Gadgets Gizmos Gossip

So, here’s a question for all the gadget fans: is Android unfashionable? At first it would seem like something of trick question. After all, the numbers most definitely tell us otherwise. Android is now the operating system installed on the majority of phones out there currently. But let’s backtrack on that a second: does ‘installed on the majority of phones’ mean the same thing as ‘fashionable’? After all, Android isn’t overtaking iPhone or Blackberry to take number one positon, it’s overtaking Symbian. Symbian is the operating system behind most phones from the last decade. Your mum probably has it on her phone. Your grandmother may even have it. That’s not especially ‘fashionable’, is it?

The Case of Blackberry

RIM’s mobile devices were most definitely fashionable, and you know what? I can’t explain for the life of me why this was the case. Ok, so the Blackberry messenger application kept many a financially unsound user from racking up bad credit over their text message bill, but the time of restrictive messaging allowances are now truely over. Everyone surely gets three thousand of the things. And when it comes to one important factor – the aesthetics – I simply cannot understand why people every found these ugly things attractive enough to swing them around like fashion accessories. Oh wait, the trend setters (reality show stars, pop-starlets) were probably paid to.

Regardless, Blackberries are kind of on the way out, but a much heftier opponent approaches.

Apple, the Undisputed Kings of the Smartphone?

Android has only one thing on iPhone. Fortunately for the members of the handset alliance, it’s the only thing that matters to most of us: Price. Want an Android, you get out your Credit Card. Want an iPhone, and you may as well ship in the gold bullion.

The problem is though, the iPhone does and always has looked like a million dollars. Its design philosophies are so radiant that they’ve seeped into every crack of the machine. Only Apple could sell you a device without an accessible battery and make you love it precisely because there’s no ugly seams to make your 2001-esque monolith of evolutionary thought look less striking.

Aesthetics

One of the most common criticisms (and arguably benefits) of android is the split nature of the platform. Most manufacturers have a high end version of their devices, and a low end version. You get whichever one your Vanquis card can stretch to. Some (like HTC) have high end, mid, low end devices and then just keep expanding upwards with variations on their most expensive models. By aesthetically? On the screen, the android UI ranges from pleasing (HTC sense) through ‘ok if you like blue’ (Sony Ericsson) through dull as dishwater (the default, as seen on the Nexus One). As for the cases of the phones themselves? There’s always some weakness or other. The HTC legend has a beautiful aluminium shell, but flimsy looking buttons. And the Galaxy S? Can you Say ‘Overgrown iPhone 3 Rip-Off’?

Conclusion

At the moment, I’d say that Android is at a crossroads. People who don’t care how their phones look have them, and people who love features AND aesthetics have them. But there’s no ‘wow! You have THAT phone’ factor. They’re not specifically fashionable, but they’re not yet unfashionable either.

If you own a small business, a fantastic way to raise brand awareness in the local community is to sponsor a local football team.

Much of the battle surrounding brand awareness is getting yourselves out there in the public eye, and exposure can be hard to come by and in many cases, expensive. A cost effective and useful way is to sponsor a local team, provide them with sports equipment, football kit, bags or similar, fully branded with your corporate logo and website details.

Your local kids’ or Sunday league football team might not exactly attract the same amount of support to its matches as a Liverpool derby, but just think of all the parents that will get exposed to your brand, or all the locals down the pub that will also see your logo when the team return for a lunchtime pint.

Getting your name out in the community will build your credibility and help boost your sales – and all for the cost of a few sports shirts.

Keylogo offer branded clothing and branded sportswear to help promote business needs. To find out more visit www.keylogo.co.uk or call 020 7987 2626.

UK inflation accelerated to more than double the central bank’s 2 percent target in July, making it harder for policy makers to cut interest rates as the threat of recession seems absolutely imminent.

This rise in inflation has breached the government 3% upper limit for a third month. Of course, the cost of living will no doubt be on the increase and only add to hatred and loathing fot the UK prime minister, Gordon Brown.

This recent rise in inflation is going to hit UK hard. Retail-price inflation will be the most obvious. No one will be more frustrated with this recent increase than me. I run a catering company in the UK and to host a catering event is costing me almost double what it did a couple of years ago.

Where is all of this mad confusion and change coming from? How has the UK managed to get itself into such a complete mess? All I know is that we havnt seen the end of this massive slump in the UK economy, we still have more to come!