Mobile Phone Blog:

The next iteration of the iPhone could see Apple moving away from the 3.5 inch display screen they have favoured over the last few years, and in its place will be a screen of super-sized proportion, which many of the handset’s Android competitors already boast.

This is according to an insider, of course, who spilled the beans to Reuters, and there was talk of a massive 4.6 inch display for the next iPhone model.

The same high-density retina display, as seen on the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S, will be present too, so there’s nothing to worry about there!

This larger handset, rumoured to be launching in Q2 of this year (yes, just 6 months after the launch of the iPhone 4S) will bring Apple in-line with the latest range of Android smartphones, some of which sport 5 inch displays, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note, and are more of a phone/tablet hybrid (or a ‘phablet’ if you will).

We’ll bring you more on this as and when it develops but, for now, stay tuned!

Reports suggest that Samsung may be postponing the launch of the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S3 until the second quarter of 2012 in an attempt to allow consumer demand for the iPhone 4S to subside.

It has been widely anticipated that the Korean giant would unveil its new flagship device at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) next month, which would be in keeping with the last two years which saw the release of the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S2 respectively.

But according to supply chain sources, a number of companies, such as Samsung, could be planning on holding back their new handsets to avoid a head-to-head battle with the iPhone 4S… still going strong after being released late last year.

A report claims that the group, which allegedly includes HTC, Nokia and LG, could postpone their phones until the second quarter of 2012, raising the prospect that the S3 won’t show until early April at the earliest.

So all you Android fans out there will just have to hold on a little bit longer… however I can imagine the reward will be well worth it!

Turns out Santa gave away lots of iPhones and Android smartphones this Christmas as approximately 6.8 million new handsets were activated on Christmas day.

The Guardian suggests that millions of Apple mobile phones were activated worldwide over the Christmas period, and Google’s Andy Rubin tweeted that 3.7 million android devices were also activated.

Mobile data agency, Flurry, reported that one billion apps and games were downloaded over the festive period.

Did Santa bring you a brand new smartphone? Let us know.

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

Well, Christmas is well and truly over, and my supplies of good will and peace to all men have dried up, so it’s time for another rant! But hey, I’m being topical, ‘cos it is about Christmas. Well, to be fair, it’s mainly about annoying little sprogs with epic levels of self-entitlement, but there’s a general Christmassy theme to it. And a phone-esque theme, too.

Y’see, I read a story on IntoMobile, which eeeeeeeeeeeeever so slightly annoyed me. Apparently, lots of kids were expecting iPhones for Christmas, and their parents didn’t buy them one, so they’re basically disowning their parents, via Twitter.

And that, my friends, is the very definition of “first world problems”, ain’t it? (more…)

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

I’ve whinged about Apple a lot, while I’ve been working on this blog; it’s sort of a running theme, in any post I do about the Cupertino giant, that I really, really can’t stand them. From their draconian App Store policies, to their sheer, unfettered arrogance, to their belief that they invented everything, even if other phones were doing those exact same things for years… basically, pretty much everything Apple does annoys me.

I keep trying to tell myself it’s some psychological problem in my head, and that I should let it go, but they keep doing things that just boggle my mind. Case in point: this latest story, as reported on by The Verge), which has absolutely, completely staggered me… (more…)

The Samsung Galaxy S II is still the UK’s most popular handset despite the iPhone 4S selling four million handsets in its opening weekend.

Recent figures released by research firm Gartner shows that over 50% of all smartphones sold worldwide are Android devices with the Galaxy S II taking the lead, selling over 10 million units since launching in May.

The Galaxy S II was the best-selling UK handset in November but for how long can this Android powered smartphone stay in the lead?

On an Australian flight from Lismore to Sydney an iPhone unexpectedly exploded resulting in smoke inside the cabin.

The airline reported “a passenger’s mobile phone started emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow.”  Luckily the plane had already landed and a flight attendant managed to extinguish the phone and nobody was injured.

The Apple device has being sent to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) for analysis and an investigation to discover why the handset exploded.

Ooooh, go on, then, since it’s Friday, let’s have a blog post that’s all about pointing at someone and laughing. I’ve heard stories of similar things happening before, but they were very possibly apocryphal, and this is the first time I can remember seeing one with verifiable evidence of the person in question’s utter ineptitude and/or mindless drunkenness.

Yes, it’s the story that’s doing the rounds at the minute, the one I read on TheSmokingGun, about the bloke who, upon finding that his iPhone had gone kaputski, decided that the absolute best way to get it sorted was to ring the police. Five times.

You steaming great pillock… (more…)

Those of you who have already managed to get your hands on the latest iPhone 4S may have realised the battery life isn’t too brilliant, which some of the smartphone users have tweeted about.

Apple has acknowledged the issue and has said they are working on fixing this and it will be resolved over the next few weeks.

It is expected the issue that gives less than 12 hours of battery life regardless of the usage will be fixed with the iOS 5.0.1 update.

The company stated “A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices… We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.”

The iPhone 4S has taken a record breaking 1 million pre-orders in just 24 hours smashing all previous pre-order records for Apple products, including the iPhone 4 which managed 600,000.

Phillip Schille, Vice President of Apple’s Worldwide Product Marketing, commented: “We are blown away with the incredible customer response to the iPhone 4S.”

The smartphone is free from £46 a month on 24 month contract with 900 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB data with Orange.