I want to get myself a new phone. I preferred the brand Nokia but my last phone was disappointing because from time to time the battery goes from full to none in less than 10 hours without talking, listening to music or anything else.

The phone just dies after 10 hours (normally the battery life is 5-7 days).

So I’m comparing phones to find the one which fits my needs. My attention was grabbed by Sony Ericsson X10.

This phone uses the Android operating system and the features look fantastic. My favorites are the applications like Mediascape and Timescape which lets consumers organize everything in their phone in an intuitive way.

Sony Ericsson X10 main features and specs:

• 8.1 megapixel camera with: up to 16x digital zoom, auto focus, intelligent face recognition features, geo tagging, image and video stabilizer, photo and video light, send to web (photo and video upload), smile detection, touch focus, video recording and recent shot tray
• screen: 65,536 color TFT Touchscreen, 4.0 inches, 480 x 854 pixels (WVGA), scratch-resistant
• powerful 1GHz Snapdragon processor
• MPEG4 Player
• WebKit web browser
• Phone memory: Up to 1 GB; memory card support: microSD; memory card included: 8 GB
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
• Google Maps and Search
• GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS HSPA 900/1700/2100 and UMTS HSPA 800/850/1900/2100

See this video for more details about X10

Source: Phones4U

I didn’t plan to buy a smartphone, simply because I had no use for one. My work was online, so I traveled with my notebook computer at all times, and since I’m always connected, the inclination to surf the net using my phone was not too strong. But when I had to change my cellphone for various reasons, I decided to go with a HTC model that had a touch-sensitive screen because I loved the way it looked and because it seemed trendy. But because I had friends who were tech-savvy, I downloaded Google Maps and Latitude on my phone and stay connected at all times to my friends.

For those in the dark, Google offers a free GPS system – Latitude - that allows you to track your location and that of your friends, if they choose to share it with you. All you need is a Google account and a phone with a operating system that is compatible with Google Maps. It’s a great application to have if you travel frequently and need to know where you are, or if you like to stay connected to your friends at all times. In my case, it was my first journey into the world of mobile technology, and it did me a world of good.

For one, knowing where my friends were allowed me to time my calls to them without risking disturbing them when they were at work. But the most exciting part of Latitude was that I knew where I was at all times. In strange or unfamiliar cities, it was easy to pinpoint my location and find directions to anyplace I needed to go. I did not have to depend on anyone for directions or recommendations because Latitude even finds restaurants and other public facilities close to where you are. And since it was on my phone and completely free, I did not have to carry around a GPS unit or pay a service provider for allowing me to determine my location or find my way around.

Another great application of Latitude is that it helps you trace a lost phone – if you misplace your mobile and Latitude is enabled and running in the background, you could ask friends who are on your list to find the location of your phone; if you’ve dropped it somewhere, you could go back and get it, and if it’s been stolen and the thief does not realize that Latitude is on, you could trace their location and recover your phone. 

On the negative side of the spectrum however, there are privacy issues involved because you don’t want people to know where you are at all times, even if they’re your close friends. You can turn off Latitude when not needed, or if you do need it for your own use, you have the option of giving your friends only your city-level information or manually entering your location so that they don’t know where you really are. Yes, there is potential for misuse, but then, that’s the downside of any kind of technology – unless harnessed wisely and ethically, things could go horribly wrong.
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This guest post is contributed by Barbara Williams, she writes on the topic of Becoming a Computer Technician. Email her at:  barbara.williams07@gmail.com .

Google just launched it’s phone called Nexus One.

Nexus One was made by HTC and it was presented like a super-phone.

Nexus One main features:

• 3.7-inch (diagonal) widescreen WVGA AMOLED touchscreen Display, 800 x 480 pixels, 100,000:1 typical contrast ratio
• 5 megapixels Camera & Flash, Autofocus from 6cm to infinity, 2X digital zoom, User can include location of photos from phone’s AGPS receiver
• Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz Processor
• Android Mobile Technology Platform 2.1 (Eclair) Operating system
• Talk time: Up to 10 hours on 2G, Up to 7 hours on 3G
• Standby time : Up to 290 hours on 2G, Up to 250 hours on 3G
• Internet use: Up to 5 hours on 3G, Up to 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi
• Video playback: Up to 7 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 20 hours
• Weight 130 grams with battery

I din’t had the chance to play with Nexus One but the features list is impressive. 10 hour talk time and  up to 290 hours on 2G is great. I’ve allays wanted a phone with a huge battery life and the problem with the smartphones was the battery was going down fast if you were using the phone for music, video and other applications.

Do you like Nexus One the Google Phone?

Yesterday I have discovered a new online shopping concept: Air miles. This concept intrigued me because at the beginning I didn’t understand what was about, but after a little of online researching the Air miles didn’t had any secrets.

The Air Miles Reward Program is a loyalty program or frequent flyer program in

• Canada
• United Kingdom
• Spain
• Netherlands,
• United Arab Emirates
• Qatar

Through this program points are earned on money spent at participating merchants.

In Canada, AMEX Bank of Canada, and the Bank of Montreal offer Air Miles credit cards and WestJet offers reward miles for on-line flight bookings. Participating airlines (for redeeming reward miles) include WestJet, Air Canada, Northwest Airlines/KLM, American Airlines, Lufthansa, as well as several regional airlines.

How the program works

First you need to sign up to a site which offers air miles and you must purchase after logging in to their site. Let us take as example the dell computers store. You must first sign in prior to shopping. Once you’re signed in, you’re all set to start shopping and collecting reward miles. You will collect 1 AIR MILES reward mile for every $20 CDN you spend.

The site that offer air miles as bonuses are collecting all the big brands so you will have a large variety of products and brands to chose from.