If you have any Apple device, including an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch you’ll probably notice that there are so many apps on the App store that you can download. There are over 100 million apps on the App Store, so where do you even begin searching for the best applications? Well, when you’re in the App Store you can select an option which shows you the 25 most popular applications which you can choose to display the top 25 free ones or the top 25 paid ones. Don’t assume that just because something is free that it’s not that good, there are plenty of free applications which are free that are better than most paid applications. Along with looking at the top 25 apps, you can also search for what applications you want to see, for example, you could search “shooting” to find shooting games and so on. Here’s a list of applications that I’d recommend to everyone that has any Apple device:

• Twitter – With people joining Twitter every day, Twitter is easily one of the best apps that any person with an Apple device can get. It’s completely free and allows you to do anything that you can do on the desktop version of Twitter. No matter what you want to do, whether it’s following your friend, tweet to the world, search for something etc. – you can do it all on the Twitter application!

• Soundhound – Have you ever heard a song that you love but can never remember the name of it? Well, then Soundhound is an app that you need! Let’s say that you hear a song in your local bar, and want to remember it so that you can purchase it when you get home, Soundhound allows you to do just that. It’s important to remember that you need an internet connection to use it though, but most public places have free Wi-Fi now anyway.

• Angry Birds – You’ve heard of Angry Birds, haven’t you? If you haven’t, you should download it immediately. Basically, it’s one of the most addictive games that’s on the App Store. You’d be surprised how many hours you could waste from playing a game on your iPhone or whatever! Even though it’s a fairly basic game, it’s still extremely addictive. Since it’s quite basic it also means that children as well as adults can have fun playing it.

• FatBooth – If you just want to have a bit of fun with your friends or family then this app is for you. The name of the app might give it away, but I’ll explain it anyway. Basically, you take a picture of your face and within a few touches of the screen it’ll magically transform the picture to make the person look very fat! It’s great to pass a bit of time and since it’s so easy to use children can also use it.

• Bump – Have you ever wanted to share something like a picture from one Apple device to another Apple device? This is exactly what Bump does. As the name of the app suggests, you simply bump one device in to another and then a message appears on the device that you want to receive the picture, once you accept it the picture will be on the other iDevice. Another bonus is that the app is completely free of charge!

• Nike+ GPS – With Nike+ GPS you can easily see how much work you’re putting in to your fitness. It’s mainly designed for people who run, although you could also use it if you walk a lot. It tells you loads of information such as the distance that you’ve travelled, what route you’ve used, what parts of the route that were slower than others and so on. Since the app uses your devices GPS signal there’s no need to have Wi-Fi/3G coverage etc. since everything is done using the GPS that’s built in to your device.

They’re the 6 apps that I’d tell everyone to download once they get a new Apple iPhone, but of course there a wide variety of apps that are just as good as the ones mentioned above. Here’s a quick tip if you’re looking for good apps, keep an eye out over certain times of the year such as Christmas since many application developers will either reduce their apps or even better, give them away for free!

Nowadays people have so much choice when they’re looking to buy a new smartphone. Choice is always good but at the same time it makes your decision a lot harder to make especially when there are so many good smartphones out there for you to choose from. Not so long ago, you could count on one hand how many smartphones there were that you could buy, but today it’s hard to keep up, with all of the best brands bringing out new smartphones which are supposed to be “the best of the best”. So, I’m going to list some of the best smartphones which are on the market right now.

Obviously people have different opinions on what’s the best phone, since one person has different needs and expectations than another person would, so I’m not going to list them in any particular order. If you’re searching for a new smartphone, here are some that you should definitely consider purchasing:

1. iPhone 4S – This is an obvious one but it has to be mentioned. Ever since Apply brought out the original iPhone, it has got better and better. With the huge selection of apps that are available on the “App Store” you’ll never get bored! It’s not just great for apps though, it also has an 8 megapixel camera which is more than what the majority of people would have even on their digital camera. It’s just an all-round great phone and well worth considering buying although it’s quite expensive.

