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The growth of mobile phones is quite alarming and with the emergence of more and more features on handsets, it’s no surprise that many people in the United Kingdom own one. With that, the results of a recent survey will not surprise many after it was found that over half of respondents would be happy to replace their traditional landline with a mobile phone.

Burnside Telecom quizzed 3000 UK customers, with the results showing that 52% would be happy to replace their landline.

Another interesting statistic from the survey was the type of people who were not prepared to ditch their landline. Of those respondents, 73% were over 65 which suggest that the older generation are not interested in making wholesale changes to their communication methods. However, this statistic also hints that as time progresses, more and more people may be in favour of using just a mobile handset.

The survey also found that people would be extremely cautious about a constant battery supply and signal strength with 40 percent of respondents claiming that the former was at the top of their priorities while 39% claimed that the latter was at the top of theirs.

The results of the survey also indicated that there is a demand for a handset that acts as both a landline and a mobile phone. 20% of respondents claimed that they would like a landline handset to have portability, which could send a message to manufacturers.

Speaking about the results, the chief executive of Burnside Telecom Colin Atiken said:

“This research emphasizes the continuing pace of evolution and increasing move away from copper and fixed line communications to mobile networks. Burnside Telecom is committed to a range of product and service development to delivery new solutions in numerous sectors including retail, telecare, construction, marine and transport environments.”

Sony Ericsson are preparing to launch one of their most interesting releases yet, after the company confirmed their intentions for the Xperia Active to hit shelves shortly.

The phone is designed with the outdoors in mind, with the Active being dust and water resistant up to one metre for thirty minutes. Whats more, and something that will be highly intriguing to many, is the wet finger tracking feature that Sony Ericsson have developed. This means that if the screen or even the users finger is wet, the phone will still function as normal.

To continue the outdoors theme, Sony have also designed the phone to be attached to either a wrist strap or arm case. An interchangeable soft cover will accompany the package to allow this.

As well as the hardware, Sony have also included many fitness and outdoor applications on the smartphone. A heart rate monitor, a GPS based barometer and even a fitness tracking application are just several of the apps that can be used in conjunction with the Xperia Active.

The thing that makes the Active unique is the fact that it is a smartphone, however. There have been many attempts to develop a fitness-based phone, but Sony claim that theirs is unique in the sense that it also acts as a smartphone. Surfing the web, checking your emails, playing games and downloading applications can all be done with the Xperia Active.

In terms of technical information, the phone will run on a 1GHz processor which will combine with 512MB of RAM. This, as Sony highlight, is a similar set of specifications that a high-end Android handset would have. Other useful features include a 5 megapixel camera with HD video capture, plus the regular connectivity such as WiFi, GPS and 3.5G.

One issue that many are sceptical about is the display screen, which sizes up at just 3 with 320 x 480 pixels. However, this is likely to be due to the durability that Sony have attempted to build into the device.

There is no exact data available for a release date or price, although Sony have hinted that the Xperia Active should be available during 2011 Q3.

Three have confirmed the HTC ChaCha is now available.

The main theme of the phone certainly appears to be that of Facebook, with the social networking site featured heavily in the whole design of the ChaCha. Perhaps the most obvious sign of this is a specialist Facebook Share button, which allows users to upload files and update their status much more quickly.

Sylvia Chind, Head of Devices at Three also seemed to indicate that the phones connection with Facebook was extremely important for the network, which receives over 38 million page views every day. She said:

It’s because of this popularity that were delighted to be stocking the HTC ChaCha. Not only will our customers be able to access their favourite Facebook features at the touch of a button, but coupled with Threes all-you-can-eat data they can surf their favourite site without having to worry about going over any internet allowances.

The phone certainly seems to be all about communication, with HTC providing both a multi-touch 2.6 screen and QWERTY keyboard to give users two very impressive options. The ChaCha also boasts a 800 MHz processor, a 5MP camera with LED flash and of course the highly popular Android operating system. With the 2GB microSD memory being able to expand up to 32GB, the smartphone is certainly capable of being able to store plenty of multimedia.

The HTC ChaCha is available on The One Plan and offers 2000 any network minutes, 5000 Three-to-Three minutes, 5000 texts and unlimited data for £29 a month.

Nokia have become the latest company to announce an instant messaging application, with the firm releasing software called IM for Nokia. The concept is exactly the same as that of Blackberry Messenger and Apple’s iMessage, with the idea allowing users to communicate through free instant messaging that bypasses the cost of a text message.

Just like its competitors, users of IM for Nokia will be able to send messages to any other person who is using the software. However, while it saves money in comparison with text messages, just like the other messaging clients it requires the use of the internet through either 3G or WiFi.

In terms of functionality, IM for Nokia is very similar to that of its rivals. It holds a friends list and to chat to a particular person, they must be on this list. Once a friend is selected, chat is instigated by simply typing in the box. It also allows users to show the world their current status, with the application allowing the standard options such as Available, Do Not Disturb and Away.

Just like the majority of applications, the service also contains its own home screen widget. This makes the application even easier to use, with new messages being easily discovered and users being able to set their status with the touch of a button.

However, looking at the more application in a more detailed manner, it certainly holds a big advantage over Blackberry Messenger. The application will support other messaging networks such as Google Talk, Myspace, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, allowing users to combine all of their chat activities inside one application.

While some will view that as highly important, IM for Nokia does have its drawbacks and these mainly relate to multimedia. Blackberry Messenger for example allows users to send music, photos and videos over the network, while this feature is not available in Nokias application. Whats more, Blackberry Messenger also gives users the opportunity to share what music they are listening to with their contacts another feature that is not available in IM for Nokia. Similarly, Apple’s iMessage also holds these advantages.

At the moment, the service is only available on a selection of phones. The Nokia X6, Nokia 5230, Nokia N8, Nokia E7 and Nokia Series 40 handsets all support the application and those users wishing to give the service a try should log into their Ovi account and download it. The application certainly does nothing new, but it at least allows Nokia users to utilize the chat facilities that so many other mobile phone users have grown used to over recent times.