Blog posts tagged with 'windows'

Windows Phone 8 has had many manufacturers busy; HTC have released their stylish 8S and 8X devices, Samsung have branched out with their sumptuous mid-range Ativ S, and Nokia – close associates of Windows – have pulled out all the stops to produce some of the most excellent Lumia devices they've ever released! Today we’re going to be focusing on our new range of cases for the top-end Nokia Windows Phone – the incredible Lumia 920! It’s a superb device with a plethora of different utilities, and easily stands toe-to-toe with other Smartphone giants such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, Apple iPhone 5 and HTC One X. It has all of the specifications you would expect from a top-end device: a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor handles all of your power requirements with customary ease, while a bulky 2000 mAh battery provides superb talk time and browsing time without adding even a millimetre of unnecessary heft to the slim-line profile of the device. Nokia put their typical onus on the graphics of the device, managing to wring an excellent 332 ppi from the 4.5 inch screen of the device – and the camera is absolutely magnificent, an 8.7 Megapixel powerhouse with Carl Zeiss optics, image stabilization, autofocus and dual-LED flash! This is in additional to all of the handy little extras you’ve come to expect from the best Smartphones – a Gorilla Glass screen (preventing chips and scratches), high range of connectivity (across 2G, 3G and 4G data spectrums, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and DLNA across the board), a natty 7GB of free Cloud storage, predictive text input for faster communication and active noise cancellation, for an easier time talking to your friends and family! There’s everything here barring the kitchen sink – but even phones as legendarily sturdy as Nokia’s can use a little added protection to ensure they don’t face undue damage. So if you own a Lumia 920 of your own, and you want to keep it looking sleek and new for longer, browse through our range of Lumia 920 cases!

We have a broad range of Lumia 920 cases to choose from: our lightweight silicone cases, for example, are perfect for providing an unobtrusive layer of protection for your Lumia 920, offering shielding from scratches, dents and casing chips without adding unnecessary bulk to the sleek contours of this precision-crafted device. They also feature padded gel interiors to guarantee a comprehensive barrier against drop damage, mitigating harm that could otherwise cause stress to the delicate internal components of your Lumia 920. We also stock PU leather flip cases – attractive and professional, these flip cases enable easy access to the touchscreen of your device while simultaneously allowing you to flip the case closed when not in use, to offer an additional barrier against dirt and scuffs. With a plastic internal holder for added stability and increased grip, the flip cases are guaranteed to keep your Lumia 920 firmly in place at all times, no matter what may happen! Our PU leather wallet cases are similar in design to the flip case (also featuring a handy magnetic clasp for easy touchscreen access), but they also have internal pockets to store your bank card and loose bank notes – allowing you to keep your loose change as comprehensively protected as your phone!

So if you want to purchase any of our superb cases, simply click upon one of the images above to instantly be taken to their product page – now that’s convenient! And speaking of convenience, our ultra-competitive prices (coupled with next-day shipping on UK orders) guarantee that your order won’t just be cheap; it’ll also be with you in mere days time! With a wide array of designs, colours and styles to choose from, our case covers have only one thing in common – incredible protection from scratches, dents and scuffs across the board! And remember – any questions, queries or suggestions about our cases and website can be posed in the comments section below.

Don’t be afraid to make your voice heard; with your help, we aim to make Mobile Madhouse the premier purveyor of phone accessories in the whole of England! Thanks for reading!

With the advent of Windows Phone 8, many manufacturers are releasing excellent devices to take advantage of Microsoft’s latest and greatest operating system – for example, Nokia have banished rumours of financial troubles with the excellent Lumia 920, selling over 2.5 million devices already! But today our focus is upon HTC’s offering – their new flagship device, the HTC 8X, which has also been adopted by Microsoft as the flagship phone for the Windows 8 platform! It’s an excellent device: the operating system itself is as superb as you’d expect, with the intuitive tile layout you’ve come to know and love from past Windows Phone systems making its triumphant return. But it’s slicker, faster and more intuitive to use than ever before, with a plethora of additional features that bring it firmly in line with Android and iOS! The specifications of the 8X aren’t to be sniffed at, either – 16GB of internal storage, a round 1GB of RAM, 8 Megapixel camera (capable of 1080p recording at 30fps), a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 342 ppi screen…it’s easily capable of going toe-to-toe with other flagship phones, even powerhouses like Samsung’s S3 or HTC’s prior flagship, the One X! A device this comprehensively excellent deserves protection that’s as special at it is, so if you own an 8X of your own, you should definitely have a look at our brand new 8X leather flip case and its associated accessory packs!