2. BlackBerry 8520 Curve – The BlackBerry 8520 is another phone which is worth looking at if you want a new smartphone. It’s cheap in comparison to most smartphones but it still has pretty much everything that anyone could possibly need on their mobile phone. It’s one of the cheapest BlackBerry’s out and still has features such as a QWERTY keyboard, BlackBerry Messenger and so on. It’s a huge improvement on older Curve models since this one has a much better trackpad to make sure you have a better experience than before.

3. Samsung Galaxy S2 – This is another amazing smartphone which is in competition with Apple’s iPhone. It’s roughly the same price as an iPhone and there’s a good reason for it. Firstly, there’s a 1.2GHz processor which ensures that your smartphone will very rarely slow down even if you have a lot of apps and things open. One of the best things about this phone in my opinion is how thin it is, it’s incredible. It’s easily one of the thinnest smartphones out right now since its only 8.5mm thick! This also means that it’s nice and light so you can carry it around with you no matter what you’re doing. It’s great that a phone can be packed with so much and still remains nice and light – at just over 115g!

4. HTC Sensation XE – As the name suggests, the HTC Sensation XE is one of the most sensational phones around and it’s one of the fastest smartphones too, thanks to its dual core 1.5Ghz processor! The Sensation XE also boasts an 8 mega-pixel camera with auto focus and dual led flash, 1080p HD video recording, tons of storage, Beats audio and DNLA so you can stream media using wireless to other DNLA enabled devices like a smart TV or your playstation 3.

5. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – More and more people are purchasing smartphones so that they can play games on them. One of the main reasons for this is that game developers are focusing more on the smartphone market which means better games are becoming available on nearly all smartphone operating systems. As well as this, games on smartphones are a lot cheaper than traditional games such as PS3 games, Nintendo DS games and so on. Anyway, if you are a gamer this could be the perfect phone for you! It’s been built especially with gamers in mind, with a screen which slides up so that you can access its controls. It’s not just for people that have an interest in gaming though, it also has a 5 megapixel camera, stereo speaks and that’s just to name a few things. To make it simple – If you mainly use your phone to play games then I’d recommend that you check this smartphone out as soon as possible.

6. HTC Sensation – Not so long ago nobody heard of HTC, but now it’s definitely one of the best brands that are on the market. The HTC Sensation proves why HTC have taking over a large chunk of the smartphone market share. With features such as an 8 megapixel camera, duel core processor and being able to record videos at 1080p it’s no wonder why this is among the top smartphones that are out at the moment. The problems that have been associated with HTC phones such as how the screen wasn’t visible in sunlight have been mainly sorted out thankfully which is great news for all HTC fans. It’s a little bit heavier than most other smartphones, weighing in at in or around 150g, but you’d expect that since the build quality is impressive.

7. BlackBerry Bold 9780 – Don’t let the BlackBerry’s Bold 9780 looks deceive you, it might look exactly the same as the older BlackBerry Bold 9700 model – but it’s much, much better. There’s not much on the outside that’s different apart from a black bezel, but inside it’s whole different story. Firstly, the software has been improved dramatically which is always nice to hear when you want a new smartphone. Not many people think about how good (or bad!) the software is when they’re in the market for a new smartphone, but think about it; what good is a smartphone with great features if the software won’t allow you to make the most out of those features? Secondly, the screen on the device has also been improved compared to the previous model. Even though it’s a relatively small screen at just under 2.5in, it’s still a great screen with awesome colours. You don’t have to look at the screen at a particular angle to make out what’s on the screen anymore, you can see the screen pretty much whatever angle you’re looking at the screen at. Overall, if you want to try out a BlackBerry smartphone, here’s a good phone to start at!

