Category: Companies

Send money through Gmail. Coming to the UK soon

Following its launch in the US, the “Send Money” feature in Gmail is finally on the way over here too. To be honest this does exactly what the name suggests and will let people to sign into their Gmail account and send money from right there in the …

Is Samsung to drop the Snapdragon 810 processor ?

Rumours have been floating around the internet for quite sometime about Samsung dropping Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor in favour for its own Exynos chips. However, with Samsung and Qualcomm both keeping schtum on this matter, the authenticity of the report could not be confirmed. Now though. at its fourth …

Tesco to ditch all other networks

UK supermarket giant Tesco is to kick out rival networks and only sell contracts to Tesco Mobile, which hops on the back of the O2 network. The Tesco Phone Shop will eventually stop selling contracts on all networks but its own, in a move designed to streamline its …

Could this be Windows 10 for mobiles?

In three days time Microsoft are due to announce Windows 10 for mobile phones to everyone at a press event, and although no new hardware is expected yet, the new version of the operating system is getting a lot more attention than ever before. Where as version 8.1 …

UK Galaxy S5 receiving Lollipop Update.

In December last year Samsung began rolling out their Lollipop update the Galaxy S5, starting in Poland, which those of us that love to hack, soon started shoe horning into our devices. Well if you’re not a hacker the wait appears to be over with the update now officially landing on …

TalkTalk buy Blinkbox and Tesco Broadband

The news from Tesco recently is one of decline and slump. Somewhat out of the blue, it has been announced that its broadband and streaming TV service, Blinkbox, have been sold to TalkTalk.   In a statement TalkTalk have announced that the Blinkbox service will be available ‘immediately’ to …

CES – Nokia 215 announced. Welcome back, Microsoft smartphone

Anyone remember Microsoft Smartphone 2002? How about the Orange SPV? It was a honest-to-goodness phone, with a numeric keypad and a colour screen running a Microsoft mobile OS. Now, just 13 years later, Microsoft have announced their most affordable internet-ready smartphone which runs… err.. the Nokia Series 30+ …

Huawei reveal the Honor 6 Plus

Stuffed with three, yes three, 8 Megapixel cameras, Huawei today unveiled its latest smartphone under the new Honor branding. Following on from the reasonably priced Honor 6, meet the new imaginatively named Honor 6 Plus. The new device’s unique selling point is it’s three 8 megapixel cameras. There’s two in …

Production of the Nexus 5 finished

Google has confirmed that the Nexus 5 production has stopped, and… once they are gone, they’re gone, so we’d suggest people get them while they can. It was only yesterday that Google removed the listing of the the Red and White variants of the Nexus 5 from Google Play. The …

Sky Fibre 38Mbps broadband for just £10 a month.

There is a 25GB limit though. UK TV/Phone/Broadband supplier Sky has announced a new broadband package. For those interested, it’ll cost just £10 a month for up to 38Mbps fibre internet. However, it’s really for those who don’t use too much data as it is capped to a limit …

Carousel by Dropbox update now recovers space on your phone.

Recently I moved to using my Nexus 5 as my daily driver again (just to use the pure Lollipop Android experience).. Thing is, with it being a 16GB version, space is at a premium, as it is with a number of handsets that haven’t got microSD slots. I …

Sony Smartband Talk available from O2

The latest wearable to come out of the Sony machine has now launched in O2 stores up and down the country. The price is £129.99, however if you get it with a new Android phone then it will cost you just £99.99. The Smartband Talk is the evolution …

Why I moved to a Surface Pro 3

I have been dabbling in tablets for a while now. It all started when the first gen iPad hit the shelves in the UK. Now, whilst all these tablets are great and they all performed admirably during the time I had them, my needs have quite simply evolved …

Getting a Chromebook? How does 1TB of Google Drive space sound?

A couple of us writers here in Coolsmartphone towers use Chromebooks. I for one love my HP11. In the past, when you purchased a new Chromebook, Google would give you 100GB of Google Drive storage free. This would last for two years and would act as a little …

Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact review. Greatness delivered

Here we are folks, the long awaited Xperia Z3 Tablet Review. First things first, why has it taken so long to get this review done? It’s simple really. The first tablet developed a dead pixel line from top to bottom and needed to be replaced. I also decided …

Inateck BR1001 Bluetooth receiver review.

Like most people nowadays I love listening to media from my phone. Be it either music, podcasts or audio books, I love it. I would say 90% of the time my listening is done through headphones. Now, I mainly use two sets of headphones. The first are my …

Sharp’s eye-watering 736ppi display

It appears that phone manufacturers are moving away from the camera megapixel race and instead onto who’s got the higest resolution screen. A screen resolution is measured by pixel density, or Pixels Per Inch “PPI” (not payment protection insurance). Now the human eye struggles to see anything more than …

Want to view your NHS records from your smartphone?

Our National Heath Service (NHS), love it hate it, it’s still the envy of the world. As we move ever closer to the digital edge, it appears that the NHS is following too (abeit slowly). The NHS today outlined a number of new digital improvements that include making …

Google wallet to cease third party digital purchases.

