With the imminent introduction of the BlackBerry Bold, HTC Diamond and the rumoured 3G iPhone, deciding which mobile phone to opt for is never an easy task.

Gone are the days when you just got a phone to make calls on. Now your phone acts as the “gateway to your digital world” offering you the chance to surf the internet, take a picture, listen to music and even take calls.

With so many new devices coming on the market almost every week, when is a good time to make the leap of faith and get the model for you? After all you don’t want to buy something only for it to be superseded the following week.

The bad news is that at the moment that is what is likely to happen. There have already been mobile phone launches this month from RIM, Motorola, HTC and Samsung. Apple, HTC, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, Palm, LG and Samsung have all confirmed they have more models to come before the year is out.

Like the computer industry, the mobile phone industry is moving at a fast pace. In Britain it is an upgrade market, but that does not mean it is a bad time to buy. We are in a lull from a technology standpoint. Most high-end phones now sport cameras, GPS, Wi-Fi and HSDPA connectivity for faster internet surfing. Although technology, like NFC and Wimax, is on the way, it is unlikely to be on the mass market in the next year. What we are likely to see is an improvement in how we interact with these devices. The Google-backed Android operating system from the Open Handset Alliance is promising iPhone functionality, on your favourite handset. Even before launching the Diamond, HTC confirmed that it will market an Android handset this year.

With all that said, if a phone that is on offer suits your requirements, then go for it. Yes, there will be smaller, faster, easier-to-use handsets on the market within the next couple of months, but then if you wait for everything, you will soon find that you will have been using your old phone longer than you needed to.

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