8. Motorola Razr – I’m sure you’ve heard of the Motorola Razr before and you’re probably thinking that this is an old phone, but it’s not. The Motorola Razr is back with a bang, it’s now loaded with Android 2.3.5, an 8 megapixel camera and much more. It has to be one of the thinnest smartphones that’s out too, since it’s just over 7mm thick! (on the part which you hold, the design is quite unique) If you haven’t heard of AMOLED technology yet, you’ll more than likely be amazed if you see this phone in real life. It has one of the best screens that I’ve ever saw, every picture is crystal clear thanks to the AMOLED screen. You can literally see each and every different colour in a new way that you’ve never experience before. The only problem is that it will make all of your other devices with screens look terrible since you’ll be so used to seeing great quality images and so on. Although the design can put some people off this smartphone, it’s worth researching more information about it and seeing is it a suitable smartphone for you.

9. Nokia Lumia 800 – This phone is the first of many Nokia phones that will be running on Windows. The first thing that you’ll notice when you see the phone is that it stands out from the crowd. (in a good way) It comes in a couple of different colours including bright blue and bright pink. Since it has a 1.4GHz processor there’s no doubt that you have more than enough to run many things at the same time without the phone freezing or turning off. It also comes with an AMOLED screen like the phone above which allows you to see colours that you’ve never seen before on any older smartphones. In today’s world more and more people want phones that can hold a lot of data for their applications, music, photos etc. and the Nokia Lumia certainly lets you do all of this since it has 16GB of storage built in to it so you won’t be forced in to deleting loads of files that you actually need!

10. Samsung Galaxy Nexus – The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a special smartphone and not just because it was the first phone to have Android 4.0 on it. It has a HD screen, dual core processor along with a 5 megapixel camera. All of the handset is slightly curved without making it look silly which is a nice touch, at least it’s not exactly the same as any other mobile phone that’s out there, right? It has over 300 ppi (pixels per inch) which is a lot more than what most smartphones have. This means that the screen display will be super sharp, very few smartphones have anywhere near 300 ppi. The only downside of this smartphone is that there’s no option to add memory to it, (by micro SD cards etc.) but since it has 16GB built in most people don’t have to worry about going over that anyway.

Hopefully this guide to our top 10 smartphones has given you at least one or two ideas to help you in your quest for a new a mobile. Just remember which ever phone you decide to go for, you will find the best offers when you compare mobile phone deals on ShopMobilePhones.

If you haven’t noticed we are currently running 2 competitions first is to win our ex-review Samsung Galaxy S2. The phone has only been used by us for review purposes only, you can enter this competition here or read the review written by my lovely wife here.

Next up is a chance to win a brand new Apple iPhone 4S in this competition you actually get to help us out too. My wife is expecting our 7th child in February and we are kind of stuck for names, so have a go at this one and not only could you win an iPhone 4S but you could help name our Son!

T-Mobile have been busy in the run up to Christmas, they are offering something for everyone.

BlackBerry owners can move over to T-Mobile with a free Pay as you go SIM card which comes with an amazing 6 months free internet!

Don’t have a BlackBerry and still want a free Pay as you go SIM card? We your in luck and T-Mobile have a great deal for talkers and texters alike – Chatterboxes can get 100 free talk minutes each month when they top up by £10 or more and Texters can have Unlimited free texts each month when they top up by £10 or more. But that’s not all T-Mobile will even give you a free £20 app pack when you order your Free SIM, simply select the Talk or Text plan here and fill out the quick form to get your free SIM.

You Fix – makes a superb gift, for those of you who do not know what T-Mobile You Fix is , it’s a brilliant 12 Month contract that fixes your bill at the monthly payment and no more, no additional call or message costs your usage stops at the number of included monthly minutes and texts – but what is really brilliant is you can top up if you need more talk time or texts and you even get a Flexible Booster with your plan such as Unlimited Texts, Internet Booster or Unlimited Landlines Booster and if you do have to top up you can choose a pay as you go booster too (subject to a minimum top up).

Check out these great deals here order today and get a free £20 app pack thanks to T-Mobiles “Appy Christmas” promotion.

Keep up to date with all the latest T-Mobile offers and deals. Or why not take a look at T-Mobiles Christmas Deals.

