Mobile and Smart Phone Issues - Information You Should Know

Ever wonder why your phone performs so badly when your friends , on another carrier, seems to work really well? It isn't just the service. This short article explains why this sometimes happens and why you can't delete those sample wallpapers from your phone.

Please be aware that many issues reported or experienced with Mobile and Smart Phones  are due to "Branding" and carrier software customization.

When purchasing a phone through a phone company or on a plan they often "lock" a phone and add or modify parts of a phones software.(The ROM or firmware) Many of these customizations are held in the phones "extended ROM" which is not, without modification, accessible to a user. Some companies may add customizations that unintentionally creates problems.

Carriers have also been known to use this method to restrict or remove a phones features that they wish to charge for. An example of this would be a carrier who prevents a user from adding custom ring tones or background wallpapers because they want to sell them at an extra charge. (tethering is a phone feature too - companies only started charging for it recently)

These customizations are therefore not removable without special software tools. That is why you often can't delete sample wallpapers, audio files etc. It may also be why your phone runs slowly while your friends phone of the same model but on a different carrier seems to work much better. The carrier may also customize the software component of the radio in order to better suit their service.

What can you do ?

Read and learn... with a little research you can find the tools and information necessary to unlock your phone , transfer files, delete the extended ROM, change the radio or even install a cooked ROM (custom ROM / modified Operating System for the phone) There are many communities out there dedicated to modifying smart-phones. One of the best is dedicated to Windows smart-phones, xda-developers.

If you go down this path be careful. You will learn a lot but there is always a chance that you may "brick" your device. Always read and research more than you think you need to.

If you are submitting an issue report to us we are particularly interested in a few things and would appreciate it if users would report them.

• Can the user change the battery without sending it to the manufacturer.
• Is it encumbered by DRM
• Are there any hardware restrictions not present on other devices of the same class

Please do not report carrier specific issues.

Use our custom Google search by clicking the following link to find other relevant reviews or faults associated with the Smart Phones.
(results are displayed within this site.)

Follow these links to find out the product features or to compare prices.