Blog posts tagged with 'phones'

From comparatively humble beginnings, Samsung – always South Korea’s premier electronics company – has managed to diversify into the Smartphone industry with greater success than virtually all of its competitors. Though rivals like RIM and Sony are falling by the wayside (with respective first quarter sales of approximately 11 million and 7 million), Samsung have managed to supersede even Apple in the realm of Smartphone shipments. In the first quarter of 2012, Samsung shipped 43 million Smartphones to Apple’s 35 million: together, the two powerhouse corporations boast more than 50% of overall Smartphone sales – and over 90% of Smartphone profits, considering the top-end spec of much of their merchandise. Amongst Google’s loose “coalition” of Android Smartphones, Samsung is surely their most valuable companion. In addition to providing good press for the Android OS due to strong sales and superb hardware, Samsung is one of the few companies to serve as a credible threat to Apple’s continuing supremacy. If Samsung can absorb substantial Smartphone sales from the Apple leviathan while companies like Microsoft (with their forthcoming tablet computer) belay them elsewhere, Google could deliver a serious blow to their most dangerous competitor and boost the profit potential of the Android market. However, Samsung – like Apple – are a company that like to stand on their own two feet, and it’s no surprise that they’re contemplating the possibility of utilizing their own operating system, the heretofore underdog Bada, as a viable alternative to Android for Samsung’s budget Smartphones. This isn’t a particularly substantial rift in the two company’s fortunes. While Bada has the potential to steal some of Android’s thunder (and thus risk diluting the essential two horse race between the iOS and Android), the fact it’s designed with budget Smartphones in mind means that it will essentially act as a ‘gateway’ OS to draw in new customers, who may not be attracted to expensive, high end tour de forces like Samsung’s Galaxy S3. Samsung are also considering combining the base Bada system with the open-source Tizen OS; as another system which is not intended to upset the balance between Android and iOS (and as one which attracts third party developers courtesy of its freely-distributed nature), Tizen should add the muscle which Bada has so far sadly lacked. It’s a savvy business decision from Samsung; they won’t be upsetting the proverbial apple cart, but simultaneously they’ll be setting the groundwork for a day when their own operating system is poised to take a chunk of the market. And with Tizen’s developers on board (along with the developers who helped develop the MeeGo system, swathes of which were appropriated for Tizen), Samsung are guaranteed at least some success in the arena of third party development, ensuring a healthy library of applications on launch. We’re fairly confident that Samsung will be launching at least one Bada/Tizen Smartphone this year; though the cost of developing software like this may be prohibitive under normal circumstances, Samsung’s healthy financial future means that it’s impossible to rule it out entirely!

When the mobile phone boom began, Nokia was one of the companies that profited inordinately. Cheap to manufacture and with ultra-competitive prices, Nokia’s initial range of mobiles propelled them to the enviable position of largest global mobile phone vendor – a position they managed to cling to for 14 years, from 1998 to 2012 (when they were finally dethroned by Samsung). However, the slow decline of Nokia began in 2007, after the Apple iPhone was unveiled for the first time. The iPhone was to prove the antithesis of Nokia’s own marketing strategy: costly, decadent, and ultra-modern, with a plethora of fringe features to appeal to both the casual user and the hardcore tinkerer. This new breed of mobile phones, since dubbed Smartphones, was to be a constant thorn in Nokia’s side; Smartphones were much more difficult and costly to manufacture than a run-of-the-mill mobile… and in many cases, also difficult to market. Companies like Apple and Samsung, which possess strong branding, were able to build up the concept of “lifestyle marketing” around their burgeoning Smartphone empires. Bundling an image with their devices led to bigger and bigger profit margins for the two industry giants; Nokia, with their budget mobiles and entry-level devices, fell further and further by the wayside. Without support from either iOS (Apple’s proprietary operating system) or Android (Google’s freely-distributed OS, which the vast preponderance of Smartphone’s – including Samsung’s - use), Nokia made a last-ditch attempt to buoy their ailing company and re-establish a foothold in the modern market: a February 2011 alliance with Microsoft, the computer giant which publishes Windows Phone, a much more modest alternative to the “big two” operating systems.  But even a strategic partnership with Microsoft hasn’t turned Nokia’s fortunes around, and they recently announced a number of dramatic cuts. 10,000 Nokia employees will be losing their jobs during this cull, which Nokia claim is the only way to preserve their struggling company. In addition, an unspecified number of manufacturing plants are to be shut down, there are to be numerous changes in personnel, and Nokia’s luxury phone brand Vertu - whose devices are made of ultra-expensive materials like gold, diamond and carbon fibre – is to be sold off to a third party. Nokia’s forecast for the future remains grim, however: they have predicted continued financial hardship for the remainder of the year, to “[a] somewhat greater extent than previously expected”. And we’re regretfully forced to concur, because cuts of this magnitude can often be devastating to a company: particularly a company like Nokia, intent on reclaiming their lost resources. By trimming the fat to such an extreme, Nokia may well have lost the capacity to compete on equal footing with their Android/Apple competitors, and doomed themselves to a slow degeneracy as a result. The numbers speak for themselves. While Samsung and Apple have gone from strength to strength (Samsung have sold 44.5 million in the Smartphone market this quarter, while Apple have sold 35 million), Nokia are increasingly falling behind (with sales of 12 million in the first quarter). Their stock value is at its lowest level since 1996, putting it at a sixteen year low. An August 2011 statement by Nokia’s US subsidiary head, Chris Weber, sums up their issue: “the reality is that if we’re not successful with Windows Phone, it really doesn’t matter what we do”. And as our earlier blog post on the topic establishes, Microsoft is not doing well in what amounts to a two-man war of the operating systems between Apple and Google. Though we regret to report this, if Nokia’s fortunes continue to decline, they may be forced to abandon their manufacturing business altogether and adopt a subsidiary role to a stronger company. But given their submissive role in their ‘partnership’ with Microsoft, some would argue that that’s already happened.

