that Apple made last month would make extracting the file from the phone in a remote attack very difficult. Even if an attacker were to break into someone's phone looking for the file, he wouldn't have the right privileges to access the file.

The data is "pretty well-protected on the phone," Miller, principal security analyst with Independent Security Evaluators, said in an interview.

"On the phone, they take a lot of precautions." He said. "It's sort of frightening in the sense that it's there, and it's full of information about where you've been, but the good news is it's not easy to get to."

But it's a different matter when the data is transferred to another computer in a backup. If the backup computer is infected with malicious software, the file could easily be located and sent to the hacker. A way to protect against that is to encrypt the iPhone backup through iTunes, the researchers said.

The issue has prompted several members of Congress to write letters to Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., to answer questions about the practice.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said it raises "serious privacy concerns," especially for children using the devices, since "anyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of a user's home, the businesses he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attend, and the trips he has taken — over the past months or even a year."

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., questioned whether the practice may be illegal under a federal law governing the use of location information for commercial purposes, if consumers weren't properly informed.

"Apple needs to safeguard the personal location information of its users to ensure that an iPhone doesn't become an iTrack," he said in a statement. "Collecting, storing and disclosing a consumer's location for commercial purposes without their express permission is unacceptable and would violate current law."

Apple shares rose $9.20, or 2.7 percent, to $351.71 on the strength of the company's latest quarterly financial results, which showed Apple's net income nearly doubled, in large part on strength of iPhone sales.

Making Smartphones Power-Smarter

New Android app highlights a trend toward power-aware programming
28 January 2010—Power drains on smartphones are becoming a bigger problem as users want their mobile devices to work faster and do more. Now researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with an application called PowerTutor, which lets you monitor your phone's power usage and compare the efficiency of one app to that of another. Released late last year, the app, currently available only for Google's Android phones, also gives mobile-app developers a chance to streamline their programs.

"Power has always been an issue," says Kirk Cameron, an associate professor in the computer science department at Virginia Tech, who edits the Green IT column for IEEE's Computer magazine. But now the problem is more mainstream than ever before, he says. "It's become a mobile world, and there's been an insatiable demand for performance." But performance costs power.

With the PowerTutor app, users can now track how much power their phone's CPU, network interface, GPS, and LCD screen are using, according to Robert Dick, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan who co-led the work with electrical engineering and computer science professor Z. Morley Mao. This is the first Android app specifically designed for developers and users that tracks power usage with an error rate of just 1 percent, Dick says.

A similar function comes built in with the most recent Android software release, but it doesn't include as much detail as the PowerTutor app, according to Lide Zhang, who codeveloped PowerTutor with fellow Michigan Ph.D. student Birjodh Tiwana. The Google function, Zhang says, gives only a percentage of the total power being used by each component, while PowerTutor gives the actual number value—information that's more important to developers. From tests so far, Zhang says, PowerTutor also appears to yield results that are more accurate than those of the Google software.

To build the PowerTutor app, the researchers took apart an HTC G1 smartphone and hooked it up to electrical current meters. "Something we did so you don't have to," Mao says. They tested the device's current readings at various power states—while the LCD screen's backlight was on or off, when the GPS unit was active or inactive, and when the CPU was running at different speeds. The key to their tests, says Mao, was pushing each of the main components into every situation it could possibly encounter during use and recording the results.

Armed with these readings, the team wrote software that would compare power states and component activity information—available from the Android's operating system—to their database of current measurements. The PowerTutor model predicts the phone's breakdown of power usage with an average of 1 percent error over 10-second intervals, according to Dick. Their worst case error over 10 seconds was 2.5 percent, while measuring power use over shorter intervals such as 1 second could yield 5 percent error.

The PowerTutor app itself uses about 5 percent of the CPU, or 2 to 3 percent of the phone's power. Dick acknowledges that this is significant, but for a developer to optimize an app, it makes perfect sense to use it, he says. And for users, it's "probably something you would do for a few days to compare apps, then you'd disable it." The app could also help detect an anomaly like "a virus or malware that's draining your battery resources," Zhang adds.

PowerTutor works best on the G1, the device the Michigan researchers used to build their model. But they believe it will be reliable for any Android phone, and they are working to get a fleet of Androids to create power models for each one. Expanding PowerTutor to the iPhone, however, would require working with Apple directly and using a more closed architecture, Dick says. So iPhone users will have to wait a bit longer for this app.

