Whether you’re staying faithful to your old friend the iPhone 4, or you’ve just upgraded to the brand, spanking new iPhone 5S, you probably already know the importance of keeping your handset safe, dry and protected. Not only is a case or bumper the best way of preventing your iPhone from suffering knocks, scratches and scrapes, it’s also a great way to make your device look a little bit different and stand out from the crowd. If you’ve searched high and low for a case that suits your style and personality, but can’t find anything that quite ticks all the boxes, don’t worry – simply take the customisation route. Whether you’re looking to utilise your own artwork or photography, or add some serious sparkle, adding your own touch to an existing plain case couldn’t be easier.

Grab the Glue Gun

The most obvious way to get hold of a completely unique and one-off iPhone case is to simply grab a plain white or coloured hard shell, and work on it yourself. Choose from haberdashery and embellishments such as metal studs, beads, buttons and diamantes and then simply stick them to the case using a hot glue gun; it’s worth taking a little extra time to plan out your design first, though, as once they’re stuck down, they’re on for life!

You can also use a glue-based product called Mod Podge to create collages and attach your own printed images, paper or fabrics. Plan out your design, then after making sure the case is clean and dry, spread a layer of Mod Podge on, followed by whatever decoration you’re using. Once it’s completely dry, paint another layer of Mod Podge on top to seal it, and make sure it’s waterproof, and you’re done. You can use literally anything for this method; printed paper, wrapping paper, wallpaper, your own photographs or drawings, paper doilies, fabric scraps.... the only limit is your own imagination!

Ask the Professionals

If you’re not the DIY type, don’t panic – you can still get a completely original case for your iPhone with a more professional finish. The internet is full of companies who offer services that let you both design your own case, or upload your own illustrations or images and then turn them into a hard shell or skin for you.

CaseApp allows you to upload your photograph and then edit it on screen, with the options of adding text, clipart and different backgrounds. They then print your final design onto a skin or case using a four-colour printing process, which gives excellent resolution and colour reproduction results. Uncommon is similar, with the added bonus that you can position, scale and rotate your image to get the effect you truly want – they also only use cases made from premium impact resistant polymers, and the high-tech thermo-active printing process transfers the ink deep into the case (rather like a tattoo), so you know that your case will be built to last.

Turn to Instagram

If you’re a serial photographer, and find yourself posting to Instagram several times a day, you might find that this is the ideal place to look for the perfect image for your iPhone case. With a huge range of editing software available on the Apple Store, your Instagram images are probably some of the most creative you’ve ever taken; the hundreds of available filters and effects can take an otherwise ordinary picture and turn it into something totally original. Casestify is a great website; connect to your Instagram account and then either scroll through and manually choose the images you want to include, or hit ‘shuffle’ and allow the site to pick for you. You can swap photos and move them around at any stage, and once you’ve finalised your design, it’s printed onto a case of your choice and then posted out to you – what’s even better is that they offer worldwide free shipping, so all you have to pay for is the case.

There are many big rumours going around regarding Apple’s new iPhone. It is strongly believed that there is a new material in the new iPhone 6 that will make the unit much stronger than ever before. The iPhone 6 liquid metal is what it is known as, and this material is said to be tougher than titanium. This is good news, especially for people who have the knack of frequently dropping or breaking their iPhones.

This is certainly something Apple needs to address, because every generation of iPhone, despite being well made, is only as good as the first drop. It really doesn’t take much to break an iPhone, which is strange given Apple’s desire to produce a top quality product. This iPhone 6 liquid metal sounds an excellent idea and will hopefully help reduce the amount of breakages.

In the meantime, most iPhones around today are very vulnerable to being broken. This is why it is always good to have in mind what you would do if your phone ever broke. Sure, you could go to the Apple store or your mobile phone provider and see if they could help. More often than not they would help by simply selling you a new one.

However, you do have a couple of options. You can do the repair yourself, or you can use a professional repair centre such as iPhonefixed.co.uk.

Now with this company, you have the option of both. They sell repair kits including instructions and tools required to carry out the repair. You can get in touch with them via their website, and get them to help you diagnose the problem (if not immediately obvious). They will then send out the necessary parts.

Alternatively, send the device off and they will repair to their high standards. You get a years warranty on parts and labour, as well as being able to track the whereabouts of your phone throughout the entire process.

iPhonefixed.co.uk is fully endorsed by Apple, and provides genuine Apple parts, or high quality equivalent, whether you do the job yourself or send it off to them. They have a variety of large clients such as O2 and the BBC, so you can be sure the job they do is of the highest quality.