Sony Ericsson build on the success of the Xperia Arc by introducing the Arc S. The Arc S has a 1.4Ghz processor upgrade allowing the camera to start some 25% faster and web pages to render up to 20% faster compared with the Arc.

Boasting a 4.2-inch Reality display using the brilliant mobile BRAVIA engine and as we have all come to expect it’s packed with superb camera technology. Hows 8.1 megapixels? An incredible 16x digital zoom! f/2.4 aperture, Exmor R image sensor, face detection, auto focus, geo-tagging, face recognition, touch focus and so much more.

The phone supports DLNA allowing you to connect it to another DLNA enabled device such as a TV or your Playstation 3.

Sony Ericsson head of product marketing Nikolaus Scheurer said: “The Xperia Arc S is the fastest and most entertaining Xperia to date and it clearly demonstrates how the Xperia family are the best smartphones to experience great entertainment services such as Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited.”

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S will be globally available in the fourth quarter of this year – So not long to wait.

HTC hosted a series of meet and greets in major European cities at the start of the month, to unveil there new Windows Mango powered smartphones the Titan and Radar.

The Titan, as you can gather by the name is a monster in fact this phone has the biggest screen of all HTC handsets @ 4.7-inch it’s designed for media. The Radar features a 3.8-inch screen and compact aluminium uni-body. Both phones boast advanced camera and media features which take full advantage of the new Windows Mango platform.

Jason Mackenzie, President of Global Sales and Marketing tells us “The new HTC TITAN and HTC Radar smartphones raise the bar with new advanced photography, multimedia and social capabilities that enable you to take full advantage of the latest Windows Phone innovations.”

“With its large, cinematic display, the HTC TITAN packs an amazing amount of power and innovation into a device that is unlike anything you’ve ever held before and the HTC Radar’s aluminum uni-body, compact size and finish will capture people’s attention.”

Both handsets have dedicated camera buttons allowing the user to shoot pictures without unlocking the phone. They can shoot videos to HD 720p and have HTC photo enhancer, perfect for touching up your pictures and uploading to Facebook.

“Team:

I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world. Joining Apple was the best decision I‘ve ever made and it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years. I share Steve’s optimism for Apple’s bright future.

Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve’s ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman.

I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that, it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.

I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role. All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring. I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is.

Tim

This cloud based service allows users to build a community based music library which is shared amongst their BBM Music friends with the option to swap up to 25 tracks each month.

RIM president and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said: ‘More than 45 million customers already love the social communication benefits delivered through BBM and we are thrilled to be extending the experience into a uniquely social and interactive music service.

‘We have partnered with leading music companies to provide a ‘full track’ music sharing and discovery experience that will provide users with quality music on demand and allow them to connect with friends on a whole new level.’

A closed beta trail of the new service is set to start today in the UK, United States and Canada. From the details we have so far users will have access to millions of songs from companies such as Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, for a low monthly subscription of a few ponds.

Universal Music Group president of global digital business Rob Wells said: ‘A major component of online music continues to be about community, and the ability to discover new artists and music through word of mouth.

‘BBM Music dynamically and elegantly integrates the excitement of this social music discovery process with a high quality music service, enabling tens of millions of BlackBerry users to experience new music and to share those experiences with their friends virtually anywhere and at anytime.’

Sony Music Entertainment global digital business president of U.S. sales and corporate strategy Thomas Hesse said: ‘We are pleased to be partnering with Research In Motion on their BBM Music service. RIM and its large base of BlackBerry Messenger users represent an exciting platform for expanding the reach of commercial digital music around the world.

‘The combination of a premium music solution and instant messaging will enable viral music discovery and emphasise the social power of digital music. It also offers an effective way of serving younger consumers by integrating music into the fabric of an important hub of their digital activity.’

Apple have won another leg of the patent war with Samsung after a Dutch court ruled in favour of yet another sales ban to be imposed on the Korean company.

It is unclear as yet if the ban is isolated to Holland or if it will include the further 29 European countries including the UK.