Virginia Tech's Cameron, whose research focuses on green computing for data centers, supercomputers, and personal computer systems, says this kind of app is important not only for programmers but also for smartphone users. "Most people are astounded at the amount of power these consume and…all the waste." He believes it's essential "to educate people, to show they're consuming a lot of energy." Anything that lets people understand and have access to power consumption data is "a good thing," he says. "You need to see where [the power] is going so that you can figure out how to manage it."

Cameron's start-up company, MiserWare, recently launched a beta test of energy-efficient software for laptops running Windows. The software not only measures computer power consumption but also optimizes its use automatically. The company already provides power management products for businesses and data centers.

Cameron's work at Virginia Tech has also produced free power-consumption software that "enables people to evaluate techniques that will reduce energy consumption, help the environment, and promote sustainability," he says. One program, called PowerPack, measures power and energy consumption of computer clusters, while another, Tempest, measures the temperature of various computer components depending on changes in programming code. That means that programmers can literally ask, "Is my code hot or cold?" They can then use the Tempest information to optimize their code. A change that reduces heat will reduce power consumption, but that must be weighed against the cost in terms of performance.

Nokia profits plunge 90% as handset sales fall

April 16, 2009

Nokia reported a worse-than-expected 90 per cent slump in first quarter profits today. It was the Finnish mobile group's worst results since 2001as the global economic downturn continued to hit phone sales.

Even with the news, shares in the mobile phone company surged 8.7 per cent to 11.01 euros as it stuck to its forecast that mobile sales would decline by only 10 per cent in 2009. Some analysts had been concerned that Nokia would cut the forecast.

The world’s largest mobile phone maker said that net profit in the three months ending March 31 had plummeted to €122 million (£107 million) from €1.22 billion last year. In what is proving to be the toughest year ever for mobile phone makers, Nokia’s earnings per share sank to €0.03 from €0.32 in 2008, lower than analysts’ expectations of €0.06 and its weakest level since the third quarter of 2001.

Analysts blamed the economic downturn and, less significantly, the effect of such products as Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry – both of which have taken high-end users away from Nokia.

Mobile phone companies are braced for mobile sales to fall in 2009 as a result of the economic downturn, in what would be only the second annual decline in the industry's 15-year history.

Nokia’s sales fell 27 per cent to €9.28 billion from €12.7 billion in the first quarter last year, with sales of handsets down 33 per cent to €6.2 billion.

However, the Finnish company calmed jittery investors by reaffirming its prediction that the mobile market would shrink by only 10 per cent this year, retaining its widely monitored operating margin forecast and hinting that demand would become more predictable.

“Under the circumstances these are good results for Nokia,” said Caroline Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner. “It’s still been a very challenging quarter, but at least things didn’t get any worse.”

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia’s chief executive, said inventories of unsold mobile phones had decreased substantially in the quarter. “(This) has also resulted in the demand picture becoming more predictable as we enter the second quarter,” he said.

Rick Simonson, the chief financial officer of Nokia, said that there were “nascent signs of relative stability” going into the second quarter, but added: “It’s a little bit too early to call a bottom on demand in the mobile devices business.”

Nokia has fared better than many rivals during the slump. To cope with slowing demand the company cut costs in early 2009, slashing jobs across its operations while also halting the use of subcontractors in phone manufacturing.

Last month it announced 1,700 layoffs worldwide.

Nokia N97 launches latest challenge to iPhone

Touchscreen handset with Point and Find software is " world's most advanced mobile computer" accessing the entire internet, Nokia claims

Nokia unveiled its latest challenge to the iPhone today, the N97, as the Finnish mobile giant vowed it would transform the internet.

The touchscreen smartphone, which has a 3.5 inch screen and both a touchscreen and a glide-out Qwerty keyboard, is the latest handset in Nokia's N series. It follows the blockbuster N95, the handset which has so far sold 15 million, and the N96, which was released earlier this year.

The N97 is the latest handset to join an increasingly crowded smartphone market that includes the G1, which runs Google's Android software, the BlackBerry Storm, which went on sale last month, and Sony Ericsson's X1.

Nokia claims the N97, which is due to be released by the middle of next year, is "the world's most advanced mobile computer" and will boast new services that will transform the way people connect to the internet.

