Despite all the fuss over the Samsung Galaxy S3, not everyone can afford to buy the phone outright or pay the contract price for such a device, nor want everything it features.

If this is the case with you then you might like to take a look at the LG Optimus L7, which has just been released.

Speaking about the Optimus L7, Dr Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said: “For consumers desiring high end style and sophistication in a smartphone, LG Optimus L7 offers beauty and performance in one smart package.”

He added: “The L7 is a significant addition to our L Series portfolio and we are confident that it’ll prove highly attractive to users. We expect it to be one of our most popular smartphones.”

The Optimus L7 is expected to arrive in Europe some time this month, although the actual date is not known. It will later be available for Asian consumers.

If you fancy one, you can get the handset free on a £20 per month contract from one of the online stores.

In other news, Research in Motion showcased the fancy new keyboard that will come with the company’s latest BlackBerry devices. Rather than a traditional keyboard, it is a virtual one.

Analysts are quite impressed with this, as up to now the traditional physical keyboard on BlackBerry handsets has got smaller and smaller, making it a bit clumsy to use. The virtual QWERTY keyboard appears more spacious.

If you are eager to get your hands on the latest Samsung Galaxy S3 then you have not got long to wait. It is apparently going to be in the UK by 29^th May.

Experts have welcomed the new device as being not just an update to the S2 but an innovative smartphone packed with plenty of new stuff. For instance, one feature is texting to call. In other words, you simply text the name of a person, hold the handset to your ear, and it calls the contact.

Another interesting new features is an equivalent to Siri, which enables you to ask the handset questions such as what the weather is like or what appointments you have. A similar feature is already used in the iPhone 4S.

According to a spokesperson for Samsung, the Galaxy S3 is “inspired by water, wind, leaves and pebbles” in terms of aesthetic design, and the interface is “nature themed”.

Andy Griffiths, MD of Samsung UK and Ireland, commented: “Our aim with the Galaxy S III was to develop the best smartphone ever made, and by focusing on creating a unique user experience through superior hardware and enhanced usability we believe we have done just that.”

The main features of this handset include a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display screen and a quad-core chipset.

Carphone Warehouse seems, at the moment, to be the main retailer of the Samsung Galaxy S3. If you are interested in getting one then stores are taking pre-orders on all five networks.

Samsung unveiled its latest update to the Galaxy S series smartphone – the SII – and it appears to have been welcomed as a real rival to Apple’s iPhone.

Among the new features not found on the SII are voice recognition software, a larger and brighter screen (as anticipated) and, interestingly, 50GB of cloud storage; Samsung has done a deal with Dropbox.

Malik Saadi, an analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, said: “While the Galaxy S3 will be highly desirable for enthusiastic and advanced users, Samsung will have to build on the already popular Galaxy brand and push it hard to various distribution channels before the iPhone 5 is launched.”

Apple has not as yet announced when the iPhone 5 will be officially launched. The rumour mill suggests autumn. If true, Samsung have about five or six months to make sure that the Galaxy SIII is an established, viable alternative to the iPhone 5; the latter is expected to be something special.

One leading expert, who believes that the current iPhone is what he describes as yesterday’s model, also reinforced this view but that could change.

However, whatever happens, Samsung has now firmly established itself as one of the leading smartphone manufacturers and can rival anything that Apple throws at it. Last year, both companies took around 60% of the market share.

Where does this leave Nokia and RIM?

Both have been effectively re-branding themselves for the last 12 months, so it is too early to say how successful they will be.

Is it too late?

Image Courtesy of Apple

True to form, just as Samsung announces its latest flagship Galaxy SIII rumours have begun surrounding the next iPhone.

The rumour circulating the mobile phone world is that the iPhone 5 will have a larger display than the current four-inch. It has also been suggested that it will be taller and about 20% thinner.

Other suggestions are that the device will include a metal stripe along the back casing. Whether this has some function or is just cosmetic is not known for sure.

