HTC Vive goes up in price following Brexit
Another bit of tech increasing in price due to the devalued UK currency is the HTC Vive. It follows news last month that OnePlus were to do the same thing and a
Category: Android
Recovering Sony?
It’s no secret that despite making some nice devices, Sony has been struggling in the mobile phone space. This has led to severe problems within the rest of the company. This saw a new tack being taken by Sony with the launch of the Xperia X series. Ostensibly, …
GEAR4 launches its first WiFi multiroom speaker range
Up to now, if you wanted to have your audio streaming throughout your home and garden, perfectly in sync with each other, there was only really one option: Sonos, and this can be an expensive option. I have visited a home with a synced system, and to be …
Samsung beats Apple
Samsung fanbois of the world rejoice! After years of trying to be as cool as those pesky iSheep, it seems Samsung is finally making headway in what the Korean corporation thinks is its major competitor. It’s no secret that Samsung is the world biggest mobile phone vendor for …
Android vs Windows…or is it Phone vs PC?
I feel compelled to write this article because over the last few months I have come to a conclusion. Everything is easier on my Android phone than my Windows PC. Now before you start cursing, I am no hater of Microsoft’s computing behemoth. I have used Windows PCs …
Microsoft to cut thousands more staff
In May Microsoft announced that nearly 2,000 staff would be given the chop after their mobile OS business started to shrink. Now it seems that thousands more will be looking for work after Microsoft added a further 2,850 workers to the previously announced 1,850. The cuts, as before, …
Xiaomi announces the Redmi Pro
At a press event in Beijing yesterday Xiaomi, the Chinese tech company, officially unveiled the Redmi Pro smartphone. Redmi is the affordable range of smartphones Xiaomi has been manufacturing and selling since 2013. The brand new Redmi Pro is Xiaomi’s first Redmi device to sport a 13MP dual-camera …
Honor 5C – Picture special
The Honor handsets are helping to cause problems for Android manufacturers wanting to price their phones highly. As part of Huawei, the Honor handsets deliver all the Huawei technology but at a crazily competitive price. This is the Honor 5C. A phone you can buy for £149.99 unlocked. …
Colin McRae Rally – Just 10p
Fancy a bit of nostalgia? Yeah you do. How about a classic rally game, packed with all those brilliant cars that you probably still see boy racers driving around in today? Colin McCray Rally has got the graphics, the gameplay and the foot-down fun. Plus, as I type, it’s …
Argos announce a Bush smartphone. Yes. Bush.
I’m proper tired after that whole cycling thing, so I’m disconnecting the mouth / brain filter for a moment. See, for me if you say “Bush” I think of this… Bush hasn’t always screamed “quality” for me. Back in the day I had a Bush stereo and the …
OnePlus3 soon available in Gold
There is no denying it OnePlus have definitely hit their mark on the fourth attempt at a phone. This time they promised a flagship killer and according to most reviews (including rather excellent one that can be read here), they nailed it. If there was a fly in ointment at …
Jide brings Marshmallow sweetness to Remix OS
We here at Coolsmartphone towers are big fans of Jide and their Remix OS. For those that have only just come across this, this is a desktop-friendly Android OS with windows and toolbars providing a full desktop experience. It is one of a number of Android x86 projects, …
BlackBerry announce their second Android device
BlackBerry, one of the past greats of smartphones, have just announced the DTEK50. This will be their second device running Android after the (also appallingly named) Priv. The Priv was a first for the company – it was the first to run Android rather than its proprietary BB10. Whilst it …
Amazon Fire tablets updated to Fire OS 5.3.1
The Amazon Fire tablet range is being updated to Fire OS 5.3.1. This release of Amazon’s Android based distribution adds some new features to the Fire tablets and adds the On Deck feature to older fourth generation Fire tablets. There is now an option for encryption of your …
Japan to stop making VCR machines.
According to Japanese Newspaper “The Nikei” the end of July will see the last videocassette recorder (VCR) being produced. To be honest I though that production had already halted, but amazingly last year Funai Electri (which has been producing machines for the last 33 years) sold 750,000 units, …
Superbook – making your Chromebook redundant since July 2016
We have long been dreaming of the ability to make your Android phone more productive here at Coolsmartphone Towers. Today that dream came a bit closer to reality with a Kickstarter project called SuperBook, from the team behind Andronium OS. Here is a video of what it can …
Skype. Remember that Windows Phone users?
Quite a few people I know used to use Skype. It’s a great app and you can do all that video calling business, but WhatsApp appears to have taken over the world. We’re organising the charity bike ride (please do donate, we could do with an extra push) …
BBC+ app launches
Today the BBC have launched a new app on both IOS and Android, the BBC+ app. Every day the BBC generates massive amounts of content, be it news, TV programmes or the radio shows, and to be honest all this fantastic content is scattered throughout the internet, and …
Pokémon Go – I’ve never seen anything like it.
