Phones

iPhone 4 4s battery case bargains

Just had an email from the guys over at eXpansys letting us know that they have a great deal to offer on cases for the iPhone 4 and 4S.

We are running a clearance on a range of iPhone 4/4S battery cases – each now only £9.99 – saving up to 83%

Pretty good when you consider they were up to £60 a few weeks ago.

http://www.expansys.com/powerjackits/

KEY FEATURES

• Very slim; smaller than many ordinary cases
• Elegant, ergonomic form-fitting design
• Choice of luxurious leather-effect finishes
• Built-in high power 1450mAH ultra-slim battery
• Up to 7 extra hours talk-time
• Up to 10 extra hours video playback
• Up to 40 extra hours music playback

Posted by: Matt

Google Play Store updated

Google officially announced their new Google Play Store update. The new version 4.0.25 update is designed to be more colourful and easier to use with larger text and a cleaner interface. The new changes work on both phones and tablets providing an easier to use experience. Google is taking a Card-like approach, just like the with Google Now. Here’s a quote with Google’s statement from their blog,

Quote:

Whether you’re in the mood to listen to Justin Timberlake’s new album, read Harlan Coben’s latest bestseller or discover a new game to play, you want the experience of finding and making your purchase to be quick and easy. Today we’ve started rolling out a redesigned Google Play store on Android phones and tablets that is simple, clean and – most importantly – helps you find great entertainment, fast.
The new design focuses on bigger images that jump off the page. Similarly themed content is grouped together so you can hone in on a magazine to read or an app to try. As you move down the page, new recommendations continue to appear so there is always more to see and explore. We’ve also simplified purchasing so you can breeze through checkout and get to enjoying your movie rental or other content.
The redesigned Google Play store app starts rolling out today for Android phones and tablets running Android 2.2 (Froyo) and above. People around the world should see it over the next few weeks. Get ready for a simpler Google Play.

A little Googleing for the Play apk will allow you to try it out before it’s release.

Posted by: Gareth

HTC One demonstrates that size is not always everything

While there has been plenty of promise surrounding the launch of the new HTC One, the new smartphone’s camera has left quite a few people puzzled.

This is because whereas the typical flagship smartphone on the market today comes complete with a 13 megapixel camera, the HTC One is instead packed with a 4 megapixel camera.

Such a large drop has naturally led to people querying whether they will be missing out if they opt for this device over one of its many rivals. After all, while owners will be able to improve the aesthetic appeal of their new phone by getting their hands on a range of excellent HTC One accessories – Mobile Madhouse already has a great selection on hand to celebrate the new smartphone’s launch, highlighted by its wide variety of quirky cases – there will still be the issue of the standard equipment not quite being up to par.

Symon Whitehorn, a former Kodak executive who is now the director of special projects at HTC, has attempted to quell such arguments in an interview with Computerworld.

He acknowledged: “We think of it as a forward-looking step. It’s allowed us to do a lot more things with the camera than we’d otherwise have been able to do – the first one being the low-light performance, which really is quite special. You get this absolutely natural tone. The camera takes pictures the way you see them, the way you see your moments.”

Mr Whitehorn also stressed that there is a time and a place for cramming lots of megapixels into one device, with larger gadgets usually perfect for utilising this strategy with great results.
However, he believes that trying to get more megapixels into a smartphone’s camera while reducing the size of its sensor, as well as the entire size of the device, is having a detrimental effect on the quality of a phone’s photos.

“For 99 percent of what people do with their images, they actually don’t need the high megapixel count. We’d rather give them the sort of performance that is real-world usable,” Mr Whitehorn added to underline that more does not necessarily equal better.

Posted by: Matt

Sony Xperia Z unboxing video

There has been a lot of activity surrounding Sony’s latest smartphone, the Sony Xperia Z, with Posters, TV and magazine commercials all over the place. Much is being made of the IP57 water and dust resistant features and this seems to be the main focus of the adverts we’re seeing at the moment.

There is a trend for phones with larger and higher resolution screens and the Xperia Z is perpetuating this with its 5 inch full HD screen. There are only a few other phones on the market at the moment with such high resolution displays, this one crams in 441 pixels per inch.

Design-wise the Xperia Z may be one of those love-it-or-hate-it phones. It has very square and straight sides that starkly contrast what the likes of HTC and Samsung are doing with their more curvy offerings. The Xperia Z certainly puts the slab in to the slab format.

In the video below you can see my looking at the hardware, checking out the OS and performing a quick benchmark. Have a look to find out how well that 1.5Ghz quad-core CPU performs!