If you listen to our Mobile Tech Addicts podcast each week you will know that the team move around our big house and always visit our bargain Basement. I thought it was worth sharing our weekly findings on here too as many offers we discover are too good to miss.
So if you are in the market for a bargain smartphone you can find this weeks selection below.
Should we make this a regular weekend feature on here?
Since Sony announced going solo again in the competitive mobile market, they have launched an ‘NXT’ series of smartphones, headed by the Sony Xperia S. This new flagship device for Sony bears typical Sony features, with a unique design, a crisp HD display, and a resolution-bumping 12MP camera. While the specification may not be at the very cutting edge, Sony have a knack for packaging their products to combine design and specification to create a user experience worthy of being called a flagship; just look at the popularity of last years critically acclaimed Xperia Arc. Despite being behind the curve on specs, the overall package won many hearts and this is what Sony are looking for with the Xperia S. While that Arc bore the name of Sony Ericsson, this pure Sony smartphone marks the beginning of a device which unifies their other market offerings, like the PlayStation brand.
So, on their return to fame, have Sony managed to fashion a phone worthy of a slot in your pocket? Read on for the verdict.
Announced at Mobile World Congress in February the HTC One X is the companies latest flagship Android device and what a beauty it is. Sporting a 4.7 inch HD 720p touch screen, 1.5 GHz, quad-core processor and running Android 4.0, HTC can be proud of their latest creation.
With these top end specs the handset is complemented with some great software and superb camera hardware including Sense 4.0, NFC, Beats Audio, 8 megapixel camera with auto focus and full 1080p HD video recording.
Due to us initially having the device for less time than we normally do I have decided to do a video review instead of a written one. I am sure I will have missed a few things out in the video but if you are looking to pick up the One X this should give you a pretty good insight to most of its features.
So click the ‘read more’ below to see the device put through its paces and my final conclusion.
The ever popular free photo sharing application, Instagram, is inching closer to it’s release on Android. Be sure to head on over to Instagram and sign up to be one of the first to download this fantastic application.
That is all.
Posted by: Gareth
To launch its new HTC One series, HTC, a leading global designer of smartphones, has put a consumer at the heart of its’ latest TV commercial by challenging one to capture the world’s first free fall fashion shoot on a mobile phone. The campaign, which kicks off in the UK on 5th April, is designed to push the boundaries of performance for the mobile handset and its camera capabilities by demonstrating that it is possible to capture great shots whatever the environment.
To really bring the shoot to life, HTC challenged Nick Jojola, an amateur photographer, who had never skydived before to capture high production fashion imagery on the HTC One handsets whilst freefalling at 126mph. This not only delivered an unforgettable personal experience but it also created an amazing real-world product demonstration.
Filmed on location in Arizona, by skydiving cinematographer Norman Kent, the shoot features world champion skydiver and model, Roberta Mancino. Shot at dusk and dawn this complex and demanding advertising creative is designed to bring to life the simultaneous video and photo capture functionality and instant capture capabilities of the new HTC OneT handsets. Both the HTC OneT X and HTC OneT S challenge traditional digital compact cameras by delivering a range of features including high quality images even in low light conditions, instant image capture, auto focus, burst mode and backlight HDR technology and the ability to take stills from already shot HD video footage that operate effectively in both normal and adverse conditions.
We’ve teamed up with Sony to give one lucky reader the chance to win an action-packed, Sony Xperia PLAY!
The PlayStation certified smartphone is jammed with superfast graphics and dedicated game controls to make each game the most immersive experience possible. Powered by a zippy 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, you can master your favourite games on its and an awesome 4" screen – your enemies don’t stand a chance!
What’s more, there are now more than 200 games optimised for the Xperia PLAY, including all-time-favourites FIFA 12, GTA III and Dead Space.
So what are you waiting for?
Entering is easy. All you have to do is follow tracyandmatt on Twitter and retweet the following tweet: "RT @tracyandmatt I’m hoping to Win a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – Find out how you can enter too: http://bit.ly/Ayy8Jq" You can also click the retweet link below to save you copying and pasting the phrase. Your twitter name will be entered in to the draw. You’ll have to keep following us as we’ll notify winners via DM.
The competition will run until the end of the month when we will select the one lucky winner. Entries will only be accepted from UK residents due to postage and insurance.
Posted by: James
In 2011 HTC became an even bigger player in the Smartphone market, possibly due to them releasing phones at a fair rate of knots! Here I have one of their lower end devices with a very nice low price tag attached to it, the HTC Explorer. One of this handsets main selling points is without question its low price tag as it is way below the 150 mark on both pay as you go and SIM free.
The question though is does this device have any more selling points, or is it just another cheap phone for the kids?
To find out you will have to read on.
ViewSonic, a global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions, today announced the launch of its new range of Dual-SIM Android Smartphones, the ViewPhone 4e, 4s and ViewPhone 5e. Additionally, Mobile World Congress will be the first in Europe to showcase ViewSonic’s ViewPhone 3 which was launched in January 2012. ViewSonic’s new range has been designed with business users and travellers in mind by enhancing the experience of managing work and personal calls in one handset.
ViewSonic provides a comprehensive range of dual-SIM smartphones ranging from 3.5″ to 5″ to cater to different user’s requirements. ViewSonic is committed to being the preferred ‘Dual-SIM Expert’ provider.
80% growth rate within two years – According to market research group Strategy Analytics, 206 million dual-SIM handsets will be sold worldwide in 2014, compared with 41 million in 2010.
The guys over at CrackBerry.com have come up trumps again and posted what they say are images of the next version of Blackberry’s operating system, BlackBerry 10.
As you can see from the image to the right, RIM look to be working on widgets /live tiles which have been hugely popular on other platforms. If these picture are real then us BlackBerry users are in for a real treat and a brand new experience later on this year.
According to CrackBerry they received a pretty *interesting* email, to which was attached a 14-page .pdf file full of Cracktastic goodness. The document was clearly prepared by one of RIM’s external ad agency partners as a BB10 briefing document, providing background information on BlackBerry 10 and outlining some of the OS features and ideas for how to position BlackBerry 10 in future advertising campaigns. BlackBerry 10 Phones may be months away still, but judging by the document it appears the behind-the-scenes work to begin marketing the next-generation of BlackBerry phones is already well under way.
More images can be seen below although please ignore the hardware it appears to be current devices:
At the end of 2011 Google introduced their third Nexus phone and second collaboration with Samsung. Making headlines this device has proved to be one of the important phones of the year and yet another contender to know the iPhone from the mantle. Has Google and Samsung hit a home run or is this their a lacklustre hardware attempt to unleash the latest version of Google’s mobile phone platform, Android?
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