Sony has been playing a fairly clever game recently. Realizing that the majority of today’s Smartphone press is going towards lucrative, big-budget devices like the Samsung Galaxy S3 (launched at a glitzy launch event at the end of May, in London), or towards saturation-marketed events like Apple’s yearly WWDC, Sony have instead chose to release a number of feature and budget phones. It’s a smart notion; after their recent emancipation from long-time partner Ericsson, it’s a good idea for Sony to build up a little goodwill from their consumers and establish a hardy market of cheaper devices, before unleashing a top-end competitor for the title of strongest Smartphone (a crown which is becomingly increasingly harder to claim, with behemoths like the HTC One X and the aforementioned Galaxy S3 on the prowl). After unveiling the Xperia Acro S and the Xperia Go, two durable toughphone designs, Sony are now poised with a new mobile, with a new gimmick: the Sony Xperia Tipo Dual. The Tipo’s appeal is simple: it possesses two SIM cards, and has a dedicated hardware key allowing you to switch between them at will (in addition to software settings which permit you to automatically switch between SIM cards during conditions which you can pre-set, such as time of day). It bolsters its usefulness by being a fairly good low-end Smartphone, to boot, with a 3.2 Megapixel camera, just under 3GB of storage (expandable via SD card) and connectivity features such as 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as the prerequisite scratch resistant glass. Essentially, it’s intended to bridge the gap between a cheaper feature phone and the low end of the Smartphone market, and act as a jumping-off point for new consumers. Unusually for such a device, though, it’s running the most recent version of Android (the Ice Cream Sandwich OS) despite having only a single-core processor with a mere 800MHz – the Sony Xperia Play pulls down 1GHz and is still apparently unable to handle ICS. Running the latest version of Android should certainly sweeten the deal for the casual user, on what could otherwise appear to be a fairly lacklustre and gimmicky device. But accusations of gimmickry aside, Sony are still learning a trick that many of their competitors have yet to master – diversification. In much the same way that the Xperia Acro S and the Xperia Go were intended to appeal to mobile phone user’s on-the-go, the Tipo Dual is intended to appeal to casual users and individuals who’d like to utilize two mobile phone networks simultaneously. Sony’s recent devices may lack the power of HTC’s One range, but they’re succeeding with their goal of appealing to very different types of users, and by doing so they're broadening their market reach accordingly. And, if rumours of the upcoming Sony Hayabusa Smartphone hold any water, Sony may be able to go toe-to-toe with giants like the One X and the iPhone 4S soon enough!

