Mobile essentials

20 years ago, you needed a shoulder case to carry a mobile phone that did nothing but allow you to call for a few minutes between recharges. Today, all in one slick little handset, you can:

• browse the internet
• watch TV
• download and upload videos
• listen to hours and hours of music
• check your email

Having all these nifty features on your phone is a wonderful example of ‘digital convergence’ – the drawing together of all different aspects of digital technology into one handy little place, with the need for single purpose items starting to become a thing of the past.

Whatever you’re looking for, you can expect your new little phone to have some pretty grand features. This section tells you all you need to know about the digital age in your pocket.

More and more mobile phones actually look and feel like miniature TVs, with big, bright colour screens and clear stereo sound. 3G technology has really started to take hold in the UK and with it comes the ability to get downloadable and live streaming videos, and to tune into a growing selection of mobile TV channels. There’s so much to know about mobile TV that we’ve given it its own page.

Camera phones have come a long way in a short time. It wasn’t long ago that some came in the form of a cumbersome attachment that plugged into your phone. Most, whether detachable or not, took blurry photos. Now they’re built in with many offering both a front and a back camera for those handy self-portraits.

Many new phones come with removable memory that lets you store hundreds of photos and video clips and some come with special software so you can easily download your photos to your computer.

Having a camera on your phone lets you snap life as it happens and instantly share your view of the world with your friends, in high resolution, digital format.

Find out more about cameras on your mobile.

One of the biggest growths in mobile services has come from the worlds of music and the gaming industry. Remember ghetto blasters? Remember the size of the giant box that contained the very first Pac Man and Asteroids machines? Now think iPod, Zen, Nintendo DS.

Now just imagine being able to squeeze the best of these services into one slick mobile phone. That’s about the size of what some of the newest phones can do.

With portable memory cheaper, bigger and more compact than ever before, and with the runaway popularity of personal music and gaming, all but a few specialised mobile phones provide stunning game play and substantial music storage.

uSwitch.com tells you all you need to know about mobile games and music on your mobile.