To be fair, President Barack Obama wasn’t talking about his BlackBerry itself, but rather the strictly-business nature of how he has to use it. On the campaign trail, Obama’s BlackBerry was one of his closest companions, but having fought long and hard to hold onto it as his official handset on entering the White House, Obama now admits it was a somewhat hollow victory.

The US leader revealed that only 10 people were authorised to email the ultra-secure BlackBerry-in-Chief, and that emails and messages were straight-laced and businesslike at all times because of the likelihood of being archived as official White House communication.

“I’ve got to admit, it’s no fun because they think that it’s probably going to be subject to the presidential records act, so nobody wants to send me the real juicy stuff,” Obama said on daytime talk show The View.

“It’s all very official: ‘Mr. President, you have a meeting coming up and we’d like to brief you.”

YOU SHOULD READ — BlackBerry Pearl 3G — a BlackBerry beginner’s guide

Screenwipe — changing touchscreen tech
HTC’s move from the HTC Tattoo to the HTC Wildfire parallels what’s happening to touchscreens across the market. Resistive screens are on the way out, being replaced by capacitive models. Resistive screens are great if you have a stylus to hand, but under a finger they feel slow and clumsy compared to capacitive alternatives. Capacitive touchscreens don’t rely on pressure, just contact, so you barely need to press down on the screen at all.

The HTC Wildfire’s screen is a tad larger than the HTC Tattoo’s, at 3.2 inches against 2.8. HTC was pushing how small it could make the Tattoo’s touchscreen without adding a custom UI, and large-fingered folk started to feel the pinch. A 2.8-inch screen isn’t very comfortable to type on without a stylus. Sadly, the HTC Tattoo doesn’t come with one. It’s affected by a kind of shame that inflicts many phones that use a resistive touchscreen out of compromise. It badly wants to be a capacitive-screened phone, but it isn’t.

The HTC Wildfire’s shame-free capacitive touchscreen is a big improvement, with finger responsiveness way up. It’s not quite as slick in use as the super-quick HTC Desire, but it’s not too far off.

Android OS generations
HTC has a bad reputation when it comes to Android updates, with the HTC Hero update having taken its sweet time to arrive. Back in March of this year, HTC confirmed that Android 2.1 would come to the HTC Tattoo (it’s currently on Android 1.6) but now that almost 6 months have passed and there’s no sign of it, we think the HTC Tattoo may have to spend the rest of its days lingering on Android 1.6.

The future is looking much brighter for the HTC Wildfire though. It currently uses Android 2.1, but HTC has confirmed that Android 2.2 Froyo is on the way. More hot air from HTC? possibly, but there’s more evidence that the updates are close at hand this time. Chinese product pages indicate that the HTC Desire and HTC Wildfire will run Android 2.2 at launch over there, so upgrades for UK users can’t be too far away.

The Wildfire also features a newer version of the HTC Sense user inferface than the HTC Tattoo, giving you Leap view, which lets you check out all your home screens at once. More brownie points for the Wildfire.

Power, speed, and a surprise
The HTC Wildfire is bigger, beefier and more advanced than its predecessor the HTC Tattoo, but the two use exactly the same CPU, the Qualcomm 528MHz model. Still, we noticed a tad more lag on the HTC Tattoo than on the HTC Wildfire. That’s software optimisation for you.

The HTC Wildfire also has an extra chunk of RAM, which doubtless helps speed the phone up throughout.

Is it worth it?
If you can afford the £20 a month premium the HTC Wildfire commands, we strongly recommend choosing it over the older HTC Tattoo. Low screen resolution niggles aside, it’s a phone that doesn’t feel too compromised by it’s “affordable” origins — a worthy relative to the HTC Desire.

YOU SHOULD READ — HTC Wildfire Android 2.2 Froyo update coming soon

HTC has already brought us news of its Froyo plans for the HTC Desire and HTC Wildfire – via a blog from Benelux and a product listing from China respectively. By comparison, Samsung has been decidedly mainstream about things, choosing Twitter as the medium for delivering its own Froyo-flavoured update news.

