It was due to arrive this Friday but the silver version of the new Nokia N8 is now physically in stock with the CPW group, which includes Onestopphoneshop and e2save. The black Nokia N8 is also due sometime this week.

The 12 megapixel camera records 720p video and professional optics from Carl Zeiss combine with a xenon flash, face recognition and geo-tagging to bring possibly the best camera and video package available. The multimedia story doesn’t end here though, with thoughtful inclusion like an HDMI interface for TV or projector connectivity for compatibility with home cinema systems.

The Nokia N8 has a 3.5 inch OLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 640×360 pixels. Your own widgets can be added to the three customisable home screens which can be accessed with a simple finer swipe. The home screen shows live updates from social networking sites and there’s a dedicated widget for Facebook and Twitter, bringing them into one application.

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Free on contract from £35 per month, the intuitive i8700 Omnia 7 is Samsung’s first smartphone to run the Microsoft Windows Mobile 7 OS. Various Microsoft services headline the feature set such as Xbox Live gaming and Zune for videos & music. Samsung has also added their twist to the user interface and included quick photo sharing to multiple Social Networking sites, a customisable homescreen with Live Tiles and a Now Hub for the latest news, weather and stock prices.

The Omnia 7 is packed with everything we have come to expect from Samsung, GPS navigation is offered with Bing Maps, 3G HSDPA Web browsing is also provided along with Bing Search. The touch sensitive 4 inch Super AMOLED display is perfectly designed for use with the 5 megapixel camera and HD video capture is only one of the many camera features.

The final note worthy feature is the Microsoft Office document viewer/editor that enables email attachments to be opened as well as making this a viable option for the business user.

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The news kept flying in yesterday with the exciting launch of the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Operating System and details of new handsets that are set to support the OS with pre-Christmas launches. Orange, T-Mobile, O2 and Three have all put their cards on the table and we hope to receive news from Vodafone soon.

The Samsung Omnia 7 is inbound on all four networks and features Xbox Live and Zune multimedia capabilities. The super-AMOLED touch sensitive display combines with photo enhancing tools to provide the very best visual experience.

The HTC 7 Mozart will launch with Orange & T-Mobile and boasts an impressive audio package with a virtual sound system. The Mozart also features a high-spec 8 megapixel camera with xenon flash.

The HTC HD7 will travel towards O2 first and the handsfree kickstand and surround sound speakers make this smartphone ideal for experiencing all types of media files and HD video at 720p.

Finally, the LG Optimus 7 will launch with Orange and again offers HD video at 720p. LG has optimised the user experience with voice-to-text and enhanced search functions.

There will be more news to come as Christmas approaches so keep your eye on our blog. We’ll be comparing prices on pre-order deals as soon as they become available.

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The Samsung Monte isn’t as well-known as the likes of the Galaxy S, HTC Desire or Nokia N8. However it’s a worthy touchscreen phone that’s also excellent value for money.

Available on Vodafone in either pink, or black with orange trim, or on T-Mobile or Virgin Mobile in dark grey colour. You’ll pay just £10 per month on any of these networks with 100 minute and 500 texts.

The Samsung Monte has a 3 inch capacitive touchscreen to bring messaging, photos, videos and the Internet to life. The TouchWiz user interface employs intuitive graphics to guide the user from menu to application with ease. Social network integration with live updates ensures the latest gossip and pictures are only a touch away, while texts, emails and Palringo instant messaging provide a complete communication package. Access to the Internet is fast and seamless with HSDPA, Wi-Fi and a full HTML web browser. In addition to browsing, multiple applications can be downloaded to personalise and expand the functionality of the Monte.

With operation in either landscape or portrait views the 3.2 megapixel camera offers quality imaging. The use of the camera is further expanded with smile detection, geo-tagging, self timer, night mode, image editor and QVGA video capture at 15 frames per second. Once your media has been captured it can be stored onto the 200MB memory, that can be expanded up to 16GB with a microSD card. The media player handles all popular music and video formats, and can be enjoyed using the built-in speakers, via a Bluetooth headset or on your own headphones connected to the standard 3.5mm audio jack. The audio quality is exceptional and boasts 3D sound effects and DNSe (digital natural sound engine). Live music 24 hours a day can also be obtained using the built-in stereo FM radio with RDS.

Further notable features include Google Maps 3.0, A-GPS support, Wi-Fi, a document viewer and quad-band international roaming. The Monte weighs only 92g and has dimensions of 109×54x12mm. The battery standby of up to 760 hours is superb and matched by the talk-time of almost six hours. The Samsung Monte S5620 is almost unsurpassed for functionality and has a sporty design with its visually striking colour stripe.

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The Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type hits stores and web sites this week. Nokia has turned the tables on the ever growing touchscreen smartphone market and produced a new innovation that combines the finger pleasing swipes and taps of touch operation with the speed of typing on a physically responsive alphanumeric keypad, that of course supports T9 predictive text.

Web browsing over the 3G HSDPA or Wi-Fi connections becomes a joy with vertical and horizontal scrolling and the touch-operated menu is easy to navigate. Facebook and Twitter pages are cleverly merged into one App and email and instant messaging with Windows and Yahoo are also supported.

The camera is up to spec as well with 5 megapixels, video record and a 4x digital zoom that is perfect for taking scenery shots. The memory is expandable with a microSD card and with access to the Ovi Music Store and dedicated music keys this is the perfect device for keeping the hottest tunes mobile.

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Orange and T-Mobile customers are now able to use either network. 30 million customers – the combined customer base of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK – are offered the opportunity to access both networks, enabling them to make calls and send texts in more places in the UK for no extra cost.

So if you’re on Orange your phone will pick up a T-Mobile signal if it doesn’t pick up an Orange signal, and vice versa. Charges stay the same, nothing will change, you’ll just get more network coverage.

Customers need to sign up at the Orange or T-Mobile web sites using either of the links below.

Orange customers click here

T-Mobile customers click here