Category: Android

PayPal no longer eBay’s first payment choice

In a move that says it will be a benefit to both sellers and buyers alike, eBay is going to drop PayPal as the site’s main payments processor, the online giant stated in a blog post. People buying items on eBay will be able to pay without leaving …

More Galaxy S9 and S9+ details

Samsung is now gearing up to launch the 2018 versions of its flagship Galaxy series, the S9 and the S9+. They have an unpacked event scheduled for the 25th February, which is just prior to this years Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona. Both handsets will be powered by …

It’s the start of the year, and we’re all a bit skint.

I spend a lot of my day on my smartphone. However, I perhaps use it very differently to many others. Instead of browsing Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, you’ll instead find me working. Using either a Notepad or the official WordPress app to write stories, or editing and sharing …

Honor 9 and Honor 8 Pro getting Android Oreo very soon

It’s not arrived on my Honor 9 just yet, but Honor UK tell me that the Honor 8 Pro handsets should be getting a big dose of Oreo goodness very soon indeed. The company tell me that you’ll have improved boot times, better speed, more efficiency and reduced …

EBox T8 V TV box – Review

Right, I’ve first got to apologise to the nice people at Entertainment Box. They sent me this clever Android TV box a good, long while ago and it’s taken me far, far, far too long to actually review the thing. The simple fact is that I’ve used myself. …

Get an Honor 7X, grab yourself some in-game credit and a free case

Back in November last year we took a good look at the Honor 7X. It comes equipped with a 5.93″ (2160 X 1080) edge-to-edge “FullView” screem (at the 18:9 ratio). For £269.99 you get 4GB of memory, 64GB storage, a dual-lens 16 and 2 megapixel camera arrangement, microSD …

TomTom, remember them? Now they’re killing off lifetime updates.

Every. Single. Time someone asks me what TomTom to get, I say, “Why? Use Google Maps”. Across Europe, you get inclusive data, so you can use Google Maps there and benefit from live traffic and routing information. Meanwhile, if you want to go further, you can download offline …

Social VR is here

Last night I celebrated the start of a few days of leave with a trip to a lush Sports Bar, I enjoyed a few games of pool, air hockey and darts, whilst chatting to the others in the bar. A pretty normal experience for a sports bar, apart …

Honor View 10 Sample Galleries

I’ve been using the Honor View 10 for a few weeks while travelling now and working on a full review which will have another awesome video review (no pressure Lukasz…). One of the features where the Honor View 10 delivers exceptional value is in the camera department: essentially …

The top 5 Android games that my wife seems to be addicted to

My wife asked me for help with her smartphone last night and I started asking about some of the games installed on there. I figured that some apps were worth removing, but she was definitely not willing to do that. I find her in the middle of cooking, …

Senior Safety App – Review

If you have an elderly friend or relative, you’re naturally going to worry about them. However, that friend or relative may not necessarily worry. They might be too proud to have alarms or monitoring systems installed in their home and it could be tricky to even approach the …

Sega take a slightly different direction..

Think of a name like Sega and you’re instantly transported into a world of Sonic the Hedgehog, Outrun and Earthworm Jim. They’ve long been associated with classic video games but now Sega Games are going in a slightly different direction. Sega Networks, who are a division of Sega …

App downloads, usage and spending on the up

Getting a task done on a Chromebook, for me at least, often find me browsing the web for a solution. I usually put in what I’d like to do, followed by the word “online”. As an example, “convert DOC to text online” or “notepad online”. However, apps are …

The advent of the folding smartphone

Those of us old enough to remember the pre-smartphone mobile phones will remember the old clamshell handsets.  I still have extremely fond memories of phones like the Motorola V66i (above), or the (then) very advanced Motorola A780 (below), which included GPS (very rare in those days).  Fast forward …

4 Reasons that bloggers need a Samsung Galaxy Note 8

My main driver is still the Honor 9. It’s shiny, you can use it one-handed and it’s a gorgeous thing to look at. As a blogger, your smartphone is the most important bit of tech in your life. A few years ago it would’ve perhaps been a camera …

Assess, analyse and improve staff performance. AssessTEAM.

If you work hard, and you’re lucky, one day you’ll become a manager. You might be a team leader or a shift leader. However, one thing that will have stuck with you on the way up the career ladder is the good and bad experiences where your work …

Huawei P smart gets announced

OK. This puts us in a bit of a tricky position. Yesterday Vodafone told us that they’re ranging the new Huawei P smart. We said, “That’s nice, but we can’t find much about it”. So, we did some digging and unearthed all this information. It was puzzling because …

A smart folding mobility scooter with style. Relync

I like this one. It’s called Relync and, unlike a lot of mobility scooters you’ll see, it’ll fold effortlessly and neatly in just 3 seconds. This, the Relync R1, can also be easily carried on a train or plane after switching to a “trolley mode” so that you …

Huawei P smart coming to the UK, and exclusively to Vodafone

This is a phone we can’t actually find on the Huawei website right now. What we do have is a Google cached version and this video… It’s has a 5.65″ Full HD (2160×1080) screen and measures in at 72 x 150 x 7.45 mm. Vodafone have confirmed to …

