Tag: google

Google Pixel 6 Pre-order + Free Bose Headphones

Pre-orders for the Pixel 6 range are now open. Anyone placing an order is eligible to claim a pair of Bose 700 Wireless headphones worth £299 (As listed currently on Amazon) as part of the deal. For more details on the offer and the process involved visit https://pixel-offers.com/headphones/en-GB …

Pixel 6 Prices Leaked

The Google Pixel 6 is expected to be released on October 19, and the latest rumour claims availability will start from October 28. Interestingly, the Pixel 6 flagships will only be available in 8 countries, including the UK, the US, and Germany. Google has been very picky as …

Vodafone Sale – Now on!

It’s sale season already and, while we’re still shopping for Christmas, it’s a chance to get a deal. Vodafone have a Big Winter Sale on, and it covers their Home Broadband, mobile contracts, SIM-only and Pay As You Go deals. They’ve got the Moto G 5G at £30 …

Google One – Three months free for Virgin Media customers

Whether you’ve got a broadband or a mobile package, the guys at Virgin Media are dishing up access to a Google One for three months for free. This gives you 100GB cloud storage, access to Google experts and extra benefits. After your three months is up, you only …

Neverware and CloudReady – Now part of Google

Some of you may remember my love for the ChromeReady Operating System. After working with Windows Server and Windows Desktop machines for some 20+ years, I like to come home to a laptop which I can just open and use quickly without worrying about viruses, updates and intrusive …

Deals now available at e2save

There’s a whole page of these deals available but, as part of the e2save Christmas Super Saver deals, there’s also some great offers on handsets like the latest flagship Google Pixel 5. You can grab that on Vodaone for £30 per month after you’ve claimed the cashback. That’s …

Google Pixel 4a – £13.29 p/m

With a fairly chunky reduction in the price of the Google Pixel 4a, you can spread the cost over 24 months and make it perfectly pocketable. As it’s an interest free deal, this means, with a total cost of £319, that you’ll pay just £13.29 per month. Whack …

Google Play downloads hit 28.3bn during lockdown

It’s always hard to get an exact figure for app and game downloads, but 2020 has definitely got researchers looking into those install counts. Millions across the world are spending more time indoors, online and on their smartphone amid the coronavirus lockdown. It’s meant, according to most research …

Huawei P smart 2021 Arriving in the UK on Thursday

No Google services here, but the Huawei P smart 2021 will be arriving here in the UK for a mere £199 and – as we’ve mentioned before – there are ways to get your favourite apps onto Honor and Huawei phones that don’t have Google Play. This phone …

Get the Google Pixel 5

The all new Pixel 5 is already out of stock on the official Google Store. It’s selling for £599, or you can pay Google £24.96 per month to buy it (0% APR for 24 months) and then whack a SIM-only card in. The phone has been getting rave …

Why is Google Chrome taking so much memory?

Writing about smartphones is kinda my thing, but you’ll find me doing that within the Chrome browser on a laptop. Despite the rather respectable competition (Firefox, Safari, Opera, Edge etc), you’ll find that Chrome is my default choice of browser. It’s by far the most popular way to …

Google Sale now on

Google is the same age as me – just 22 today. To celebrate, they’ve knocked 22% off selected devices. To get the reduction, you’ll need to enter code GOOGLEBDAY22 at the checkout. Deals include the Google Nest Mini, which is now down to £38.22 (normally £49), the Google …

WeChat and TikTok avoid Sunday ban in USA

Both apps have been embroiled in a battle with the US administration, but have escaped the expected US bans today. For WeChat, a judge has blocked a the ban as it raised “serious questions” surrounding the first amendment – guaranteeing free speech. Judge Beeler, sitting in San Francisco, …

Epic Games forced into Fortnite mobile corner

Epic Games has long disliked the revenue cut taken by smartphone stores. Indeed, Epic tried to dodge the 30% Apple tax recently during an in-game event for Fortnite. Apple then blocked Fortnite from the App Store, with iOS users prevented from downloading future updates. In addition, Android players …

Hello, Google Pixel 4a

Ooh now. £349 for your next Google smartphone. I’m liking all these supposed “mid-range” smartphones. It’s clearly bonkers-conkers to pay nearly £1,000 for a smartphone, so phones like the OnePlus Nord are really raising eyebrows. This, the new Google Pixel 4a, is even cheaper at £349, although in …

Huawei adds warnings about the lack of Google Play

Thinking of getting yourself the brilliant Huawei P40 Pro, the Huawei P40, the Honor 9A or the Honor 9X Pro ? They’re all brilliant (have a nose at our Honor 9X Pro review here), but they all lack the Google Mobile Services. No YouTube app, no Google Maps …

Honor 9X Pro – Review

This is just £249.99 (at the time of writing) and, as usual with Honor, you get a lot for your money. My initial thoughts were consumed by the absolutely awesome rear-end. It reflects light and bounces it around beautifully on this Phantom Purple model – even with the …

YouTube Music gets a transfer update as Google Play Music shuts down

Ahead of plans to shut down Google Play Music later this year (so unlike Google to just shut down services isn’t it?), starting now, Google Play Music users will be able to move their libraries, personal taste preferences and playlists to the newer YouTube Music service. To do …

