Category: Gadgets & Tech

Phones 4u – Bondholder write-down deal off the table

There was, for a brief moment there, a glimmer of hope for the Phones 4u staff. We told yesterday how a plan was being formulated to give bondholders of the company a share of equity in an attempt to get stores opened and trading again. Sadly this plan …

Admit it. You need this.

Yes, I recently dropped my phone into a pool. I tried to dry it out, but alas the damage was done. I didn’t have one of those clever EVAP pouches to try and get the moisture out and I quickly learned to be a bit more careful. Trouble is, …

Two new Kindles announced by Amazon

Three new Kindles have been announced today. Some may sound familiar but have extra grunt, whilst others are new to the market and have more storage. They are…. Kindle Voyage Costing jsut £169 it’s 7.6mm thick and weighs less than 180 grams. This one has a Paperwhite display …

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 …

Gotab 7 tablet for just silly money

Come now, this is getting daft. I mean no, it’s not going to beat much in the specs race, but less than £40 for a 7″ tablet? Buy yourself a cheap Bluetooth speaker, install TuneIn, TV Catchup, BBC iPlayer etc and you’ve got yourself an instant internet radio …

Flashy funky Bluetooth speaker available

Speakers. They’re great, sure, but not very interesting to look at. How about a Bluetooth one with a funky graphic equaliser on the front? Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Not only is the Helium T900 waterproof, but it can take calls, it’ll blast your tunes out and has these …

Traveling on the bus does have benefits

Public transport is my thing. I use it to get to work and to see friends. In a way I quite like it, because instead of being one of those people texting while driving (and believe me. I see this a lot from up high in the buses), …

Huawei reveals the 6 inch Ascend Mate7

Today at the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (or as we know it, IFA) Huawei launched Ascend Mate7 alongside the Ascend G7. The Mate7 features.. – A 6″ screen with FHD display for enhanced entertainment viewing. – A Slim 7.9mm body. – A octa-core chipset for superior performance. – Massive 4100 …

Sony Announce the SmartBand Talk & SmartWatch 3

Wearables are a current hot trend and not wanting to be left behind today Sony have announced 2 new smart wearable devices The SmartBand Talk & the SmartWatch 3 The SmartWatch 3 is Sonys entry into the Google Wear field and includes 4Gb of on board memory coupled …

Apple admits that celeb accounts were hacked

The iCloud storage system was indeed hacked recently according to Apple. It’s still perfectly safe if you take the proper precautions though. The attack seems to have been less of a “hack” and more of a password reset using personal information gleamed from information on the web. The …

Taking a ride with the READYACTION chest harness

Morning all. How’s your Tuesday? Put your hands up if you remember our piece about the READYACTION chest harness? We showed how it worked in an all-action video of my kitchen. Oh yes. Rock ‘n ROLL! However, there’s a lot more potential in the READYACTION kit, and this …

Travelcard Charger – Review

Back in March I did a small post about a portable battery pack, I was keeping an eye on over on Kickstarter, called the Travelcard Charger (see here), anyway I finally got my unit through, so after popping it on charge I thought I would give it a …

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 …

Solar Technology Freeloader Solar Charger – Review

There are many constants within life, one being that the sun will rise every single day, providing us with warmth and energy. The other most important constant in life is that your phone will probably need charging at some point in every single day of your life. Solar …

Deal – Get an Oppo N1 looky-likey for not much cash at all actually

Since I bought the Samsung Galaxy S4 clone from the guys at GearBest they’ve been pretty happy with the publicity. So much so, that they’ve given us a special coupon code, just for our loyal, intelligent, handsome readers. Right now they have an upgraded version of the iNEW …

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 …

The man behind the leaks – Evan Blass

Whether you’ve followed us for while or just for a few short months, the massive @evleaks Twitter account has been the source of many handset and tablet leaks. We, as tech sites, quickly learned that this particular leaker was very reliable. Images, specs and launch dates have been …

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 …

Grab the LG G2 Mini for £159

Back in March we had a look at the LG G2 mini which you can view here and as you know us here at Coolsmartphone love a good bargain. Well over at UK Hot deals there is a deal where you can grab the LG G2 mini for …

The end of your totally disconnected holiday

I’m on holiday at the moment, but the temptation to check email and Facebook is just too much for some. Where I am, there’s sadly no free roaming from the likes of Three so you either have incredibly expensive data roaming or the hunt for free Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi …

Which watch should I wear today?

