1.Apple iPhone 3Gs – Apple have been leading the smartphone market for nearly two years now and the latest iPhone is by far the greatest. With Wi-Fi, GPS, full stereo Bluetooth and up to 32GB of onboard memory it`s never been more ready for business. It`s also got an improved camera and software for cutting, copying and pasting text from any source.

2.BlackBerry 9000 Bold – BlackBerry have made their brand synonymous with business and with some of the best email and web functionality on the market, coupled with a full QWERTY keypad, this is certainly for the most prolific of wordsmiths amongst you.

3.Nokia E75 – Based on the Symbian mobile operating platform the E series of phones from Nokia has always been a hit with business users and like all Nokia smartphones it packs in more functionality per pound than anything in its class.

4.HTC Touch Pro II – HTC make a wide variety of sexy and functional business phones and this is one of the latest, with a huge touch screen as well as a full keyboard. It`s a pity that the iPhone`s interface trumps it.

5.Nokia N97 – Again, a phone so packed with features you won`t know what to do with half of them. Criticised for the bland design of its interface, this touch screen/hidden keypad phone can`t be faulted for the connectivity and applications.

6.Samsung Omnia HD i8910 – Samsung know business and the Omnia HD stands out from the crowd with its styling, 3.7 inch huge touch screen and the ability to record video in 720p. That`s HD folks.

7.Nokia N86 – This phone is the embodiment of value for money when it comes to business phones, taking most of the features of the popular N95 and repackaging them in a slimmer, sleeker body. Will do everything more expensive business phones do, but without the hefty price tag.

8.Samsung Tocco Ultra – With an 8 mega pixel camera, a large touch screen and a hidden alpha numeric keypad hidden beneath this is a powerful media phone with all the modern trimmings. Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G and HSDPA you`ll be equipped with some of the fastest mobile internet available in the UK.

9.BlackBerry Storm – The first touch screen handset from BlackBerry, it features a neat click-down screen which makes the whole experience of pressing virtual buttons that much more familiar. Everything else you`ve come to expect from BlackBerry is present and correct.

10.Sony Ericsson W995 – Though this descends from media with HSDPA, iPlayer and Youtube access it`s an entertaining proposition.

Lauren Fox

Top-10 is the market-leading mobile phones website (www.top10.co.uk/mobilephones) which specialises in simplifying the process of choosing the right mobile phone package online.

Don’t know the answer to your Office question? An absolute must is www.officefrustration.com, it’s an experts forum packed with useful tips and ideas on how to get the most out of the Microsoft range of office applications.

www.businessballs.com – a wealth of business tools, templates and materials – all for free!

http://wildcatseo.co.uk/blog/

http://www.kasumiseo.co.uk/

When the business was first started, I networked online using Ecademy, and within two months I started networking face to face with 4Networking, who at that point in time were a relatively fledgling business, having been founded just over a year before. Bizpro has never looked back. 4Networking has turned traditional networking on its head. Gone are the stiff collars and cufflinks of yesteryear, instead it’s been replaced with a whole new breed of networkers. It’s brought together business owners of the 21^st century who realise that building the business relationship first and foremost is the key to gaining new business. People deal with people. 4Networking has never been about rules; most small business owners started their own businesses to escape rules in some form or another. 4Networking works with as few rules as possible. No one is forced to attend the breakfast meetings, and with their ‘passport’ membership, you can visit as many meetings as you like, where ever you are in the country. In the 18 months since I’ve been a member, the number of groups has more than tripled and they are rapidly spreading across the UK.

I’ve been the group leader for the Swindon group for just under a year, before that I was group leader of Faringdon and Operations assistant at Cirencester. I really enjoy being involved and it has done wonders for my profile. Not only have I made some great contacts and new clients from 4Networking, I’ve also had great fun. With the help of their online forum, I’ve even won new clients that I’ve never even met! Now, when I am looking for a supplier, I will always look to 4Networking members first, as I too prefer to deal with people I have ‘met’ and got to know.

Of course, I have tried other networking groups, and will continue to do so. It’s surprisingly encouraged by 4networkings MD, Brad Burton. He knows that his product works, and it works well, and he has nothing to fear by the competition.

So why not check it out for yourself? www.4networking.biz If you do, don’t forget to say hello!

You can only imagine my horror when it came to setting up my new net book, it doesn’t have the memory to support such a large set of programmes so I had no choice but to look for alternatives. I’m now the proud owner of a net book with OpenOffice installed, and I am amazed! So far so good, it installed very quickly, has a lot of the functionality I would expect of MS, similar layout so the easily confused, (such as myself on a bad day), can navigate around easily enough, and the best bit of all, it’s free! Yes, completely free! I’m very impressed. Not only does my shiny new net book have a writer, it also has the software for spreadsheets, presentations, databases. What more could a busy VA want?

Of course, one of the most important things is that it’s all still compatible with MS. After shelling out for all that MS software I’m certainly not going to give it up in a hurry!

Want to know more? Find it here