The iPhone 4S has rumbled the slightly complacent Android phone ascendency with its release and its huge number of innovations. So, who are the devices main challengers in the world of mobile phone deals?

Samsung Galaxy SII

Well the Samsung has had its own way for a while now .The device is a dual core one with all the latest modifications one could wish for a great operating system and a number of innovative tech leaps of its own to push the original iPhone 4S well into second place. Samsung will hope to be the main contender for the iPhone 4S for a while yet. However, the iPhone 4S’s number of innovations have placed it firmly to a silver position.

BlackBerry Bold 9900

The new Bold BlackBerry will hope to be considered among the running mates and it just about makes it onto this list. The powerful 1.2GHz single core processor, good looks and the use of some nice features mean that the phone is certainly up there with the best. Add to this ht nice QWERTY keyboard and the excellent screen, oh and BlackBerry lovers loyalty and we can place it among the contenders.

HTC Sensation

The HTC Sensation has long played second fiddle in the Android arena to the Galaxy SII, however a number of reincarnations have taken place in the form of the XE and the XL – the 4.7inch Sensation. These come with super powerful 1.5GHz dual core chips and a number of innovations, the fore most of which is Beats Audio – from the famous headphone company. This all comes together to create a device that does not exactly rival the iPhone but makes a great all round device.

iPhone 4

Yes, the original iPhone 4 is set to be reduced with the coming of the new device and though it offers nothing in spec terms like the new phone. It will have a lower price which may see it woo many people into purchasing it. After all it still has the excellent Retina screen and the iPhone 4 good looks it always had. This may see it pick up a few more fans and a few more sales before its fateful demise. The great thing about this phone is that, asides from Siri, it is not a whole lot different in what it has to offer to the 4S. The biggest difference of course is with the price of iPhone 4 deals – significantly cheaper than those for the latest model.

Motorola

The Atrix was the first attempt by Motorola at a dual core device and though flawed it had a number of positive attributes which we would be more than happy to look into further with the purchase of the phone. They also have the new RAZR handset coming up for release, and if this is anywhere near as popular as the series was 5 years ago then Motorola could soon be clawing their way back to the top of the market.

Almost all tablets come with the option of a contract and can be connected with either a provider or alternatively quite simply just the Wi-Fi.

All of the tablets on the market boast similar specifications and act as high tech devices. This piece of technology allows users to enter into a world of information. This could be via the World Wide Web, social forums, or alternatively through your list of contacts. As well as this, many of the tablets of this generation also offer superb viewing.

Tablets are also a great way to keep entertained and due to the lightweight casing and slim line structure of most, they are easily transported from places.

This is great news for those that travel a lot as they are able to take all their contacts, work and photos with them on the go. They can also take presentations to various meetings and connect to Wi-Fi hotspots in order to surf the World Wide Web on the go. This is often the case on trains and depending on what service you use, you will be able to pick up an active connection and chat, email and surf the internet to your heart’s desire.

If you have a long journey ahead this is a great aspect of the tablet as you will be so involved in what’s on the tablet, the time will fly by!

There are many tablets available today, all however boast similar things. Most also appear the same structure and size, the ample sized screen however is great for watching either home movies or movies on the internet, it’s also a great way to make video calls!

If you want to view these or any mobile phone visis Dial-a-phone.

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Here are a few predictions as we look into the crystal ball (and listen to the rumours).

For the first time we will see smartphones with Intel inside. For some time Intel has been considering entering the smartphone market, and finally it has developed a chip targeted at tomorrow’s advanced smartphones. Intel has adapted their processor architectures developed for the PC market for mobile devices including smartphones and tablets. Their major challenge has been to achieve the relatively low levels of power consumption that have been achieved by ARM, who have designed the current generation of processors such as the Snapdragon for Android smartphones.

Microsoft is targeting cloud applications with its new Mango operating system which will appear in Nokia smartphones either late 2011 or early 2012. They intend to compete head on with Android powered phones, but we will just have to wait and see how effective this is going to be.

3D technologies have been the buzz of 2011 and already we have seen the first fully 3D smartphone appear on the market which can even record and play back 720p 3D video. Will we see many more examples of 3D phones appear in 2012 or is 3D just a passing fad?

Faster processers are on the way which will provide a much smoother user experience. The latest 2011 phone from Samsung is the Galaxy S II and that has a 1.2GHz processor, so what might we expect in 2012? Perhaps we could be seeing 1.5GHz dual core processors or even faster. However, the problem is that there is a direct correlation between processor aped and power consumption which brings us to our final point which is…

Battery life. The major problem with today’s smartphones is that we always have to recharge them. What we want is better battery life and this means better batteries. We are aware of some research programmes at various US universities which are attempting to develop nanotechnology batteries which will charge up in just a few minutes – so when are we going to get them in our smartphones?

