Category: Gadgets & Tech

Xiaomi sells 1 million phones in India in 18 days

A couple of the writers here at CSP are interested in devices that originate from the far east and are relativity unknown here in Europe. I’m currently reviewing an completely unknown device from a unknown manufacturer, which at the moment is well above my expectations… review coming soon. …

​Offline viewing for Netflix may be coming soon

If you have a look at today’s modern media suppliers – the likes of Amazon’s Prime Video, Sky Go, BBC iPlayer and the all 4 app all offer the ability to download programs and watch them later offline.  When quizzed earlier this year, one of the biggest online …

The M6 Toll – Not quite contactless, actually

Yesterday, for a special treat, I used the M6 Toll road. It’s just a couple of miles from my house and takes around 20 minutes off my journey but I, along with many, many, many other people, simply don’t use it due to the insane cost. At £5.50 …

August Retro EP634 Bluetooth Headphones – Review

I’m going to completely give away the whole upshot of this review in the first paragraph for you now. Sure, you can always skip along to the bottom of the most reviews, but I’m going to serve it up on a platter right here in paragraph one. OK. …

Flat iPhone? Wind it up!

My wife says that I’m always winding her up, so let’s put it to good use and charge a battery with my skills. Now, bear with me here, because I know that this is a bit expensive, but if you hang around the AMPWare website for a few …

Pixel Timepiece – Set for launch in Q1

Serial leaker Evan Blass is rarely wrong when it comes to upcoming handsets and gadgets. He’ll get the pictures and the gossip ahead of time and today he’s revealed that Google will indeed be stepping into the Smartwatch ring very soon indeed. As we mentioned before, Google seems …

Vodafone Wallet with PayPal – Hands on

Paying for things has taken a massive leap forward in recent years. Money seems to be getting used less and less, and instead I’m tapping my bank card on terminals in supermarkets, on vending machines and through toll booths. It’s simple, it’s quick and it’s really easy. Now, …

A plug-in self-drive solution – Remoto Pilot

Part of me didn’t like this pretty much immediately purely due to the video below. I mean, what’s going on with the face fur on this guy? And does he have to look so cocky? “I’m not just going to use my phone while my car is driving …

Anki OverDrive, the Supertruck arises

Here at Coolsmartphone towers, we love Anki Overdrive, the model racing game powered by your smartphone. Its mix of high speed, artificial intelligence, and weapons provide a great past time for the whole family. Think of it as Scalextric on steroids… and guns. Now Anki has released its Supertruck …

Pixel Prices Published. Pretty Premium.

Morning. Last night Google unveiled the phones we all expected them to unveil. The Pixel and the Pixel XL – a phone and a slightly bigger phone. From a distance, from far, far away, it’s like the Apple launch in a way. Two phones, one a big larger …

Doodling on messages coming to WhatsApp

Oh, you wish there was just one true cross-platform messaging app, don’t you? Oh hang on there is, and it’s called SMS. SMS has been truly cross-platfrom and also operating-sysem neutral for the past, I don’t know, 30 years. Yet no one seems to have grown the service, apart …

Buying a Samsung S6 or S7? Go Tesco Mobile and get free gifts.

Head down to Tesco Mobile to get your Galaxy S6 and S7 and you’ll get more than just a very smart Android handset. Tesco are giving away goodies worth between £39.99 and £199 which you can perhaps keep and use as Christmas presents if you don’t want them …

Microsoft Band Canned. Team disband.

I tried out the Microsoft Band and Band 2. I was quite impressed but sadly there’ll be no third version. A few weeks ago Thurrott reported that the future of Microsoft Band looked less than promising. Let’s face it, Microsoft tried to do the “hardware thing” and failed …

Anker Power and protection mega unboxing

Over the last few weeks, I have been in the fortunate position to play host to some very cool charging tech from Anker. Anker is a company that has been providing power solutions to the mobile warrior for quite some time now, and they have some truly awesome kit …

Koopower Solar Fairy Lights – Review

KooPower have been in touch again and, following on from the wireless doorbell we reviewed, we now have 12 metres of LED fairy lights. Now, I’ve had these in the back garden for quite a while as I honestly thought that they wouldn’t work. Why? Well, solar powered …

Steer your sofa from your smartphone

Well, isn’t this just my dream thing? Recently I went to a “certain” furniture store here in the UK (y’know, the one that has a permanent sale on) and I was actually quite surprised with the amount of sofas that plug into the mains. However, having a big …

Noreve Saint-Tropez Case – Review

I’ll come right out and say it, I have a problem! My problem is phone cases; no matter which device I’m using I always end up purchasing a multitude of cases, in the various styles, slip, rugged, flip, TPU and so on. It just seems that putting my device …

Emotionally Responsive Gaming – What’s that then?

