I just can't do it Captain; I don't have the power!

Personally, I've always been astonished at how battery life on a mobile device has never seemed to be a priority with manufacturers. What's the use in giving us all this super fast processing power, hi-def screens, system intensive apps and the like if we're only able to squeeze roughly 8 hours of use from the device and in many cases much, much less!?

In my opinion battery life should be at the forefront of manufacturer's concerns, ahead of how many cores the thing has, the size of the screens and yes, even the size zero thinness we've all come to know and expect from our smartphones. That's why it was great to see Motorola release a dedicated battery powerhouse device in the Razr Maxx. 3000+ mAh batteries should be the standard. Despite a great performance in Europe even the Galaxy Note's hefty 2000+ mAh battery suffered when the device was introduced to the US and adopted the awesome but power-hungry LTE technology.

It should be simple enough really. Nokia have made a step in the right direction it seems by announcing the 1600.2487.8107.12070 ROM update which is said to triple to battery life of it's flagship Lumia 800 series of phones. Now while I think this may be a slight overestimation of the ability of this update (although I'll be happy to be proved wrong) it will no doubt come as great news to those who own what otherwise is an absolutely fantastic device. However considering that this is a single core phone with a relatively small screen it begs the question, 'Isn't this a problem that could have quite easily been avoided?' I mean, I know that the Lumia 800's unique hardware approach may have played a hand in the undermining it battery potential but surely not so significantly.

Anyway. That's enough of that. As you all know we're expecting iPad 3 news very soon so check back for my entirely meaningless opinions on Apple's latest offering.

Size Matters...

Now I have big hands (Ladies *wink*) but on first contact with the Samsung Galaxy note, those hands felt dwarfed. I genuinely couldn't fathom why anybody would ever require a mobile device that is dangerously close to being mistaken for a prop from the film Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

Yet it seems another niche has been discovered in the market and that is of course, Phablets. Phablets, for those of you who haven't figured it out yet, are smartphone/tablet hybrids genuinely classified by their size which tends toward the 5 to 5.3 inch range, with anything smaller being considered a smartphone and anything larger, a tablet.

Now personally, for me, a phone with a 4.3 inch screen is the sweet spot. I can easily navigate the device with one hand and it fits comfortably in the pocket. I'm a complete and utter media whore when it comes to my personal devices. I'm talking games, videos, music streaming, app downloads, the lot, so anything with a reduced screen size is inevitably a disappointment (*cough* iPhone 4s). The 4.7 inch screens found on a lot recent smartphones such as the Galaxy Nexus (which to be fair actually incorporates the screen size with minimal intrusion) are tolerable and again, great for media but I do find them just outside the range of complete and utter comfort in day to day use.

Which brings me to Phablets and the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note and the upcoming LG Optimus Vu. Although new to US shores we've had the Galaxy Note over here in the UK for since about November which is sometime now and I will say this, as sceptical as I was at first, if you can get used to the size of this leviathan then you are in for one hell of a smartphone experience. If like me, media on the go is your thing then the 5.3 inch Super AMOLED screen will offer the best mobile experience possible, proving more convenient to carry and pull out than a tablet. Praise should also be heaped on the device's mammoth 2500 mAh battery which, despite the huge screen size will easily see you through the day and is second only to Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx in the entire Android spectrum.

It's proving to definitely be a love or hate thing with Phablets but if the size can be tolerated then evolution in this area of the mobile world should prove very exciting over the years to come. Would I personally carry the Samsung Galaxy Note on a day to day basis? It's hard to say. As previously stated 4.3 inches really is my own personal sweet spot but everybody's different and if you can handle the girth of the Galaxy Note, then you deserve to be rewarded, which I'm certain you will be.