Google have come a long way since their humble beginnings in the cut-throat world of search engines in the late 1990s. Differentiating themselves from the herd with a simple, uncluttered, utilitarian design that put Yahoo to shame, Google has gone from strength to strength: nowadays they have diversified into almost every imaginable multimedia avenue. But as a site that manufactures mobile phone peripherals, our chief area of interest lies in Google’s mobile phone operating system – the freely distributed Android OS. Owing to this open-source policy of distribution, Google have successfully manoeuvred themselves into a position of supremacy in the Smartphone market; the concept of a mobile OS that can be tinkered with extensively is an attractive prospect for companies like Samsung and HTC, who incorporate their own GUIs to ensure browsing their unique phones is a singular experience. It’s the anti-iOS: unlike Apple’s proprietary operating system, which is singularly linked to the experience of owning an iPhone, Android prides itself on its diversity and usefulness across a broad spectrum of devices.  But Google, clever company that they are, know that there’s always room for improvement, and they’re looking to their competitors for inspiration. In the past, Microsoft attempted to run their Windows OS across different types of devices, such as tablets, phones and desktops, to provide a homogenous user experience, building up brand familiarity. Their efforts, sadly, failed. This stands in contrast to Apple’s successful policy of building up a brand through marketing, while utilizing thoroughly different operating systems for different devices – just compare the iOS, their iPhone operating system, to the OS X, the classic operating system of their wildly popular Macs. Keeping this in mind, Google are opting to move towards a gradual conflation of Android, their Smartphone operating system, and Chrome OS, their cloud-based operating system that recently debuted on their chromebook and chrometop devices. It makes sense from a business perspective. In the past, Google had to adopt the simpler Android system for phones, because they lacked the processing power to run software as sophisticated as that found in the Chrome OS. But as Smartphones grow smarter, and prices gradually decrease, it’s becoming more and more cost effective and easy to premiere powerful, versatile software like Chrome OS on a device small enough to hold in one hand. But they don’t want to make the mistake that Microsoft did, which was, essentially, brutally ramming an operating system designed for desktops across platforms that simply didn’t complement it. So their plan is to smoothly and organically combine the two platforms, taking the best features of each to create a seamless (but still distinctive) browsing experience. Their Chrome web browser has already made its debut on Android 4.0, marking Google’s first steps into convergence; who knows what kind of conflated Chrome/Android powerhouse could be created by the time the 5.0 or 6.0 versions roll around? It’s easy to lose yourself in the clouds (or perhaps simply place your head in cloud-based storage for a time) when thinking of such heady notions, but for the casual consumer, there’s likely to be little change. Google is a superb company ran by bright and forward-thinking people; they’re sure to retain the unique elements that make Smartphones and desktops special, no matter how similar the operating systems of each may become!

It’s easy to overlook Windows phones. Obviously, the iOS is incredibly well known: as Apple’s proprietary operating system, anyone who utilizes an iPhone is forced to adopt it as a matter of course. And its chief competitor, Google’s open-source Android OS, has gone from strength to strength recently, gaining an increased measure of traction due to the ease with which third-party developers can construct widgets, overlays and applications to complement its baseline software. Both operating systems, therefore, have clearly delineated positions in the marketplace: the proprietary closed-source iOS, tailor-made to Apple’s exacting specifications and intimately tied into their market branding initiative, counterpointing the looser, open-source Android, which is attractive specifically because it is so easy to adapt to radically different phones. The Windows OS, by contrast, has no clear position in this hierarchy: it lacks a distinct market identity of its own. Consequently, it is consistently overlooked by consumers. Though the platform is outsourced to different hardware vendors, in much the same way Android is, there’s no clear sense of that community that makes the Android such a singular experience; there’s a dearth of apps, and much fewer developers, compared to the Android’s surplus of both. There’s considerably less customization available as a consequence – meaning that despite having a business ideology similar to Google’s Android, the homogeneity and simplicity of the OS makes it seem a lot more like Apple’s. Compare and contrast this to the hardware of Windows phones, which, by and large, express the same degree of variation that you’ve come to expect from Android. The experience is not cohesive enough: it lacks the trademark focus of its competition. Microsoft is certainly attempting to make up for this deficit; they’ve been making a real push to expand their market lately, contributing huge amounts of money to developers and even, in some cases, giving away devices in order to ensure that the prospect of developing for their company seems as attractive as possible. They’ve also updated their design philosophy: with the advent of proprietary, functional software like Metro (a clean and minimalistic UI, with easy window toggling to reduce confusion while utilizing multiple applications) and Bing (a multi-input search engine function that allows you to seamlessly blend touchscreen, voice, and vision input to fluidly search for content), they seem to finally be developing a market identity of their own. Sadly, however, it still seems to be a market identity founded on the notion of compromise – compromise between the respective extremes of the open-source Android OS and the proprietary Apple iOS. Even at their most inventive, the Windows phone selection that presently exists is mid-range: mid-range in terms of specifications, mid-range in terms of price and, sadly, mid-range in terms of available features. Whether they can pick up the slack to eventually compete on an equal footing with their competitor’s remains to be seen; but, given the current climate of Smartphone development and programming, Microsoft would be better sticking to the desktop computer marketplace. It’s a shame; a greater range of Smartphones can only result in more choices for the consumer. But in this system dominated by only two companies, it seems that consumers aren’t interested in choice; they’re more concerned with brand recognition.