There is also a suggestion that experts say will not please developers. It appears that Apple is ready to ditch its current display’s aspect ratio.

Talking about developers, Microsoft recently announced that it is holding a developer conference for the Windows Phone platform in June – on 20^th / 21^st June to be precise.

Although it is known that it will take place in San Francisco, Microsoft has not released any other information regarding the content of the summit. There is some suggestion that the software giant will reveal Tango, the latest Windows Phone update, or even the next update after that, Windows Phone 8 (also known as Apollo).

Windows has been working on Windows 8 for a while, which may be a hybrid for use on both smartphones and computers, but unusually Microsoft has been coy. Has it taken a leaf out of Apple’s book?

It is known that the company has been investigating cross platform capabilities, so the conference may in fact reveal that.

Everyone will just have to be patient.

Yes, texting is harmful to children, according to writer Sir Terry Pratchett. In fact, he believes that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as sending text messages from a smartphone, are inhibiting children’s ability to communicate properly.

Moreover, Terry believes that children’s rough behaviour may also be connected with this need to use social media.

The author said: “Kids now seem unmotivated. Social media is not helping and texting certainly isn’t.
You have to have interaction with other people. If you have the words to identify exactly what you mean, you can get your message across. I’m sure this is linked to rough behaviour.”

While controversial, his views have been backed by an educational psychologist, Dr Kairen Cullen. Dr Cullen argues that while using social media sites such as Twitter increase the access for children to other children, this access is via a computer screen and not face-to-face. As such, it is impossible for children to understand properly what is happening during the communication process, particularly since they generally have limited verbal language skills.

Dr. Cullen also added that texting “does not allow children to build up patience and time keeping.”

Sir Terry Pratchett is also concerned with how language is being altered as result of ‘text speak’, which involves shortening words and even using one letter to represent a word.

However, recent research also suggested that children’s spelling was actually improved by texting.
No doubt these arguments will continue.

After much rumour, it seems that the new handset that Samsung was supposed to be showcasing is the Galaxy SIII after all.

Samsung is riding high at the moment, as many analysts believe that the Galaxy range of smartphones, in particular the Galaxy SII, are the only devices that effectively challenge Apple’s iPhone.

Around 20 million handsets of the Galaxy SII were sold last year, compared to 35 million iPhones. However, overall, 47 million Samsung phones were sold. This is the first time the Asian giant has overtaken Apple. Jointly, both companies share 60% of the market.

By the time you read this, the expected launch of the Galaxy SIII will be over, but in case you miss it, experts believe that they have managed to get hold of specifications ahead of the launch.

First of all, from images found on the Carphone Warehouse website which is expected to stock the phone, the colours of the Galaxy SIII are similar to the Galaxy Note. These are black-blue and white.

Other features thought to be included are a bigger screen size than the SII, which is 4.3 inches, and Near Field Communication (NFC). In fact, it is considered that NFC will be the major focus, as Samsung has collaborated with Visa to develop a contactless payments system.

Many people also believe that the new device will really challenge Apple’s superiority. The editor of technology site CNET UK, Jason Jenkins, said: “If the product is as well-received as its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy SII, Apple has a real fight on its hands as it tries to regain the top slot.”

A recent survey found that smartphone owners are more likely to search the web than search for a book in the local library. What is more, users also appear to prefer surfing the web to surfing the waves.

Moreover, smartphones do not appear to be a device for making telephone calls either. In fact, one in five users admit that they make far fewer calls now than when they bought their smartphone. Also, a large percentage of respondents said that they also spend time going onto the internet from their handheld device while at work.

The research was carried out by the mobile phone web site Recombu.com, which found most people (out of 2,000 people surveyed) generally now prefer to use the internet to make friends, go shopping, and use social media sites.

Hannah Bouckley, editor of Recombu.com, said: “Mobile internet access is a key part of everyday life for many of us, so much so that it is hard to imagine a time without it. As the technology continues to develop we will no doubt become even more reliant on the options it offers us. Boredom really is a thing of the past now we have a world of information available to us at the touch of a button.”