The phone comes with 32 GB of memory - more than twice the capacity of the most powerful iPhone on the market - with the option to expand this to 48 GB with a 16 GB memory card. This means it can store thousands more songs, or hours more video, than its rivals (up to 37 hours of music and 4.5 hours of video playback to be precise).

In a gentle dig at Apple, Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's executive vice president of markets, who unveiled the phone, made the point that the N97 can access "the entire internet, not just piece of it" as, unlike the iPhone, it will be able to play the Flash videos used on many websites.

In another move that makes the N97 more like a mini-computer than a phone, the screen tilts to a 35 degree angle when the keyboard glides out, making it easier to see the screen while typing. It is a nice touch. I tried it out: your forefingers fit snuggly behind the screen making it more stable to hold and therefore easier to type. Unlike other slide-out Qwerty keyboards, as seen on handsets such as the G1 or the HTC Touch Pro, which feel quite clunky as they move into place, the N97 really does glide, or almost pivot, out. It is a very satisfying movement.

Like most of its rivals the N97 will run over HSDPA, the fastest type of mobile broadband, with speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps, and, although this is a feature surprisingly absent in the Storm, the N97 is wifi enabled.

While the hardware is impressive, it is the software that Nokia executives are most excited about and which they say will let users personalise the internet.

The N97 will sport internet widgets that can be moved around with your finger to personalise your home screen and a Nokia Messaging button - a single application that will enable you to access any webmail, e-mail and Instant Messanger accounts you might have.

The N97 also introduces so-called "SoLo", or social location, making it easier to update social networks automatically with real-time information. The phone's integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass means it knows exactly where it is, and, if your friends allow it to, will know where they are too, opening up new possibilities for gaming and applications.

As Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia's chief executive, told journalists at the Nokia World conference today, "By putting together your location, your contacts, you get mashups. I love this idea. Imagine what can happen when we mash up social networking and your location, when your device knows where you are, where your friends are and what they are doing. Your social location, or SoLo will become your here-and-now-identity."

A new, souped up version of Nokia Maps, which will include terrain and satellite maps, will allow users to plan their journey on their PC and then synchronise it straight to their phone. Because your phone knows where you are it can then suggest the best route to take, or, if you use it while driving, help you avoid traffic jams.

"Today, we are at the threshold of another profound change in the way we connect and interact with each other and with our world," Mr Kallasvuo said. "This is a world where you will have the power to tailor and personalise your internet how and when you like, to make your day-to-day life easier and more fulfilling."

The N97 will also sport another new Nokia service: "Point and Find". By using both the phone's camera (a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens) and its inbuilt virtual compass and GPS, Point and Find means you will be able to point your mobile at a landmark, such as Big Ben, and immediately receive information about it from the internet. "It's combining the real world with the virtual world in real terms," Mr Vanjoki said.

In another dig, this time at Google, Mr Vanjoki said: "There's a company that says they can index the world. We are going to go deeper. We are going to coordinate the world. We are going to coordinate everything on a map. Not just a map that is standard like a Google Map, but a map that is dynamic, driving all the roads of the world, making sure we have coordinates for everything there is."

Nokia was the last major handset maker to launch a fully touchscreen phone and analysts had worried that it would lose out to rivals such as Apple and Samsung, as the N97 enters a crowded marketplace, and that its reliance on low to mid tier phones would weigh on its profit margins.

The N97 is Nokia's second touchscreen phone, following the 5800, also known as the Nokia Tube, which went on sale last month, and the group said today it would now introduce touchscreen phones across its portfolio. Some analysts fear the N97 may not be enough to re-establish Nokia's position in the high-end market.

"[The N97] might give Nokia a little edge," noted Carolina Milanesi, analyst at Gartner, the technology specialists, "but it is six months until this reaches the market."

Ben Wood, CCS Insight's research director, said: "Nokia tried to cram in lots of different technologies such as a touchscreen, full Qwerty keyboard and plenty of memory, but it had to make trade-offs in its size and features. It has ended up with a relatively thick device that lacks some of the benchmark features expected in flagship products in mid-2009."

But other analysts were more upbeat.

