What happened to phones with swivel cameras?

Mobile phone technology has moved a long way in recent years and an awful amount of attention and development has centered around mobile phone cameras.

Development:

1. Of course the first challenge was to miniaturize the technology, which once existed as a nasty plug-in accessory. Thank you Sony Ericsson!
2. The second challenge was to increase the resolution or megapixels that could be captured and this has taken us from VGA quality, which was pretty nasty, to up to 41 megapixels which we have seen on the Nokia Lumia 1020.
3. Video calling was the third challenge and we initially saw some unique solutions to dealing with this such as swivel cameras that could be turned to face forward or back.
4. The ‘selfie’ became a household name and the smartphone solution to this craze was to put a secondary camera facing forward on phones, but at a lower resolution compared to the main rear facing camera.

Where are you now?

This nicely delivers us to my or original question; What happened to phones with swivel cameras?

I like many others do not want a sub-standard secondary camera and for that matter I don’t want a selfie timer or selfie line-up software either!

We have seen some of the less powerful brand names like Huawei and Oppo put more respectable 5 megapixel cameras on their flagship devices to cater for the selfie market but is it too much to ask for the same quality front-and-back?

Phones with swivel cameras

We have seen in the past and today in other countries, phones with swivel cameras. So today I am posting a photo gallery of camera phones that fit into this bracket and ask will you join my movement to bring back the swivel camera to the mainstream?

Oppo N1 - released in 2013 - Pitch: The world’s first rotating camera smartphone

LG CU500 - released 2006 - Pitch: You’ll never get bored

Vivo X3 - released out now

Nokia 3250 - released 2005

So there you have it, some glorious pictures of swivel camera phones from the past and the present.

Written by: Michael Brown in conjunction with Mobilephones.com

Are gender purchasing habits changing?

We live in a fast paced world where technology advances in leaps and bounds. What was essential yesterday may be forgotten today and this may be changing the purchasing habits of the genders.

In the mobile phone world this has never been more evident. 20 years ago a mobile phone weighed as much as a brick and looked pretty much like one too.

Then we saw the age of the small phone develop and the race was on to constantly create smaller and smaller mobile phones.

After miniaturization reached its practical limits a new technological twist occurred with the explosion of the internet and in particular social networking on sites such as Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter as well as Pinterest and LinkedIn.

This put miniaturization into reverse as larger and larger screens where desired to show off pictures, browse web pages and stream TV.

Smartphones and gender

If we go back in history by just 10 years to the point in time just before phones got smart the purchasing trends of the genders were clearly separate.

Men on a whole preferred mobile phones that were standard in size and had large or widely-spaced keys. Whilst women on a whole opted for mini-sized devices with smaller keys that could be easily punched with a nail.

But, then things started to change as mobile phones became smartphones. Today we have a huge variety of sizes to choose from starting at mini and running through standard to phablet at about 6 inches and finally to tablet at 7 inches and above.

Of course what we called mini 10 years ago resembles nothing like what we call mini today. A modern day mini is much bigger whilst the screen on a standard smartphone may measure 5 or more inches.

This situation is about to put men on the back foot. I personally have a phone with a screen a little over 4 inches in size but this really is the limit of my pocket.

So as women take advantage of larger-sized smartphones and phablets that boast superb screens for media and apps I am left wondering what the smartphone future has install for me?

Am to be restricted to the ranks of the less powerful mini smartphones in the future? Are pockets going to get bigger? Or, will we see a flip-style phablet launched that when folded can still find a home in my favorite trousers or pants (for those across the water).

How do you feel about the future prospects of mobile phones and do you see an innovation just around the corner?

You can view all the latest mobile phones, news and articles on Mobilephones.com.

Written by tech author Michael Brown.

Smartphone Selfie cameras to have more megapixels than main camera

An interesting question entered my mind yesterday as I pondered upon the latest smartphone announcements; Will the smartphones selfie camera soon have more megapixels than the main camera on the rear?

Last week I talked about the 5 megapixel selfie camera on the Huawei Ascend G6 in my article Cheap Phones and stated ‘ I am struggling to think of any smartphone that has a secondary camera this powerful’.

No sooner had I said this, the obvious happened and Huawei announced its new Ascend P7 which goes one better with an 8 megapixel selfie camera.

And so the scene is set.

Will a smartphone manufacturer give more megapixels to the selfie camera?

I believe there is a possibility that this will happen in the future although it would be most likely that it would not be one of the main brands that plays this gamble and tests the water.