Apple’s claim was upheld due to one specific patent – EP 2059868 – which outlines an interface for viewing and navigating photographs on a touch-screen phone.

Samsung has been given seven weeks to cease sales of the offending phones (Galaxy S2, Galaxy S and Galaxy Ace), however the ban may be avoided if Samsung can modify its software in the mean time.

Intellectual property analyst Florian Meuller said: ‘In legal terms, the order does not bind Samsung’s Korean parent company – only three different Samsung subsidiaries registered in the Netherlands – with respect to other countries than the Netherlands.

‘However, it is my understanding that Samsung’s European logistics use the Netherlands as the primary hub. If Samsung’s Korean parent company wants to exercise its freedom to ship into other European countries despite this injunction, it will have to reorganise its logistics chain in Europe accordingly.’

A Samsung statement on the ruling said: ‘Today’s ruling is an affirmation that the Galaxy range of products is innovative and distinctive.’

The company appears to believe that the ruling only directly restricts the sale of Galaxy smartphones in the Netherlands.

It states: ‘With regard to the single infringement cited in the ruling, we will take all possible measures including legal action to ensure that there is no disruption in the availability of our Galaxy smartphones to Dutch consumers. This ruling is not expected to affect sales in other European markets.’

It adds: ‘Samsung has a proud history of innovation in the mobile industry. We will continue our plans to introduce new products and technologies that meet and exceed consumer expectations. And we will defend our intellectual property rights through the ongoing legal proceedings around the world.’

All the more reason for you to enter our Win a Samsung Galaxy S2 Competition.

Stop the press Blackberry have today announced the new arrival of little BlackBerry curve 9360, which will complete the BlackBerry 7 photo album. And can play happy families with the new Torch and Bold models which were announced earlier in the month. Alongside the Curve 9350 and 9370 variants in other territories.

You will love BlackBerrys new curve 9360 it is so much slimmer and has Curves to die for not literally but you get my meaning. To look at its not that much different from previous models but the Curve 9360 just some how feels better.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 has a supper curvaceous back making this supper sexy light weight phone fit like a glove. Measuring 109 x 60 x 11mm, making the new Bold 9900 feel a bit like holding a brick in comparison.
Of course the big difference between the Bold and the Curve is the screen and keyboard. The 2.44-inch 480×360 pixel display is vibrant and sharp, but sadly lacks the touch functions you’ll find on higher models.

Staying on the keyboard layout of former Curves, the 9360 offers the same great experience we have had in the past. Although you can quickly bash a load of text together the small keys can be a little uncomfortable and found the bigger models did not leave you with sore thumbs.

Look Around the back and you’ll find a 5-megapixel camera put unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be autofocus, so like its bigger brother, so your picks probably won’t be as sharp as some affordable smartphone rivals. So let’s talk Video, it’s not the best and tops out at 640 x 480, distinctly standard definition, but the price plays a big part in this so if you won’t great HD than you need to splash the cash. But if you want a cheaper smart little handset this is the one for you.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 certainly doesn’t feel like a cheap phone. The build quality isn’t the premium metals that you’ll find on the Bold, but it feels solid in the hand. The glossy plastic back cover was quickly smeared with fingerprints, but we can live with that you just have to wipe it no big deal.

On the hardware front you don’t lose out either: although it a little bit slower 800MHz processor, you still get Wi-Fi, GPS, and NFC.

BlackBerry 7 finds its way into the Curve 9360 too, so there is consistency across RIM’s BlackBerry portfolio when it comes to the OS. This is the first time we’ve used BB7 without a touchscreen and so you’ll be back to that menu key and optical navigation controller in the center. It’s not as fast as the Bold to navigate but it works. In the short time we had hold of the handset everything worked great and opened and closed quickly, but as we didn’t have the phone long we can’t give a full account of the performance as soon as we can we will give the curve 9360 a full assessment, and report back so watch this space.

We can tell this handset is going to be a BIG hit and sell like hot cakes,
Don’t forget to check back here for a full review.