In an era when specifications rule the roost in the Smartphone market, it’s refreshing to see the ways in which different companies attempt to differentiate themselves from the crowd. Samsung, for example, have recently debuted the ultra-cheap Galaxy Pocket: a stripped down, entry-level Smartphone with a price tag more reminiscent of a feature phone. And now Sony has entered the fray with two new Smartphones, the Xperia Acro S and the Xperia Go, which are marketed on one quality – their incredible toughness. The Acro S (pictured above) has some fairly impressive specifications, when stacked up against its foes in the Smartphone market. Though it couldn’t hope to rival top-end Smartphones like the S3, it still boasts a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 12 Megapixel camera, 16GB of onboard storage (with a card slot that can add up to another 32GB in a pinch), and a number of fringe features like image/video stabilization, smile detection, and active noise cancellation for smoother conversations. But while you’d need a case or cover to protect a different Smartphone of correspondingly powerful specifications, the Acro S has an almost preternatural fortitude. With a 4.3 inch screen made of scratch-resistant, shatterproof glass, and a casing designed to be water and dirt repelling, Sony claims that the Acro S can survive being submerged in water for up to thirty minutes without suffering any ill effects – making it the perfect Smartphone to enjoy on the beach, in the bath, or even scuba-diving! (Imagine the quality of pictures you could take underwater with this bad boy!) The Xperia Go (above), meanwhile, is even tougher. While its specifications are considerably more modest (with half the onboard available storage, a 1 GHz dual-core processor, a mere 5 Megapixel camera and more stripped down, utilitarian fringe features, in addition to a smaller screen and lower pixel density), Sony place its toughness at a staggering IP67 certification. Compare this to the hardy Xperia Acro S, which has a mere IP55, and you’ll come to the (correct) conclusion that the Xperia Go is virtually the toughest mobile on the market today - discounting all the low-end, feature phone bricks out there, of course. Given Sony’s recent bad luck with legal battles, weak sales, and money trouble, it’s nice to see them getting back on their feet in a way as unique and interesting as this. They’re carving out a new niche in the market: one defined not by the power of the phone’s software, or by an ultra-impressive range of specifications, but by the raw, bloody-minded strength of its hardware! We here at Mobile Madhouse can respect the dogged determination of the Sony giant – don’t be surprised if, a few months down the line, we debut a range of Xperia Go and Xperia Acro S peripherals!

If you enjoyed our earlier post, comparing the respective merits of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple’s iPhone 4S, you’re in luck, because today we’re doing something very similar! In lieu of comparing the S3 with its most popular rival, though, we’re comparing it with its most powerful – HTC’s resident behemoth, the mighty One X. Making its debut in early April, the HTC One X carved out a place in a Smartphone marketplace dominated by Apple’s iPhone, by emphasizing raw power over Apple’s trademark usability. That doesn’t mean it lacks utility, though; as one of the premier slate phones on the market, the One X is incredibly intuitive to use. Utilizing Android 4.0.3 (the Ice Cream Sandwich OS) as a baseline, it overlays HTC’s proprietary HTC Sense GUI for increased attractiveness (and better market branding in relation to similar HTC devices), guaranteeing a unique browsing experience for the user. In addition, it boasts a range of fringe features for the enthusiast, including geo-tagging, simultaneous HD picture-taking and video recording, and both face and smile detection, allowing you to perform feats like locking your phone unless you are present in person. But how does it stack up against the Samsung Galaxy S3 in terms of specifications? Let’s find out:

