Bubblewrap – Not so much a video game as a way of life, this frighteningly realistic bubblewrap simulator allows you to do everything you could ever want to do with a piece of bubblewrap, without having to waste any valuable plastic packing material.

Thankfully, the transformation is temporary. When you press one of the (virtual) bubbles, they visibly burst, accompanied by a popping noise, and a short vibration from the phone.

CB Blackjack – The classic card game gets the smartphone treatment with this classy version by Hudson Soft. It can be played with the touchscreen or the trackball, and is easy to control with either device.

CB Klondike – The best version of the old PC classic, Solitaire, yet released for the Android, the only disappointment being that the drag and drop problems that are present with all touch screen devices make this a bit tricky to play.

CB Reversi – This one or two player version of the classic board game Othello, which can be controlled with either the track ball or the touch screen. There is also a handy helper mode that shows you all the available moves.

Coloroid – The aim of the game in Coloroid is to turn the whole screen one colour by choosing adjacent colours for your swelling mass to adsorb from a list at the side of the screen. Recommended.

Divide and Conquer! – If you have ever played the classic mobile game Trap before, then you will know how to play Divide and Conquer, which is basically the same game, but given the touch screen smart phone treatment. The aim of the game is to segregate a certain proportion of the screen from some deadly bouncing balls by drawing lines with your finger.

Vodafone offer a huge range of mobile phones and price plans. If you like smart phones, you will love the HTC Magic with its fast internet for express browsing and downloads.

Slide Puzzle – A touch screen adaptation of the age old 15-piece sliding puzzle game. This uses the touch screen interface very well, and has some nice graphics to boot.

Snake – This game became so popular on mobile phones that when people see the game it was blatantly ripped off from, the famous Atari arcade game Centipede, they often remark upon how much it looks like Snake. However, recent developments in the history of this now famous series of arcade knock offs have seen the elegant simplicity and instant gratification of the top down, sprite based viewpoint replaced by several unplayably clunky, but rather flashy looking 3D versions of the game. Discerning gamers will pleased, therefore, to find out that the Android version is a return to the ways of old, although you may find that the trackball is a poor replacement for a joypad or joystick.

Sokodroid – In Sokodroid, the player has to push blue squares into holes by pushing around a red one with either your finger or the trackball. Although it is a fine enough game, you cannot help but wonder if it would be easier to play with a joypad or a numeric keypad.

Solitaire – This version of the classic game of Solitaire is serviceable enough, but the fact that you have to drag and drop using only the touchscreen can make it a fiddly affair.

Speed – This vertically oriented version of the classic Atari game Pong is enjoyable enough, but the touch screen is a poor substitute for the paddles used with the original TV game.

Sudoku – Just a few years ago, the SuDoku craze had gotten so out of control that prime time television programmes were being made about it. While things seemed to have calmed down a bit more on the SuDoku front recently, it remains a popular part of the newspaper puzzle menu. This version, however, only serves to illustrate why pressing small squares with a big finger can be a problem on a touch screen.

Tap Tick – A rapidly advancing counter needs to be stopped by an intrepid button presser as soon as it hits a certain number, and no later. In case you were wondering, that person is you, but if you do not download this terrible game, then it does not have to be.

Tetroid – If you like Tetris, then chances are that you will enjoy this similarly titled knock off too. Although the accelerometer controls are a little hard to get used to, once you do you will soon be back in the old routine.

Trap! – Trap the bouncing balls in as small an area as possible by drawing lines youre your finger. The touchscreen controls can be a bit hit or miss but the game itself is reasonably good fun.

Vodafone offer a huge range of mobile phones and price plans. If you like smart phones, you will love the HTC Magic with its fast internet for express browsing and downloads.

Mahjongg – This touch screen version of the classic Oriental game of pairs features pleasant enough visuals, but is too tricky to control to have any lasting appeal, unless you have very small fingers indeed.

mem – In this simple game, the aim is to click on an icon from a list down the side of the screen as soon as a larger version of it appears on the left hand side. The sound effects are cool, but it is unlikely to keep you occupied on a long journey.

Minspace War – This good looking shoot-em-up might have been ok on a larger system, or at least on a phone with a dedicated joypad, but it is fairly unplayable on any of the Android phones currently on the market.