Gaming is having to push new boundaries to find untapped potential, the latest consoles give us incredible visuals, the Wii gave us physical interaction, Pokemon Go took gaming our into the wild, and VR brought the wild to us.  The latest gaming technology brought to my attention is Emotionally …

Turn your mobile phone into a desk phone – the NVX 200

I tell you what you need. You need a desk phone that plugs into your smartphone somehow. Perhaps one that let’s you use those traditional numeric keys to make a call and a normal corded headset too. Sounds a bit bizarre doesn’t it? Well, look at it this …

A smart suitcase. Yes, a smart suitcase.

No, I didn’t know there was such a thing either, but apparently it is a “thing”. To be honest though, after a bit of reading, I became quite interested. A carry-on suitcase that is water resistant, scratch resistant and has GPS and 3G technology built in? Remote and …

So, you want to listen to music AND charge your iPhone 7?

I pointed it out after the announcement but, if I’m being honest, it’s not going to be a massive deal-breaker for most iPhone owners. See, I can understand to some degree because Apple give you just a single USB-C port in the MacBook Pro. It looks neat, it …

The perfect convertible? – a leftfield choice part 3

Laptop PC sales are falling, tablet sales are dropping, and even the might smartphone is plateauing. Wearables have been a bit of a damp squib, and VR is just starting out. In the midst of all this, one area does seem to be (anecdotally at least) doing well… …

VQ Retro MKII DAB Radio – Review

Are you in the market for a stylish designed retro looking DAB radio with some added features? Well come on in and have a read of my review of the VQ MKII Retro DAB radio. Good Points: Fantastic sound quality. Well built retro design. Available in 11 colours. …

EU finds nothing wrong with pre installing software

Eight years ago, the PC market was a completely different place than it is now. Windows Vista was the hot OS and customers where upgrading then regretting it en masse. However, one French user decided he just didn’t agree with Microsoft’s terms and conditions and started a fight …

Obi MV1 Worldphone – Review

Meet the OBi MV1 Worldphone “Obi who?” Good question. They are a Silicon Valley smartphone manufacturer founded in 2014 by former Apple Inc and Pepsi CEO John Sculley. Obi Worldphone manufactures smartphones aimed at the emerging markets, rather than very competitive developed markets. Obi Worldphone launched two of their …

T505 LED Headlamp – Review

Strap yourself in people, because we’re going to be reviewing a headlamp. Nope, not a headlight on your car – but one that you strap to your head for seeing in the dark. This is a pretty big one – it has a 8cm diameter on the lamp …

Sengled Boost LED WiFi repeater bulb review

Good Points: Easy Setup. Control from Android/iOS app. Dim-able. Used alone or in a group of bulbs. Innovative hidden way to increase WiFi coverage. Bad Points:  Large Unit Size No ability to program on/off times Need to connected to same WiFi nerwork for app control. In today’s wireless …

Thinkware F770 Dashcam review

A few weeks ago I was filling my car at the local petrol station and noticed that if you purchased a certain amount of fuel you could buy a dash cam for £20, which I promptly did. However, this camera can only be described as awful. It was …

Eve “crowd sourced” computer close to being launched. UPDATED

Since the initial publication of this article, I have been given some new information that is relevant. All the updates are in Italics Some of you may have come across a company called Eve (not the game!). Last year they launched a tablet that was designed to be …

Cheotech USB Type C Keyring adapters – Review

So, you’ve got yourself one of the newest phones on the market with all the fancy pants features that you want. It is all going swimmingly. You’re downloading apps, getting it all just so. Then, without warning, up pops the all too familiar sign on the screen saying …

New Virgin Media TiVo box teased

Virgin Media, the UK cable TV/phone/broadband provider, has just teased us with a new TiVo powered set top box which will be made available to its cable TV customers later this year. Current details of the Virgin Media TiVo V6 are scarce, but we do have a pretty …

Want to look like you’ve just stepped off the USS Enterprise?

On Sunday I mentioned a particular YouTube channel that I like to follow (in addition to our rather fantastic channel, which you absolutely must follow too). It’s from a guy called Mat, who is known on YouTube as Techmoan. He also has a website, called Techmoan.com, and you …

Fancy playing your MP3’s in an 8-track player from the 1960’s?

Well no. Not many people have thought about doing this, I’m sure, but I’ve got in the rather geeky habit of following the Techmoan YouTube channel and his most recent video features a rather old piece of technology from the 1960’s called the “8-track”. The 8-track cartridge or …