I can imagine a great TV campaign around this as selfies are so hot at the moment and it would surely drive sales, particularly with the younger end of the market.

If Apple, Samsung, Nokia, HTC or Sony are listening then maybe you should give the selfie camera a boost in spec and maybe create the best selling phone of the year. Please don’t forget uncle Michael though when the bucks start rolling in!

Who has the best selfie camera?

If we take a look at the main players of the game then Huawei is the clear winner as mentioned above but you can see here the standings for the most popular phones:

• 1st - 8MP - Huawei Ascend P7 (release date June 2014)
• 2nd - 5MP - HTC One M8
• 2nd - 5MP - Huawei Ascend G6
• 4th - 2.2MP - Sony Xperia Z2
• 5th - 2MP - Samsung Galaxy S5
• 6th - 1.2MP - Apple iPhone 5s
• 6th - 1.2MP - Nokia Lumia 1020

Of course there are smartphones that have included timers or other tricks to allow the user to take a selfie with the phones main camera and although results are likely to be hit or miss it does show that the main brands are understanding the importance of this element.

Panoramic Selfie on the Huawei Ascend P7

If you are a selfie addict then why not take a look at this article ‘The best selfies ever taken’ and get some inspiration for your next pose!

If you think you know smartphones then there is one lesser well-known brand that has an 8 megapixel forward facing selfie camera.

Do you know which it is?

Digital cameras

Although most of us no longer purchase digital cameras as those in smartphones have improved so much that hasn’t stopped the camera manufacturers following the selfie trend too.

The best example I can find is the Samsung NX mini which has a 20.5 megapixel camera. On this device a rotatable touchscreen display pops out and allows the user to line up the perfect shot.

The fact that this is being experimented with opens up the possibility that we may in the future see once again a camera that rotates on a smartphone.

What are your thoughts and opinions?



By Mobile phone author Michael Brown

Are you sick of hearing about Apple vs Samsung?

By Michael Brown.

Have you got bored of listening to constant media and social chatter about Samsung vs Apple or how the HTC One has forward facing speakers?

If you have then maybe it is time to discover a few mobile phones made by manufacturers that do not throw out a huge amount of advertising and your mates at work probably are not talking about.

One such manufacturer is LG who are well-known for their TV line but do knock out decent smartphones too and you know that their TV screen expertise will be transferred onto their phone devices.

LG Optimus L7 II

The LG Optimus L7 II is a great example of a phone that has a wicked spec and a low price. It most definitely fits into what we call today a ‘mini’ with a screen that measures 4.3 inches. So, if you are looking for a pocket or bag friendly phone then this could be the device for you.

Optimus L7 II features

The first thing I love about this phone is the home button LED notification system. Okay so many phones have a flashing LED built in but this one operates with different colours depending upon the type of notification. Alerts can be set for incoming calls, messages, emails and calender reminders.

The design looks clean too with laser cut contours along the edges. The IPS display with True Colour will dazzle your eyes and have you wondering where phone and reality ends!

The Optimus range of phones have all featured the QuickMemo function and with the L7 II you can use your finger to write notes on top of any app or screen-shot. These can then be shared onto your social networking sites if you so choose.

Other top-notch features include cross-tasking with the QSlide feature, a high-capacity battery, language translations of foreign text written on signposts for example, Android operating system and a pretty decent 8 megapixel camera.

Price

In the UK there are some great LG Optimus L7 II deals that include up to £300 cash back. Take this into account and the rental works out at less that £8 per month.

If you don’t want a cash back deal then you can expect to find mobile phone deals from £11 per month.

The SIM free option isn't too expensive either coming in at under £160.

Have Samsung made a terrible design error?

Update 19/05/2014: Read the latest in this article: S4 Zoom vs K Zoom.

It would not take much of a mistake from Samsung for all of the die-hard Apple fans to jump all over the brand and I am afraid that if the recently leaked pictures are anything to go by then that mistake is about to be made.

The culprit is the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom which when released will replace the Galaxy S4 Zoom.

Close-up photos of the device show the same perforated leather-look-a-like effect that we have seen on the recently released Samsung Galaxy S5. In fact the original name for this device was expected to be the Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom.

The change in name is undisclosed but could be an indication that even Samsung believe the design is all wrong and they couldn’t afford to have it associated with its flagship smartphone!

Why I hate the Samsung design

Okay so what is there that I hate about the design?