MisMisMatch – A puzzle game in which you tap the boxes, using the touchscreen interface, that have images that are not matches in order to clear the board of unmatched pairs. This deceptively simple puzzler is great fun to play, and features difficulty settings and a handy tutorial.

Pac-Man by Namco – Help Pac Man in his quest for pills, oranges, and ghosts around the famous blue mazes of this arcade classic. This arcade perfect version of the old favourite, complete with the inter-level animations featured on the original coin-op machine. However, the lack of a joypad really lets this game down and prevents you from being able to get out of the tight spots as quickly as you often need to.

Pop Pop Popcorn – Heat popcorn arranged on a grid by holding your finger over it until it pops, but watching that you do not burn any surrounding popcorn while you are at it. Of all the games for the Android platform that use the touch screen as an input device, this is one of the best.

Santas War on Terror – This side scrolling platform game features the western worlds favourite generosity metaphor in a pitched battle against the terrorists. Although the title might raise a chuckle or two, the graphics are poor and St. Nick is ridiculously hard to control, making it one to avoid.

TxtSpeed – In this game, words scroll across the screen that you then have to type into the miniature keypad as quickly as possible. Great if you are trying to get to grips with typing on a miniature QWERTY keypad, but a little bit boring nonetheless.

Vodafone offer a huge range of mobile phones and price plans. If you like smart phones, you will love the Google Phone with its fast internet for express browsing and downloads.

Metal Detector: Would-be treasure hunters should make downloading this app their first priority. Using the magnet that for some reason is built into the unit, it turns your phone into a metal detector that works surprisingly well. Perfect for finding old cans, belt buckles, and gold doubloons.

Barcode Scanner: With this app, you can take a picture of any barcode, and your phone will look on the internet for a list of prices for the item in question. It doesnt work with every barcode, especially not store-specific ones, but for the generic ones that you find on mass market products, it can work a treat!

Trap- a modern update of the old pocket gaming classic. Using the touch screen interface, you can drag your finger across the screen to trap the bouncing balls in an increasingly small corner of the screen. The aim is to segregate the balls in as small an area as possible, with targets for each level.

The immediacy lent to the game by the new control arrangements make this game even more addictive than it was last time around. You have been warned!

NRU: Looking for a place to drink in an unfamiliar town? Then this app, which basically turns your phone into a booze radar, uses the GPS and compass devices in your phone to point you in the direction of the nearest pub, club, or bowling alley. Could be dangerous in the wrong hands…

Google Maps: This comes pre installed to your apps folder, so there is no need to download it. It uses the GPS and compass devices in your phone to turn it into a fully fledged sat nav system, like the taxi drivers use.

The street view option, although marginally less useful, is a lot more fun, as it allows you to virtually wander through real photographed and mapped 3D streets anywhere in the world, simply by moving your phone.

Vodafone offer a huge range of mobile phones and price plans. If you like smart phones, you will love the HTC Magic with its fast internet for express browsing and downloads.

The slowest of these is GPRS(General Packet Radio Service), which at a snail-like maximum rate of 128kbps, is rarely usable for all but the most basic of web services. The next fastest is the rarely-used EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) format, which even at the claimed maximum rate of 236kbps is too slow for most people to want to put up with.

The most common type of connection nowadays, however, is 3G(third generation), which is often compared to a broadband connection, although it is only three times faster than GPRS and considerably slower than the 1mbps achieved by most standard broadband connections.

The newest kid on the block is HDSPA, a souped-up version of the 3G standard, which claims a theoretical maximum data rate of 14.4Mbps, with the emphasis on the theoretical. In practice, however, they are only a little bit faster than a standard 3G connection, and are often less reliable, although this is set to improve in the years to come as more bandwidth becomes available to 3G networks.

If you are disappointed by the quality of internet access that you can achieve through the mobile networks, you may be heartened to learn that some newer mobile phones are also able to connect to the internet via the proven Wi-Fi transfer protocol.

However, Wi-Fi is not available everywhere, and if you want to use it, you often have to pay for it by the hour.

One major problem with accessing the internet on mobile phones is that most web pages have been designed with much larger screens in mind than are available on most mobiles, although there are some websites, such as FaceBook and Twitter, that have special mobile versions available.

Manufacturers have taken note of this problem and developed new smartphones, such as the Nokia N97 and the HTC Magic, that have larger screens and control devices such as trackballs and touch screens to allow you to navigate as you would with a mouse.