Google Stadia on lockdown

Whilst my son continues with his PS4 in the Gaming Room I created, I’ve been demoted to other areas of the house during the coronavirus lockdown. Today though, I made use of that free Stadia Pro offer and pinched his PS4 controller. I’m using my “half price Pixelbook”, …

Use a Google app or product? Brexit could change your GDPR rights

OK, the letters “GDPR” will probably spark confusion here. If you’ve had any involvement in it at work, you’ll probably have a cold sweat right now. However, for everyone else it’s a really good thing. Set out by the EU, it stands for “General Data Protection Regulation” and …

Ambient Mode comes to OnePlus

Overnight OnePlus has announced that they’re to deploy the Google Assistant-powered Ambient Mode to OnePlus devices from the OnePlus 3 onwards. As you may know, Ambient Mode appears when your device is being charged and gives you access to a wide range of Google Assistant-powered information. To opt …

Yet more speed

There’s no big IT team behind this site. We don’t have SEO specialists, marketing teams or designers. So, it usually falls to me to do all that. In addition to writing the stories, the server setup and the database back-end is something I’ve constructed. In the last few …

How to make a traffic jam without a car

Google Maps, without doubt, is fantastic. After the company bought Waze for a huge amount of money seven years ago, it’s integrated a lot of the Waze crowdsourced driving features into Google Maps. The result is definitely beneficial for Google Maps users and we’re now used to seeing …

Get Gapps-exit done. Huawei says, “No going back”

The mighty Huawei and Honor have been properly stuck over the last few months. The delightful and totally sane Donald Trump has put the company into the USB security bad books, and has banned them from working with any US company. That means that upcoming Huawei and Honor …

Which is the best Android TV box?

If you’re looking to turn your TV into a smart interactive device but don’t want to have to spend money on a whole new TV, a set-top box running Android TV is just what you need. You can easily watch videos online and media from external storage. In …

My Google “Pixelbook” .. for less than half the money

I’ve gotta admit, I’d love a Google Pixelbook. It’s got an Intel Core i7, either 8GB or 16GB of RAM (depending on the model), a big hard drive and a 12.3″ 2400×1600 (235ppi) panel. Trouble is, despite all my saving, I’m not getting close to affording one. Even …

BT Broadband packages now come with Google Stadia

BT (British Telecom) has announced that it is partnering with Google to launch a range of broadband plans that come with the Stadia cloud gaming service bundled in the package. BT, which is the biggest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the UK, is planning to offer the free …

Huawei – Who needs Google Play?

Well, if you’ve been around these parts for a while, you’ll know that Huawei (and therefore Honor) have had a rough time of late. America really doesn’t like Huawei right now, and they’re of the opinion that Huawei are bad in every way. It’s all cobblers of course …

Huawei in the spotlight again, for all the wrong reasons.

The US imposed a trade block on Huawei and stopped US companies doing anything with the company. This prevented Google from delivering Gmail, YouTube and Google Play plus many other apps to about-to-appear Huawei and Honor Android handsets. In short, all the Honor and Huawei handsets on sale …

Turkey for Christmas, but it won’t be getting any Google Apps

So, very much like “the Huawei problem” and the Trump Trade block which is preventing Google Apps from appearing on upcoming Huawei phones – Turkey will soon have the same issue. Google started having a few issues in Turkey after Russian internet company Yandex decided to file an …

Getting started with Android Application Development

Android is touted as one of the most popular platforms out there. It’s responsible for bringing the convenience and the openness of Google to its users. On a desktop, we’re also seeing a growing development push to the internet browser. You don’t even need to install an app …

Chromebooks – Now showing Bluetooth device battery level

Here at Coolsmartphone towers, a number of writers use Chromebooks as our primary devices. But one thing thing I find annoying when using my Chromebook is guessing at the battery level of my headphones, keyboard and mouse, but a few months back, it was discovered that Google was …

Google Stadia now available.

Hey, we almost forgot to mention this one, but Stadia from Google is now available. Ideal for Christmas, this is now £119 with free delivery. What is it? Well, imagine a PS4 or an Xbox, but without the actual console. You get a controller in the box and …

Honor 9X now available in the UK

This phone is another one from the Huawei stable that has been announced already in China. Like the Huawei Nova 5T that we covered last week, this nips under the radar – just before the outright ban that Donald Tump imposed on Huawei and it’s subsidiaries. This ban …

Curve now integrates with Google Pay

I’ve used the Curve card for quite a while now. It’s one card that, with the aid of an app, acts as many different cards. Use the app to add your credit, debit or businss cards, then use the app to switch between them and simply use the …

Got yourself a Fitbit? It’ll soon be a Google Fitbit

The fitness tracker of choice for many is Fitbit, but with so much competition in that particular field, the company has been making a loss of late. Today Google have announced that they’ll be buying the company for £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion), with the transaction said to complete …

Save 21% on (almost all) Google kit today!

Another deal! I need to calm down a bit ! Today there’s 21% off Google equipment. It doesn’t include Google Stadia pre-orders, but – just by putting the code… B-GOOGLE21 ..into the checkout, you can get 21% off the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, the Pixel 3a, the Pixel …