PhoneLon

One day after HTC officially announce the HTC One X, Mobiles.co.uk now have pre-order available on pay monthly contracts with Vodafone and T-Mobile. This is the first mobile phone retailer to move to pre-order of the HTC One X and is likely to set the trend on the pricing.

Just a little catch up on the specs of the HTC One X – it packs a powerful 1.5GHz quad-core processor; which is enough to munch through Android Ice Cream Sandwich and still be hungry for more. The HTC One X also comes pre-installed with Sense 4.0; HTC’s unique user interface which helps you multitask to the max.

Available in White or Grey, the design is flawless with a 4.7 inch touch screen which curves at the edges to give a really beautiful flowing feeling. With Beats Audio, your favourite songs and media are rendered clearer and more defined. With HTC ImageSense, the 8 megapixel camera will interact withyour surroundings to offer more than just point and shoot. The HTC One X is an incredible piece of kit.

Pre-order the HTC One X today!

You can pre-order the HTC One X for free on £31 per month contracts on Vodafone and T-Mobile. With the SIM free price rumoured to be around the £600 price mark, the pay monthly tariffs offer a great deal on the most powerful smartphone we’ve ever seen. The HTC One X will be released in the UK early April, so pre-order yours today to get your hands this amazing piece of technology.

What do you think of the HTC One X? Let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page.

 

 

 

 

 

For a phone that has had three codenames (Supreme, Edge and more recently the Endeavour), and more leaks than a sieve – the HTC One X doesn’t disappoint those that have been taking an interest.

It makes sense to start at the beginning of the HTC One X experience, with its image. Available in black or white, the white variant is possibly the best looking phone I have ever seen. The stunning 4.7 inch display compliments the single piece of polycarbonate body making the HTC One X extra strong, lightweight and very durable. As with Apple iPhone 4S, you can’t remove the battery or slot in an external memory card but who cares? The HTC One X is beautiful! Even if you are worried about not having enough space for your favourite tunes or snap shots, don’t worry, the HTC One X comes with 32GB internal memory and access to an online 25 GB Dropbox account. The screen is sleek and very smart looking. Its curved design gives the HTC One X a gorgeous flowing look. Safe to say if I was a phone, I’d be dialling that number!

It will, as rumoured have a whopping quad core processor. It doesn’t stop there though. Not only does the HTC One X have a quad core processor, but it is a massive 1.5GHz quad core processor; knocking all previous processors out of the ball park.

This being said, if the One X hasn’t been created in a way that can utilise all of the power – it’s pretty much as good as a chocolate tea pot (slight exaggeration but you get the picture)! After a quick play with the HTC’s flagship phone for 2012, I soon discovered just how responsive it really is. Any task you assign to the HTC One X, is taken care of at lightning speed. With Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS and HTC Sense 4.0 built in, this is HTC’s friendliest user experience ever. The latest edition of HTC Sense, gives users improved multitasking and copy and pasting functionality.

Even the 8 megapixel camera demonstrates how the HTC One X could be a leading phone for 2012. With the ability to autofocus in a blistering 0.2 seconds, the HTC One X can even capture up to 99 snaps simultaneously with Burst mode. There’s even seven differing levels of flash brightness to make sure your pictures always dazzle.

Quietly brilliant, HTC have released a powerhouse of a smartphone in the form the HTC One X. As for a UK release, expect the HTC One X to be released early summer. We can’t wait to test this device out.

 

Official Spec of the HTC One X

• 4.7 inch screen with Gorilla Glass
• Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS
• HTC Sense 4.0
• 1.5 GHz Tegra 3 quad core processor
• 8 megapixel camera recording 1080p video
• Secondary 1.3 MP camera with 720p video
• NFC technology
• Bluetooth
• 32 GB internal memory
• 25 GB Dropbox account

From February 27th to March 1st, the Mobile World Congress will take place in Barcelona, Spain. The MWC conference is Europe’s largest gathering for all things mobile! The event brings together phone manufacturers, software designers and the media, into a magical melting pot to discuss the future and beyond of our favourite portable devices. Unlike Las Vegas’ Consumer Electronics Show (CES), anything shown at the MWC conference is highly likely to reach the UK. So what are we most looking forward to seeing at the MWC conference 2012?

HTC

HTC look set to steal the show before it even begins. Inviting key members of the press to an event on the eve of the MWC conference, HTC must have something pretty important to announce to warrant their own event. What can we expect from HTC in 2012?

The Taiwanese giants look set to unveil a ONE series of top of the range smartphones. The ONE X (ONEX) is widely reported to have a jaw dropping quad core processor; power in a smartphone that could easily chomp its way through multitasking applications and Operating Systems such as Android Ice Cream Sandwich. With a supersized screen of over 4.5 inches, a HTC release of this rumoured spec would certainly help fight their corner against smartphone rivals Apple and Samsung. There’s also talk of a HTC ONE S (ONES) which will represent the next generation HTC Sensation, equipped with a still impressive 1.5GHz dual core processor and 8 megapixel camera.

