Category: Android

Why Skylanders Trap Team is an Important Gaming Breakthrough

Skylanders is one of those videogames that transcends the small screen, based around highly detailed toy figures, the Skylanders brand has captured the imagination. The concept behind Skylanders is simple, you purchase a starter pack for your gaming platform of choice which includes the game, a portal of …

Chromecast app updated, now add your own backdrops

If you went ahead and bought a Chromecast then you’ll probably be familiar with the rather beautiful images that appear if nothing is actually being “cast” to the screen. It’s all very lovely, but they’re not your images are they? Now you can correct that with the latest …

The new HTC Zoe app. I want to try it, but.. I just can’t

I had the old HTC Zoe Beta app installed until just a few days ago. The app ran fine on my LG G3 but hey, I want to try the new version which appeared just yesterday. However.. It turns out I can’t. The app isn’t compatible with the …

Friday afternoon impulse buy?

It’s that time of the week when you’re hopefully thinking of spending a bit of cash on yourself. Expansys are kicking out the 2012 model of the Google Nexus 7. The reconditioned Asus-built device comes with a free dark grey travel cover. It’s the one we first reviewed …

Sony Xperia Z3 Review

Oooh it is thinner and ….. um … lighter. That is what most people who pick up the new Z3 will say. Beyond that there are few visible cues to the fact that they are holding a newer phone. For the phone aficionados (like us) we will pick …

Surely it’s about time for a new 41 Megapixel camera from Nokia

In my eyes the modern camera phone market things are becoming a little bit stagnant. Most new phones arrive to a fanfare of propaganda about how the camera performs amazingly in low light, when being moved around and that it takes video unlike any other device, ever. But …

Windows smartwatch arrives! Sort-of.

If you like watching Eastenders on repeat or nails being dragged along a blackboard you’ll probably like this. Windows 95 is probably running on some office PCs somewhere still (probably on the PC of a Director / Manager who says it’s “essential” to their work. Colin Davenport has …

A look at the HTC Eye Experience

A fancy new phone usually means new features that are only available on that device. However, the new HTC EYE Experience that’ll be part of the new HTC Desire EYE is also coming to the HTC One (M7), HTC One (M8), HTC One E8, HTC One mini, HTC …

All-new HTC Zoe app now available to download

The beta version of the HTC Zoe app received a “mixed” reception (we’re being kind here) and became available for all Android devices a couple of months ago. Last night HTC announced a new improved version, which has just popped up on Google Play. It’s coming to iOS …

Hotel information beamed to your smartwatch

You’re the gadget man. You’re the one with the latest kit. You’ve got yourself one of those hot new Android Wear smartwatches. Now. Now you need some apps that’ll talk to it. Yeah. That’s going to take a while. Getting the latest bleeding-edge kit means that you have …

Selfy cases announced

First there was the selfie, then there was the selfie stick, then the super selfie phones (from Huawei, Nokia and Sony), now there is the Selfy case.   The cases combine a simple remote shutter button and with a holder that also serves to protect your phone and …

HTC Event – Live from NYC – Watch here

It’s that time of year again and HTC have a big stage primed and ready for some new products to keep us warm this winter. We’re guessing that there’ll be a new handset and some sort of clever camera gadget, but you’ll find out more at 9PM UK …

ZTE announce the Kis 3 Max

ZTE and their UK release schedule seems a little bit one sided. It’s all budget budget budget and they’ve got another one to add to the UK portfolio. The Kis 3 Max. ZTE and Virgin Media have announced the UK release of the ZTE Kis 3 Max, the …

OK Google, can you work like the advert please?

You’ve seen those clever “OK Google” adverts on TV. There’s plenty of them and here in Old Blighty but one I spotted last night doesn’t actually work. It’s this one.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbKK-ia0wKY We’ve tested this particular scenario on iOS, Android and even the Chrome browser on a PC. The …

Tweetification brings Tweet notifications back to third party apps

A while ago I covered an app which helped third party Android Twitter app users kind of get push notifications for their accounts. The app is called Tweetification and it’s recently been updated to work with the latest version of the Twitter SMS API. It’s all a bit …

The Fairphone – Exclusive to Co-op

Down my local Co-op they have Fairtrade bananas, Fairtrade coffee and lots of lovely, lovely bottles of beer. That last bit isn’t important though, well…. It’s not an important part of this news story anyway. The Co-op, which seem to have outlets all over our little town, has …

Has Samsung reached the top?

