Samsung Z560: Taking us to maximum warp

If you haven't heard of HSDPA (high-speed download packet access) then you will soon enough. It's the next generation of 3G -- you might have heard it called 3.5G or even Super 3G -- and you should be very, very excited about it.

Right now, a 3G-enabled mobile phone lets you browse the Web, download music and make video calls, among other things. The problem, as every 3G phone owner knows, is that it's not as fast as the hype would have you believe. You can do things much faster than you could on your older mobile phone, but there's something inherently un-broadband about it.

The solution is phones such as the T-Mobile Samsung Z560, which theoretically lets you download data at speeds of around 1.8Mbps, via HSDPA. This is around the same speed as your average home broadband connection, which means you can surf the Net rather than doggy-paddle across it.

We've been playing around with it for a couple of days and it is indeed very fast. It's not as quick as our home broadband, but we think that's mainly down to some Web pages containing too much data to be displayed on the Z560's screen properly.

Our first impression is that the Z560 is a great device for any mobile Internet fan. The screen isn't as large as the also HSDPA-enabled HTC TyTN's, but then again this phone will fit in your pocket more easily.

The Samsung Z560 is currently available for free on a monthly contract with T-Mobile. -AL