So until the rumored iPhone 6 liquid metal edition comes out, keep iPhonefixed.co.uk firmly in mind when you have a problem with your phone.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of iPhone cases on the market these days; from hard shells to soft rubber cases, there’s something to suit almost every style and personality. Admittedly, while they’re great for accessorizing and brightening up your handset, they’re not always practical when it comes to protection, which is why we were pretty excited to stumble across the Micro Field Bag.

Manufactured by Pad and Quill, a company who make beautifully crafted leather and canvas bags and laptop cases, the Micro Field Bag has all the benefits of the original Field Bag, but in miniature. Made from full grain leather, 18oz waxed canvas and stitched together with the same thread that’s used in parachute construction, it’s pretty obvious that this case is made from tougher stuff than your average bumper case.

Designed to completely enclose your iPhone, the Micro Field Bag features a secure snap closure and will protect from bumps, knocks and even scratches to the screen – something that other cases don’t necessarily do. As well as the protection issue, there’s also the added bonus that it’s a beautifully practical piece of kit; there’s an access hole for headphones, meaning that you can still listen to music even when the case is fully closed. Our personal favourite element, though, is the fact that they’ve also squeezed in three slots for multiple credit cards or cash – as well as being an iPhone case, the Micro Field Bag also manages to store those essentials from your wallet.

Visually, we love it. Designed to be rugged but beautiful, there’s a choice of three colours; charcoal grey, olive and navy blue, all finished off with whiskey leather, and embellished with a cherry wood ampersand in the centre of the top flap. It manages to be compact enough to fit in a small pocket, tough enough to withstand some big knocks, and still be aesthetically pleasing – everything an iPhone case should be.

Here at iPhonefixed, we love the summer months; warmer weather, lazy days spent outdoors reading and relaxing, and visits to new cities, coastlines and peaceful rural areas. Wherever we go we always take our iPhones with us, as there are some great apps designed to help you make the most of your time this summer – for today’s blog post, we’ve rounded up our top three.

The National Trust

The National Trust is one of the most comprehensive sources of information for historic buildings and gardens; trawl their extensive database, and you’ll find ancient properties, protected woodlands and beautiful outdoor spaces, all just waiting to be explored. The National Trust iPhone app lets you search for places by postcode or location, and also includes a list of events that might be taking place in the local area. Similarly, the National Trust Gardens app allows you to look for nearby gardens , but also rather brilliantly includes interactive maps, information on exotic and rare trees and gardening videos packed full of hints and tips on how to get the most from your space.

TripAdvisor

Everybody who’s ever travelled anywhere, be it a day out in a city or a week-long stay in a five-star hotel, has heard of TripAdvisor. One of the most reliable sources of information on accommodation, restaurants and local attractions, it features honest reviews from people who have already been there and experienced things first hand – meaning that you’re less likely to pick a dodgy hotel or get stuck in an eatery with terrible service. The TripAdvisor iPhone app includes all the great features pf the website, but with the added bonus that it’s available offline; read thousands of reviews, create a trip journal and even take part in self-guided tours in a variety of locations.

UK Coast and Beach Guide

The highlight of any summer is pretty much always going to be time spent at the beach; from digging your toes into the golden sand to dipping your feet into the ocean, no summer is complete without a trip to the sea. The UK Coast and Beach Guide iPhone app has been designed to make finding the perfect coastline that bit easier; use the GPS to find locations nearby, and then scroll through the list of activities, tourist attractions, restaurants and accommodation that are in the local area.

The iPhone is one of the best smart phones to own, with its simple interface, which is tightly controlled by iTunes, it is the perfect phone for people who are not so technologically motivated, while still offering a great deal for those who are. In the latest generations, Apple has increased the screen size to try and compete against some of the Android phones, and has also come out with some budget editions too.

However, one of the poorest elements of the iPhone has long been the battery life. It simply cannot compete with some of its Android competitors such as the Droid Razr or Samsung Galaxy where both get well over a days charge from. But there are ways to extend the life of it before you should think about looking to replace the iPhone battery.

1. Auto Brightness

Change the auto brightness function to on. This will enable the phone to adjust the screen brightness to reflect whatever the ambient conditions are. These means that the screen will brighten when in bright places, such as outside in the sun, or dim in dark places, and so the screen adjusts accordingly.

For this, go to Settings, Wallpapers & Brightness, and then select the auto brightness button.
Extra tip: You can also manually reduce the screen brightness by sliding the slider to the left and reducing the brightness permanently.

