Before anyone can even catch their breath from the last round of new mobile phones to hit the market, the next wave is upon them. As with all technology, sometimes the phone people buy for themselves or others may be obsolete in a matter of months. Saudi Gazette spoke to a number of people from all walks of life on what their favorite smartphone is and why. Sami Alam, a Pakistani student, bought himself the Samsung Mondi. “The minute I saw the phone, I knew it was the one I wanted,” said Alam of the smartphone that has an LCD touch screen of 4.3 inches. “This phone has the ever essential qwerty keyboard for someone especially like me. I am a heavy texter.” A fun and useful feature of the Samsung Mondi is the TouchWhiz integration, designed to work over Windows mobile as an application overlay. “The Mondi offers social networking support in the form of Fring, uses the Opera internet browser, and offers widgetized customization,” he added. Another smart phone that has garnered wide popularity is the Palm Pre despite not being available for purchase in the Kingdom. “Palm Pre is innovative in its always-on connectivity and high (Internet) speed during use,” remarked Ahmed Bahsair, a returning engineer from the US. According to Bahsair, the Palm Pre is clunky and has a heavy feel to it, “but the Internet connectivity and some other features make this phone worth a try for the business user. It is being touted as the phone that “thinks one step ahead of you.” Mariah Abdulmajeed, a Saudi university student, claims that no phone can beat her particular smartphone, the Motorola Evoke. “The beauty of this phone is how light and airy it is, and how versatile and attractive the slim look and feels,” she explained. She added that she has chosen her phone for its beauty and look since the phone itself doesn't have many of the special applications – or “apps” as they are known – as the iPhone and BlackBerry, for example. Another university student Hala Amri, however, claims that her phone beats all kinds of smart phones. “These days the BlackBerry is a phone, email, SMS, organizer, address book, gaming arcade, media player, camera, navigator, chat messenger, calculator, alarm clock, best friend and more all-in-one device,” she stated. Amri added that she bought her BlackBerry because all her friends were getting it, indicating that a considerable percentage of the appeal of particular smartphones lies in how popular they already are. “It has become somewhat of a trend,” she admitted. After using it for a couple of months, however, she genuinely feels that her phone is the ideal phone for anyone. “Today's current BlackBerry models offer a host of functions and features out of the box, and with a ton of third party software now available for the BlackBerry (and more being developed each day); there really is little they can't do,” she added. Not only is the BlackBerry an all-in-one device, it is an “integrated” all-in-one device, but what does this mean? “This integration is incredibly intuitive, it's like your BlackBerry always knows exactly what you want to do next,” she explained. Many people in KSA, however, still suggest that Apple's iPhone is still the best buy. “The problem with a lot of portable devices in the past has been the screen size. By making the screen the whole unit and with no keypad inside, Apple has been able to maximize screen size and create a truly multimedia handheld device,” remarked Akram Kaan, a Saudi university student. The touch screen has been used in electronic devices and interfaces for years now, but according to Kaan, the iPhone takes touch-screen implementation to a whole new level. “The whole screen changes depending on your needs, so at one point it might be a keypad, whilst at others it will be your music library or a short video clip for your viewing pleasure. You can scroll down through lists with a flick of your finger and the whole things just works brilliantly.” With so many smartphone launches coming up, it can be really confusing which phone to buy, and no matter what phone one buys, a newer model will enter the market before they even know it!
