Category: Android

Huawei Ascend G330 – initial impressions

The popular budget Huawei Ascend G300 has now been replaced with the G330, and I have one for a fortnight to see how it fairs. Huawei are dragging their reputation from cheap ‘n’ cheerful to serious contender in impressive style, not least because the G300 was such good …

Sony Xperia Z confirmed at CES event

CES is about to kick off over in Las Vegas tomorrow with a whole host of announcements due by manufacturers and one has been getting a lot of attention recently, and that is of course Sony and their rumored new flagship the Sony Xperia Z. We have seen leaked press …

Google purposefully blocking Windows Phone users from Google Maps?

If you’ve got yourself a Windows Phone and try and browse onto Google Maps through your browser it just won’t work. Visiting the web version of Google Maps now redirects you to the main Google homepage. Google have explained this by saying that the mobile version of Google …

Nexus 10 back in stock at Google

So now christmas is over and things starting to get back to normal it looks like Google have more stock of the Nexus 10 16GB version available as the store has changed from the normal SOLD OUT message to ‘SHIPS SOON’ with a message stating it will ship …

Microsoft smartphone share continues to slide – comScore

Based on a survey of 30,000 mobile subscribers in the USA, comScore figures are out for the three month period ending November 2012. The study reveals Samsung at the top of the tree with 26.9% of US mobile subscribers and Apple second with 18.5%. LG are in third …

More hacked apps appear on Google Play

We’ve seen too many headlines mentioning cracked, hacked or infected apps appearing in Google Play. Sadly we’re adding this one to the list as Google appear to be reacting too slowly to the continuing problem. In this case we’ve had an email from the guys at Root Uninstaller. …

Latest Android platform figures released.

It’s that time of the month folks, Google have released the platform usage figures up to the 3rd of January The good news here is that Jelly Bean has had a reasonably large jump from 6.7% to 10.2%. Clearly a lot of people got Nexus 7’s for Christmas …

Nexus 4 device sales at 400,000? Production ramping up?

  I’ve been curious about the Nexus 4 for quite some time. So much so that I bought one but my main curiosity has been the process for getting it into consumers hands. Its been fraught with problems and their seems to be some significant shortages and waiting …

HTC are quickest to update handsets with the latest version of Android

  Android updates are a prickly subject – our own Ravi gets most impassioned about it – with what can best be described as a “varied” experience for most people in getting the latest version on their existing handset. On top of manufacturers taking their time, or sometimes …

Lookout now available for Kindle Fire HD

The Kindle Fire HD, Amazon’s flagship device today has a new weapon in the war on malware and viruses. Lookout have revealed in their blog that the security software suite has been optimised specifically for the Fire HD and now provides all the protection that is available on …

A week with…

  I’ve always been a two handset user whenever possible for more years than I’d like to think about. It helped me balance any deficiencies in any one handset, and whilst I’ve had a preference for one type of handset over the other for certain things, there was never a …

Nexus 7 dock to become available in U.S. and Europe this month

After an eternity of waiting and speculation, it seems the elusive ASUS Nexus 7 dock may be about to hit the United States and Europe this month. In the Netherlands, AndroidWorld.nl has word from ASUS Benelux that the dock will arrive in mid-January. Prices are speculated to be …

Microsoft “surprised” by Google ActiveSync drop

The war between Microsoft and Google continues. Following the spat over a Windows Phone YouTube client, Microsoft has responded on a different matter – the removal of ActiveSync support for GMail and Google Apps users with Windows Phones. Like many, we are surprised and disappointed that Google wants …

Lumia 920 New Year fireworks

Recently you might have seen the Nokia Lumia 920 review.  The main feature of the device was the very impressive camera which is supposed to work really well in low lighting conditions. So, what better place to take some photos and record a long video example than at …

Google “blocking” Microsoft from launching a YouTube app

YouTube for Windows Phone. Just don’t mention it. You can’t get a YouTube app for the Microsoft OS and many (including my good self) have pointed out that it’s a pretty big problem – customers want a YouTube app and expect it out of the box. The two …

Android Game Review – Pudding Monsters

Cut The Rope was great, I loved slicing bits of rope to feed Om Nom. So when I heard Zeptolab were planning on making a new game I was fairly excited. The release came and as usual the game was released for iOS first and then during the …

My 2013 wishlist – James (the Windows Phone edition)

2013 is upon us and today is the day when most people get back to work and start to wonder what the year ahead is going to bring. I always have a mental wishlist in my head of stuff that I want to see happen and stuff I …

NVIDIA TegraZone now available for Windows RT

Gaming on Windows RT has huge potential over the next year or so. The NVIDIA TegraZone has previously been an Android app that allowed people who owned Tegra based devices to install Tegra specific games and get news and previews of upcoming games. Now Windows RT users with …

Touch-based Ubuntu arriving tomorrow?

