The two giant phone manufacturers, Nokia and Sony Ericsson have just each released a phone to the market, which are almost similar in functions, but also different in some ways. These are the Nokia 3250 and the Sony Ericsson W810.

The Nokia 3250 is a Symbian OS v9.1 Series 60 smartphone, which means you can expand the functionality of the phone by installing third party software. It has 2MP camera. The Sony Ericsson W810 is a slightly smaller phone with 2MP camera with autofocus. Both phones have FM Stereo and MP3 player.

Nokia 3250 Smartphone (Untwisted)

The chart below summaries the specifications of both the Nokia 3250 and the Sony Ericsson W810.

Nokia 3250 Smartphone (Twisted)

Smartphone or Walkman?
Since the two phones are identical in features, your choice of either of the two phones depend on what you will be using the phone to do outside the normal call and receive functions. The points listed below will assist and guide you on which phone will best suite your need.

Work or Pleasure?:
The Nokia 3250 is a smartphone and the Sony Ericsson W810 is a Walkman phone. If you need a phone for business, then the Nokia 3250 smartphone should be your choice. However, if you need a phone for a media player and better camera output, then you are better off with the Sony Ericsson W810.

Cost of Memory Cards:
MicroSD cards are far cheaper than the Sony Ericsson memory stick duo pro. You will be saving some money on memory card if you purchase the Nokia 3250. However, you should note that while the Nokia 3250 has a limit of 1GB memory card, the Sony Ericsson W810 allows up to 2GB. If you are really after music, you should go for the one that allows for higher memory card size, which is the Sony Ericsson W810.

Freeware for Symbian:
Nokia is quite comfortable and easier to use. In addition, being a Symbian smartphone, there are a lot of free software or games to be downloaded from the Internet to expand its capability. On the other hand, Sony Ericsson has the advantage of better sound and camera quality.

Whichever phone you settled for, you will get good value for your money as both phones are good ambassadors of their respective companies. If you are considering purchasing a new phone this season, consider either the Nokia 3250 or Sony Ericsson W810.

Sony Ericsson W810 Walkman

If you are an average cell phone user, who is not interested in or impressed by all those hi-tech features incorporated into today’s cell phone, then you may need to give the Nokia 6020 cell phone a second thought and look. It is easy to be carried away by some features in phones like MP3 Player, Megapixel Camera, FM Stereo, Wi-Fi, etc. What if you do not need or use these features? Why pay for an expensive phone when all you need is a functional, decent looking Call and Receive phone? If you are in that category of users who have no time for all those extra features in a phone, then the Nokia 6020 might be your best mate.

The Nokia 6020 phone is a classic mid-level phone that has the following specifications:

Besides, the Nokia 6020 has standard applications like Calculator, Calendar, Voice Dial, Voice Recording, etc. Weighing around 90g, the phone is light and easy to use with a beautifully designed keypad, having a central joystick. The video recording is however limited only to 50 seconds in length.

For a phone with limited functionalities, you get full value for money when compared to other phones in the same category.

Pros of the Nokia 6020
- Light and beautiful design
- Basic Call and Receive
- Reasonably priced phone for non-techies

Cons of the Nokia 6020
- No bluetooth or infrared connectivity
- Infrared interface not working properly
- Voice Recorder can be used only during calls.

Comments
This is a good phone for the older generations who cannot be bothered with any other feature in a phone except making and receiving calls. This is equally a good phone for those who are on budget and still desire to use a decent Nokia phone. They will not be disappointed with the Nokia 6020.

If you need a basic, easy to use, quick response, reliable Nokia phone, then the Nokia 6020 will give you good value for money. If you are looking for FM Stereo, MP3 Player, a megapixel camera phone or a video recorder, then you had better move on, as the Nokia 6020 was not designed for that.

Nokia 6020 Handset

If you had been using the normal wired handsfree with your cell phones, then you need to try a wireless one. You will wish you had started using a wireless handsfree earlier because the difference, ease and convenience of use will just be too clear. I never for once like the wired handsfree because the wires were always tangled up. Just at the point I will want to use the handsfree, I have to spend a couple of minutes or more working on the entangled wires. In addition, while driving, the earpiece sometimes fall off my ear as my body shifts in relation to the movement of my car.

Why Use a Bluetooth Headset?
- You are free of wires
- Bluetooth headsets provide extra functionalities than wired headsets
- You can use one bluetooth headset for more than one phone
- It makes you look like a technofreak
- A great and expensive way for men to start wearing an ear-ring (just kidding).

Jabra BT800 or Logitech Mobile Freedom?
I have two bluetooth headsets, the Logitech Mobile Freedom and the Jabra BT800. I have been using the Logitech Mobile Freedom for a while now while I purchased the Jabra BT800 recently. I use the Jabra BT800 while at work and outdoors, while I use the Logitech when indoors.

Logitech Mobile Freedom Headset

The Jabra BT800 is more beautiful and stylish, due to its design while the Logitech Mobile Freedom is less attractive to me. Then, the Logitech Mobile Freedom has a greater signal coverage range than the Jabra BT800 and more suited indoors where you have many walls and barriers reducing the coverage length.

LCD Display in Jabra
The Jabra BT800 is one of the most advanced bluetooth headset in the market today. The Jabra BT800 has an LCD screen underside by which you can view the Caller ID, menu settings and status of the headset. Exactly why someone needs a Caller ID on a bluetooth headset beats my imagination. I thought the original idea was to keep your hands free while answering your calls. Then, the LCD screen in the Jabra BT800 serves other purpose like pairing the headset and menu settings. With the LCD screen, you do not have to guess at all, because you know exactly what you are doing.

