Mobile phones are not associated with an increased risk of the most common type of brain tumour, finds the first UK study of the relationship between mobile phone use and risk of glioma. The results are published online by the British Medical Journal. The four year study by the Universities of Leeds, Nottingham and Manchester and the Institute of Cancer Research, London found those who had regularly used a mobile phone were not at a greater overall risk of developing this type of tumour.

A significantly increased risk was found for tumours which developed on the same side of the head as the phone was reported to have been held but this was mirrored by a decrease in the risk on the opposite side of the head making it difficult to interpret as a real effect.

Seems I wasn't far wrong when I thought the only way Microsoft's new OS makes sense was if they would be launching their own mobile phone. This is a post from their own blog:

"Windows Mobile is reborn. We all met the new Windows Phone 7 and by the end of the year we'll meet the first smartphones based on it. Reportedly, Microsoft will launch their own phone in early 2011 as well. And it will be made by Asus."
"According to the Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar, there is more to see from the company. A Microsoft branded mobile phone. Currently, it's in the works and is expected to be ready for its premiere sometime at the beginning of the next year."

I think Microsoft made a mistake changing the name of its new operating system for mobile phones. Windows Mobile rolls off the tongue. Windows Phone 7 Series gets stuck, and is like something you would find in a BMW. Also it's confusing for a lot of people who's home language is not English in that they think it's an actual phone.

The only way it makes any sense to me is if Microsoft is actually thinking of building their own phones (let's not forget they make keyboards and mouses and a whole lot of other hardware), so it wouldn't surprise me.

It appears to me that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are two technologies that are slowly evolving into basically the same thing. What with the Bluetooth PAN network, (which I’ve found works very well), and now with Bluetooth 3.0 utilizing the 802.11 protocol, which gives a theoretical data throughput of 24 Mbps, one wonders why we need two seemingly competing technologies taking up precious space on our mobile phones.

I’m aware that Wi-Fi can’t handle things like mouses and keyboards, and there are things that Bluetooth can’t do that Wi-Fi can, but surely they could be combined into one technology that would do everything.

So, Microsoft announced the release of WM 7 at MWC2010. Like a lot of people this is the one I've been waiting for, WM6.5 being just a gap filler. It looks like this release could be the one where MS gets all their ducks in a row, although it seems that they won't allow custom interfaces over their OS anymore, so what you see is what you get.

Also, you will only be able to install new programs from their own Marketplace, much like Apple's Appstore, but I'm not sure this will be a good thing, seeing as it could stifle other developers. Only time will tell whether they have got it right this time, but for now I can't wait to get my hands on a mobile running it.

I know this phone as been mentioned before because it has a small projector built in, but what I didn't know is that it also uses the new Super-Amoled display like the one the Wave uses, only bigger..the Beam has a 3.7" screen. At 800MHz the Beam's possessor is a bit slower than the Wave's, and the Beam is a pretty chunky phone, (probably because of the projector), but I think all in all this could be a phone worth checking out if it is released here.

Windows Mobile has built in appeal for some people, simply because it's made by the biggest software company in the world...Microsoft. (I know there are others who hate Windows for the very same reason, but I'm not one of them). Ever since the first day when I unpacked my Omnia and turned it on, and it had almost the same home screen as my laptop, everything seemed right with the world. But that rosy picture has faded quite a bit over the last year or so because there are some serious issues with Windows Mobile Device Centre and Active Sync, Specifically the loss of all contacts on your mobile, and strange goings on with the calender when you attempt to sync with your home computer.

When it first came out some reviewers complained about the Omnia's stylus not having a place of safety somewhere on the phone, but that fact didn't worry me...until I lost it. I was a bit shocked when I was told at a well known cellphone shop that a replacement was going to cost me R250, but after briefly considering buying a cheap generic one I decided to go with the original Samsung. Needless to say I was now going to be very careful not to lose it, (and has luck would have it, I found the one I thought I had lost as well).

About a year ago Samsung released an 'Eco-friendly' phone with a solar-panel on the back called the 'Blue Earth'. This seemed like a great idea to me at the time, and I was expecting to see all mobile phones eventually coming out with solar-panels on the back cover, but for some reason this hasn't happened.

Now I'm pretty sure that like me, everyone hates having to charge their cell's battery, and simply leaving your mobile out in the sun for a few hours to charge it would be really convenient,especially seeing we live in a country with oodles of sunshine? So what is wrong with the technology? Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why it hasn't been more widely adopted.

[This information does not necessarily apply to the South African market]

I think this phone is going to be one of the best Android OS phones released this year. The 1GHz Snapdragon CPU should make this phone really zippy, plus there is the 32Gb onboard memory, and the option to add another 32 - all good.

The 3.7" screen should be great too with its 16M colours. I just wish Samsung could squeeze a slightly bigger one in, say 4". Perhaps in the next one.

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