Samsung Galaxy S3	HTC One X
4.8 inches wide Super AMOLED touchscreen, 720 x 1280, 306 ppi	4.7 inches wide Super IPS LCD2 touchscreen, 720 x 1280, 312 ppi
16/32/64 GB storage options, running 1GB of RAM	32GB storage, running 1GB of RAM
8 Megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash	8 Megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash
Quad-core 1.4GHz Cortex-A9 processor	Quad-core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor
Exynos 4212 Quad chipset	Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset
2100 mAh battery	1800 mAh battery
Android 4.0 OS (Ice Cream Sandwich)	Android 4.0 OS (Ice Cream Sandwich)

  As you can see, the contest is not nearly as clear-cut as it was between the S3 and the iPhone 4S. As the reigning top-end Smartphone, the HTC One X boasts many of the same features as the Galaxy S3. It has a slightly smaller screen, but slightly higher pixel density; a smaller battery, but a little more processing power; and an identical camera, coupled with the exact same up-to-date Android OS (the Ice Cream Sandwich) as the S3. There are two significant differences between the two devices, however. First is the storage space. The HTC One X comes with a non-negotiable 32GB, of which only 26GB is available to the user; the rest is earmarked for other processes. And unlike the Samsung Galaxy S3, which has a microSD card slot to help augment its memory (by up to a whopping 64GB), the HTC One X is stuck with its meagre default allowance. Any kind of film or videogame enthusiast will be sorely disappointed by the HTC One X storage capacity; a device with such a gorgeous, high-resolution screen should also have an expansive memory, to allow you to watch a range of movies without having to delete them at regular intervals to free up space. The second significant difference between the two devices lies in their array of fringe features. The One X does have excellent utilities, befitting a top-end Smartphone; Beats Audio, active noise cancellation, SNS integration, smile detection, etc. But the Samsung Galaxy S3 has all of that and more; all the up-to-date, groundbreaking features, in fact, that you'd expect from a newly-release high-end Smartphone – including Smart eye tracking (permitting the phone to go into stand-by mode when you’re not looking at it), a free 50GB of Dropbox (a Cloud storage service), voice command integration, etc. The improved software, and equivalent pricing structure, ensures that the newly-released device is the one that comes out on top in a straight up fight. With that said, it comes down to a matter of choice. The two devices are so similar in most other respects that it’s difficult to make a definitive choice between them. Brand loyalists on either side will have an easy time of it – but for the rest of us, there’s precious little to differentiate the S3 and the HTC One X. And as more software updates are released for the two devices, the gap between the two is likely to shorten even more, in addition to greater equalization in pricing. So, ultimately, it comes down to your own personal allegiance – are you a Samsung or a HTC kind of person?