Expect the unveiling HTC devices to have Sense 4.0 preinstalled. Sense 4.0 will give your HTC access to Microsoft’s Skydrive, improved copy and paste functionality and an improved dual panel task manager. Let’s hope the HTC rumours turn to truths at their announcement pre MWC conference.

Samsung Galaxy S3?

After months of speculation and rumour, we were saddened to hear the news that the Samsung Galaxy S3 won’t be making an appearance at the 2012 MWC conference. Instead Samsung plan to adopt Apple’s approach and host their own event; a PR stunt which will raise a mountain of hype and attention towards their flagship Samsung Galaxy S3.

One possible announcement Samsung may unveil at the MWC conference is a new Galaxy Note. The previous edition offered a happy balance between tablet and smartphone with a stylus equipped 5.3 inch portable device. For those who like the functionality of a stylus integrated with their tablet, the new Galaxy Note is rumoured to have a 10.1 inch display.

 

Nokia Lumia 900

We were mightily impressed by the announcement of the Nokia Lumia 900 at CES. Like an older brother to the Nokia Lumia 800, the latest Windows Phone offers a larger 4.3 inch screen size, 4G LTE capabilities and a front facing camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Currently only available in the USA, we expect Nokia to use the MWC conference as the perfect opportunity to spread the Lumia love and announce a UK release date. The Nokia Lumia series may also be set to expand with new editions trawling the web including a budget Nokia Lumia 730 and a possible Nokia Lumia 910.

With Windows also expected to dazzle their new Windows Tango OS to the world, the MWC conference should announce which smartphones in the Nokia Lumia series will be lucky enough to utilise this software.

BlackBerry

After a troublesome 2011 and senior level restructure, Canadian Manufacturers Research In Motion look set to announce a few new handsets to their BlackBerry Curve series. Expect unveilings of the BlackBerry Curve 9220 and 9320 at the MWC conference. BlackBerry’s biggest announcement is likely to be in the form of a tablet. With a smooth user interface and great multi-tasking potential, the original BlackBerry PlayBook was let down by the lack of apps available on its BlackBerry App World. With the new BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 to offer apps from the Android Market, BlackBerry could be ready to unveil a tablet which can compete with the best. Let’s hope BlackBerry use the MWC conference to turn their fortunes around.

So there’s our round up of exciting releases we expect to be announced at the MWC conference 2012. Don’t forget to visit us next week as we bring you the latest info from Barcelona. Let us know what you think of these future releases on our Facebook page

Look at the back of your iPhone. Like most things around you, it says, “Assembled in China”. Not a big shock, but due to the size of this factory (Foxconn), when bad things happen, like suicides and explosions, they get more media attention. I’m all for the audits and making things right and so here is ABC’s video of their tour and what they saw:

Mobile banking has leapt forward with the announcement of Barclays Pingit; an app which gives customers the opportunity to send money by mobile phone. The free app available on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, will streamline the banking process for customers who now have the option to leave their wallets at home and shop with their smartphone.

How it works?

By linking a UK mobile number to your current account, the Barclays Pingit app lets you send money by mobile straight to another phone. Simply log into your account and dial your contacts’ UK phone number to wire your funds across in seconds. Currently the Barclays Pingit app only accepts payments between Barclay’s current accounts. With time, Barclays intend to expand their service and allow any Barclays Pingit account to receive payments from any UK banking current account.

How safe is Barclays Pingit app?

With an estimated 90,000 muggings in the UK last year, can banking on the mobile phone expose our hard earned cash to opportunist thieves? For those concerned, the app is protected by a Barclays Pingit passcode, which needs to be entered every time the app is opened. Should your smartphone get stolen, you can call Barclays to deactivate the app as a precaution against fraud. For extra security, only one mobile number can be linked to each current account at any time.

The process of sending money by mobile phone is a firmly established option in Japan. Using NFC technology, there are over 117 million contactless payment accounts; 20 million of which are considered actively used. As smartphone users go through the cycle of changing their smartphone it’s expected that within 4 years, 90% of Japanese phone users will have access to contactless payment solutions; whether through NFC or mobile banking apps.

As mobile phones continue to redefine their purpose, transferring money by mobile banking will let the smartphone user lighten their pockets as they leave their wallets and purses at home. Will this movement pay off for Barclays? If successful, expect to see rival banks creating their own mobile banking apps in order to offer streamlined services to their customer base.

Does mobile banking appeal to you? Download Barclays Pingit app from the Barclays website.
Would you use a service like this? Let us know on our Facebook page.

There are so many toys and accessories out there for Angry Birds that most are junk, but these slap bracelets are so nicely designed I just had to get them. It doesn’t help that I’m from the era of original slap bracelets, so when I handed them to my kids they didn’t know what to do with them. Anyway, I found these at Target for $3.99 a piece and I feel they are made with quality materials. If you’re looking for them online, interestingly they are distributed by a toy company in the area I’m writing this in. Visit bullsitoy.com for more info.

