There are some great choices in smartphones, netbooks and ultra-portable laptops and of course it’s all a compromise. The more compact and light the device, the less space there is for the screen, keyboard and features.

Dell have bridged the gap between netbooks and ultra-portable laptops like the Macbook Air with their latest product, the Inspiron Mini 12. It’s thin and light but with a 12” screen instead of the typical 10” screen of the popular netbooks and a larger keyboard. It’s also much cheaper than the more fully featured ultra-portable laptops at an online price of $749.

If you want something stylish and very usable to browse the web, check emails and use an entertainment device then the Inspiron Mini 12 might just be the ideal option. Dell have more information and full specs.

• worldwide smartphone shipments rose by 28% in the third quarter 2008. The figures reached a new high of 39.9 million
• Nokia is still the market leader and has held that position for several years. This quarter Apple and RIm made inroads into narrowing the gap.
• Smartphones now represent 13% of the overall mobile phone market. This is up from 11% last quarter.
• Apple overtook RIM to take second place after the release of the iphone 3G
• The top 5 smartphone vendors this quarter were Nokia, Apple, RIM, Motorola and HTC
• In an interview with 13,000 European mobile phone users, touch screens emerged as the most popular device design

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is now available. It’s very similar in all respects to the competition such as the Asus Eee PC 900, the MSI Wind and the Acer Aspire One. The size is on par 6.8 x 9.2 x1. The keyboard is slightly smaller than the MSI Wind but is well designed and easy to use.

One difference is that there are more options to customise the spec. For example there is a choice of hard drive size and add-ons can be purchased such as an internal Bluetooth antenna.

Reviews have been good. David Flynn from SMH.com.au gives it 4.5 out of 5 and says “If you’re in the market for a netbook, this should be near the top of your list”

Buy directly from Dell at an online price of $599.

See our previous coverage of mini-netbooks.

Previously they were offering 5GB per month for $39.95 but this was only available in a bundled package for customers who purchased mobile broadband and a phone plan. Now they have unbundled the offering so 5GB at $39.95 is available as a standalone plan. They are also offering 1GB per month at $19.95 plus $5 per month for the modem.

As pointed out by ITnews, these plans still don’t stack up that well against other providers. 3 Mobile have 1GB for $15 which is the cheapest mobile broadband available. They also have a more competitive 6GB plan for $39 per month. Virgin Broadband have a 5GB plan for $39 per month with no excess data charges.

It integrates standard mobile phone calls with skype calls or chat to other skype users. There is a  monthly allocation of 4000 skype-to-skype minutes plus 10,000 chat messages. That’s pretty good, it’s over 2 hours a day of free calls. The skypephone is free on the $29 Cap plan with a $29 minimum monthly spend over 12 months. More details are available on the 3 mobile website.

This positive review is from a user who is happy with the functionality especially when you consider pricing compared with the much more up market iPhone. The skypephone enables you to connect to the Internet to access emails and perform some rudimentary web browsing. The browser is lacking compared with the iPhone and other smartphones however the skype phone can be used as a modem connected to a laptop and you can connect to the Internet that way.

News from the UK this week is that 3 Mobile will expand the offering to include skype out calls as well as skype to skype. This enhances the usability greatly as it means that calls can be made to other networks and landlines not just other skype users. There’s no news on whether 3 Mobile Australia will offer similar packages but even with the more limited skype to skype it still looks good if you use skype regularly like we do.

However it doesn’t like we’ll see the latest smartphone any time soon in Australia. It’s doubtful whether any of the carriers will carry the Android phone this year. It’s looking more like first quarter next year. ZDNet called Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and 3 Mobile as well as the top handset makers and received no news of any impending arrival in Australia.

The news is still interesting from the perspective of why Google have entered the mobile broadband market and the gaps they see in the market.

At the US launch, Google co-founder Larry Brin said: “You always have your phone on you but you do not always have your laptop with you, it is quite difficult to carry it all the time…being able to do a search with all the flexibility that you are used to having on a laptop is really, really worthwhile and we are really excited about it.”

And Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer, T-Mobile USA said: “Why did we invest in this platform? Mobile broadband networks have been out for years now, but compelling devices and applications have been lacking. Mobile Internet lags at a dismal 16 percent in the U.S.”

It’s not enough to have the mobile broadband networks. In order to make mobile broadband compelling enough for consumers it has to be usable, affordable and there has to be applications targeted at the mobile environment in addition to business applications and entertainment currently available on PCs with fixed broadband.

The Android operating system is open source and it will be up to developers to create applications on the Android platform for the mobile marketplace.

The pre-cursor to the Touch Pro, the Touch Diamond, has been hugely popular. The Touch Pro looks almost identical but is slightly thicker.  The reason for the extra thickness is that the smartphone incorporates a slide out qwerty keyboard. One of the drawbacks with the Touch Diamond is the lack of keyboard functionality especially for business users. The Touch Pro also has an increase in memory compared with the Touch Diamond and better battery life. Business users will be pleased with the TV-OUT functionality enabling data projection and presentation.

In the last six months mobile and wireless broadband subscriptions have doubled.

An Ovum analyst commented on the surge in mobile broadband stating that the price war is most likely the reason. Costs for mobile broadband have fallen significantly.

However he also made the prediction that prices have likely bottomed out for now and made reference to the congestion problems experienced by networks.

ZDNet have the full story.

It’s just over 1kg in weight, 9.13 inches wide and a bit thinner than the Asus Eee PC.  It’s available in Australia in black, looks very stylish and most importantly stacks up well against other offerings in terms of usability.

Battery life is good with an average 3-4 hours. The keyboard is
well designed with good size keys for the space available. It has an 8.9 inch sceen with a webcam at the top and speakers at
the bottom.

It’s powered by an Intel Atom processor and is powerful and quiet.

It comes with 1GB of RAM, a 16GB solid-state hard drive, and Windows XP. Connections are standard with 3 USB ports, headphone and mic jacks, a VGA out, SD card slot, and an Ethernet jack.

At $599 directly from Dell, it’s a great buy for anyone looking for the ultimate in ultra-portable laptops.

Consumers in the UK are finding it easier to access broadband both at home and on the move and are turning to mobile broadband products in droves.

The report also found that people pay less for broadband access now than they did a couple of years ago. This was attributed to three factors:

• Bundling - People are purchasing more than one service from a provider in a bundled package, such as broadband, mobile phone and landline. This usually works out cheaper than buying each product separately
• Lower Prices - costs for mobile broadband are coming down all the time with increased competition between providers to get market share
• Bargain hunting - consumers are willing to shop around for the latest mobile broadband deals and offers and are becoming more likely to switch providers to get a better deal.

Ireland is also showing the same trends. A recent report indicated that mobile broadband subscriptions were up 400% in the last year (up to June 2008). This figure took the overall broadband penetration rate up to 24.3%. If you take away the figures for mobile broadband the penetration would be 19.2% so it shows how popular mobile broadband is particularly for new subscribers to broadband.

Broadband penetration in Australia is expected to grow significantly over the next couple of years and the same mobile broadband increases are likely.