Think of tough, rugged and hard wearing and Land Rover isn’t far away. It’s now branching out into mobile phones, so if you’re constantly cursed with butterfingers it could be the ideal handset.

The handsets will actually be made by Sonim, which is no stranger itself to the sturdy phone market so you can be sure the S1 and S2 will be suitably hard wearing.

Exact specs are a little thin on the ground at the moment - although they will come packing Bluetooth.

In terms of durability, they’re fully submersible - so whether it ends up in your cuppa or at the bottom of a river, once you’ve fished it out and dried it off you’ll still be able to make and receive calls.

Dropwise, they’re good for a 1.6m tumble onto concrete and also certified to withstand salt, fog and humidity.

What you need to know
Availability: TBC
Price: £TBC
Basic specs: Fully submersible, salt, fog and humidity proof
Killer feature: Can survive 1.6m drop onto concrete

If you could level one criticism at the leading touch phones like the Apple iPhone 3G, T-Mobile G1 and BlackBerry Storm, it’s their camera and video offering is pretty woeful. The same can’t be said of LG’s KU990 Viewty, with its sharp five-megapixel snapper and Hollywood slick video capturing chops. But, if that’s impressive wait until you tickle its follow-up, the KC910 Renoir.

Continuing LG’s track record for snigger-inducing monikered phones, the HSDPA enabled Renoir not only ups the megapixel count to eight but also weighs in with built-in GPS for sat nav, rapido Wi-Fi connectivity and some Dolby audio magic to brighten up the audio.

Along with the serious feature upgrade, the Renoir also receives a redesign, softening the Viewty’s rigid chassis into a more streamlined form. Considering the power lurking within, this phone is surprisingly compact.

The Viewty’s erratic touch dynamics have also been slightly improved upon, although the Renoir is still way off emulating the iPhone’s light of touch and responsiveness. Elsewhere, the sizeable three-inch homescreen accommodates widget customisation while LG has also handily included a full virtual QWERTY for longer message drafting.

While it may impressively shoot VGA-quality at 30fps video dallies and slow mo footage, the Renoir’s eight megapixel shutterbug is most definitely the show stopper, delivering detailed and colourful snaps. The sliding lens cap, illuminating Xenon flash and keen autofocus hint at its leading photographic prowess but photo mods like face, smile and blink detection give the Renoir a real dedicated camera sheen.

The Renoir is also the first ever mobile to showcase Dolby Mobile audio booster. Like the original noise-reducing technology, it effectively cleans up the default sound and beefs up the bass. Unfortunately, the music set-up is diluted a tad by the lack of integrated 3.5mm headphone jack.

Verdict
If you can master its fitful touch performance, the Renoir serves up a mouth-watering feature set, especially on the camera and video front.

Best features
Awesome camera set up
Slick video recording capabilities
High connectivity options
Music player audio brilliantly boosted by Dolby Mobile

Not so good
Improved, but still erratic touch-sensitive performance
Lack of integrated 3.5mm headphone jack

Closest rivals

Sony Ericsson C902 Cyber-shot
If you don’t fancy a touch phone, this slimline Cyber-shot candybar camphone sports a cool slide-out lens and a five-megapixel snapper that delivers printable photos.

LG KU990 Viewty
It may have been usurped by the Renoir but the Viewty touch phone still serves-up a great Xenon-fuelled five-megapixel performance and an equally impressive video recording show.

Samsung F480 Tocco
The Tocco is one of the sleekest and stylish touch phones on the scene but still cheekily finds room in its slim torso for a five-megapixel snapper and speedy HSDPA download speeds.

Find the latest Sony Ericsson C902 Cyber-shot deals

Find the latest LG KU990 Viewty deals

Find the latest Samsung F480 Tocco deals

Read on for all the juicy details!

Linux headed to Nokia
We’re huge fans of Nokia’s powerful, open source Symbian S60 operating software, but the Finnish phone company is looking to the future as mobiles become more and more powerful. VP of markets at Nokia has told Reuters that it sees computer OS Linux as a potential platform in years to come (”a serious alternative”), which opens up the exciting possibility of even more integration with your desktop.

(Via Reuters)

More MySpace on your mobile
Social network site MySpace hasn’t ruled out the possibility of its own phone a la the INQ-1 Facebook handset, but in the meantime, you can now make use of a new MySpace video streaming service on your current handset. The Nokia N95 and BlackBerry Bold are both supported, but just make sure your web tariff can cope with the heavy data downloads required.

(Via AFP)

Live TV on the iPhone demoing today
The Apple iPhone doesn’t support the new MySpace streaming sadly. But it’s alright, live TV is headed its way instead. We’ve got word that a company called LiveStation will be showing off its TV streaming software for the touchscreen wonder today - more when we see it.

(Via The Guardian)

More Android mobiles on the way
The T-Mobile G1, boasting Google’s Android operating system, has been out some time now, but few others are following suit just yet, so we were surprised to hear than an Australian company, Kogan, has tow Android smartphones in the works. Dubbed the Agora and Agora Pro, both offer a BlackBerry style keypad and a touchscreen, plus 3G internet sewn in. We’re more tempted by the Pro, with GPS and Wi-Fi, when it goes on sale internationally at the end of January.