MusicBanners is a nice addition to the stock iOS Notification Center. This hack notifies you when a new music track is playing. It will show up in all the normal places regular notifications appear such as the banner at the top, the lock screen or the pull down notification center. The hack also works with Pandora and possibly other music apps but it’s originally made for the iOS Music app (formerly the iPod app) but when you open the notification it will always open the music app. Hopefully a future update can fix this but it’s still a great hack. This app is free in the Cydia Store.

Apple today released a developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion — the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system — which brings popular apps and features from iPad to the Mac and accelerates the pace of OS X innovation. Mountain Lion introduces Messages, Notes, Reminders, and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration, and AirPlay Mirroring. The preview release of Mountain Lion is available to Mac Developer Program members starting today. Mac users will be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store in late summer 2012.

The New York Times reports that a MacBook Air one-to-one program is helping raise student attendance, engagement, and performance at North Carolina’s Mooresville Graded School District, which “has quietly emerged as the de facto national model of the digital school.” The article notes, “Mooresville ranks 100th out of 115 districts in North Carolina in terms of dollars spent per student — $7,415.89 a year — but it is now third in test scores and second in graduation rates.”

iPhone 5 apps are just around the corner. With the Apple iPhone 5 hotly tipped for a UK release this summer, we’re excited to uncover how Apple plans to push the boundaries of the smartphone industry once again. As new hardware and technology is installed inside the latest smartphones, new apps have to be developed to use this exciting technology. How will the iPhone 5 apps of tomorrow change our usage of smartphones? Here’s the technology we’d love to see feature in the next generation of Apple iPhone 5 apps.

More Powerful iPhone 5 apps

If there’s one thing guaranteed with the iPhone 5, expect improvements in the processor and performance. As rival brands continue to release new smartphones with greater technology, Apple must push the boundaries once again to maintain its crown as king of the smartphones. Rumours suggest that both the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple iPhone 5 will contain quad core processors; a step up from the dual core processors found within the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S2. What does this mean for iPhone 5 apps? Not only will you be able to run more iPhone 5 apps at any time, app programmers will be able to code their apps on a whole new level to what we’ve seen in smartphones previously.

We’ve already been amazed by the A5 dual core chip within the iPhone 4S and its ability to process graphics for games such as Grand Theft Auto III and Infinity Blade II. A quad core processing chip for the iPhone 5 would leap a step further and match the multi-tasking abilities of the PlayStation Vita; the latest portable console dedicated towards intensive gaming action. For those who love creating music or video clips, quad core will be able to handle the demands of the more professional software available on the market. Even if you’re not a hard core gamer or music maestro, you’ll notice the improvement in everyday iPhone 5 apps as Safari web pages load faster and operate more efficiently.

Holographic Keyboard

This concept design may have existed before the iPhone 4S release but that doesn’t mean to say it won’t happen. Using projector technology, a full sized QWERTY keypad glows onto the work surface in front of you. Use your fingers to type, twist and zoom the keyboard into shape. You can even adjust the projection brightness with the slide of a finger. It’s perfect for typing up those long Facebook updates! Technology like this would be incredible for the next generation of iPhone 5 apps.

Whilst the Nokia Lumia 900, Sony Xperia S, and Samsung Galaxy S2 believe bigger screen displays are better, Apple appears reluctant to increase beyond their iPhone 3.5 inch display. At such a small size, the iPhone 4S is easy on the pockets. The inclusion of projector technology would offer the user a much larger display when required. How could this be use within iPhone 5 apps? How about learning to draw on paper by pencilling over projected lines? You could plan a journey with a map or learn to play the piano at your kitchen table. Exciting stuff!

Improved Voice Integration

The announcement of Siri on the iPhone 4S shows how voice commands have become a reality in controlling our devices. The integration of Google Maps with Siri in the United States allows you to find the nearest shop, fishing lake, or even where to “hide a dead body”. For us Brits however, Siri’s lack of knowledge of the United Kingdom means we’re left to joke around with his assistance and ask those less functional questions such as “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” We can see Siri sticking around for the iPhone 5 apps, but we expect UK integration with Google Maps to make his presence truly welcome. As one of Apple’s proudest innovations, Siri’s reputation is unlikely to be on the line for third party iPhone 5 apps developers to use. Let’s hope Apple push Siri in their iPhone 5 apps further, offering us more ways to use our voice. The Xbox Kinect already demonstrates how voice integration within gaming can enhance the user experience.

How do you think iPhone 5 apps will develop in the future? Let us know on our Facebook Page.

If you just can’t wait for the new Apple iPhone 5, we now sell the refurbished iPhone 4S; letting you save money on the leading smartphone.