However, few of them can deal with having multiple windows, and some popular sites are completely inaccessible to mobile phones for coding and copyright reasons.

The mobile internet may have a bright future ahead of it, but it cannot be said to be quite there yet, although things are improving steadily.

Discover the latest Vodafone mobiles and services including mobile broadband that lets you connect to the Internet whenever you want.

Bartender – Replace that bulky old cocktail book with this nifty electronic cocktail making guide. You can use the track ball or the touch screen to navigate, and you can keep aside your favourite recipes in a favourites folder for easy access.

Bubble – If you ever need to settle an argument about a wonky pool table, then you should download this app, which turns your Android phone into a fully functioning, not to mention flashy looking, spirit level, using the in built accelerometer as a measuring device.

Learn US Civics – A handy educational tool that cointains a hundred question and answer cards about the American political system. It kind of pales once you have done all the questions, but nonetheless is a great way to learn on the move.

Magic 8-Ball – If you are the type to use a popular stocking filler as an oracle in your daily life, then you should download this stunningly realistic Magic 8 Ball Simulator, which uses the accelerometer to allow you to shake the phone/magic 8 ball to achieve the required result. Does the Job

Mario Simulator – If you have ever wanted an app which makes the bell-like noise associated with collecting coins in the Super Mario Bros series of games every time you shake your phone, then this is the one for you! Everyone else should probably steer clear.

MobileBoy – If only someone came out with an Android phone with an integral joypad, then this Nintendo Gameboy emulator would really come into its own. As it stands, it plays all the old games well enough, but a lot of them are quite hard to control using the touch screen.

Mobile C64 – Back in the day, when home computers had to get by with only 64 kilobytes of RAM and an 8 bit processor, programmers had to put a lot more thought into making computer games fun and addictive. Discover whether this is true or not with this superb C64 simulator, which can play all the old classics on the small screen.

Vodafone stock a large mobile phone range, including Nokia mobile phones for you to chose from.

4NumGuess: An obtuse number guessing game, which lacks anything in the way of tangible instructions, leaving the user to figure out what they are meant to do themselves. All well and good in theory, but in practice the on-screen keypad is a little too small and fiddly to make you want to persist with it.

Amazed: A 2 dimensional maze game in which you have to guide the ball around by tilting the phone. Although simple, this game features some of the best use of the accelerometer in an Android game to date.

Asquare: A potentially endless game, in which you have to match three shapes by swapping one or two at a time. The points system depends upon your matches per turn ratio.

Backgammon: If ever there was an example of a game not suited to using the touchscreen interface, it is Backgammon. Although the graphics and computer opponent are decent enough, it is too easy to drop your counter in the wrong place.

Bonsai Blast – Arrgh! You are being confronted by a never ending stream of coloured balls. What can you possibly to save yourself? Shoot back with your own coloured balls, of course! This great-looking game is marred by the inaccuracy of the touch screen control, particularly if you have chunky fingers.

Brain Genius Deluxe – Whether you are already smart and want to stay that way, or you want to improve your IQ, then there is no substitute for a proper suite of brain training games, including SuDoku, Sliding Puzzle, Crosspix and Jigsaw. You can use the accelerometer and touch screen for most of the games, but after a while you will probably end up preferring the joystick.

Bubble Bash demo – This is a very similar game to Bonsai Blast, although this time the balls are just floating free rather than coming at you in lines. As with the aforementioned game, the aiming mechanism is a little on the inaccurate side, but the graphics are pretty nifty looking.

Vodafone stock a great range of mobiles if you are looking to upgrade, or sim cards if you already have your phone of choice.

Girl Skip – A Manga mash up between Minesweeper and Hopscotch, the aim of this game is to clear the board of ones, twos, and wildcard As in the classic minesweeper way. Included is an optional help mode that tells you all the moves you are able to make with your next turn.

Hold em – This poker game suffers from overly fiddly controls, but features slick graphics, a decent CPU opponent and a two player mode, which almost make up for this.

JK Connect Four – This two player only connect 4 simulator is a functional enough version of the classic game, with basic graphics and no extra features, but the lack of a single player mode means that you probably will not be spending a whole lot of time with it.

