A NEW magazine is being launched today.

Called Roam, this users' guide for mobile phone owners comes free with today's edition of The Straits Times.

Think of Roam as that missing user manual and guide with insider tips on which handset, services and accessories to buy.

Roam seeks to help users such as Ms Chen Low Heng, 53, who is unsure about getting a data plan for her Nokia E72 phone.

'My friends tell me that their bills are over $100 because they retrieve their e-mail messages on their handsets. I want e-mail on my phone and to be able to surf the Web, but I don't want to pay that much,' said the financial consultant.

To help users like her, Roam will slice and dice all a user needs to know about owning and using a handset.

In Singapore, there are 6.8 million mobile phones in use, says the Infocomm Development Authority.

Smartphones - phones that double as pint-sized computers - have been the most popular, with one out of three handsets sold here last year being a smartphone.

This year, about 40 per cent of all phones sold will be smartphones, according to research firm IDC.

Roam launches today with a report on smartphones. Should a user line up for Apple's iPhone, a Google Nexus One or HTC HD2, the hottest Windows phone?

Roam's reporters in today's inaugural issue give their opinion of their smartphone of choice.

And which are the must-have apps and what are the tricks which only power users know? Details are in today's Roam, which is a quarterly publication. The next issue will be published on May 11.

Roam - powered by the Digital Life team of The Straits Times - also offers expert how-to guides to reviews of the latest handsets.

Each issue will include a price list of mobile phone models sold in the last quarter.

Today's issue of Roam includes a contest with prizes worth more than $10,000 of phones, including the hot HTC HD2 and iPhone.

TAN CHONG YAW