"With the N97, Nokia has produced the first phone that will truly challenge, and even transcend, Apple's best," said Robin Landy, of mobile phone review website Omio.com. "Nokia has brought together a lot of common smartphone features, such as GPS, wifi and 3G internet, in one gorgeous device. Crucially though, they've combined the standard stuff with features that really matter to users, but are often missing from rival handsets.

"A proper Qwerty keyboard will make a huge difference to the everyday user experience, and the huge amount of memory means that even people with large music collections can leave their iPods at home. The N97 lacks the in-your-face dazzle of the iPhone, but it does strike a balance between understated good looks and functional practicality."

The N97 wil cost 550 euro, or £470 but is expected to be subsidised by operators.

Nokia cuts sales second time in three weeks

Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, cut its sales forecast for the second time in three weeks, saying that handset volumes had slowed more rapidly than it had expected.

Its warning is the third in three months as its November statement followed a downward revision made just two months before.

The Finnish company said today that it expects sales of mobile handsets to decline by 5 per cent or more next year — the first time they will have fallen for eight years.

It also said that it expects fourth-quarter sales to fall below its prediction made last month of 330 million handsets and 1.24 billion units for the year.

Nokia published its forecast before the group’s investor day, which is being held in New York today.

Last month Nokia said that it expected its final quarter's market share to be flat, or slightly up on the 38 per cent achieved in the third quarter. However, the group today said that there was "insufficient visibility" to confirm that estimate.

“The mobile device market slowdown has continued more rapidly than previously expected,” Nokia said.

“The industry continues to be impacted by the effects of a global consumer pull-back in spending, currency volatility and decreased availability of credit.”

All markets had been affected by the slowdown although “the most recent incremental impact in the emerging markets has been more pronounced than in other markets”, added Nokia.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia's chief executive, gave warning that 2009 would be challenging for the industry but said that he nevertheless expected Nokia to strengthen its position as market leader.

"Building on our operational flexibility, Nokia is acting to reduce costs appropriately in the current slowing environment," he said.

Analysts had expected the 5 per cent volume slowdown and Nokia shares gained 4 per cent to €11.06.

Sony Ericsson S500i

Sony Ericsson S500i Black

The Sony Ericsson S500i Black mobile phone

features:

· Camera: 2 MP with image resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels

· Video recording: Available

· Display: 2 inches TFT screen supported by 256K

colours

· Storage capacity: Shared 12 MB memory plus expendable option

· GPRS: Available

· HSCSD: Available

· EDGE: Available

· Bluetooth: Available, v2.0

· USB: Available

· Messaging options: MMS, EMS, SMS, Instant messaging and email

· Surfing the Internet: WAP 2.0/HTML browser

· Media player: Supports music file formats such as MP3, AAC+, eAAC+ and AAC etc.

· TrackID music recognition feature

· Voice memo

· Weight: 94 gms

· Dimensions: 99 x 47 x 14 mm

· Talktime: Up to 9 hours

· Standby time: Up to 370 hours

Sony Ericsson S500i

Sony Ericsson S500i Features :

Camera : 1.3 MP Colour
Display : TFT, 256K colors
Ringtones : Polyphonic (64 channels), AAC
Weight : 98 g
Talktime: Up to 3 h
Standby : Up to 190 h
MP3 : MP3/AAC player
Bluetooth : Yes
Infrared : Yes
GPRS : Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
Video Recording : Yes
3G : N/A

Camera feature:

Sony Ericsson S500i is equipped with integrated 1.3 mega-pixel camera with auto focus, 4x digital zoom and photo light. Capture special and unforgettable moments in your Sony Ericsson Phones. With editing option, you can show your artistic talent and manipulate images as per your wish. You can share it with your friends and family via Multimedia Messaging Service.

FM Radio:

Enjoy all time music with an FM radio. Enjoy advanced digital music player with your favorite songs. It’s a new and latest feature that has been added. Younger generations are getting crazier about it.

Java Games:

New mobile technologies have revolutionized the communication world. Java games have given a new and latest feature to the mobile phones. Now you can play latest games in your handset. No need to play games in your PC. Download latest java games and play with it anytime.

Get connected:

Sony Ericsson S500i is ideal for you as it provides Internet facility to connect you with people all around the world. Check email, you can send and receive emails from anywhere with your handset. You can use WAP to access information like news, travels, etc.


Quick Share:

Sony Ericsson S500i has brought one of the unique and simple ways to send a multimedia message. Take a picture and send them easily within few clicks. It is the easiest way to share pictures.