For me it comes down to the curvature of the casing. It seems far too curved over too long a distance. Where Samsung have achieved the perfect curve on the leaked photos of the Galaxy Note 4 they have on the Galaxy K camera phone gone too far.

The second area of displeasure is the plastic case which it has been reported to be available as completely clear or with a blue tint. For me the reflections across this surface make the device look cheap and plastic.

If these reflections are repeated on the screen side of this phone then I imagine it will become very difficult to see and line-up the perfect picture.

However, one design element that does have merit is the lens which when closed sits completely flush with the casing.

We will of course have to wait to see the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom in the flesh to create a true and objective opinion. We may not have to wait too long either as it is believed the phone will be announced on April 29th.

Samsung Galaxy K Zoom specifications

If we ignore the design and take an interest in the specifications and features then the rumor mill includes the following:

• 20 megapixel camera (Up from 16 megapixels on the S4 Zoom)
• 10x zoom lens
• Xenon flash
• 24-240mm range
• 4.8 inch Super AMOLED display (720p)
• Quad-core processor (1.6GHz) or a Exynos 5 hexa-core with 2 Cortex-A15 and 4 Cortex-A7 cores with 2GB of RAM
• Secondary 2 megapixel camera for video calls
• Android v4.4.2 KitKat operating system

Your Opinion

Have I got this right and do you think the design is terrible?

Picture leaked via the tieba.baidu.com website.

By author Michael Brown

The pro’s and con’s of pre-order

Whilst the standard run of the mill smartphone will simply appear on the shelves without any fanfare it seems that the common approach to launching a flagship mobile phone is very different.

First we have a run of leaks and rumours followed by an official press release. From this point on we then seem to see the handset released on pre-order for several weeks before it finally launches and actual stock materialises.

The question in my mind is do mobile phone providers sell more handsets if they become available on pre-order first and if they don’t is there any point to pre-orders?

Pro’s of pre-order

The biggest benefit to the pre-order system is that should there be a limited amount of smartphones available on launch day you have already put your order in and jumped the queue.

We also benefit from seeing the full specification and review of features listed on sites such as www.mobilephones.com along with a series of official images.

Con’s of pre-order

The biggest potential flaw in the pre-order concept is that there may only be a limited range of tariffs on offer. When launch day finally arrives there may be a flurry of new tariffs and there may just be one that would suit you better.

Breaking the norm

HTC broke the normal pre-order cycle in March by making the HTC One M8 available straight after the launch in conjunction with Carphone Warehouse whilst other stockist had to wait an extra day or so.

Samsung on the other hand has opted to follow the normal pre-order process with its flagship phone the Samsung Galaxy S5, available on to pre-order right now with stock dispatched from the 11th April.

End

So, the question still remains; Do you sell more phones if they become available on pre-order first and if you don’t is there any point?

Are comparison tools dead?

Michael Brown

This is an interesting question that will undoubtedly be answered by both yes and no from the various readers of my personal opinion blog.

My field, as you all probably know is mobile phones, working with http://www.mobilephones.com/, and so I will be discussing this question with that website in mind, although I imagine that the cross-over to any other comparison website or product would still be valid.

Yes, comparison tools are dead!

On the yes side of the argument I would challenge you to find a mobile phone review that I have written that simply contains a list of the so-called specification. 

If you put 3 phones into this tool to compare mobile phones then you will be presented with a list of effectively what tech is inside. By the time you have scrolled down and looked across the ticks and crosses you will most probably be non the wiser as to whether you want to buy one of these phones or not.

There is no inspiration, motivation or excitement generated here, in fact the only way you can find that from this page is to tap on the review button, which takes you through a detailed hands-on look at the phone in question.

A review or product page that will capture the potential buyers eye should contain lots of high quality images and in large part ignore the specification in favour of discussing those special and unique features.

A great example would be to discuss Siri on Apple or the Smart Scroll feature on Samsung phones.

How about seeing a picture of de-focus in motion or a depth enhanced photo from the HTC One (M8) duo camera? This would entice me!

No, comparison tools are not dead!

On the no side of the argument we should consider that this phone comparison page and tool ranks well on Google in the UK, so there is obviously value on this page and a high number of visitors.

The benefits of a page like this comes into its own when the user must have a certain phone feature. If you needed a TV output or Android operating system then is one of the easiest ways to check that information quickly.

Consumers who are not familiar with the latest smartphones can also use a tool like this to compare the resolution of cameras or check if office applications are on board.

End

So where do you fall in this debate? Are comparison tools dead or are they still a great hook for capturing visitors?