The mighty Samsung might finally be reaching a plateau after the company announced a 60% fall in quarterly operating profit.  Sales of their Galaxy handsets has slowed of late and Samsung are expecting an operating income of 2.5 billion for Q3 – much lower than expected. Samsung are …

HTC Event coming live from NYC tomorrow

Let me tell you a story. I’ll try not to get too personal with this but, over the last year or so, there’s been a significant shift from HTC. Not too long ago we were getting bombarded with news from the HTC PR team and their social channels. …

Samsung were paying quite a handsome amount to Microsoft

If you read the site often then you’ll probably already know that Microsoft have been making quite a bit of money from Android. Various amounts have been mentioned over the years, but now we have some concrete figures – from Samsung at least. Samsung alone was giving Microsoft …

Keep safe while you’re exercising with RunSafe

Going out running, cycling or even for a quick stroll is great for your health. Trouble is, if you get stuck or if your loved ones don’t know where you are, it can be tricky for them to call you. Especially when you’re bombing along on your bike …

Motorola Moto G 2014 – Review

  The original Motorola Moto G was a great phone, it redefined a genre, it showed people that a reasonably cheap device could offer performance and an experience similar to phones costing way more than it did. Not only did the Moto G offer a whole load of …

Free music on Google Play

There’s no better deal than free, so it’s great to see a few albums popping up on Google Play costing a grand total of nothing each. Artists include Michael Jackson, ELO, Daft Punk, Foo Fighters and more. There’s only one problem though. You’re kinda led to believe that …

Tesco Hudl 2 arriving next week

The Hudl 2 is … almost.. here and you’ll be able to buy the thing on Wednesday from your local Tesco. It has a full 8.3″ full HD screen, Dolby stereo speakers, a 1.83GHz Intel Atom quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM. At the back you’ll find a …

The LG G3 S – Hands on

What’s the “S” for? Supercharged? Superfast? Well, if you read our LG G3 review but wanted the device to be just a tad smaller, the LG G3S is probably the device for you. As is the tradition now, a “mini” version of the flagship is now in stores …

Moto 360 lands in the UK on O2

Ever since Android Wear hit the news, the Moto 360 has been the device most of us wanted to get our hands on even though the Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch were on sale first. In fact many of us purchased one of the other brands …

Lumia 830 released today

  The first pre-orders for the Lumia 830 are being despatched today.  Last week we detailed some of the prices for the phone, but for anyone looking to purchase it the best deal at the moment is with, wait for it, Woolworths.  Yes, the long forgotten face of …

Chanbara Samurai – Vent some frustration retro-style

We get sent thousands of apps to look at each month. Our inbox is positively bulging but, for reasons we still can’t quite comprehend, this random fighting game has tickled us in some special places. Not only does this free Nintendo-style sword battle action game make us feel …

Oi! Oi! Saveloy! Become a DJ on the bus

I’ve just found a rather fantastic app. It’s one that popped up on the “Recommended” listings on Google Play and I just had to write about it here. This year, if you went to Ibiza, you may have noticed a few things about the DJs. Gone are the …

The new Moto G gets an update to add Google Now

The new Motorola Moto G arrived in the shadow of the fancy new Moto X, not much time was spent telling us about the successor to what was possibly one of the most exciting Android devices of recent times. Well I’ve got one of the new ones in …

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 pricing and availability

What are you doing on October 17th? Fancy getting yourself a Galaxy Note 4? We’ve just found out that it’ll cost £629 SIM free from Samsung direct. The Edge will be out in the UK soon after, but if that pricing is a bit too rich for you, …

Living with the Galaxy S5

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is a phone my wife recently upgraded to. She was initially going to go for the Samsung Galaxy Alpha but hey, there’s no explaining the mind of a woman. Anyhow, although she went with Vodafone in the end she could’ve gone with O2, because …

A different sort of background

If Android is your OS of choice and you’re constantly looking at new ways to personalise your phone, give Transparent Wallpaper a try. It’ll effectively turn your screen into a pane of glass, with your icons, apps and folders hovering over whatever you’re looking at. It’s free and …

Noting but love

Every now and again, things catch you by surprise and there’s note a damned thing you can do about it. Take the new ad for the Note 4 for instance. Hot on the heels of #gapgate, Samsung have posted up an ad which tickled me pink. It’s note …

The Motorola Nexus 6 seems to be a thing

Rumours fly around about the next iteration of the big name devices. Be it an iPhone, a Nokia Lumia, a Sony Xperia and yes of course the Nexus devices. This year is no different, but they seem to have gone a little too far this time. Android Police …

Windows Phone on the cheap from a company we’ve never heard of

Budget Windows phones have previously performed pretty well for Microsoft and now there’s a phone company called “BLU” selling cheap Windows Phone devices (or Windows phones as I guess we have to call them now) on Amazon. The first device is called the “Win HD” and has 1GB …

Key points about the Samsung Galaxy Note 4

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is going to be an absolute beast of a phone. I for one am toying with the idea of getting one and seeing infographics like this from Samsung aren’t helping me. Source – Samsung

My coverage of Bart’s Bash 2014

Well the event is done and now it’s time to review how the event went and how once again mobile tech helped me during the event. As those of you who read my previous article will know I was planning on covering the event for the site by …