“We’ve seen a lot of Q’s about the Froyo update; it’s currently in development & will be released for all networks at the end of September…” the company’s Twitter feed reads.

That may sound a fair way off, but depending on when exactly in September Samsung is talking about, it may not be as far behind the Desire as it first appears. Yes, the HTC Desire is being rolled out from this weekend, but only for unlocked handsets – those on contract will have to wait at least a couple of weeks, which takes us to mid-August as it is.

The 4in Galaxy S is Samsung’s most powerful Android offering to date, and after proving wildly popular in its home market of South Korea – where it sold 200,000 units in just 10 days – is proving a popular choice here in the UK too.

YOU SHOULD READ — Samsung Galaxy S — how to make it a movie monster

The PA Consulting Group has just published the findings of its own trials of the iPhone 4’s signal strength against a pair of its rivals – the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and HTC HD2. The results confirmed what almost all of us – let’s be honest – already knew: that the Death Grip issue is worse on the iPhone 4 than other handsets, no matter what Apple’s own tests claim.

But it gets worse – while PA consultant Simon Tonks chose to focus mainly on the Death Grip signal drop-off in revealing the results, he also added that the iPhone 4’s signal strength is inferior to its rivals even at the best of times.

“Our tests indicate that the Death Grip issue is real, and is worse for the Apple iPhone 4 than for other smartphones. The iPhone 4’s radio performance was also found to be generally at the lower end. This means it will tend to drop calls earlier than other phones and may suffer more in areas of weak signal. Overall, though, it’s still within the normal performance range for similar products.”

Of course, that last point is arguably the most important – but it’s nonetheless hardly a glowing reference for supposed market-leader.

YOU SHOULD READ — Motorola ad mocks iPhone 4 signal woes

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 mobile phone is built on the foundations of the current BlackBerry Bold 9700 according to mobile blog Driphter, which surfaced the five-minute video.

BlackBerry OS 6 has already been seen in a couple of official preview videos from RIM, but the Driphter clip shows the interface in real-world action, and in some detail too.

But it’s the handset itself that is of particular interest, as nothing at all has been said on record about the BlackBerry Bold 9780. Visually, it’s very much a successor to previous Bold handsets, including the current 9700. In fact, the only visible difference between the two appears to be that the BlackBerry Bold 9780 features a black bezel around the device, rather than the 9700’s silver.

The handset is seen running through various setup and settings screens, accessing Facebook and running through a number of sites using the Webkit browser.

Of course, we’ll only know once we get our own hands on it, but from the Driphter clip it’s clear that usability features highly on BlackBerry OS 6’s attractions.

After a quiet few months, BlackBerry has certainly been a regular presence in the news over the summer, and the best could still be to come. The company has scheduled an event for Tuesday next week, which could see the launch of not only BlackBerry’s next-gen OS, but any number of handsets too – the Bold 9780 included, it seems.

YOU SHOULD READ — BlackBerry tablet to be called Blackpad?

BlackBerry Pearl – 10 things you need to know
We run down the basics — what’s special about the BlackBerry Pearl 3G, why you should go for one instead of a Curve, Bold or Android phone. New to the BlackBerry Pearl 3G? This is the place to start

Your guide to BlackBerry Messenger
One of the best BlackBerry-exclusive features you’ll find on the BlackBerry Pearl 3G is BlackBerry Messenger. It’s an IM app and social network that’s just for BlackBerry owners. If all your friends have Nokias, it won’t be of much use, but if you have a new BlackBerry-toting friends, you need to read this article.

BlackBerry Pearl – The top 10 apps
Everyone talks about the Android Market and the App Store, with their tens of thousands of apps (hundreds of thousands in the iPhone’s case), but there are tonnes of great apps available for BlackBerrys too, including GPS solutions, VoIP clients and media players.

Amzer Emergency charger (£12.99)
Equip yourself with an Amzer emergency charger, stash it away in your bag and you’ll never have to worry about that last bar dropping off your Nokia C3’s power indicator. It runs off standard AA batteries and plugs straight into your Nokia C3. We recommend pairing it with a couple of Eneloop rechargeable batteries, which won’t lose charge when not in use, unlike standard rechargeable batteries.