(Via Pocket-lint)

Next Acer Aspire ups screen size
We love the Acer Aspire One netbook almost a bit too much here at Link Experts, but if the 8.9-inch screen is just a little too little for you, the company’s just announced a 10.2-inch version for next year. There’s few other details so far other than that it’ll cost around £350 and may sport a 320GB hard drive that will put the similarly sized Asus Eee 1000H to shame.

(Via idealo.co.uk)

Check out the Kogan Agora handsets in our gallery below. Android-alicious!

Related products
Nokia N96
Nokia 5310 XpressMusic

If poking is your preferred method of communication theses days, then you can now prod your mates even when you’re out and about with 3’s INQ1 handset.

It’s the first phone to come with Facebook baked right in, not to mention Skype and Windows Live Messenger too so whatever network your mates are on you’ll be able to stay in constant touch.

Despite all its internet chat capabilities, it won’t set you back an arm and a leg to get your mitts on one. The INQ1 is available for free on a £15 a month contract, which gets you unlimited internet, 75 minutes of cross network calls, no limit on calls to other 3 customers plus as many texts and emails as you want too.

If PAYG is the way you roll, £80 down will secure you the handset and there’s a minimum £10 monthly top up, but you do get unlimited web access in return.

What you need to know
Availability: Now
Price: From free on contract
Basic specs: Skype, Windows Live Messenger, email, internet
Killer feature: Integrated Facebook

Click through to see all the exclusive first hands-on photos…

Possibly taking its inspiration from Apple’s new MacBooks, the P’9522 is carved from a single block of aluminium, and it looks every bit the part, complemented by the sparkle-tastic OLED touchscreen. We can report that the look and feel of it on and off screen is stunning - cool, slim, and solid - and the screen’s haptic feedback is always welcome. You swipe instead of tapping to confirm, and while that does mean no on screen typing, it’s at least made up for by impressive video playback on the 16:9 ratio screen.

It’s not just a looker though, with a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and GPRS all under the bonnet, though we didn’t get to test these out sadly, plus a fingerprint scanner in case of any potential carjackers. You may well need that last feature mind: with prices starting from £600 when this goes on sale in selected department stores later this month, you could have to watch your pockets. Check out the phone in action in the gallery by clicking on the thumbnails below.

What you need to know
Availability: December
Price: From £600
Basic Specs: OLED touchscreen, Wi-Fi, 5MP camera, MicroSD slot
Killer feature: Sexy aluminium casing

Yesterday Nokia dropped a beautiful bombshell on the mobile world with the unveiling of the ultra smart N97. Part phone part mini laptop the new Nokia N97 promises to alter the landscape of mobile devices, and with only one day having passed since it’s grand unveiling the wait until it launches in the first half of 2009 is already becoming unbearable.

So what better way to sooth the pain of waiting (or rub the salt in), than to see it in action. We’ve pulled together a handful of the best N97 videos. Click through to watch them in full, and check out our N97 photo gallery in case you missed it.

N97 demo

N97 hinge keyboard and interface in the flesh

Interview with the designer of the N97

N97 photo gallery

Motorola is going after the music loving talker with its latest handset, offering an “exceptional audio experience for music and talk”.

The MotoRokr EM35 is a slick little slider that features CrystalTalk tech to enhance calls and virtual surround sound for a larger sound stage. You can listen via headphones, the dual built-in speakers or wirelessly over stereo Bluetooth.

The rest of the spec is pretty tasty too, with a 3.1-megapixel camera for taking snaps and a microSD card slot so you can easily bump up the storage volume to 32GB. There’s also a FM tuner built in, with support for RDS data so you can see which station you’re tuned into.

It’s tiny too - measuring just 49.5×107x16mm and weighing just 116g but there’s still room for a decent 2.2-inch display.

What you need to know
Availability: TBC
Price: £TBC
Basic specs: 3-megapixel camera, virtual surround sound, FM tuner, dual speakers
Killer feature: Music capabilities

Click through for a full catch-up!

Sony Walkman keeps on running
We managed to tear our eyes off the new Nokia N97 just long enough to check out the specs on one of its main competitors next year: a new Sony Ericsson multimedia mogul. No name yet, but we know it’ll have a slide out keypad, Wi-Fi, and an 8.1 megapixel camera to rival the company’s Cybershot range. More news is expected in January.

(via SEMC blog)

Nokia Messaging to get RIM scared
As well as showing off the bleeding edge N97, Nokia’s unveiled several new services this week, including an update of Nokia Maps, and now Nokia Messaging, which will have BlackBerry owners breaking a sweat. It’s expected for both S60 and S40 devices and provides integrated access to popular email and instant messaging services, and will even tote push email.

(via IntoMobile)

Code on the fly
Run your own website, or dabble in a cheeky spot of coding (we won’t tell anyone)? Phones have been powerful enough to edit pages for a long time, but now those specs are being tapped to their full extent with S60 HTML Editor. If you have a Symbian S60 OS phone (like a Nokia Nseries) you can tweak your blog anywhere, and you can find out just how by following through the link.