Ubuntu, for those who aren’t aware, is a Linux OS based on Debian. It’s free, open source and has a desktop UI. It’s got quite a following and has breathed life into a range of netbooks and PC’s. However, with smartphones now having specs equal to advanced PC’s …

Sony Xperia Z press photo appears online

WIth CES just days away and this event being a favorite for Sony to announce their new products at, it comes as no surprise we are starting to see more and more leaked images.  This time it looks like an official press photo (although a low resolution version) has found …

OUYA Console gets unboxed

  Following an extremely successful Kickstarter project, OUYA Consoles are now shipping. They’re arriving after the developer portal went live and the OUYA dev kit is now ready for download too. For those who aren’t aware, the new OUYA console is an Android-powered device that’ll let you play …

Battery Widget Countdown – See how long your battery has left

The boys at Z3t4 Apps gave me an email over Christmas. They wanted us to point out their new Battery Widget Countdown app. As the name suggests you can drag it onto your homescreen and it’ll display a little battery along with the percentage remaining. Normal stuff, but …

EE HTC One X gets Jelly Bean

Tom Darcy has just pinged me an email after having Android Jelly Bean arrive on his HTC One X. It started arriving about a month ago elsewhere but Tom is on EE so if you got your handset through Orange or T-Mobile, look for an update right now. …

More BlackBerry X10 photos leaked

Earlier we posted about some new BB10 photos of the Z10 which is the touch screen only BlackBerry due to be announced on the 30th January. BlackBerry are known for their awesome keyboards though and a BB10 handset is also in the making we believe to be called …

More BlackBerry Z10 images leak

Now I wont lie, I have not been much of a BlackBerry fan in the past for the main reason the OS seemed very old and outdated even with updates to 7.0 and more recently 7.1. However I have to admit BB10 has got me pretty excited helped …

6.1 inch Huawei device leaked

Until now Samsung had the market pretty much sorted when it came to large phone/small tablet size devices in both the Note 1. More recently the Note 2 arrived with a massive 5.5 inch display. If that’s not big enough for you and you want something with killer …

Run Android apps on your PC or Mac

There are thousands of great Android apps out there to download for your smartphone or tablet, but did you ever wish you could run them on Windows or OSX? Well now you’re in luck. A free beta app called BlueStacks allows you to run the whole Android Market …

Gemini JoyTAB GEM7008 review

What can you get for £80 these days? The surprising answer is an Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablet with Play store compatibility from a British brand. Sub £100 tablets are nothing new, but on the whole they’re poorly built, slow and sold under a name nobody’s has ever …

Windows RT arrives on the HTC HD2

The poor, poor HTC HD2. It shipped originally with Windows Mobile 6.5 but had Windows Phone 7 splattered all over it along with Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Now we can add WIndows RT to the mix as CotullaCode has managed to squeeze the OS into the ancient old …

ZTE announce 5 inch Android super phone

ZTE have been making a lot of progress over the past year, we were especially impressed with the ZTE Grand X which we had in a little while ago to review for both it’s low price and near generic version of the OS. However ZTE are really going …

Galaxy S4 due for MWC 2013?

There have been quite a few bits of information floating about online recently about the new flagship phone from Samsung being the S4 and some even expected an announcement at CES in just a few weeks which have since been confirmed as false. However it has now been said that …

Archos Gamepad – Initial Impressions

The Archos Gamepad was mentioned earlier on in the year and to tell you the truth I never thought it would ever appear. Archos were true to their word and actually got the product to market, without their trademark delays. So mine arrived a few days ago I …

Google and Motorola working on ‘X Phone’?

Google purchased Motorola quite a while ago but until now there has been no real talk of what they plan to do with the once all mighty manufacturer and main reasons for the purchase were down to patents.  However now it seems that Motorola could be working on …

Three confirm it will stock Lumia 920

Three have come out today and now confirmed via Twitter that they will be stocking the new Nokia Lumia 920 on it’s UK network.  Considering Vodafone have announced it will be coming to their network once the EE exclusive period ends we can assume that this will also …

Leaked ZTE 5 inch Grand S set for CES

ZTE have made some very interesting cutting edge phones at very affordable prices recently, and now it looks like in just a few weeks time at the yearly CES event in the States they will announce the ZTE Grand S which is a new 5 inch display Android …

An introduction and Cerberus Anti Theft app review

Let me introduce myself as one of the new writers here at Coolsmartphone, I’ve been a member of this site from its very beginnings, when I first had the original Orange SPV smartphone way back in 2002, ten years, yes ten long years ago and oh how things …

Instagram complete massive U-turn

Following the back-lash from users, photo-tweaking-and-sharing site Instagram has now returned to their original terms and conditions. A blog post has been added which states…. The concerns we heard about from you the most focused on advertising, and what our changes might mean for you and your photos. …

HTC are rumoured to be working on Windows RT devices

HTC are in a dark place at the moment and they’re obviously looking for new product ranges to sell. Their recent move into the phablet arena is an example of this. Bloomberg have reported that HTC are working on two tablets, a 12″ one and most interestingly a …

Android 4.1.2 Arrives for the Samsung Galaxy SIII

Pick up your Galaxy SIII and check for updates on Samsung Kies. Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is now arriving and it’s even here on my Orange / EE-branded device. The update includes the multi-window functionality from the Note 2, improved battery life, better camera app (with Best Face) …