Manufactured from premium-quality PU leather, this flip case is a truly excellent accessory: its durable exterior is guaranteed to deflect scratches, chips, casing cracks and scuffs, maintaining the allure of your monochromatic device and ensuring that it keeps looking new for longer! But despite its durability, it’s soft and plush in the hand, making it extremely easy to hold and mitigating the possibility of drops that the ordinarily smooth back of the 8X can sometimes cause. It also has a number of handy utility features – an internal plastic holder keeps your 8X steady at all times, guaranteeing that it won’t drop out and permitting you an increased degree of stability while browsing, while a magnetic clasp at the front of the flip case allows you to easily close the case when it’s not in use, while permitting easy access for phone calls and texting! It’s a truly convenient piece of hardware – and with the advent of our accessory pack combo deals, you can get it with other products, too! Our other accessories are equally excellent: our aluminium touchscreen stylus pen, for example, is slim-line and stylish, providing an easy way to browse through the graphical interface of Windows Phone 8 and enabling you to text more swiftly, navigate the internet with greater precision, and even rack up higher scores in all of your favourite games! Its soft rubber tip is guaranteed to prevent the possibility of scratches and scuffs which your fingertips and fingernails can incur, helping to maintain the cohesion of your screen against harm. And if you’re interested in our car charger, your interest is right to be piqued – these miniature chargers enable you to keep the 1800 mAh battery of your device topped up even while you’re on the move! Compatible with any micro-USB outlet (such as those found on computers or in cars), you never have to worry about running out of charge when you’re on the move again, allowing you to text, browse the Internet and make phone calls to your hearts content… at least until you hit the limits of your phone contract!

So if you’re fortunate enough to own a HTC Windows Phone 8X of your own, and you’re looking for a case cover which provides superior shielding, aesthetic appeal and a constant degree of convenience, opt for our incredible black leather PU flip case today! With a plethora of stylish and handy accessory pack combo combinations to choose from, you’re bound to find at least one that appeals to your specific need and exacting taste - and remember, as ever, any questions, issues or suggestions regarding our case can be posed in the comments section below! With your guidance, we aim to expand our range of HTC 8X cases – alongside our other offerings – until we’re the premier provider of phone accessories in the UK!

Thanks for reading!