GPRS:


GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Service. It provides moderate speed data transfer facility over a mobile phone network. It is an always on data connection for GSM mobile phones. This facility gives you faster WAP browsing, web surfing and emails.


Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS):

This MMS technology is very similar to SMS (Short Messaging Service) but with advanced features. It allows you to send text, sound, images and video. You can also send MMS messages to an email address. Images can be sent in different formats like JPEG, GIF, etc. You can send audio in MP3 and MIDI formats and Video in MPEG format.

Tri-band:

Sony Ericsson S500i is having internal tri-band antenna that allows your phone to be used all over the world. It works on three GSM frequency bands as the name suggests. These frequency bands are 900, 1800 and 1900MHz.

Bluetooth:

Bluetooth technology supports wireless connectivity that enables you to connect your mobile phones with other devices like computer, laptops, digital cameras, etc. Bluetooth has a range of 10 meters.

Sony Ericsson S500i

The Sony Ericsson S500i is an attractive phone for the image conscience. This neat slider has unique nature inspired themes that can change automatically from day to night and through the seasons.

Sony Ericsson S500 features at a glance:

· Dimensions: 99 x 47 x 14 mm

· Weight: 94 g

· Talk time: Up to 9 hours

· Standby time: Up to 370 hours

· Internal Display: 2" TFT, 240 x 320 pixels

· Camera: 2.0 Megapixel Camera

· Unique light effects and themes for incoming calls

· Memory: 12MB Internal, expandable with Memory Stick Micro M2

· Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP

· Quad-band: 850/900/1800/1900

SONY ERICSSON S500I FEATURES

The Sony Ericsson S500i comes with a large & clear screen which displays up to 262k colours on a 240 x 320 pixels resolution screen. The screen can be viewed when the S500i is in the slide open or slide closed position which provides the user with continuous viewing. The screen is ideal for viewing all the user photographs & video. The mobile phone comes with a built in 2 megapixel camera complete with dedicated menus, 4 x digital zoom & direct interaction with the phones messaging services.

The user can capture either a still shot or a video recording using the 2 megapixel camera & enjoy the built in imaging features. The Sony Ericsson S500i allows the user to enjoy video recording & video streaming on their mobile handset. The video clips feature is ideal for capturing those expected moments that happen when the user is out & about with their mobile phone to hand.

You can take a picture with the S500i camera and send it to your blog in an instant. The software included allows you to instantly drag and drop music, photos and files directly from your computer to your phone. The built in music player which is compatible with Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP). The Sony Ericsson S500i comes with an Internet browser and RSS feed reader.

Nature inspired themes

Experience fast speed data transfers using EDGE high speed technology & the Bluetooth® connection provides a wireless connection between devices. The battery provides approximately three hundred & seventy hours of standby time or approximately nine hours of talk time from a full charged battery.

The Sony Ericsson S500i is a quad band phone which provides the user with international roaming which will automatically switch between network bands. The mobile phone comes with a memory slot which allows the user to expand their phones memory further by adding a Micro™ M2™ memory card.

Specs & Features

Whats New?	S500i: inspired by nature, Slide the S500i open to reveal materials and patterns inspired by nature. See hidden illumination appear when a call comes in. The S500i - it's full of surprises.
Dimension	99 x 47 x 14 mm
Weight	94 g
Battery	Talk time Up to 9 h, Stand-by Up to 370 h
Memory	12 MB shared memory + Extendable (Memory Stick Micro M2)
Connectivity	Bluetooth v2.0, USB, GPRS Class 10 (48 kbps), HSCSD, EDGE Class 10, (236.8 kbps),
Display Size	240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inch
Display Colour	TFT, 256K colors
Operating Frequency / Band	GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Browser	WAP 2.0/HTML(NetFront), RSS feeds
Entertainment	TrackID music recognition, MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ player, Games (built in + downloadable)
Camera	2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video
Ring Tones	Polyphonic (72 channels), MP3, AAC
Messaging	SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Price	Price in Rs: 12,200    Price in USD: $156

Product reviews: Mobile phones that play music

Some mobile phones are so good at tunes that MP3 players don’t get a look-in. David Phelan plugs in and tests five of the best

BEST FOR EASE OF USE; STORAGE 
APPLE IPHONE 3G 8GB-16GB£343-£392 on pay as you go

Apple’s iPod savvy gives the firm a head start when it comes to easy-to-use music phones – witness the iPhone’s built-in memory of up to 16GB, and its big screen, bright enough to watch movies. You are restricted to using iTunes software, and if you buy music from its store, the bit rates are mostly limited to a basic 128kbps. Nonmusical pluses include GPS and excellent internet browsing. The supplied headphones aren’t great, but plug good ones into the 3.5mm jack and the iPhone has an expansive sound. 

