Mobile Phones: Top Picks for Back-to-School

In recent years, mobile phones have become indispensable extensions of our lives. The device that was once a costly solution for making business calls has become a mainstream necessity for an ever-changing and constantly connected world. The latest evolution of mobile communication devices takes data connectivity another step beyond traditional voice only uses. For the student who wishes to be connected to family at all times, while joining their friends in the world of cutting edge mobile connectivity - functionality and application availability are things to consider when choosing the right phone.

Today's popular mobile phones are no longer driven by style alone; most manufacturers have had that down for a while. What is important to look for when purchasing a mobile phone, is functionality and application availability. This is because, long gone are the days when limited functionality is useful to the masses. With most phones running on a particular OS (operating system) that offer and support software development kits (SDKs), the limited functionality has been replaced with the ability to upgrade and install new software. This is important, especially when popular social applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare have seemingly been become mainstream necessities. Many of the basic phones on the market with limited functionality either offer no software connection to these services, or basic functionally that cannot be upgraded. This ultimately becomes a huge problem when any platform in question (Facebook for example) undergoes a major upgrade or change.

Undoubtedly, the two hottest operating systems at the moment are Apple's iPhone, and Google's Android. WinMo, also known as Windows Mobile (and actually the original mobile OS) is still in the running with an anticipated version 7 due out later this year. Blackberry also has a strong following and a dedicated platform for software development.

Purchasing a mobile phone with one of the more popular operating systems almost guarantees the use of current and future software applications without issue.

What phones are hot?

iPhones have been an obvious popular choice for many, and the latest evolution of the phone, the iPhone 4 was released earlier this year. The iPhones have been front page technology news a few years now, and they ability to run well over 100,000 applications that are currently available in the iTunes app store.

Google Android isn't far behind when it comes to the number of available applications. With a SDK that is free, many developers are pushing ahead with numerous useful business, social, and entertainment apps. Popular phones that come loaded with Google's Android OS include the hottest phone of the summer, the HTC EVO 4G, and other HTC models including the HTC Magic, and the HTC Desire.

Windows Mobile 7 is due later this year, however, in the meantime one of the most popular WinMo 6.5 devices is the HTC Touch Pro 2.