An average smart phone user checks his/her device every six and a half minutes!
-Tim Cook
The most important impact on society and the world is the cell phone. Cell phones have actually been one of the primary drivers in productivity improvements.
-Fabrice Grinda
We take better care of our smartphones than we do of ourselves, the phones are always recharged!
-Arianna Huffington
In recent years, wireless charging has becoming more and more common for smartphones. Traditional connector cables are being replaced with wireless charging pads, which are available either directly from your smartphone’s manufacturer or retailers.
The A13 Bionic Chip made a grand entrance in the autumn of 2019 by being introduced as the processor for all models in the iPhone 11 range. The chip was also chosen to provide the second generation iPhone SE with a serious punch upon its release in 2020. We saw the A14 Bionic debut in 2020, being launched as the processor for the fourth generation iPad Air. It then made a major splash with its role across the entire iPhone 12 range upon its release in the autumn.
Simply put, Wi-Fi calling enables you to make and receive phone calls as normal, over a Wi-Fi connection. That means whether you’re at home, at a friend’s house, in a coffee shop or an airport, you can take or make a call, even if there’s no phone signal. You don’t need to download an app or plug in anywhere to use this feature – all you need is the passcode for a Wi-Fi network within range. There are plenty of other apps that use Wi-Fi for calls, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or Skype. Wi-Fi calling directly on your handset uses the same VoIP (Voiceover Internet Protocol) technology as these apps – you’re just cutting out the middle man.
Ordnance Survey (OS) Maps Premium
Available on: iOS and Android
Price: £2.99 per month/ £23.99 annually
Planning your route is the first step when heading out for a hike and one of the experts in the field is Ordnance Survey (OS). OS has extensively mapped out Great Britain for generations of walkers, now, you can download it as a space-saving app. The subscription service provides instant access to over 600 downloadable maps, which you can save for later or even print - just in case you are heading out somewhere remote. There’s also a selection of thousands of routes set across the nation, ready for you to explore, but you can always plot and then blaze your own trail, if you want.
Smartphones are great for recording those moments that we want to last a lifetime, from taking a video of a child’s first steps, to capturing photographs of your favourite musician in concert. Whilst most phone’s built-in storage has the ability to store hundreds of photos, videos, files and apps, we can be caught off guard with that dreaded ‘storage almost full’ warning message – which can often lead to many of us paying out each month for cloud storage. It needn’t necessarily be this way though, and there are plenty of steps you can take to free up space on your handset before committing to any monthly storage plans. Our experts have put together some helpful solutions to free up some space on your handset, as well as shedding a light on the worst culprits for clogging up a phone’s internal memory.
Whether it’s a sudden downpour, an accident with a spilt drink, or you’ve chucked your jacket in the wash with your smartphone still inside the pocket - there’s all sorts of reasons a waterproof handset could come in handy. Thankfully, a growing number of handsets are now water resistant and come with an official IP certification, as an indicator of how water resistant they are. IP stands for ingress protection and is a scale of how well-protected a device is against water and dust. With such a range to choose from, we’ve selected a collection of the best waterproof phones on the market. Thankfully, a growing number of handsets are now water resistant and come with an official IP certification, as an indicator of how water resistant they are. IP stands for ingress protection and is a scale of how well-protected a device is against water and dust. With such a range to choose from, we’ve selected a collection of the best waterproof phones on the market.