Today Gartner published their figures for the past year. In total, the worldwide >mobile phone sales to end users totalled 1.211 billion units in 2009, a 0.9 per cent decline from 2008. This is, if you bear in mind the global recession, a decent result.

The fourth quarter of 2009 ended quite positive with a increase of 8.3 percent. In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 per cent increase from 2008. Athough Symbian and Nokia are still market leader, they lost approx two (Nokia) and five per cet compared to the previous year. Also Sony Ericsson’s market share decreased two per cent.

Going a little off topic, I wanted to take a look at some connectivity tools and the best solutions out there. Connecting your device to a PC or laptop is an essential aspect for mobile users, whether its to back up your data, or simply send content to or from your PC. Most computers offer built in bluetooth technologies, however its usually at an extra cost or in a higher spec model, which again means more cost. So the other option is to buy a USB bluetooth adapter or dongle to enable this connectivity measure on your computer.

Major mobile phone manufacturers have signed an agreement to standardise charging ports on all data enabled devices sold in Europe. According to Reuters ten major mobile phone manufacturers including Nokia have agreed to the deal backed by the European Commission.

What does this mean? Well for starters it will reduce the waste created from unwanted accessories. If you’re travelling, there will be no need to lug around multiple chargers (as many PMP’s also use micro USB), and struggling to find the right charger at your mates house will be a thing of the past.

Today I’ll show you how to convert videos for your Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, iPhone or whatever device in just a few steps. It’s easy as nothing, you don’t need to select any bitrates, codes or so. All you need is a little freeware application called XMedia Recode which you can be downloaded for free here.

Today I came across a new service called Vopium. Vopium reduces the costs of your international calls and international SMS. However, how does it work and is it really useful? Read more to get the answer.

How it works:

Vopium is free, there are no monthly fee, no call set-up charges, no hidden fees. When you make an international call, Vopium re-routes your call as a local call to a Vopium gateway and then via premium global traffic carriers to ensure top-notch voice quality. All you need to pay is your mobile provider for a local call and Vopium for the international add-on.