Author: Coolsmartphone Staff

Samsung Galaxy W, coming soon to Three

Three has announced it will stock the new Samsung Galaxy W, set to hit Three stores soon. This is a smaller version of the very popular Samsung Galaxy SII, running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with a super speedy 1.4Ghz processor and 3.7” Super LCD screen. It also has a …

HP TouchPad TouchDown Prices!

So HP announced that they’re pulling out of the PC Market (via sell off like IBM did a few years back to Lenovo), and also killing off their WebOS devices. We’ll leave the why’s & wherefore’s to another Samsung/ Apple industry crushing debate another day… However – who …

ExpenseMagic App

Do you work for a company? Do you work for yourself? Then the one thing you’ll be all to familiar with is the Expenses routine. Claiming for milage, train tickets, meals, etc. is all too painful an experience nowadays! Even worse when you lose one of those tatty old receipts… Well …

Google to acquire Motorola Mobility

Ok, this is big news! Google have announced they are to acquire Motorola’s mobile phone and tablet business for $12.5 billion. This puts Google directly into the hardware business, like Apple, but actually there seems to be a different motive. The tech industry has recently become rather courtroom based, …

Orange Monte Carlo Review

Following on from last year’s San Francisco, Orange have finally released its long awaited follow up. The Monte Carlo continues the tradition of offering fairly solid midrange hardware at a comparatively bargain basement price. In this case the stakes have been upped with the Monte Carlo now featuring …

Orange Monte Carlo – send us your questions

I got home this evening to find a lovely Orange Monte Carlo review unit waiting for me, courtesy of the one and only Conor from Orange. I’m hoping to have a review up by Monday but I wanted to give readers the chance to ask any questions they …

First screenshots of Ice Cream Sandwich leak out

The first images of the Ice Cream Sandwich have leaked onto the web, courtesy of RootzWiki and Android Police. From what little that can be discerned, the sheenshots seem to suggest the next version of Android will be an evolutionary leap from Gingerbread. In keeping with the Tron-esque look …

Facebook launch Messenger for Mobile

Facebook have announced the imminent launch of new messenger apps for Android and iOS. The app allows you to easily chat with your friends either one to one or in groups. The apps integrate with Facebook Messages and aggregate all your messages including texts, chats and emails. This …

Google+ now available on iPad/iPod Touch

Google have now made their Google+ available for all the iPad and iPod Touch users who were left out  when the app originally launched on iPhone last month. There aren’t any discernible differences between the new version and the previous iPhone only one so it’s unclear why the …

Cut the Rope sequel out now (updated)

Zeptolab will be releasing a sequel to the much loved Cut the Rope later today. The original has been raking in the cash on iOS for many months now and also found it’s way to Android back in June. The new game is dubbed Cut the Rope: Experiments …

Battery life – the networks fault?

  One of the most complained about things on modern smartphones, is their battery life – and quite rightly. After years of getting us used to increasing battery life on phones, smartphones came along and we all had to get used to charging our phones once or more …

Apple release iOS Beta 4

Following quickly on the heels of Beta 3, Apple have now released iOS 5 Beta 4 into the wild. For the first time, the beta takes the form of an OTA update, removing the need to faff about with iTunes. It’s not the biggest update but for some …

Viber comes to Android

Viber, the free VOIP and messaging service has finally hit the Android market. The app has been available on iOS for a while now and allows you to make free calls over 3G and WiFi as well as send free texts. The app features some nice integration with …

ITV Player hits the App Store

Following on from its Android release, ITV’s catch up service is now also available on Apple’s wonder phone (and iPod Touchs/Touches). You can use it to catch up on all your favourite shows from ITVs 1-4. Somewhat interestingly, the app forgoes iOS’s usual UI conventions and is pretty much …

Twitter for Android gets push notifications and multiple account support

Twitter have released a new version of their Android app on to the market. The new version brings support for push notifications and multiple accounts. Having had a quick play, the notifications do appear to be pretty instantaneous with alerts popping up virtually exactly in sync with my …

iOS gets custom notification tones

iOS users rejoice! Along with proper notifications, an improved lock screen and all that iCloud goodness, Apple have also (finally!) introduced another long-standing feature from other mobile OSs. Hidden away in the Settings app in the newly released iOS 5 Beta 3 is a menu allowing customisation of …

CoPilot Live Premium for iOS offer

Further to our story last week, CoPilot Live Premium is now available on the App store for iPhones and 3g iPads on the same 50% discount offer. This makes the UK maps version £14.99 and the European maps one £29.99. After the 7 day offer these revert to …

Virgin Media TiVo Android App

Virgin Media have just released an Android app for their popular TIVO boxes. Rather like Sky’s Sky+ app, the application features a TV guide and the ability to set your box to record remotely. I find this one of the most useful features on my phone frankly, so great to …

Foursquare for Windows Phone 7 rereleased

Check in lovers everywhere (well those with WP7) rejoice. Foursquare have rereleased their official app for Microsoft’s great if not much loved mobile OS. I never actually tried (or even knew about) the first version which was actually developed by Microsoft and removed from the Windows Phone Marketplace …

CoPilot Live Premium offer

CoPilot Live Premium has just been released on Android and it is on offer for the first 7 days. During the first week you can get the SatNav full software for £14.99 – afterwards it jumps to its normal price of £29.99. Unlike Google Maps, it offers offline …

