Mobile Phone Blog:

Well here we go, folks, another day, another rumour about the unicorn-like Amazon smartphone. Ever since Amazon launched the Kindle Fire, there’s been consistent rumours that the next device they made would be a smartphone, honest guvnor, this time it really is happening, promise, you’ll see.

It never does, though…

Today’s rumour is a bit different, ‘cos it doesn’t say there’ll be an Amazon smartphone. No, according to the Wall Street Journal, there’ll be two Amazon smartphones, at least one of which will resurrect a gimmick that mobile phones tried not to long ago, before dumping said gimmick, because no-one cared. So, what’s the crack? (more…)

Ye gods, now there’s a blast from the past! The last time I wrote about this particular subject was three years ago, when Emblaze confirmed that the First Else phone was officially dead, but that the UI would live on. It turns out that they weren’t lying, ‘cos it’s now been released as a launcher app on Android! Say hello to Splay…

So there you have it, the UI that was designed to be brilliant for one-handed use is back from the dead, and because it’s available on Google Play for free, I’ve tried it out. So, what’s it like? (more…)

Well, that’s the bank holiday over with, so it’s time to get back into the action! Let’s start with an Engadget video I watched earlier (of a new phone you’ve never heard of, and neither have I, called the Vivo Xplay), with a particularly nifty new feature called Free Touch…

Yes, it’s a one-handed mode, and that’s rather cool, that is. As the blokie in the video said, Samsung has made it socially acceptable for people to have massive phones (consider the gargantuan Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, a phone that truly lives up to its name), so this one-handed feature could well be rather useful indeed. But how does it work? (more…)

[The opinions expressed in the blog post are entirely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mobileshop.com.]

And here we go again; another day, another bit of advertising designed not to show how good someone’s own product is, but instead, to slag off the opposition. Well, actually, in this case, it’s to slag off the opposition’s users. Yes, it’s a new ad for the Nokia Lumia 920 that… well, see for yourself…

Riiiiiiiiight. You remember how I did a post a couple of months ago about how Windows Phone has some really overzealous fans, and that it’s Microsoft’s own fault? Yeah, adverts like that are why… (more…)

One of the really big advantages that Android (and Windows Phone, too, come to think of it) has over iOS is that it’s not locked down to just one phone per year. That means it can be used in entry-level phones as well as big superstars like the Samsung Galaxy S4; that’s good for manufacturers, ‘cos they can sell more phones, and good for consumers, ‘cos they don’t have to pay top dollar for an absolute top of the line beastie, when all they really wanted was a little personal companion type thingummy.

It seems like entry-level phones are going to become even more important in future, ‘cos by 2018 (according to ABI Research), nearly half of all of smartphone shipments, 46% in fact, will be entry-level ones… (more…)

Wow. Isn’t that just the most shocking headline you’ve ever read?! Who would’ve ever thought, right, that a Google-made mobile product would run on Google’s mobile operating system?! The shock, all around the world, is absolutely, definitely, indubitably palpable!

Okay, I’ll stop being sarcy…

Yes, that’s the news, today; after a ton of rumours and questions about what operating system Google Glass would be using, with some saying that it’d be a proprietary thingie separate from Android, Larry Page has gone on record (according to TechCrunch) as saying that, basically, duh of course it runs on Android… (more…)

[The opinions expressed in the blog post are entirely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mobileshop.com.]

Y’know, I’m quite sure that I’ve had a good old mither about companies deciding to market themselves by slagging off the competition. You see it all the time, and it gets right up my nose, so it does; every time I see it, I can’t help but think that the parents of whoever’s doing the slagging off didn’t raise their kids properly. Apple does it all the time, even HTC has done it, and now, apparently, it’s time for Microsoft to have another pop at their arch-nemesis.

The guy’s name is Terry Myerson, he’s the Microsoft VP in charge of Windows Phone, and he’s been interviewed by AllThingsD.

So, what’s he been saying? (more…)

[The opinions expressed in the blog post are entirely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mobileshop.com.]

Right then, the biggest news of the last couple of weeks has been the unveiling of Facebook Home (which also included the launch of the HTC First, the first phone designed with Facebook Home in mind), a brand new app that’s sort of more than an app, because it’s basically a new homescreen replacement for your Android phone. Essentially, it’s a launcher, similar in concept to SPB Shell or Nova Launcher, although it’s nothing like any other launcher in terms of design and functionality.

I made my thoughts about Facebook Home perfectly clear in my blog post on the topic, so there’s no need to dredge them up again here. Instead, let’s take a look at one of the main features that Mark Zuckerberg bigged up: Chat Heads… (more…)

Right then, we’ve all seen the sheer spectacle of the new Samsung Galaxy Mega, the phone that’ll be available in two variants, the bigger of which will have a chuffing enormous 6.3 inch screen. Thanks to Samsung, yesterday turned into “enormous-and-possibly-slightly-too-enormous phones day” here on MobileShop, so to redress the balance, let’s today look at another phone that Samsung’s unveiled, one which falls right down the other end of the size chart.

It’s called the Samsung Galaxy Pocket Neo (and thus, its name’s probably bigger than it is), and as you can see, it’s smaller than the screen on the Samsung Galaxy S4. But is it a pint-sized powerhouse, or is it cute but brainless? (more…)

A while back, right, I did a post about the upcoming Asus FonePad, a sort of phone/tablet hybrid that edges more towards the tablet end of the spectrum, ‘cos it’s got a 7 inch screen (and as a side note, it also looks ridiculous). I also pondered the possibility that there may be a point where phablet-y type phones would get too big.

Well, it seems like Samsung is intent on testing out that hypothesis, ‘cos they’ve just announced a new phone called the Samsung Galaxy Mega’. That last bit of the name is not a misnomer, either, ‘cos there’s actually two versions of the new phone, and the smaller of the two has a 5.8 inch screen.

And the big one? 6.3 inches… (more…)