Though it’s very easy to overlook entry-level Smartphones in favour of the glitzier, glamorous high-end devices, the discerning Smartphone connoisseur should be aware that budget devices often act as “gateway” phones, allowing a newcomer to the Smartphone market an opportunity to dip their toe in the proverbial pool (without having to learn how to swim first). But every now and then a budget Smartphone comes along that feels very gimmicky; and after the high-rise debut of the Samsung Galaxy S3, whose pre-orders more than doubled that of Apple’s iPhone 4S, it feels like a regression for Samsung to release a mobile like the Samsung Galaxy Pocket. Essentially, the notion behind the Galaxy Pocket (so named for its miniature frame) is that it provides the features of an entry-level Android Smartphone without being excessively expensive. As an entry-level Smartphone, it is designed as the next rung on the ladder for feature-phone users to climb: powerful (or at least powerful compared to its lesser kin), but much more competitively priced than something like the S3. Things like this have been attempted before – Samsung themselves have made a stab at it prior to now, with the Galaxy Mini 2. But the envelope has never been pushed further than it has with the Samsung Galaxy Pocket. Its hardware features are startlingly austere for a Smartphone: a 2.8 inch screen pulling in 143 ppi; a 2 Megapixel camera; a 1200 mAh battery; 3GB of internal storage; Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity; and, promisingly, an extraordinarily light weight of 97g. You can expect an ultra-competitive price-tag when the device debuts in the UK – though we haven’t been given a date yet, it’s a fairly safe bet that the Galaxy Pocket will put you back less than £150, considering its modest specifications. But, of course, there are some drawbacks for a competitively priced mobile that attempts to run Android competently. First off, the capacitive touchscreen input. While it’s comfortable and user-friendly on mobiles with larger screens (the HTC One X is a particularly excellent example of touchscreens done right), anyone with larger-than-average fingers is going to struggle to input on the Samsung Galaxy Pocket with any degree of speed or accuracy. Additionally, the smaller screen can make browsing a pain, which isn’t a very attractive notion for a Smartphone that boasts Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity as some of its flagship features. Any kind of lengthy browsing session could result in a headache and eyestrain. The modest CPU (a processor running less than 840MHz) and low resolution mean that you will get noticeable time-lag when running anything even remotely graphically intensive, making the Galaxy Pocket’s compatibility with Android’s app store seem like a hollow proposition when even a simple game like Angry Birds can slow your device to the very brink of unplayability. Without the capacity to run Android’s current OS (Ice Cream Sandwich), the Galaxy Pocket is also restricted to a re-skinned version of the earlier Gingerbread OS - which, to its credit, remains a competent operating system with many useful fringe features (albeit with significantly less utility than its bigger brother). With all of that said, however, the Galaxy Pocket was never an exercise in creating a specification-mad monster; the Galaxy S3 fulfils that particular niche in Samsung’s catalogue of devices. While Smartphone enthusiasts will find little to love here, it’s always a noble sight to see a company genuinely interested in expanding their market by appealing to the younger and less experienced consumer. The Samsung Galaxy Pocket is guaranteed to make less than one tenth of the money of the leviathanic S3, but the good-will it will engender in first-time Smartphone customers is sure to make it all worthwhile in the long term.

Ordinarily, casual mobile phone users don’t pay too much attention to the release date cycles of Smartphones that aren’t marketed under the Apple logo. But recently, some of the biggest mobile manufacturers – HTC and their flagship One X device being prominent examples – have managed to break through into the mainstream, thanks to a combination of impressive specifications and non stop, saturation marketing. No phone, though, has been more successful in this respect than Samsung’s latest offering – the powerhouse Galaxy S3! Utilizing a superb confluence of raw processing power and intuitive controls, it made history by having more than double the pre-orders of Apple’s flagship iPhone 4S: more than 9 million to Apple’s 4 million. It boasts both power and utility, and all at a price that won't leave you reeling. A mobile phone of such renown deserves a little pampering and a lot of protection – so if you’re fortunate enough to own one on release, you should check out our range of protective cases! Our S-line silicone gel cases are lightweight, form-fitting covers, designed to fit snugly around the sleek contours of your new S3. Though incredibly cheap to purchase, and almost unbelievably slimline, they provide a startling degree of protection for your device: shielding from water, dirt, and screen damage with ease. Laser-cut to our exacting specifications, our silicone S-line covers permit button access even when worn, ensuring that you never have to compromise on protection in favour of functionality. While there’s unquestionably a place for S-line cases, for the consumer on the go there’s no finer confluence of protection and professionalism than one of our excellent faux-leather flip cases. Your mobile phone slots securely into the interior, and is held firmly in place. From then on, it’s a simple matter of snapping the flip case open when you need to use the device, and snapping it shut when you want a stylish modus of transportation! We also stock wallet cases, mobile covers, and proprietary chargers for the S3. So why wait around here reading this blog? Go give our Samsung S3 cases a look! And be sure to check back regularly: we’re dedicated to building the most comprehensive selection of S3 cases on the internet, and can consequently guarantee a constantly expanding stock of items!