Google Music Beta Hands On

When Google launched Music Beta back at IO back in May one of the biggest disappointments that it was to be an invite only beta available only in the US. However through some nefarious means (*cough* proxy server!) I managed to sign up and snag myself an invite to …

iOS 5 Beta Hands On

For the last week I’ve had a chance to play with the beta of iOS 5 that Apple released to developers at WWDC. The only official way to currently get your hands on it is through a registered developer with access to the iOS SDK. For everyone else …

Evernote for WP7 now available

Evernote have just announced the release of a new app for WP7 which joins the versions already available for PC, Mac, Android, iOS, WebOS and Blackberry. For those new to the service, Evernote allows you to take notes which sync across all your devices. In addition to simple …

Apple playing catchup with iOS 5?

So WWDC has been and gone and Apple has laid its cards on the table with iOS 5.  The biggest surprise was perhaps the sheer scope of the update and the number of major new features that are being released. With one notable exception I’m now struggling to …

My Windows Phone impressions

So after wanting to try out Windows Phone for a while I finally took the plunge and bought an LG Optimus 7 last week. Having had a few days to play around with the OS and its features I thought I’d note down some of my early impressions. …

iOS5 to be unveiled on Monday

In a blurt of uncharacteristic openness, Apple have announced their agenda for WWDC, which as well as more on their next version of OS X for Macs, will also include the new iOS 5 for iPhone and iPads. No news on features yet, but Apple also confirmed they will …

Smartphones. What can you do with them?

So you have a smartphone.  Be it Android, Apple or Windows Phone 7.  Or some other platform.  Now what? Smartphones are becoming more and more popular, as they become cheaper to produce and more popular, and people are following their friends and buying something similar to them.  Now, …

Are Google Too Much Like Apple?

Are you Team Android or Team Apple? Well, the side whose colours you nail to the mast are usually picked solely on user preference, company offerings, and not least, first impressions. After what seems like an eternity (but in reality is only 2.5 years since Android came onto …

Sony Ericsson – Facebook inside

During my visit to Sony Ericsson in London a new service for the Xperia range was shown – Facebook inside. It adds much more integration to the native apps in Android. As we know Android phones synchronise with Facebook already but this is really as far as contacts …

Hands on – Xperia Mini and Mini Pro

Sony Ericsson have taken the original Mini and Mini Pro and given them a dose of steroids. Added is the latest Gingerbread Android OS, a 3″ screen with reality display with BRAVIA engine and 720p video recording. Both have 2.3.2 at present but an update to 2.3.3 for …

Sony XPERIA Play deal

Ebuyer have a limited supply of the new Playstation phone for £399.  This is unlocked (SIM free) and comes with 5 games pre-loaded, including FIFA 10. So if you’re looking for this phone, its a great price, but supply is limited.   Link – Ebuyer

Where is Android’s iPod Touch?

Although I’ve been an Android user for nearly two years now I’ve had an iPod Touch for around six months and use it every day. I bought it mainly because I wanted a new gadget and thought it’d be a good way to try out iOS and get …

HTC Desire HD & Incredible S getting Gingerbread now

HTC have started the roll out of the Android 2.3 or Gingerbread update to existing HTC Desire HD and Incredible S handsets. This will arrive as an OTA update, so keep an eye on your phone if you have one of these devices.   Link – Engadget

4oD app comes to iPad

Channel 4’s catch up service, 4oD, have launched a free iPad app.  4oD’s website offering is unavailable to iPad users, due to its use of flash, so this is the first time 4oD has been available on an iOS device. Like Channel 4 the app is ad-supported, so …

CyanogenMod… What’s all the fuss?

In the New Year, I decided to take a nose dive into custom ROMs for my Desire.  Oh we had been getting along just great for a while, but I realised I needed more… Wanted more.  It needed to be faster, and easier to use and not as …

Dropin for Android – automatically sync your photos to your Dropbox

I’ve been meaning to give Dropin a mention for a while now. It’s a great little app which provides some much needed functionality that I’ve always thought the native Dropbox app should have had from the start. Dropin automatically syncs all your photos and videos from your phone …

Android Tablet App: Tweetcomb

As more and more developers get their hands on an Android tablet running Honeycomb, we will see, and are starting to see more tablet-dedicated applications. Tweetcomb is one such application, which focuses on the social medium, Twitter. Tweetcomb is the brainchild of Chris Stewart (Check out his Twitter …

World of Goo for iPhone/iPod Touch

  Those gamers among you will likely already have heard about World of Goo. Over the last few years it’s built up a reputation as a cult classic among puzzle games. Originally released on PC before making its way to Wii and then the iPad, last week developer …

Motorola Xoom Videos – What Do You Want To See?

So I posted my immediate thoughts after having my Motorola Xoom WiFi only a short period earlier in the week. If you missed the post, you can have a read here. With so much chatter around debating the strengths and weaknesses of Android’s latest OS on the Xoom, …

Motorola Xoom WiFi UK – A Quick Look

Picture the scene….. A phone call…gently vibrating on my work’s desk. After 3-4 rings I pick it up to hear the voice of my wife say the immortal words – “Guess what I’ve got?”. Could it be? No surely not…I’m sure the delivery would be delayed by longer than …