The latest in an increasing number of 8 megapixel camera phones to be hitting the shelves is the LG KC910 (also known as the Renoir), which here at Mobiles.co.uk we were lucky enough to get a little sneak peak of before it goes on sale later this month.

LG’s latest triumph, sizes up as 107.8 x 55.9 x 14 mm with a weight of 114g, the display is TFT touch screen (256k colours) and it has a flash based user interface. The screen is a fairly impressive 3.0 inches and boasts 240 x 400 pixels making it the biggest and clearest in comparison to some of its main competitors such as the Sony Ericsson C905 and Samsung i8510.

Now personally (and if you are an avid reader of the blog you will know that I have said this before) I’m not a huge fan of touch screens however I was given the chance to test drive this 8 megapixel giant so I thought I should give it a fair trial and on first impression I have to admit that I was rather impressed with the look and build of it. Make no doubt about it the phone is rather big however; it is also quite light and fits nicely in the palm of your hand whilst you navigate with the other.

I loved the big bright screen and as you can see from the image above, the picture quality is amazing. The four icons at the bottom of the touch screen take you to different areas of the phone. Starting from the left there is call history, phone book, messaging and main menu whereby you can find your way through to anything else i.e. music, settings, camera etc. One thing I didn’t immediately get however, actually that’s a lie, I still don’t get is the desktop layout. Not that it’s a huge deal, if a deal at all, I just couldn’t seem to get my head around the applications which you find on the front. As you can just see from the image you get a clock face for time which is pretty standard but what you cant see is below you also get a post it note for little reminders so you have to scroll up and down to find different things and even though they can be moved they cannot be put within viewing range of each other?? And if you touch that blue hook on the right of the screen a blue tray appears with another clock on it that just wobbles about. The phone to be fair didn’t come with a manual so I couldn’t check up on it however I’m sure it holds some magical use that just goes over my head.

My biggest issue with touch screen mobile phones is that I’ve always thought that my fingers are too big to be prodding around on the screen, before this, the thought of texting on one was actually quite daunting and when there was no stylus to be found I only thought the worst, however I honestly could not fault it after giving it a worthy series of tests. Once I started to play around with the phone, nothing could be easier. The menu’s are set out in such a way that you cannot confuse one thing with the other, and they are large enough for anyone’s fingers, therefore navigating my way round the phone was a breeze, even the camera features which included large easy to use icons, drop down menu’s and my personal favourite, a sliding image gallery whereby if you put your finger on the screen and just slide to either the left or right it will take you to the next or previous image/video.

Right, now for the key attraction and selling point for the KC910, it’s 8 megapixel camera which include automatic and manual focus, image stabiliser and a range of face detection features which did come in use when I was outside taking a few example photos as it was quite a windy day but still it managed to capture images instantly with perfect clarity. It is also equipped with a Xenon flash which is much brighter than the standard LED flash found on most phones and on top of that, the KC910 uses its built-in GPS to geo-tag photographs automatically. The KC910 also excels in the video department recording at 30 frames per second and slow motion 120 fps QVGA videos are also available.

Here are some examples of the KC910’s full potential. I couldn’t believe how much detail the phone manages to squeeze into the image. I recently took the slightly less powerful 5 megapixel KC550 for a spin and that impressed me, however I’ve seen nothing to date that can rival this photo capturing monster. Granted it was a bright day so everything was in the phones favour but the contrast in colours are amazing, in particular the red weird looking things to the right, who’s name still elude me where I put the camera right up close to judge how the camera coped with close up images and I think it’s safe to say it doesn’t struggle too much.

Below I have made use of the cameras zoom function. To the left is a close up of the image directly above at about 50% and yet the image does not falter for colour or clarity in the slightest, if anything it captures the light even better. To the right is a close up of the red bulb at 100% and again even though the background is slightly less noticeable the main ingredient to the photo is as sharp as ever. If anything this phone has just depressed me a little bit as when I gave it back I had to return to my original lowly 3.2 megapixel state, in the knowledge that phones such as the KC910 are soon to be among us.

The LG, as mentioned above offers a full touch screen experience unlike any other 8 megapixel in the market however unlike the Samsung i8510 it only runs on a flash user interface, therefore unable to increase its functionality with the addition of third party software offered by the Symbian Operating System which the fore mentioned i8510 possess.

On the brighter side it does have built-in GPS receiver including GPS functions, TV out functionality, Java MIDP 2.0, WAP and WI-FI connections, Bluetooth 2.0 so you can listen to music via a Bluetooth headset (something I wanted to try but never got the chance to) and to top it all off it has HSDPA 7.2 mbps internet capabilities for ultra fast browsing and downloading.

So to sum up, as far as Touchscreens go, I genuinely can’t find a big enough fault to make me not want to rush out and buy this phone when it launches later this month. It has a very responsive screen, that even I used with minimal fuss, easy to operate menus throughout the handset, whether you’re just changing basic settings, playing a game, or evening chopping and changing music tracks and playlists and not to be forgetting, it has one hell of a camera that wouldn’t look out of place next to your everyday digital camera.

Hey, go take a walk, why don't ya?

That is, with Nokia Maps 2.0. Nokia announced at GSMA 2008 that its newest version of the mapping and software application is now available in beta form, and it brings a number of enhancements, including more advanced pedestrian navigation. This makes complete sense to us, given that mobile phones and smartphones make for better handheld navigators than in-car GPS. Of course, we realise not everyone lives in a place where you can walk to your destination, but for those who do, the new features of Nokia Maps 2.0 are pretty awesome.

First, there's the Walk function that gives you visual turn-by-turn directions and also provides information about surrounding streets and buildings. In newer handsets like the just-announced Nokia 6120 Navigator, you'll also get a built-in compass. And we're not talking about a simple digital compass. The map will move with every direction for more accurate orientation. Nokia Maps 2.0 also adds the option to purchase multimedia city guides that give you photos, videos, and audio streams of your destination. And of course, it will continue to offer in-car guidance.

Nokia Maps 2.0 is available for selected devices from the Nokia Beta Labs Web site, and the company hopes to bring the application to the mass market along with a Series 40 version during the first half of the year.