Jabra BT800 With LCD Display

Pairing the Jabra
The Jabra BT800 supports pairing with a maximum of eight devices at the same time. I interpreted this to mean that if you have two or more mobile phones, you can pair all of them with the Jabra BT800 and use the headset to make and answer calls on all the phones that you paired with.

I found that I could not connect the Jabra BT800 to my Qtek S100 and Sony Ericsson K700i at the same time, even though I was able to pair both phones successfully with the headset. I can only connect the Jabra BT800 to one phone at a time. This is quite unlike the Bluetrek G2 bluetooth headset, which I read in a review that it supports dual profile or connection with two phones at the same time.

Audio Quality
The audio quality of the Jabra BT800 is good and clear enough even when outdoor in a noisy environment. Even while driving at 110km/hr and with the windows down, I was still able to receive calls on my Jabra BT800 with clarity. This has to do with the DSP (Digital Signal Processing) technology built into the headset.

I noticed that there is always a few seconds delay before the Sony Ericsson K700i transfers the call to the Jabra BT800. This was not a problem with the Logitech Mobile Freedom. After downloading and installing an upgrade from the Jabra’s website, I noticed that the problem became reduced in frequency.

My ultimate aim is to be able to stream audio music from my Pocket PC via bluetooth headset. This I cannot achieve with both the Logitech Mobile Freedom and Jabra BT800 because they both lacked the A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) feature. Presently, I cannot find any bluetooth headset that supports this feature in the local market. I may have to order for this eventually.

Pros of the Jabra BT800
- Great shape and unique design
- Advanced volume control feature using DSP
- LCD display for Caller ID and menu settings. This means no more guess work.
- USB charging system apart from AC adaptor.
- Decent Battery life.

Cons of the Jabra BT800
- Bluetooth range does not reach the stated 30 feet. Range is between 15 to 20 feet.
- Not easily adjusted to wear on the left ear.
- LCD display not bright enough for viewing
- Included USB cable just too short.

Links
www.jabra.com /> www.mobiletechreview.com/tips/Bluetooth_headsets.htm />

Continuing the article started in the previous post, omni-availability has become the lifestyles of many mobile phone users whether they are deliberate subscribers or not. As long as you have made a conscious effort to be always available on your mobile phone, you are subscriber to omni-availability.

Different people want to be always available to answer calls on their mobile phones due to various reasons. These are enumerated below.

I am Important and Popular
It gives some people a sense of importance and being popular when they are seen by others answering calls on their mobile phones, irrespective of whether the call is important or not. I think it has to do with pride or ego. Sometimes people answered calls on their mobile phone even while driving on the fast lane on a busy road, only to chitchat with some friends.

All Mobile Phones Calls Are Important
People just have the belief that all calls on mobile phones are important and must therefore be answered promptly. Maybe this has to do with the fact that mobile phone calls are generally more expensive than the traditional landline call. Therefore, people are always ready to bend over backward to answer any call that comes to their mobile phones whether it is convenient to answer the call or not. This is especially true in the case when a person does not always receive many calls from people. Such individual tends to treat every call as being important. You know, it is sometimes a thrill and a break of monotony of the day for you to receive a call on your mobile phone, especially if your phone has been silent since the beginning of the day.

The Squealer Talkative
Some individuals are great talkers by nature. They are always yapping on the phone to friends, relatives or colleagues. In addition, such individuals tend to surround themselves also with other great talkers. As a result, whenever they are not physically with their friends, the mobile phone keeps them in touch. They will not want to miss an opportunity to talk with someone on the phone.

My Job Demands It
I will round this up with this last point. One very good reason to be always available on mobile phones is the situation where your job demands it. As a result of the type of job you do, you just have to be reachable at all times. This is especially true if your job involves emergency and failure to reach you may spell problems for someone or an operation.

About three weeks ago, I witnessed a scene in a banking hall of one of the old generation banks in Lagos. Some of the customers, including self, were queuing up as usual to be attended to by the ever-slowing bank cashiers. The mobile phone of a middle-age woman behind me rang and she proceeded to answer her call.

While she was still talking on the phone, one of the bank’s security man walked up to her and demanded that she switch off her mobile phone immediately. These conversations ensued between them:

Security Man: Madam, please switch off your mobile, this is a bank.
Woman: (Ignores him and continue to talk on the phone)
Security Man: I say, switch off your mobile, or I will be forced to seize it from you
Woman: (After hanging up) did I hear you right? You want to seize my phone?
Security Man: You are not permitted to make calls in a banking hall. Please switch off that phone now.
Woman: I don’t switch off my phone. I will just put it on silent mode, that should be ok.
Security Man: You must switch off completely, otherwise you leave.
Woman: I will not switch off and I will not leave. I am doing my business and you are doing yours, why should we disturb each other? My phone is always on. People must be able to reach me.

When the security man saw that he could not make the woman comply with his instruction, he went to call the chief security officer, who in turn pointed to the woman, the “Switch off Your Cell Phone” signs displayed on the walls. The woman explained that as a medical director of a hospital, it is very important for her to be reachable at all times, as this can mean life or death to someone. What the bank needed to do was to strengthen their security more, instead of disallowing their customers to make or receive calls in the bank. After all, some banks in Lagos permit their customers to freely make and receive phone calls while inside the banking hall.

This goes to buttress the point that some jobs demand omni-availability lifestyles of mobile phones. This is the ability to reach and be reached at anytime and any place on your mobile phone.

Consequences of Omni-Availability Lifestyles
- You can reach and always be reached on your mobile phone
- You maximise the use of your mobile phone
- Sometimes, you disregard social or institutional rules to answer your phone calls.
- You can be a nuisance to others at times when answering phone calls in the wrong places.

Are you a subscriber to omni-availability?