Facebook for your furry friends – PetScene

Say what you want about Nicole Appleton, she has some lovely puppies. The All Saints star is here to promote a social network for you pet. Yes, a social network for your pet. Now sure, you’re probably thinking that this is all a bit bonkers, but stay with …

Bronze BlackBerry KeyONE coming to UK

The BlackBerry KeyOne is a real workhorse device with massive battery, great screen, Android OS and the traditional fantastic keyboard many have come to love over the years. TCL, the company behind making the latest BlackBerry hardware have announced a new Bronze version of their popular smartphone will …

CES 2018 – Razer unveil Project Linda, and I love it…

With CES now in full swing we are starting to see some very interesting things. As you will know, if you are a frequent visitor to the site, I recently reviewed the Razer Phone and found it to be pretty bad ass, albeit barring a few camera issues. …

CES 2018 – Honor 7X will get Face Unlock soon

Face Unlock seems to be the “in thing” with phone makers right now. We have seen it being implemented very well by Apple on the iPhone X and the team over at OnePlus have put their own slant on it too. Both these “Face Unlock” Systems use very different technologies to allow …

CES 2018 – Introducing Audeara

At this year’s CES, there are a new set of headphones called Audeara which are the first full fidelity headphones to include an inbuilt hearing test to protect the user’s ears. Audeara headphones can be used to test and retest hearing over a lifetime and adapt music to the users’ …

CES 2018: Planet Computers makes the Gemini PDA official!

CES 2018 is just about to kick off in Las Vegas. The widely-regarded prequel to CES itself is an event called CES Unveiled. This is where a lot of companies will show off their latest wares and releases in a much quieter setting, and without a lot of …

Goodbye Android Pay, Hello Google Pay

Mobile payments are on the up, and with so many contactless devices, it’s now expected that a “tappy tappy” payment will be made in almost any store. Android Pay is a big player in this area, allowing you to add your credit or debit card and make purchases …

CES – HTC VIVE Pro announced

HTC, the company that used to have phones in pockets all around the world, have announced some new HTC VIVE kit in Las Vegas. There’s new Viveport VR and Vive Video where you can enjoy VR content more easily. The Viveport VR and Vive Video viewport has been …

Honor View 10 Preview Video

As a start to 2018, we have gone all fancy with our video production values. Thanks to an excellent contribution of direction and editing from our friend Lukasz Suliga, we now have our exclusive Honor View 10 Preview. So, what do you think? Please let us know in …

Honor View 10 photo special

We are deep into the mid festive slump but, for some of us, work has to carry on for a few more days before the shenanigans of the New Year begin. In an effort to cheer you all up, I have been busy taking pictures of the soon-to-be-released …

Zeepin Dashcam Overview – You can win a dashcam too!

At this time of year, there’s always going to be some slightly unpredictable driving. Some idiots will take a chance drink driving, others will be distracted and some will just be generally terrible at driving or parking. It’s basically silly season where everybody panics to get those bargains …

Hear the Music and See the Lyrics!

Well, this next bit of kit has got us all excited at Coolsmartphone Towers, Leigh is looking forward to blasting out Spice Girls and Garry loves some Ed Sheeran. Imagine playing music from your phone to a speaker which shows the lyrics for you to sing along to! …

Unboxing the Honor View 10

A few weeks ago I was down in good old London town where I bore witness to the latest Honor flagship. Today I have received a pre-production unit for review here at Coolsmartphone Towers. The phone is now available for preorder from the Honor website and, if it is …

Want to use Strava? Don’t get an Honor or Huawei handset

Over the years I’ve grown to love the Huawei and Honor handsets. Right now I have the Honor 9 and it’s a fantastic device for the money. Great camera, great performance and great looks. Love it, I really do. Trouble is, there’s one thing it won’t do. For …

Asus Zenfone 4 – Review

Although you might not see this particular handset in network stores, you can buy it from Amazon for £449.99, from Tesco or Carphone Warehouse. Video Overview Want the quick look? Here’s our video tour… It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S630 octa-core processor (2.2GHz + 1.8GHz) and there’s …

Whoo oo oo ooo! Can you feel the Force ?!

Just a couple of weeks back I posted about the new Z2 Force arriving soon on Vodafone. Well, guess what guys! It’s now landed and you should be able to click this magical link to get it. The Moto Z2 Force can be purchased on the network for …

Razer Phone – Is this the ultimate gaming device?

We’ve seen many attempts to make a gaming phone. There was Nokia with the ill-fated N-Gage (it used GameBoy-like cartridges) and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. Unfortunately, these never caught the imagination of the public as they were seen as a bit gimmicky. So it was interesting to see …

A geeky way to control those Christmas lights

This weekend I horrified anybody with any electrical knowledge by plugging the Christmas lights into an extension, which was then plugged into an extension … plugged into an extension. I won’t go into the finer details, but there was a minor explosion and I blew three fuses. I …