The latest happening in mobile phones 26/2

Hi everyone, in this Hub I'll be pointing out some of the stories shaking up the mobile phone (or cell phone if you're American) world!

If you've read any of my previous hub you may well knwo that this is a subject close to my heart and as such can sometimes get a bit opionated on certain things, but don't worry I'm not the be all and end all on the subject by any stetch of the imagination. The great thing about the Mobile Phone world is that it's constantly changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

In Spain one bank is changing the way we access our finances, La Caixa has a new service where customers can use a virtual cash machine with their 3G mobile phone.

The new initiative aims to cut down the snaking queues in front of cash machines, whilst you can't obviously magic money out of thin air it does allow you to do some of the other tasks you'd normally do at the cash machine such as check balances and get mini statements. I personally think this is a good thing, as mobile phones are secure enough these days to be able to handle the data for this. Plus there's nothing worse than being stood outside a cash machine waiting to get some money out in the pouring rain and some joker in front of you is stood under an umbrella checking their bank balance!

In the UK we may get frustrated with Mobile Phone networks every now and then but this is nothing compared to the threat mobile networks in Afghanistan are facing. The terrorist group the Taliban have threatened to target Mobile Phone networks if they do not comply with their demands.

The reason the operators are being threatened is that the Taliban believes that US troops are using phone networks to track their members, as such the Taliban want the mobile networks to shut down operations betweenthe hours of 17:00 and 03:00. If the networks don't comply then the group say they will destroy mobile phone masts.

I don't think they need to worry so much, the GPS on my mobile phone is awful and can hardly find my location down town, never mind the mountains in the Middle East!

So another week goes by and we've had a ton of new mobile phones hinted at, one I'm particularly looking forward is the Windows Mobile powered SonyEricsson Xperia X1, I've been enjoying the mobile computing element of my new N95 as of late but I think the Xperia phone is looking pretty cool and would be a great alternative to the Nokia equivalent out there.

Another point, my mother was looking for a new mobile phone recently and I clearly didn't inherit my love for technology form her since she didn't know what to go for, tihng is I turned up at her house the other day and she's got herself a pretty cool Sony K850i! I asked her where she got it form and she told me that moneysupermarket.com have added mobile phones to their comparison site and she got a good deal there, bit of a case of mixed feelings; disappointed she wouldn't consult with me but mostly I was proud she's made her first steps into shiny new mobiles like me!

'Til nex time