Light Racer – Fans of the iconic Disney sci-fi movie Tron might want to give this version of the light cycle game from that movie. The aim of the game is to drive your bike around, leaving a coloured trail behind you that your opponents have to avoid if they want to stay in the game, with the aim being to trap them without entangling yourself.

Lights Out – Although this game, in which you tap lights in a grid on or off with your finger until the whole grid is dark, may seem simple, it is deceptively so. Fiendish.

Lunar Lander – Landing a spaceship on a line may not sound like a recipe for an engaging game, especially without instructions, and funnily enough, Lunar Lander is anything but an engaging game. Avoid at all costs.

ZeptoRacer – This racing game takes forever to load and is hardly worth the effort, as the controls are unwieldy and the vibrations that indicate that you are doing it all wrong are not only irritating but a real drain on the battery.

Vodafone offer a huge range of mobile phones and price plans. If you like smart phones, you will love the Google Phone with its fast internet for express browsing and downloads.

Nokia E71 For those who prefer their smartphones to be a one-piece, this is the slickest model available. For a one-piece, the QWERTY keyboard is wonderfully spacious, allowing for comfortable typing. But the real draw here is the size. This is the slimmest smartphone around by a long way, and we love it for that.

Not only is this smartphone good to look at, it also has an ease of use that puts others to shame. The operating system with the E71 is the Symbian S60, so you know you are getting a powerful piece of equipment too.

HTC Touch Pro The familiar HTC TouchFlo 3D interface makes this a joy to use, allowing for multitouch use too. Operating with Windows Mobile 6.1, it is easy to use, flexible and allows for a lot of customisation. Crammed with the usual features including everything you need for great internet access, both Wi-Fi and 3G.

There are those who prefer their one-piece models, but for those who do a lot of typing, a QWERTY keyboard is a must. This model has a sliding version and it is so comfortable to use you could use it all day.

T-Mobile G1 This is the model all internet savvy users will flip for. The first smartphone to utilise Android technology, it really is not just geared up for the internet, but designed and built with the internet at its core.

The phone is solid and crash-proof, alerting you instantly to new emails and instant messages, as well as the usual texts and calls. This is really just the start for Android devices, so who there are bound to be improvements made to future models, but at the moment, this is a useful and reliable piece of kit.

Blackberry Bold Everyone was talking about the new Blackberry Bold before its launch, and after it hit the shops, they still are. It may not be massively different from its previous incarnation, but there have been intelligent progressions made across its spectrum of features.

The design is classy and professional looking and the screen is the best we have seen. Even text looks fantastic and crisp. Packing in all of the usual Blackberry features and more, and increasing its power capabilities allowing you to multitask better than ever before, this is the without a doubt, the best Blackberry yet.

Vodafone offer great deals on mobiles and sim only deals if you already have your phone of choice.

The identification details stored on a SIM card are done so as a series of unique numbers. Each number represents a different piece of information, including which country your are in, and which network you are with.

As well as details used to identify the user, a SIM card will usually also store a certain number of mobile phone contacts and text messages. This way, this useful information will not be lost when you transfer to a new phone, as when you switch, you can bring your SIM card with you.

Each contact is stored as a simple name and number pair so that phone users can access the phone numbers of friends and relatives by simply scrolling through their phones rather than having to carry numbers around separately in an address book or diary. The number of contacts and messages that can be stored varies from phone to phone but nowadays most SIMs can store over 250 contacts and messages.

In the UK and USA most mobile phones are locked to their SIM card. With a phone that is locked to a SIM you will find that your phone will not work with any other card, and that your SIM will not work with any other phone.

This is as a means of protecting the mobile phone networks who often offer handsets that would cost hundreds of pounds SIM-free, free of charge to their contract customers. They want to make sure that the customer and their phone are locked to their network for the entirety of their contract so that the network is sure to recover the costs of subsidising the phone handset.

Money can be saved by having your mobile phone unlocked, especially when you are going on holiday. As the cost of making and receiving calls while abroad is so expensive, many holidaymakers prefer to pay to have their phone unlocked and then purchase a local SIM card when they arrive in order to minimize roaming charges.

These SIM-only offers allow travellers to benefit from far lower international call costs, and keep in touch much more economically while on holiday.

Vodafone stock a great range of phones if you are looking to upgrade, or sim cards if you already have your phone of choice.