Even TV watching has dropped, with 22% saying they prefer to search the internet. 11% say that they no longer do any form of exercise, or at least do a lot less than they did.

RIM is so determined to recover much of the lost ground taken by Google and Apple that it has released 2,000 prototypes of its latest BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Since ditching many of the company’s previous experiments, such as PlayBook, RIM has been concentrating on the launch of the latest version of its popular platform. To this end, the release of the prototypes is to help developers see what all the fuss is about. Assuming they like it then it will give RIM confidence that its fight back will be permanent.

Alec Saunders, who heads developer relations at RIM, said: “Developers building for BlackBerry 10 will be able to easily create the kind of cutting-edge apps that deliver truly engaging experiences.”

How smart this move turns out to be will probably determine whether RIM and BlackBerry both have a future. In a recent survey developers were not too keen on creating apps for the BlackBerry operating system. In fact, less than 16% said that they liked the platform and would be very interested in creating applications.

This figure contrasts with the 80% and 90% who prefer to work for Apple and Android.

RIM itself was rumoured to be up for sale at one time. However, the new chief executive of the company, Thorstein Heins, rejected this. He believes firmly that RIM needs to get back to what it does best – making and selling BlackBerry devices.

With a lot riding on this, both he and his employees will be hoping that this is the right decision.

Google was taken to court by software giant Oracle, who alleges that the search engine business effectively stole large amounts of programming which was then incorporated into Android.

Being guilty of copying the trial will cost Google billions of pounds.

Oracle also alleges that Google executives knew what they were doing, but chose to try and get away with it without paying a licence fee.

Oracle’s lawyer, Michael Jacobs, said: “You will see email after email in which Google executives knew this day would come.”

The argument surrounds Java, which is said to be integral to the Android operating system and Android apps. How this legal wrangle will affect the platform and all that goes with it is not known for sure if the judgement goes against Google.

For instance, one aspect that is important is Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These allow applications to talk to the basic Android operating system. Oracle alleges Google infringed the copyright held by them.

Mr. Jacobs added: “If Google can just take the APIs and be forgiven under fair use, that licensing falls apart.”

However, Google’s lawyers argued that Google did not either intentionally or unintentionally infringe Oracle’s copyright. Google’ lawyer, Robert Van Nest, told the court that it was not possible for this to have taken place, because Google could not use Sun’s source code. “This kind of use of APIs in this way where you use the minimum you need to be compatible is fair use,” he said.

Oracle’s accusation is just one of a number of copyright infringement cases that have sprung up over the last few years.

Cloud systems are beginning to make their mark on mobile devices. For instance, Samsung is rumoured to be launching its own cloud-based storage systems, but it appears that LG has beaten them to it.

What is more, LG’s own offering is considered to be far larger than the rumoured Samsung offering – ten times as much – at 50GB storage. However, there is a catch. This ‘free’ offer lasts for just six months. If you wish to continue using the service for free thereafter, you are allocated just 5GB. You can maintain the 50GB storage if you pay.

Interestingly though, the LG Cloud service is not confined to just LG customers. Any Android smartphone can be used. However, after the six-month honeymoon of 50GB, the ‘free’ version drops to just 2GB.

Although any smartphone can avail itself of LG Cloud, there are some technical restrictions. Firstly, only smartphones running Android 2.2 or better can access the application and service.

Secondly, and perhaps more pertinently, LG Cloud is currently only available in South Korea and the US. However, it is expected to be rolled out into the UK and the rest of Europe at some point, although no date has been fixed. That said, LG Cloud is actually in the beta stage at the moment, so by the time it does reach British shores, any problems will have been sorted.

All in all, cloud is spreading its tentacles far and wide. If you store a lot of information, such as photos and video, it might be wise to consider using such a service as the one offered by LG.