If you’ve been keeping abreast of our posts, you’ll have noticed our enduring fascination with the HTC One X. We’ve exhaustively reviewed the device, its specifications, and the ground it has succeeding in breaking in the Smartphone industry. All of HTC’s competitors have stepped up their game to lock horns with the One X – from the Samsung Galaxy S3 to the rumoured, upcoming spectre of the Sony Hayabusa, the One X has certainly made some ripples in the proverbial pond! But nothing illustrates our depth of respect for HTC’s flagship device more than our superb range of peripherals, designed with the One X squarely in mind. First up are our S-Line silicone gel cases. Made from the highest-quality silicon, they are designed to mould to the contours of the HTC One X, providing a durable and skin-tight layer of protection. In addition, the curved S design provides a sturdy grip, ensuring that you don’t drop your device while texting. And as if that were not enough, our laser-cut, precision-engineered method of engineering means that you have access to the One X’s smart-button interaction at all times – you never have to compromise on the protection of your device, just for the sake of increased usability!  Next up, our superb faux-leather wallet cases! Though designed specifically for the stylish protection and transportation of your One X, the additional two slots on the left-hand side of the wallet allow you to transport other miscellaneous items, too. Whether it’s your credit card, your driver’s license, or simply a ten pound note or two, for a shopping trip or a night on the town, you can now ensure you don’t lose your phone OR your money when push comes to shove! Finally, our utilitarian faux-leather flip case selection. These austere cases snap open and closed over the screen of your One X, ensuring unparalleled protection when shut, and easy access to the touchscreen and button inputs when opened. The surface of our flip cases combines rugged durability with an attractive range of colouring options, leaving both fashion and function at your fingertips! Though that’s the extent of our case selection at the moment, don’t despair if you can’t find a case that appeals to your unique taste – we’re constantly on the look-out for high quality peripherals for the HTC One X, and our market periodically expands accordingly! Check back in at Mobile Madhouse in a few weeks time, and the transcendental case of your dreams might just be our flagship product!

Anyone who has perused this blog might have noticed that one Smartphone is repeatedly used as a tool of comparison for others. Whether discussing the Samsung Galaxy S3, the iPhone 4S, or the rumoured upcoming Sony LT29i, there’s one device they strain to match – the current industry standard, the HTC One X. If you’re not fortunate enough to own this sublime piece of hardware, you’ll be forgiven for not knowing why it’s such an excellent mobile. Undoubtedly, part of the reason is psychosomatic: HTC recorded a degree of profit loss prior to the release of the One X, and it’s clear they threw their heart and soul into its production as a way of proving their worth to their detractors. The subsequent success of the device has made it something of a golden boy in the eyes of Smartphone enthusiasts, and definitely revived HTC’s flagging fortunes, fanning the fire of their financial success. But, of course, that’s not the only reason why this phone is so popular. The HTC One X is powerful. Secreted in its lightweight, slimline 8.9mm frame lays a quad-core processor, Nvidia’s Tegra 3, which provides some genuine oomph in terms of CPU speed. Its screen is 4.7 inches, which would be a formidable enough size on a phone with less features (HTC have, in fact, marketed entire advertising campaigns around screen size before – just look at the HTC Titan), but seems to be just business as usual with the powerhouse One X. This gargantuan display is capable of 720p HD, utilizing LCD technology (in lieu of the AMOLED display favoured by rival Samsung) to offer an incredible visual experience, with less blurring and more exacting colour accuracy than nearly all competitors. This is carried through by the sleek and minimalistic design of the One X, eschewing excessive button input in favour of a slate-inspired modus that is far more elegant and intuitive. In terms of its software, the One X ships with Android 4.0, the Ice Cream Sandwich OS that most Smartphone enthusiasts have come to know and respect. As per usual for HTC devices, it’s overlaid with the HTC Sense GUI, transforming the OS into one of the sleekest, most professional and eye-catching browsing experiences around. It comes prepackaged with Beats Audio, ensuring lossless, studio-quality performance, irrespective of the music you prefer. There’s 32GB of onboard storage; which is fairly good, but possibly a little lacklustre when you consider the dearth of superb HD movies that would look sublime on the screen of the One X, but would never fit simultaneously in its memory. Additionally, without a card slot to subsidize this (comparative) deficit, hardcore Smartphone enthusiasts may find their available space diminishing rapidly. This shouldn’t be a problem for the average user, however - and the HTC One X does possess a lot of average users, compared to its competitors. And, in a roundabout way, that’s what makes the HTC One X such a special phone – the fact it crosses the normally clear-cut boundary that separates usability (exemplified by the iPhone 4S) and raw power (exemplified by devices like the newly-unveiled Samsung S3), to create a user experience that can appeal to both sides of the Smartphone market. Yes, there’s the traditional plethora of fringe features for hardcore enthusiasts, like simultaneous HD video recording and picture taking, face detection lock (ensuring other people cannot utilize your unique device), and an autofocus 8 Megapixel camera (with response times which average about a third of a second)… but it’s all so easy to use that you never feel intimidated by its potentialities. Rather, the HTC One X feels like an adventure of discovery; you feel compelled to utilize all of its disparate features, rather than put off by them. I’ve no doubt that, in the future, many once-inexperienced phone-users will cite the HTC One X as the mobile phone that got them truly interested in the industry. That’s what makes it such a special device, and the current high water mark of the Smartphone industry.