Google have announced that they will shut down the Google Wallet API for third-party digital goods purchases from March 2nd 2015. Google Wallet will continue to function, however, for Google Play purchases. Google Wallet will still exist and consumers will be able to make purchases for goods in …

giffgaff now offering 4G.. for an additional cost

This just dropped into my inbox today. The data friendly Pay and Go network is now offering 4G on their vvarious goody bag deals. This is great news for anyone who is looking for a cheap but reliable alternative to the big four who are currently offering 4G …

Encase Wallet review for Xperia Z3

A new phone means that it’s time for a new case. This time around I have moved away from the Roxfit cases that are abundant for Xperia phones and I’m instead trying a different maker – Encase. I have already tested one of their keyboard covers for small tablets and, …

Fancy a Blue HTC One M8?

Today UK independent phone retailer Carphone Warehouse announced that it would be exclusively stocking the flagship handset, the HTC One (M8), in blue for the first time in the UK. This striking coloured version of the phone will be available exclusively from the Carphone Warehouse, for those who …

One Plus hope to sell 1 million One’s by year end.

  Having already sold over half a million devices to date, through an invite only system, the Chinese startup company OnePlus have stated they now hope to have one million of their “One” phones sold by years end. Speaking to a Forbes reporter at Dublin’s Web Summit, Director …

OnePlus rumoured to be producing a Windows Phone.

Chinese phone manufacturer OnePlus is believed to be releasing another device – possibly the OnePlus Two in early 2015. Following a recent meeting with Microsoft, it’s rumoured that they could be considering using the Windows Phone operating system. In a recent interview with India’s Economic Times they stated …

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 …

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 …

Samsung to stop selling Chromebooks in Europe.

Reports are hitting the internet quoting a Samsung spokesperson saying the company plans to stop selling its laptops, including Chromebooks in European markets. We quickly adapt to market needs and demands. In Europe, we will be discontinuing sales of laptops including Chromebooks for now. This is specific to the …

Inateck BP1002B Bluetooth speaker review.

Following on from my other Inateck speaker  review I have been sent a further bluetooth speaker to review, this one being the entry level BP1002B portable speaker. Features : Bluetooth v2.1 and EDRAux-inBuilt-in-mic for handsfree calling. Charge via micro-USBBuilt in Li-Ion battery1 x 3W speakerDimensions: 61.5 x 61.5 x 71.5 …

My Xperia Z2 and its organising skills.

For the past few weeks I have been working on organising a charity sailing event. Why is this relevant to Coolsmartphone? Well there are a few reasons for that. Number one, I have been doing most of the organisational work for this event on my smartphone. Secondly, my smartphone will be …

cloudHQ – synchronize your online life

“Everything’s online these days” is a common refrain and becoming more relevant to our lives. Most major tech companies provide some kind of free ‘cloud storage’ (Microsoft, Google, Dropbox, Box) and even note-taking services like Evernote and OneNote need to store those notes somewhere. This is also a …

Sony Xperia trifecta announcement on Sep 3

  Its that time again. Like Intel’s Tick Tock processes on their chips, There are now 2 cycles when it comes to phones. The April/May time, and the September/October time. Sony did not decide to use September the 3rd to announce a device. No. They went large, and …

Are Sony going big @IFA 2014?

Lots of rumours are coming out of the interweb today in preparation of Sony’s IFA event on Wednesday. As an avid Sony fan this gets me a wee bit excited to say the least, so I will get into all the nitty gritty for you now. Xperia Z3 …

Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact rumoured for IFA

The rumour mill is winding up for IFA in the first week of September and all the major names will be there including Sony. Today we saw there will be something from them that was not expected, (at least this is what I am hoping as an avid …

HTC Desire 820 first 64 Bit Android Device

HTC are a company that have given the mobile device world a number of firsts, LTE, 3D screens, front-facing stereo speakers, Duo camera to name but a few. HTC will once again be a ‘first’ on releasing the first 64-bit Android phone — nearly a year after Apple released …

Note 4 clone revealed.

Can’t wait to get your hands on Samsung’s latest flagship device the Galaxy Note 4, at IFA in Berlin, in a couple of weeks. Well,if you don’t mind using a cheap knock-off of the phablet, Goophone has you covered.The company has already listed its Galaxy Note 4 clone …

Sharp Aquos Crystal the first truly bezel-free smartphone?

Now I’ve got to admit it had been some time since I’ve laid eyes on a phone made by Sharp, and that was a feature phone nothing in the current crop of smartphones. Now Sharp has unveiled a new smartphone, with a truly bezel-free design. The Sharp Aquos …

World’s cheapest smartphone launched

Priced at an amazing £26 the Karbonn A50S is set to launch in India. The Karbonn A50S features the Android operating system and has access to the Google ecosystem including Gmail and Maps. It also has a touchscreen display, front and rear cameras (no details on megapixels, although …