These days I find myself in a daily predicament, not only do I have to work out which phone to take with me to work I also now have to choose which watch I wear as well and by watch I mean Smartwatch. I’ve been a smartwatch user …

Android powered motorcycle helmet

After looking on the crowd funding site Indigogo, the following really grabbed my attention. I’ve ridden a motorcycle for 30 years and a I’m a self-confessed geek. So, the Skully Android powdered helmet appears to have answered my prayers. Skully Systems has started taking pre-orders for the Skully …

Galaxy Note 4 pictures leaked

The folks over at GSM Arena have released onto the interwebs what they are stating are leaked images of the upcoming Galaxy Note 4. As listener’s of our podcast will know my device of choice is my Note 3 and as I stated the Note 4 has got …

Only 1 in 3 secure their smartphones

You’re in danger. In fact, your personal life is in danger according to a survey of 5000 people by Tiger Mobiles.  It reveals that only 1 in 3 people actually use some sort of security on their lock screen. Over half of the people not using any sort …

Aces of Luftwaffe review

I don’t normally review games for smart phones as I don’t normally play them but this one caught my attention in a big way so I figured what the hell.   The premise of the game is very simple it is a top down rolling shooter that as …

My time with Google Glass

I have been a big fan of Google Glass for a while, pretty much ever since I saw the demo at Google I/O back in 2012. At the time it was tested jumping out of a plane whilst streaming via Hangouts. Now, whilst that is not something everyone …

HP reveal their luxury Smartwatch

Designed in collaboration with fashion designer Michael Bastian and retailer Gilt, HP has announced the company is going to release its first smartwatch later this year. The watch features a circular face with a diameter of a 44m, making it far more smaller than the Moto 360 and puts it …

A big thank-you

Remember earlier in the summer when I kept posting about my charity bike riding? If you missed it, I basically had too much to drink and kinda agreed to get fitter and do some mental rides to raise a bit of cash for charity. After riding a mountain …

I got told off..

This weekend, following quite a bit of advertising by the company, I gave the Music Magpie app a try. The company buy DVDs, CDs, games and electronics plus clothes, but their app lets you snap barcodes and you get an instant price on your stuff. So, armed with …

Inateck Bluetooth speaker review

The Bluetooth speaker market is flooded with different devices, if you don’t believe me, just do a quick search on either Amazon or eBay and it will take about a week to trawl though all the offerings. Prices range from just a couple of pounds through to the …

Can a smartphone really make you fitter? A look at My Fitness Pal

Smartphones are becoming an integral part of our life, and the phrase companion is frequently used to to describe how we interact with them. The barrier between what a phone can and can’t do is reducing all the time as apps and technology becomes more sophisticated, and the …

Is this the thinnest smartphone ever ?

Remember the Gionee Elife S5.5? (Me neither!) Well that device was a ridiculously thin handset at just 5.5 mm thick. Now China has certified an upcoming Android handset from the same company, codenamed the GN9005,. It reportedly measures only 5mm (0.2in) thick; that’s half a millimetre less than …

Want a Ninja in your wallet? Check this out

Beer. Great isn’t it? Especially in this weather. Lovely, lovely beer. However, if I do ever manage to get a bottle into our house undetected I usually end up on a long hunt for the bottle opener. The same thing happens if we’re out camping, and it’s never …

Harness the power of the sun via your smartphone

The press release on this one starts off with quite a positive vibe… In case you hadn’t heard, it’s currently hotter than Barbados outside Well, yes. According to the news this morning it is, but I’d still rather be in Barbados. Never mind though, you’ve got my attention …

Inateck 4 port USB Desktop Charger – Review

My night time ritual goes something like this, put the cat out lock the doors make sure all the windows are closed and then walk around the house looking like Mr T from the A-Team with a multitude of charger leads and plugs round my neck, as I …

LG G3 QuickCircle Snap-on case now available

You read our LG G3 review, right? If you liked it, bought one, want to keep it in good condition and you’re looking for a case, give this a whirl. The highly sought after official QuickCircle Snap-on case has arrived at Mobile Fun this morning and this is …