2. Sounds

Do you really need the phone to make a sound every time you touch and icon or type? If not, then turn this setting off so that you get no sounds each time you push on the screen.

For this, go to Settings, Sounds, and scroll to the bottom and de-select Lock Sounds and Keyboard Clicks.

3. Stop Motion

On the iPhone IOS 7, there is a neat feature that has the app icons moving slightly over the background. While a nice feature, it's not really that useful and it does eat away at battery life, so this is something else you may want to turn off.

For this, go to Settings, General, Accessibility, Reduce Motion, and then move the slider towards the green.

4. Bluetooth

If you never or rarely use the Bluetooth feature on your phone, always ensure this is off. Bluetooth takes a lot of unnecessary power as it continually scans for nearby devices. You'll know if it's on because the small Bluetooth icon will be displayed on top of the iPhone screen.
For this, go to Settings, Bluetooth, and ensure the small slider is not on green.

5. Wi-Fi

Again, like Bluetooth, your Wi-Fi takes a bit of power too, and should certainly only be on when you are at home and using your phone. If you are out and about, and away from any Wi-Fi hot spots, then have this feature turned off because you'll be connected to 3G or 4G. Only turn it on when you intend connecting to a Wi-Fi network.

For this, go to Settings, Wi-Fi, and turn the small slider to the left to take it off green.

6. 3G and 4G

When you are at home, or connected to a Wi-Fi network, then turn off the 3G or 4G setting. You are connected to the Wi-Fi network, so why would you need 3G or 4G. Turn them off as they drain a great deal of battery power.

For this, go to Settings, Cellular, and turn off Cellular Data to enable data to be delivered via Wi-Fi only.

7. Location Settings

Yet another setting you can remove to save battery life. Location settings deal with your GPS, and where you physically are. This setting is useful if you post to Facebook and want the world to know where you are, or if you are using the GPS system for navigation, but the rest of the time you really don't need it on. Turning this feature off will save a lot of battery.

For this, go to Settings, Privacy, Location Services, and turn the feature off.

You can also customize this so that you can keep it on only for whatever apps you use that utilize the Location Service. So for example you may want it to come on automatically if you use a navigation service, or when you post to Facebook. Once you exit the app, it'll go off.

These are some of the most popular and intuitive ways you can save your battery power. If however, you are still finding your battery draining, then it is likely your battery is dying and you need a new one.

The iPhone is sealed so changing the battery isn't that easy. Fortunately, there are places that can replace the iPhone battery for you. If you go this route, always ensure said company uses a genuine Apple replacement battery and not a "high quality" replacement one. The best performance battery will be the genuine product.

If you’re visiting for the first time in a while, you might have noticed that things around here look a little bit different – after several years with the same website design, we decided that things had started to look a little stale, so we awarded ourselves an upgrade!

We’re a little bit in love with our new home; brighter colours, a sleeker design and cleaner text all make for a more pleasant browsing experience, and the new simplicity means that we’ll look as good on your mobile as we do on a laptop or desktop screen.

The new website has been designed with easy use in mind; informative slides at the top of the homepage give rapid access to our key services, while information is bullet-pointed and easy to absorb. We’ve added the most recent Trust Pilot reviews, so you don’t have to take our word for it that we’re the best around – you can read what past customers think as well. Simple drop-down menus make it easier than ever to find out more information and choose the right service for you, and our new contact page lists all the ways you can get in touch with us.

We hope you like the new site as much as we do, and as usual, get in touch if you have any suggestions, queries or feedback.

Following a very good year in terms of newer smartphones and fresher, more engaging features perfectly aligned with great looks, 2014 will also monopolise our interest and bring breath-taking smartphones. From what it seems, iPhone 6 will have great competition next year, with the bar raised so high, which is perfectly fine by us all!


1. Samsung Galaxy S5

Samsung, to begin with, launches the Galaxy S5, one of the (rumored) 5 new models expecting next year, and raises some serious steam. With the enormous success of Galaxy S4, the newly anticipated model has created huge thunders. Its HQ metal structure will steal impressions this time (compared to the plastic used in Samsung’s last model). With an ultimate 16 MP shooter camera in its rear and another 2 MP camera in front, dual shooting is a reality, taking photography to upper levels. That, combined with a 3D display and the organic led used in the screen that makes it flexible (yes, you can fold it and put it in your purse or pocket!), Galaxy S5 is considered a much appreciated smartphone. If a few drawbacks need mentioned, we could say that we would very much like to have water-proof and dust-proof features. Also, it is whispered that the S5 will keep the price of the SV, but it might as well increase, making it rather costly for users.


