If we are talking big smartphone news in 2012, the two phones on everyone’s minds are the Apple iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3.  With Apples constant  secrecy surrounding their future releases, confirmed specs are extremely unlikely, however many hoped that Samsung would be revealing their much anticipated, Android powerhouse, the Samsung Galaxy S3 at MWC 2012.  MWC, or the Mobile World Congress is the worlds largest exhibition for the mobile industry and if announced the Samsung Galaxy S3 would have clearly stolen the show.  Samsung have pulled an Ace out of their sleeve and gone against expectations, confirming that the Galaxy S3 will not be making an appearance at MWC 2012.  Instead they seem to be mirroring Apple’s hype machine announcements and are hosting a seperate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of 2012.  Just when excitement was reaching fever pitch, everyone has realised they in fact have to wait even longer…

Still, if we take a step back and look at it from Samsungs perspective its quite easy to see why they might take this approach.  The Samsung Galaxy series of smartphones have been hugely successful, with the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 two of Samsungs best selling phones of all time.  The Galaxy S2 was in 2011 (and pretty much still is) regarded as the must have Android smartphone, as well as the biggest competition to the Apple iPhone 4/4S.  But what does all this mean?  Well Samsung may not have wanted attention and focus to be lost on their huge release, which with the large numbers of new products and announcements at MWC 2012, could have been a risk.  Instead Samsung have decided to opt for an independant announcement nearer the release date of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and we think the hype/buzz radar is going to be on overdrive!

Samsung have said in a statement that they do have other new mobile products that they are looking forward to demonstrating at this years Mobile World Congress but we can’t help but think they will get bugged for info on the S3 throughout the exhibition.  Still, there’s always information leaks, a very active rumour mill and that upcoming Samsung announcement to look forward to.  Hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer!

So 2011 saw the epic battle between the Apple iPhone 4/iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy S2, competing for the crowning glory of the ‘best smartphone’ in the market. Nokia’s Lumia 800, their first entry into the Windows smartphone market, was released in November 2011, which was too late for it to properly wrestle its way into the ring with Apple and Samsung.  LG’s main effort was the LG Optimus 3D, which although an absolute powerhouse on the spec sheet, failed to ignite enough interest in it’s 3G functionality from the smartphone market.  HTC had their ‘Sensation’ smartphone range (such as the XE and XL) , which with Beats by Dre on board were popular with music enthusiasts.  Sony Ericsson (now just Sony) expected big things from the worlds first Playstation certified smartphone, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play but it never really quite took off.    Finally BlackBerry released the BlackBerry Bold 9900, which in my opinion is one of the best smartphones BlackBerry have ever released.  The difficulty that BlackBerry face however is not in their hardware but in their software.   The most popular operating systems by a huge amount are iOS and Android and as BlackBerry use their own OS, apps and development support is limited and apps are a huge driving force behind smartphones.

So what about 2012? Lets take a quick glance at what we think the key smartphone release will be for each of the major manufacturers :-

Apple – Even your Gran could answer this one, Apple’s big 2012 smartphone is the iPhone 5 of course!  Apple have the likes of Samsung and HTC snapping at their heels and they need to address the criticism surrounding the iPhone 4S changing very little from its predecessor.

Samsung – Easy, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and its a very exciting 2012 release indeed.  With rumour surrounding 2GB of ram, a 4.6 inch 1080P display and a picture perfect 12 megapixel camera, Apple better watch out!

Nokia – So far, the realms of huge smartphone releases for Nokia, all we really know about is the Nokia Lumia 900.  This upgrade on their previous Lumia 800 release, will see updates such as a larger screen, improved battery, vastly improved front facing camera and the potential for 4G support.

HTC – The HTC Edge is thought be to be powered by a 1.5GHz Quad Core processor, that’s right – Quad Core.  This fact alone shows that HTC are well and truly still in the race and could potentially release the most powerful smartphone of 2012.

LG – We haven’t heard much from the LG corner regarding 2012 releases but the LG Spectrum (possibly Revolution 2) sounds a pretty tasty smartphone.  With a 1.5GHz dual core processor, incredible HD IPS display and HD graphics/engine, we could have quite the battle on our hands when it comes to comparing displays in 2012.

Sony – Another 12 megapixel toting smartphone for 2012 will come in the form of Sony’s flagship release, the Sony Xperia S. Alongside this it will feature Android Ice Cream Sandwich, a 4.3 inch HD display screen, NFC and HDMI support.

BlackBerry – What about BlackBerry? Well from what we can tell, the BlackBerry Triton looks promising and of course BlackBerry 10 operating is set to be released this year but one thing is for sure, they really need to impress this year to stay in the race.

It may not have been a white Christmas in the UK this year but it seems smartphones sales have stirred up a blizzard, whitewashing all existing records in their path! The two culprits, Android and iOS have both shattered existing records for phones activated on Christmas Day, already the most popular day to set up your new present.

Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, Andy Rubin, reported 3.7 million Android operating systems were activated over Christmas Day. According to Flurry Analytics, Apple also achieved a huge boost with over 300 million iPhones and iPads switched on over the 24 hour period. As a comparison to a “normal” day, Christmas day saw a rise in Android and iOS activations by 353%. This comfortably excels last year’s 125% rise seen on 25^th December 2010.

The huge increase in iOS and Android activations additionally led to a surge in app downloads over the festive season. Unwrapped and ready to play, a total of 242 million apps were downloaded across the Android Market and App Store. That’s almost a quarter of a billion downloads in 24 hours!

With Android and iOS available across smartphones and tablets, there’s never been so much availability for devices using these operating systems. With Android now available on more affordable handsets, cheaper smartphones have become an attractive Christmas present for a wide range of shoppers.

If there’s one great feature about smartphones, it’s the wide array of applications (or apps for short) at our disposal. Whether you download apps for their fun, usefulness or ability to provide up to date information, it’s clear that we’re app crazy. The table below shows you approximately how many apps each store currently has. How many apps have you downloaded?

Adding up across all the Operating Systems suggests there are now over 1 million apps to choose from! The question is, which is the operating system for you and what can we expect from the great app war in 2012?

Australian telecoms firm Telstra have teamed up with Google to unveil the world’s first Android Store. Located in Melbourne, Androidland combines fun and education to deliver the full Android experience within a retail environment.

As well as the ability to try and buy the latest Android smartphone and tablet devices, Androidland pushes the customer experience further with fun and games for kids and adults.  The Spaceship Hub, lets you play Angry Birds on a huge display, making those crash landings look even more spectacular. Explore your favourite parts of the world with Google maps also on a big screen. It seems every detail to deliver fun and a unique experience has been crafted into the project. There’s even an aroma of freshly baked gingerbread as you walk the store; a tribute to the Android 2.3 operating system. I wonder if they’ll give out ice-cream sandwiches any time soon?

The unveiling of a physical Android presence seems a logical move if Android are to maintain their status as the leading operating system. Offering personal advisors much like the global chain of Apple stores, Androidland opens opportunity for potential users to ask any burning questions in a face to face environment; ideal for those new to smartphone technology or wondering about changing their OS.

Will we see Androidland stores rolled out across the UK?  Whether the Melbourne store is a publicity stunt or a trial for future expansion will depend on its ability to educate potential users on the capabilities of Android. Go on, Androidify Yourself!