Verdict:Stylish phone with room for thousands of tracks. 

BEST FOR HUGE FREE MUSIC CHOICE 
NOKIA 5310 COMES WITH MUSIC £140 on pay as you go

A slim, light and easy-to-use handset with dedicated buttons for music. The PAYG price includes a year’s subscription to Comes with Music, which allows unlimited free downloads of the 3m tracks on the Nokia Music site to your PC, ready to transfer. The snags are that you can’t use a Mac computer and the songs play only on the PC and handset that are registered. Although not all tracks were available at 192kbps - some were only 128kbps - sound quality was consistently strong. 

Verdict:Funky phone married to millions of “free” tracks - ideal for teenagers. 

BEST FOR GREAT MUSIC SOFTWARE 
SONY ERICSSON W902£330 without contract

A handsome and accomplished Walkman handset. The supplied noise-isolating headphones, which have a nonstandard plug (a standard adaptor is provided) were the best on test. As well as dedicated music buttons, it has motion sensors that let you change track and volume by shaking the phone, and an 8GB memory card is included. Tracks sounded warm and full through the Walkman software. Well-designed, backlit keys, a comfortable navigation pad and the song-identifying Track ID round off an excellent package. 

Verdict:Persuasive music device let down by its headphone plug. 

BEST FOR ADVANCED SPEAKERS 
SAMSUNG F400 £160 on pay as you go

The F400 boasts stereo speakers that are louder and of better quality than you’d expect. The supplied noise-isolating headphones delivered a rich, bassy sound, which was even further improved by using a costlier pair through the 3.5mm jack, though sound quality ultimately didn’t match that of the Sony and Apple. Tunes are stored on the supplied 1GB microSD card and are easily transferred using either Samsung’s software or drag and drop. The navigation button is useful for scrolling through songs. 

Verdict:Compact but unexceptional slider phone with surprisingly loud speakers. 

BEST FOR DOLBY MUSIC SOFTWARE
LG RENOIR KC910 £330 without contract

This is one of the first handsets with Dolby Mobile audio, which claims to improve the richness and bass of music. The LG performed well - sound quality was clean, with little distortion at high volumes. As in the Sony, the headphones connect by a nonstandard socket (also for recharging), but thanks to an included adaptor, you can use any headphones. Beyond music, the 8Mp flash camera and large touchscreen display impress, but text input is frustrating if you use fingers rather than a stylus. An 8GB microSD card is included. 
Verdict:Decent music player spoilt by poor phone features. 

RING TUNES

JARGON BUSTER 
Bit rate The technical quality of an audio file, expressed in kilobits per second. The higher the rate, the better the quality, and the bigger the file size, but audio quality also depends on the type of file compression. While you can set the rate on CDs that you convert, download services rarely give you any such option

Drag and drop The most basic way of moving music from computer to phone, by highlighting track names and dragging the files to the desktop icon of the handset.

MicroSD The most common memory-card format for phones. Roughly speaking, a 1GB card will hold about 200 songs at a decent bit rate

THE ADVANTAGES OF SWITCHING YOUR MP3 PLAYER FOR A PHONE

Convenience:having one gadget rather than two outweighs a phone’s inherent audio compromise. The difference may be hard to detect when you’re out and about anyway, especially if you upgrade the headphones.

Incoming calls:music phones offer elegant, often hands-free pausing of your music to take a call.

Cameras:all these phones also take a decent snap.

AND THE DISADVANTAGES

Clunky software:the supplied music management programs for many of these phones are often hard-to-use afterthoughts.

Poor battery life:even if you are not making calls, mobiles still keep in constant touch with their networks. Expect to charge these phones every day.

Small function keys: dedicated music-playing keys have to fight for space with a dozen functions, and none offers the ease of use of an iPod’s click wheel.