A lot of things have changed since the heady days of the 90’s, when Nokia dominated the mobile phone market like no other company. For a time, they were ubiquitous, the Apple Incorporated of their age; however, since the genesis of the iPhone in 2007, and the subsequent penetration of the Smartphone into the traditional mobile/feature phone market, Nokia have been taking blow after financial blow. In 2010, they began cutting jobs in order to recoup cash; in 2011, their shares took a significant blow after the announcement that they were dropping their Symbian operating system in favour of Microsoft’s Windows OS. Earlier in 2012, they announced that they planned to sell their luxury phone brand Vertu in an attempt to trim the fat and streamline their selection of devices. And now Nokia have made the difficult decision of slashing over 10,000 jobs, in their biggest “revamp” or “restructuring” to date - but no amount of euphemisms can alter the simple fact that Nokia is in big financial trouble. They reported a loss of £1.1 billion in the second quarter of this year, a huge amount by any reckoning. With the latest round of announced cuts, they’ve slashed more than 40,000 jobs since 2010. And Standard & Poor’s, the European credit rating company, has recently downgraded their rating from BB+ to BB-, reflecting the lack of faith that many of Nokia’s consumers and investors now have in the once-giant of industry. Even in terms of volume, Nokia have fallen behind; while once the chief provider of devices, if not profits, they’ve recently been usurped by the South Korean giant of commerce Samsung in terms of devices shifted. The huge amount of cheap feature phones and Smartphones offered by Samsung has effectively sidetracked Nokia’s main source of commerce – that is, providing low-end devices to emerging markets such as India and China. And the future looks no brighter for Nokia; they project estimated costs of £600 million for their restructuring plans in 2012, and a further £550+ million in 2013. It’s a shame that the Smartphone market has so comprehensively altered the way consumers view companies such as Nokia. They still provide some excellent devices; as a company that deals in phone cases and accessories, we’ve had in-depth experience with Nokia’s flagship Lumia range, and they never fail to provide a sleek and polished experience. Similarly, the Windows OS of Smartphones such as the Lumia 900 is both attractive and utilitarian – it just has the bad luck to be competing in a market saturated by ultra-customizable Android devices and the omnipresent iOS, which has reached near-mimetic status to today’s consumers. The issue is not with Nokia’s devices, nor even, necessarily, with their market plans – it is the way that customers perceive Nokia, and the pressure that investors are piling upon Nokia to deliver fast results, that is giving the company so much trouble. But given the amount of resources they've piled into downsizing their company – and their utter dedication to Windows Phone – it’s unlikely that Nokia plans on changing horse’s mid-race. Nevertheless, we remain confident that even if Nokia doesn't return to its glory days, it's always going to remain a contender in the feature and Smartphone market. Devices as polished as the Lumia 900, and a long and storied history of providing superb products, means that even if their downsizing is as significant as it appears to be, Nokia will always have dedicated consumers who desire their superb devices. And we proudly count ourselves amongst them!

Microsoft’s upcoming Surface seems to have opened the floodgates as far as the tablet market is concerned. Google have entered the 7” tablet fray with the Nexus 7 (expected to ship later this month), and even Apple are rumoured to be working on a miniature version of the iPad (though many think this rumour baseless; Apple have always had very clear ideas on screen size). But perhaps the most surprising update is Samsung’s announcement that they’re prepping a tablet to run on Windows RT. For the uninitiated, Windows RT is a stripped-down version of Windows 8 designed to run on devices using ARM-based processors, such as tablets. The OS is sold only to developers, for the express purpose of preloading onto their devices; it is not intended as a standalone product for consumers. So why have Samsung opted to follow Microsoft’s lead, and release a new tablet to coincide with the release of Windows 8, when they’ve traditionally been associated with Android? Surely it would make more sense for the South Korean chaebol to utilize Google’s upcoming Android 4.1, Jelly Bean – or even wait for their much-anticipated Chrome OS, which is ultimately expected to homogenize the Google user experience and act as a bridge between laptops, tablets and Smartphones. There are a number of explanations. The most obvious is the notion that Samsung have already established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Android market: they’re exceeded only by Apple as the premier provider of Smartphones (at least in terms of profits). It would make sense to try and diversify their market with a tablet utilizing a new OS, rather than stick to the same, tired iterations of Android. More ominously, this could signal a sea-shift in Samsung’s attitudes towards Google. Many have hypothesized that Samsung are attempting to distance themselves from Google, recently - though Google make a show of support for all adopters of their Android OS, Samsung has recently made the decision to utilize the Tizen operating system on their lower-spec Smartphones, despite the surfeit of older versions of Android (such as Froyo and Gingerbread) that are perfectly suited for this task. Samsung clearly want a little more autonomy in terms of software; or perhaps they’re just uncomfortable with putting all of their eggs in Google’s basket. Whatever the case may be – whether diversifying their market share, or radically shifting dimensions into a new one entirely – Samsung’s tablet is slated for release in October, which will coincide with the release of both Windows 8 and Microsoft’s Surface tablet. They’ll have a lot of work ahead of them; with both a new OS to tinker with, and a hardy market opponent in the form of the Surface, diversifying into the Windows tablet market will be an uphill struggle. But assuming they can overshadow their Microsoft competition, Samsung stand to gain substantial profits from this move!

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.

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.