Nokia CC-1004 silicone case (£5)
The Nokia C3 is a cheapie phone, but it has a rocking bod that wouldn’t look out of place on a handset twice the price. The best way to keep your Nokia C3’s bod in good nick is with a case. There’s no reason to splash out half the cost of the phone for a case either. Nokia’s own silicone case, which protects the phone’s back, is only a fiver and comes in black, pink and lime green.

Nokia BH-104 Bluetooth headset (£17.99)
These days, Bluetooth headsets aren’t just for city boys that secretly love walking around looking like they’re talking to thin air. Bluetooth headsets have been around for so long that you can get now get a decent one for less than twenty quid. Granted, use one while having an animated conversation when walking along the road and you’ll still look like a loon, but they are very handy.

Sennheiser CX300/CX400/CX500 earphones (£15-20)
With a 3.5mm headphone jack in tow, the Nokia C3 is almost ready to be a mini jukebox right out of the packaging. But real audio fans know — you should always ditch the bundled buds as soon as possible. You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to reach near-audiophile standards of musical bliss though. Great earphones are available for under £20, and at the top of the pile are the budget offerings from Sennheiser and Ultimate Ears.

The Sennheiser CX series offers  powerful sound, great sound isolation and good looks at a great price.

8GB microSD card (£10-15)
Want tunes on your Nokia C3? You have to get hold of a nice big memory card. 8GB cards offer a fab cost-per-megabyte ratio, and will store more than a hundred albums at 160kbps quality. Shop around and you should be able to find a high-quality 8GB microSD card for around a tenner.

YOU SHOULD READ — BlackBerry tablet to be called Blackpad?

With confirmation emerging that the pricier HTC Desire will see its own Froyo-flavoured update rolling out over the air this very weekend, owners of the more budget-conscious HTC Wildfire offering – essentially a stripped-down HTC Desire – are keeping their fingers crossed that their own update will be coming sooner rather than later.

But it is coming – that much now seems certain. Confirmation comes courtesy of HTC in China, which revealed spec lists showing both the Desire and Wildfire as having Android 2.2 pre-loaded ahead of the handsets’ forthcoming release there. Sources within the company have since confirmed there was no mistake, meaning the Wildfire has already been cleared to run Froyo.

So what does the Froyo update bring worth getting excited about? Well, to judge by what’s on the menu for the Desire, Wildfire owners can soon look forward to features such as 720p video capture, enhanced HTC Caller ID and improved responsiveness from the on-screen keyboard.

We’ll let you know as soon as we have confirmation of the HTC Wildfire Android 2.2 Froyo update, but whenever it rolls along, it’s only likely to only strengthen the appeal of a handset already without question one of HTC’s biggest success stories of 2010.

YOU SHOULD READ — HTC Desire Android 2.2 update coming very soon

OS face-off
The Nokia N8 features an all-new version of the Symbian operating system — Symbian^3. This takes the long-term Nokia staple OS and brings it closer to rivals like Android by giving you more customisation options. Widgets and home screens are in, making the Nokia N8 more flexible than the iPhone 4 in simple personalisation terms.

Early reports on the Symbian^3 OS aren’t entirely complimentary though. Mobile-review’s Eldar Murtazin, who got his hands on an early, leaked version of the OS, says that in spite of improvements over the newest Symbian S60 OS, Symbian^3 just isn’t as good as Android. Symbian^4 is hot on Symbian^4’s heels too, suggesting that Nokia knows Symbian^3 isn’t quite as bombastic as originally intended.
In summary — Symbian^3 is better than S60, but not up there with the latest editions of Android and iOS

Camera crunch
Choosing the Nokia N8 over an iPhone 4 or top-end Android involves making a few smartphone sacrifices, but they’ll be worth it if you’re after an excellent camera phone. The Nokia N8 uses a fantastic 12-megapixel sensor that’s larger than seen before on a mobile.