2. HTC M8

Loyal fans of HTC will take great pleasure with the much thinner (than One), curved and metallic-chassis, HTC M8. Equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, it makes the difference from Samsung Galaxy S5 and iPhone 5S, and opt out of the 64-bit processor. According to some sources, it will be loaded with a 3GB RAM and Sense 6.0 UI, while its display will bear a 2048x1080-pixel resolution. The reported features suggest that M8 will be side by side with iPhone 6! Could it be we are also expecting sapphire glass, scratch-proof screen and 3D gesture control? For any other information we will just have to wait, since rumors say the HTC M8 will be presented at the Mobile World Congress taking place next year.


3. Sony Xperia Z2 Avatar

Sony’s exceptional camera technology has showed great potentials already, and it now gains the market’s attention with its impressive display features. If Xperia Z1 was a hit, mainly due to its awesome waterproof features, the Z2 model will leave you jaw-dropping. With image resolution that reaches 506 ppi and 20.7 MP camera with Xenon flash, Z2 certainly is definitely the finest of all its forerunners. Based on what is rumored, the new Z2 carries a 4.4 Kitkat Android, 3 GB RAM and a Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset. What is more, we might also see 4K video capture, compatible with Sony 4k TV, but, we hold a small basket until January and its official launch!


4. LG G Flex

Pioneering with the very first curved display, LG G Flex has made it to headlines in all major tech magazines. What surely amazes is the 6-inch ultra-thin and light plastic OLED display that is built on plastic substrates, as opposed to the glass ones we are used to see in previous models and all around the market, as of now. With enhanced durability, a 2.26 GhZ Snapdragon 800 processor, 1280x720p, specially designed 3,500mAh curved battery, 2GB of RAM, 13 MP rear camera and another 2.1MP front camera, and a long list of supporting features, the LG G Flex is expected to run a wild race with the rest of its competitors.

For all of technology fans, this will definitely be a year full of pleasant surprises and amazing smartphones created to make our lives easier and more fun!

The smartphone enterprise market seems to be changing lately. Undoubtedly, smartphones will continue to draw attention and dominate the market, mainly due to their applications that provide enterprises with great opportunities to both save more money and carry through their business swiftly and cost-effectively.

For example, the mobile voice service, or MVS, is a perfect fit to firms with international branches, as it provides users with the opportunity to both receive and make wireless international calls from their smartphone, with significantly lower calling fees. In fact, users can make international calls and be charged as if they were using their business’ wireline.

As of now, for the very first time, more business men and women report having an iPhone (45% of smartphone users), than a Blackberry (32% of smartphone users). According to the latest facts, iPhones will keep on gaining ground (and larger market shares) over Blackberries.

What lies behind the rapid change of businesses moving from Blackberry to the iPhone? Simple. Apple has managed to reach out to businesses with much lower maintenance costs, compared to the Blackberry. Indicatively, for an enterprise with 1,000 employees, managing and maintaining the service of the Blackberry could rise to many thousands of dollars, because Blackberry servers require experienced and highly sophisticated personnel to run updates, maintain and manage the servers. For that reason, all work is usually outsourced to a third-party vendor, costing, of course, more money. With Apple’s active synch, on the other hand, most services are handled remotely via Apple. In recent times, cutting even the slightest costs is unquestionably greatly appreciated by all business people.

Going through the features of the iPhone 4, one can immediately see much to appreciate (see MS Office Docs and e-mail servers’ compatibility, business-friendly applications etc.). Simply put, an employee can now do more while on the road than before, in much lesser time.

Another great advantage of the iPhone that makes the Blackberry stay behind is international accessibility. A recent survey wants Japanese business men with offices in the US moving to the iPhone (from the Blackberry) because they could work in the US, Japan and Korea with seamless integration, which is a feature found in the iPhone; yet, only in a single model of Blackberry (Bold). However, rumors say that the new releases from Blackberry will also enable seamless integration, too, at some point in the future.

Thirdly, surfing the net, although not much significantly differentiated, is more preferred with the iPhone, rather than the Blackberry. We believe this happens because Apple is running more effective marketing campaigns in regards the iPhone. In other words, there is a whole more buzz around Apple’s iPhones, instead of Blackberries, that drives demand to the iPhone.

For all the aforementioned reasons, iPhonefixed, with an acute eye to the latest trends, already works closely with large businesses in the UK, repairing their iPhones, ensuring all iPhone users’ queries are answered, and providing the most effective solutions to their iPhone’s problem(s).

Whenever there is iPhone-related trouble, iPhonefixed can certainly get it fixed!