Simon Drew

The Acer Stream is a much welcomed handset that comes from the Acer stable following a number of largely unsuccessful phones that ran on the old Windows Mobile operating system. Acer seems to have learnt from its mistakes as the new phone now features the widely used Android operating system.

One of the world's largest GSM network providers in 2G and 3G, the Deutsche Telekom owned T-Mobile has nearly 150 million subscribers worldwide and is considered the 7th largest in terms of subscriber base excluding China Mobile. Out of that, around 12 million are UK subscribers and is behind Orange among the UK's top five mobile phone operators with O2 at the top.

The largest mobile phone network provider in Germany is T-Mobile, the mobile services arm of its leading telecommunications provide Deutsche Telekom. It is also one of the world's largest GSM network providers in 2G and 3G with more than 148 million subscribers worldwide.

Perhaps a decade or so ago, all mobile phones cost the same – really expensive. Nowadays, there's a mobile phone for every budget. As a matter of fact, mobile phone manufacturers have subdivided their markets into different segments and have done the same for their units. Because of this, we now have a variety of basic mobiles that retail for less than a hundred pounds.

When Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, it cemented the fact that it was indeed possible for a manufacturer to cross a clear border between two different types of consumer products. From being a company focused entirely on desktop computers, laptops, and eventually the iPod, Apple ventured into the world of mobile phones by releasing their Smartphone. And everyone knows how much of a success story this was.

Nokia has decided to flex its muscle in the low- to mid-range mobile phone market by coming out with three new affordable Smartphones. It is undeniable that this particular market segment has gained steam over the past few years and manufacturers have definitely taken notice. On their end, the Finnish mobile manufacturer intends to launch a trio of reasonably-priced Smartphones that should fit any type of budget.

The struggling Japanese mobile phone giant Sony Ericsson is releasing a "Pro" variant of its highly anticipated Symbian touchscreen smartphone Vivaz which got off to its markets just last month. It's the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro. It's basically the Vivaz with plus and minus features depending on how you look at it. As it is pitched to wider markets that prefer their handsets with little QWERTY keys on a side slider form factor, then this is a plus.

It's no secret that mobile phone makers would love nothing more than to extend the market reach of their successful mobile handsets beyond their initial market penetration. It is now a common practice to make lite or mini versions of known heavyweights in the upscale markets to bring a watered-down version to a wider market. A more subtle way is to come out with new features that extend the product to markets that would prefer one form factor over another.

For those in the dark, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is considered the best Symbian smartphone on the market today with cutting edge features that redefine what it means to be a flagship model. It pushed the envelope in camera features into the 8 megapixel realm for upscale camera phones while making autofocus, LED flash, face and smile detection, Touch Focus and geo tagging the standard features for a mobile phone camera.

Product leaks on the Sony Ericsson Robyn finally gets confirmed at the recent Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona with the announced Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini slated to reach markets by the 2nd quarter of year.