I write this from the shiny Coolsmartphone HQ which, as you know, is my kitchen. On Friday afternoon I got back from work to find that my son had downloaded Pokemon Go. He’d seem it on TV and got it. He’s a bit young and I didn’t want …
The Moto E 3rd Generation goes on sale in September
This week Lenovo announced the Moto E 3rd Generation which will go on sale in September globally. The budget Moto E line has reached its 3rd generation. What we now refer to as Lenovorola seems to be almost overlapping the entry level Moto E 3rd Generation, an entry …
A walk-around from MWC Shanghai
My final bit of coverage from MWC Shanghai is a walk around the show halls. The venue itself is nearly purpose built for hosting large scale events, of which MWC Shanghai has ambitions to become one of the bigger events that the Shanghai International New Expo Centre (SINEC) …
Pokémon Go now in the UK too
Following on from my story yesterday, I can now confirm that the game everyone is talking about is available in UK app stores. Android and iPhone users just need to head to their respective places and grab the download the normal way. Yesterday we detailed a get-around that …
How to download Pokémon Go on Android in the UK now
OK. It’s turned into a dream for the PR company this one. Everybody seems to be talking about it, even here in the UK where you can’t actually download the thing just yet. Pokémon has returned and the ’90s have come back too (Robot Wars was on TV …
Honor 5X now £139.99 at Amazon
Prime Day has been and gone. I made the most of Prime Day and ordered a magenta coloured Fire tablet for my better half and 168 pouches of cat food. Great deals! On that note, you may have not missed out on all the deals yesterday: the Honor …
Samsung announce their next Unpacked event – August 2nd
A small and upcoming mobile company called “Samsung” have just announced a date for their next Unpacked launch. There’s not long to wait, and already we’re expecting the device in question to be the Galaxy Note 7. We don’t know a great deal about the event, however the …
Hands on with the ZUK Z2 Pro – MWC Shanghai
Some of you more ardent fans may have heard of us mentioning the ZUK brand before. It’s a sub-brand of mega corporation Lenovo. Well, while I was roaming the halls of MWC Shanghai I came across the Z2 Pro and I was very keen to see what it …
A quick break in our regular programming
Yes, it’s that time again. Another one of my bike rides and another attempt by me to relate it to mobile phones or something. No. I’m not going to do that this time. Yes, I’m doing a bike ride. Yes, it’s even more insane this year. We’re basically …
LeEco Le Max 2 unboxing – MWC Shanghai
As you may know, I was recently out in Shanghai and I was lucky enough to be given a Le Max 2 from LeEco for me to use as my own phone. So in the way of a true tech blogger, I decided I would share the unboxing …
Microsoft Surface Phone might have a keyboard case
Although the Windows Phone OS remains a firm favourite amongst the highly paid staff at Coolsmartphone Towers, very few of us use the device regularly. Indeed, Leigh has written a number of articles recently on the death of Windows Phone. Microsoft seems to be prepared to have one …
The Beast is out!
Last week we told you about the fantastic Iron Maiden game, Legacy of the Beast. The wait is over! The game now be download from Google Play and Apple iTunes official from now (5th July, 4pm BST). James Hursthouse, CEO of Roadhouse Interactive comments, “As a lifelong Maiden fan, I …
Xperia X – Review, what is difference between Z and X?
Just a few weeks ago I rather hesitantly went to meet with Sony, and there I was given the replacement to my trusty and long-suffering Xperia Z5 in the form of the Xperia X. Now to say I wasn’t thrilled with this exchange was an understatement as I …
Wileyfox launches three new Android smartphones
Just a few days ago we found our Wileyfox launch invite. It had arrived in a lovely shiny plastic envelope and we kinda assumed it was junk mail. Doah. Anyway, down in London Wileyfox went ahead without us. They even handed out Fox’s Biscuits. Geddit? Fox? Fox’s ? …
ZTE Axon 7 hands on – MWC Shanghai
They only announced that this would be available the other day, but us being eager beavers here at Coolsmartphone (and with me being in Shanghai), I thought it would be worth a visit to ZTE. Before we get into that though let’s see what this thing is all …
Phones that will revolutionise mobile gaming
Every year mobile gaming becomes more involved and sophisticated with new games, better ways to play them and even greater connectivity with friends through social media. And, as this march of progress continues, the technology to play the games on moves forward too. At the forefront of these …
Apple blocking Spotify update because it’s scared of the competition
We’re big into Spotify in our house. Since my wife got the service as part of her Vodafone contract she’s always upgraded with them purely to keep the deal. Now she’ll happily gobble through a massive 10GB monthly data plan just to get the inclusive Spotify offering for …
The “magic” cable – keeping your phone the same, even when you upgrade
Upgrading or changing your phone can mean a certain amount of apprehension when you turn on the shiny new device. Where’s all your text messages? What about those special pictures you received? Will your background be the same? What about the position of your icons and shortcuts? Well, …
666 is the Legacy of the Beast!
For those lucky few who caught our live broadcast last week, you will know we have had a copy of Legacy of the Beast. This is a game dedicated to the British music legends, Iron Maiden. The game celebrates every single album by taking you through worlds based on …
Note 7 Iris scanner rumour looks more promising
According to the inter-web rumours, the next iteration of the Note series the Note 6…sorry the Note 7 (I don’t know either), is rumoured to have an iris scanner. Now it appears that this latest rumour may have a bit more substance,m and good old leaker @onleaks (who has a …
Emojis – Even I’m using them now
There was a time, not too long ago, when I’d be pretty annoyed at using an emoji. My wife loves them, but when she sent me a text message my phone wouldn’t be able to understand it and I’d just get a stack of question marks where the …
Your home, in your hand…
You’ve seen a few of our recent camera reviews covering security gadgets for your home. Most of the time it’s security cameras, but they’re not always the fixed ones we’ve checked out – we’ve also used our smartphones to control cameras, to control the heating and more. Home …