(via SymbianFreak)

mobile.blackberry.com gets relaunched
RIM’s been busy tweaking this week. After news of a Storm software upgrade, and now its web portal for BlackBerry addicts, mobile.blackberry.com, has just had a makeover too. The new look is simple, clean and more accessible than ever before - now all we need is enough apps for the BlackBerry Storm to rival the iPhone.

(via BlackBerryCool)

Hello Moto ROKR
Today’s a bad day for phone launches if you’re not Nokia, but Motorola caught our attention with its new slide out music mobile, the ROKR EM35. The Motomusic player software’s on board, as well as virtual stereo surround sound and CrystalTalk for ultra-clear audio while you chatter. Plus, it’s a bright and cheery little blighter too. More news when we hear it.

(via Engadget Mobile)

Related products
Nokia N96
Motorola Z3

Check out the Motorola ROKR in action in our gallery below. Just hit the thumbnails for the full gobsmacking force.

If you can’t quite afford the four-wheeled version just yet, but want a bit more Porsche in your pocket than just a key ring then check out the new P’9522.

It’s a seriously stylish looking handset - carved from a single solid block of aluminium so it looks super swish and suitably well heeled.

Under the hood, it’s not badly equipped either - with an iPhone beating 5-megapixel snapper, widescreen touch sensitive display plus haptic feedback, so it buzzes when you type.

There’s Wi-Fi baked in, so you can hop on a local hotspot for super fast surfing, and there’s even a fingerprint scanner to keep it super secure.

What you need to know
Availability: December
Price: £600-800
Basic specs: 5-megapixel camera, widescreen touchsensite display, haptic feedback, Wi-Fi
Killer feature: Porsche badge

The hoopla surrounding the world’s first ever open source Android OS-fuelled phone, the G1, may not have reached the blockbusting proportions of the Apple iPhone but with the all-pervading internet giants Google pulling the OS strings and HTC designing the handset,  hype-levels were always going to be cranked up to critical.

But can the G1 survive the crippling weight of expectation? Judged on first impressions the answer is a resounding no. The phone looks like it’s been shipped straight in from Toy Town/Early Learning Centre. We could slap the blame on HTC but rumours suggest Google’s design input was greater. It’s clunky, unwieldy and we have to admit a major turn off.  Just one minute in its presence and you’ll long for the iPhone’s sleek stylish torso.

Luckily, the damage is only skin deep because the G1 is revelation to use. Although not strutting multi-touch skills, the touch screen is every bit as fluid as the iPhone, ably abetted by a spacious pinkie pleasing QWERTY and a responsive BlackBerry-esque track-ball for one handed operation.

The Android user-interface is equally slick with the sliding three panel homescreen open to endless widget, direct weblinks and shortcut customisation. Sweet touches like the pop up main menu, the drop down new message window pane and the prolonged finger press to summon a sub menu just heighten its ultra intuitive user-friendliness.

With a web browser based on Google’s impressive Chrome desktop model, surfing the full fat internet is iPhone Safari smooth. Its expansive 3.2-inch display is a great platform for skimming around web pages using your finger and with HSDPA and Wi-Fi onboard, pages load whip-smart.

Naturally, navigation is based around Google’s own mapping software and getting a satellite fix via A-GPS was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quick. The G1 also sports a motion-sensor compass but until the UK gets Google’s coming soon Street view mappage this feature lies frustratingly dormant.

The greatest strength of an open source OS, and in particular Android, is that developers from all walks of life can devise apps and software to spice up the G1. With its Android Market stocked with over 50 apps, there’s lot of useful and fun apps to start downloading.

Elsewhere, the camera set-up is criminally rudimentary with the 3.2-megapixel lens shorn of photo mods while bizarrely, for a company that has YouTube in its company ranks, video recording skills have gone AWOL. These shortfalls make for solid, rather than spectacular, start to the Android dynasty.

Verdict
It may be the ugly duckling of the heavyweight smartphone crowd and lack certain key features but the G1’s touch dynamics, web browsing and user-friendly interface are impressive enough.

Best features
Fluid touch dynamics
Stunning three-inch display
Thumb-friendly QWERTY
Superb for web browsing
High speed connectivity

Not so good
Ugly design
Basic camera
No video capture capabilities
No support for Stereo Bluetooth

Closest rivals

Nokia N96
Nokia’s class-leading Symbian smartie seemingly has it all. Its N95-esque feature-set is bolstered by a monstrous 16GB dollop of internal memory and a BBC iPlayer TV app.

LG KU990 Viewty
LG’s impressive touch phone is photographic and video ace with a Xenon flash-led five-megapixel camera and VGA quality and slow mo video capture capabilities.

Samsung F480 Tocco
Samsung bijou touch phone plays the style card to brilliant effect but backs up the dapper looks with a widget-friendly homescreen and an autofocus-firing five-megapixel snapper.

Find the latest Nokia N96 deals

Find the latest LG KU990 Viewty deals

Find the latest F480 Tocco deals