It’s larger even than the sensor used in many digital compact cameras, and should secure the Nokia N8 the title of “best mobile phone camera ever”. The iPhone 4 surprised us by packing an excellent snapper, but with an LED flash and only five megapixels to its name (even if it makes great use of them), it can’t compete with the Nokia N8.

Further down the competence scale is the Samsung Galaxy S. It can record 720p HD video and uses touch focusing, but image quality isn’t as strong as either the Nokia N8 or iPhone 4, and without a flash it’ll only be of usem in decent sunlight. Down at the bottom of the barrel is the HTC Desire.

It’s another 5-megapixel camera, but image quality is just OK at the resolution and there’s no HD video recording. There is an LED flash though, making it ready for some party photography.
In summary — The Nokia N8’s camera sounds simply fantastic, blowing these rivals out of the water, even the iPhone 4

Apps
The Nokia N8 can rock apps made with the QT dev kit — which is the force  behind the Nokia N900’s apps. Although the Nokia N8 uses an all-new operating system, its app scene won’t have to start completely from scratch. Nokia N900 apps will just have to go through a quick porting process to be up and running on the Nokia N8.

The Nokia N8’s app scene may be heading towards a healthy start, but it’s unlikely to ever have anywhere near as many apps as iPhone 4 or Android phones like the HTC Desire. There are more than 30,000 Android apps available from the Android Market and more than 200,000 from the iPhone App Store.

Sheer numbers aren’t enough to provide a good app experience — the quality of the app store itself means a lot too. The iPhone App Store is just too packed to make app discovery a doddle, but navigating its virtual shelves is painless, with desktop navigation via iTunes helping out too.

Android’s Market is less friendly, with poor structure making discovering apps even trickier than on the App Store. It needs work.

However, the Ovi Store, which is where the Nokia N8 will have to grab most of its apps from, is the least advanced of the three. It caters for dozens of handsets across a handful of platforms but doesn’t offer the same centralised experience as the Android Market and App Store — although a link to Ovi will almost certainly feature in the Nokia N8 as standard.

The Nokia N8 will want to roll with the big boys, but on the apps front, that’s a very tall order.
In summary — The head start Android and iPhone have on the Nokia N8 make sure it’s not the best choice for appaholics

The skinny
The Nokia N8’s in a difficult spot. It’s a high-end handset that’s held back by the software under its hood. Symbian^3 isn’t bad, but it doesn’t fare well in a comparison with iOS and Android, which have after all been updated, tweaked and changed regularly for 2-3 years now.

Symbian’s been around for a lot longer, but its path has been less focused, letting it slip quietly behind rivals. What the Nokia N8 has over every other smartphone on the market is a truly impressive camera. The only thing it’s missing is the optical zoom — if Nokia one day finds a way to drop one into a mobile without creating a chunky beast, we’ll be first in the queue to put our old compact cameras up on eBay.

Want apps? Go for Android or iPhone. Want a simpler phone that’ll play your vids and music, and do a fab job of making its own vids and snaps? Give the Nokia N8 some serious consideration.

YOU SHOULD READ — Nokia N9 – make or break for the Nseries?

The Optimus Z comes packing Android 2.1 – to be updated to 2.2 later this year – and a stellar list of mobile phone features that immediately mark it out as a real heavyweight.

First up is the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, found in so many high-end handsets these days. Then there’s the 3.5in WVGA Hyper HD display with an 800 x 480-pixel resolution.

You also get a 5-megapixel camera, support for Dolby Mobile audio processing and the DivX HD video codec.

To handle all that high-tech smartphone goodness, LG has shoehorned not one but two 1350mAh batteries inside the Optimus Z’s sleek black frame, making it a handset unlikely to be found slinking away in the shadows, though it still manages to be just 11mm thick.

Other features worth mentioning are the ability to access and control the Optimus Z directly from a PC or laptop via Bluetooth without having to touch the phone itself — with the phone’s interface being mimicked on the computer’s screen — over-the-air syncing using LG Air Sync and file-sharing between smartphones using drag-and-shake.

At this point, there’s no sign that the Optimus Z will travel beyond its home borders, but we certainly live in hope.

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