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Wildfire has a smaller screen than its cousin, the Desire, but it packs everything else in: GPS, WiFi, a responsive capacitive touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera. It runs Android 2.1, as well as HTC’s Sense software, which provides useful interface enhancements and customised social networking applications.

Specs:

SMARTPHONE GSM 850/900/ 1800/1900, 3G 900/2100, GSM, WCDMA, HSDPA, 3.2in 240×320 resolution LCD, 5-megapixel camera, 384MB storage, Bluetooth, USB, WiFi connectivity, 7.3 hours’ talktime, 20 days’ standby, 107x60x12mm, 118g.

The app has been launched by independent developer David Vondracek and it is called DropBy. The premise behind DropBy 1.0 is simple but ingenious; it allows users to instantly view a map of where their nearest friends are in relation to their own location. This will not only help to jog forgetful memories, but also allow people to see how easy it would be for them to travel to meet acquaintances both new and old.

The developer says that there are plenty of scenarios where his application will prove itself useful, such as returning to a person’s hometown and allowing them to quickly and easily meet up with old friends. Another useful feature that is included in the app is the ability to store and access your favourite business contacts, or even restaurants at the touch of a button.

People in a travelling sales type role will also find the app to be a godsend, as it comes with the ability to upload a list of addresses for sales calls within a certain area – this makes the job of finding places upon arrival much less of daunting proposition.

All of the contacts are displayed via a pin on the map, with access to information such as phone number and email available at the tap of a screen, negating the need to waste time and energy by scrolling through a list of contacts.

DropBy is available in the iPhone app store and will also be made available for both the iPad and the iPod touch devices.

Want more information on the Iphone? Visit www.dialaphone.co.uk/.

The screen uses the same glasses-free technology as Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS handheld games console. We watched videos and played games in 3D, all of which can be accessed via LG’s 3D menu system.

The 3D effect only works with the display in landscape mode – the phone operates as a standard 2D Android handset when in portrait mode. The effect is certainly impressive, though, and not having to wear glasses is a plus.

There’s a pair of 5-megapixel cameras on the rear of the phone. This system works much like the one on the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3. The 3D effect works well enough at the optimum distance, with the subject around 1m from the lenses.

The cameras can shoot 3D video and even has an HDM11.4 output, so you can view 3D content on a 3D TV.

Standing alone, the Atrix is a solid Android phone, but the optional laptop and desktop docks are what make the Atrix a game-changer. The laptop dock looks like a true notebook, but is just a shell that you plug the phone into. Suddenly, the dock comes to life with a full-fledged version of Linux that’s running Android in a window. The desktop dock is a small cradle with three USB ports, an HDMI port, a power port, and a headphone jack.

As a phone, the Atrix has some bugs that make it not ideal for beginners. The HTC Inspire 4G and Apple iPhone 4, which remains our Editors’ Choice for AT&T smartphones, have more stable and mature interfaces. But for adventurous types, the Atrix simply does what no other smart-phone does, and that alone is impressive.

Buttons on the keypad are raised in the middle yet smooth, allowing for fast. comfortable typing, while the trackball is ideal for scrolling, scrolling and more scrolling — a good job,  given the widescreen format of the small 2.6in display.

A strip encasing the trackball includes Call and End keys, plus Home, Back, Search and Options buttons. On the side is a volume rocker and micro-USB slot. at the top is a 3.5mm headphone jack  and at the back a 3Mp camera and speaker.

Connectivity options span the leatures of a modern smartphone, with the Acer supporting Wi-Fi, HSDPA, Bluetooth and GPS.

The beTouch’s budget price is evident elsewhere. Acer includes the outdated 1.6 version of Google’s software, which lacks Exchange and Flash support and won’t let you add multiple email addresses.

lt also comes with a slow 416MHz processor, a low-res 320×240 screen, and a 3Mp camera (without flash) that captures grainy images even in well-lit conditions. You’ll also need to install a microSD card first.

Acer’s beTouch E130 offers a relatively cheap entry-point to Gooqle, and its good connectivity options, social apps and touchscreenl qwerty combo impress. It’s restricted to version 1.6 of Android, however, and the slow processor, inaccurate screen, crashes and poor camera may disappoint.

A high-end affair with a dual-core processor onboard, it’s likely to draw comparisons with the Nexux S and iPhone 4.

It is based on Android ‘Froyo’ 2.2 but you can upgrade to ‘Gingerbread’ 2.3 over the air. With an AmoLED display, 2Mp front-facing camera, Wi-Fi Direct and the slimmest profile of any smartphone on the market.

The Optimus 2X is expected to go on sale in late February.