Ordinarily, the periodic updates to the Apple iPhone make it one of the most stalwart, dependable mobile phones on the market. Apple’s update schedule is like clockwork: comforting in its predictability. But for a company like Mobile Madhouse, looking to diversify into Apple iPhone 5 cases, details of their next-gen device are a little thin on the ground at the moment. It’s hardly a surprise; the iPhone 4S, running their latest iOS operating system, the 5.0, hit the market in autumn – in lieu of the general spring release. With the schedule Apple has set for releasing new products that means we shouldn’t expect an announcement about the hypothetical iPhone 5 for at least another month, with their June 11^th – 15^th WWDC (worldwide developer’s conference) slated to be the platform from which the iOS 6 is unveiled. At this point, even the name “iPhone 5” is just speculation. After all, as the upcoming sixth release in the cycle, it could just as easily be dubbed the iPhone 6! It’s to be expected, though. As an incredibly popular company, Apple products produce a disproportionate amount of buzz. Tickets for the WWDC sold out in a mere two hours, denying some U.S developers a chance to even attend. While previous WWDC outings were well-anticipated (the previous year had tickets selling out in just twelve hours), the fevered excitement for this new iPhone can easily be singled out as the culprit for this years ticket-snatching mania. But is it truly warranted? After all, Apple produces many more products than the iPhone; their computer operating system, the Mac OS X, undergoes developmental upheavals just as regularly as the iOS, and the OS X is certainly going to have at least a few sessions and seminars devoted to it. Isn’t it equally likely that this year’s WWDC will focus on the computing, or the music and multimedia side of their business? Isn’t it even possible that Apple themselves have leaked the tantalizing hints of the iPhone 5, to drum up interest over a prolonged period of time? It's certainly true that they've finally got around to registering the iPhone5.com domain name. We’d like to hear your thoughts on Apple, the WWDC, and the iPhone 5 (or perhaps “The New iPhone”, following in the footsteps of the iPad) via the comment system. Do you think it’s all meaningless hysteria, or just savvy marketing technique? Do you expect an announcement over the summer WWDC, or perhaps an autumn announcement, more in line with Apple’s traditional routine? Whichever it may be, rest assured - when the product is unveiled, we’ll be first on the market with a fine selection of iPhone 5 cases!

It’s always exciting to hear that a powerful new Smartphone is debuting on the market, but after the veritable blitzkrieg of new products in the last six or seven months, you must be feeling at least a little fatigued. We here at Mobile Madhouse certainly are – it’s hard to keep up with these telecommunications giants, even though we think we’ve done a great job with our fabulous iPhone 4S cases, HTC One X cases, and, of course, our recently-unveiled range of Samsung S3 cases! But it’s nice to sit back, sometimes, and review a device that’s a little less hyped. A sedate, but still enjoyable device – a device such as HTC’s Desire C. It’s an updated variant of HTC’s original Desire, repackaged in a smaller frame and containing several natty new features for the discerning user. Accordingly, it lacks the raw, thunderous power of cutting-edge Smartphones such as the One X. But it retains an excellent array of features: it overlays HTC’s proprietary GUI, the Sense 4.0, over the most recent version of Android (also 4.0, the Ice Cream Sandwich OS) for a user experience that is equal parts intuitive and attractive, without sacrificing any of the functionality you’ve come to expect from Android. Pre-packaged Beats Audio software means lossless sound quality, which will be a true boon for music-lovers, while the 5 Megapixel camera and supported geo-tagging technology ensures you’ll never be left in the lurch in terms of visual power. Ultra small and thin, and very attractive; it’s also fairly cheap, with a scheduled price of just under £180 when it arrives on May 28^th. This makes it a very attractive low-to-mid range Smartphone, in terms of both capability and affordability – not too powerful, granted, but with a price-tag that won’t break the bank, either. This is certainly good news for you, but even better news for us – since we expect the money you save to go towards one of our upcoming high-quality HTC Desire C cases, instead!