Category: Gadgets & Tech

Garmin Vivofit Fitness Tracker – Review

Wearables are very much the “in thing” at present. It is pretty much a free-for-all as to what they do and what their purpose should be. This is pretty interesting state of affairs because, due to the fact that everyone is having a shot at wearables, it means …

A closer look at the Moto 360

We got a brief introduction to the not-quite-available-yet Moto 360 smartwatch just a few days ago, but here’s a closer look at the device. It has a tiny bezel and a screen which almost seems to float on the top of the watch, but is slightly thick. As …

Gunnar Optics glasses unboxing

Time for something different. I have to wear glasses for work as I spend the vast majority of my day in front of a computer screen. Now, while the screens have got better than they once used to be, it can be very tiring on your eyes. Not …

Archos enters the Connected Home scene

The Connected Home is the ability to connect to various devices in your house. For example, cameras, movement sensors, temperature sensors which can then be controlled remotely. Archos are the latest company to get involved in the connected home scene and are offering up a range of products. At the …

LG announce the G Watch.. again

As part of the Google I/O event last night, Google announced some new additions to the Android Wear range. This, the LG G Watch, was one of them. It’s a device we’ve actually already seen and the company announced that they were .. err.. working on it back in March. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k3KLjVUzF4 …

Google Nexus 7 by Asus – 32GB going cheap

It’s the original Asus-made tablet from 2012, but for £99.99 you’re getting a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, 1GB RAM and this one has 32GB of storage. Oh, and you get the latest version of Android t’boot. Pop down to your local Argos and you can pick one of these …

Huawei TalkBand B1 puts an interesting spin wearable tech

The Huawei TalkBand B1 got a showing during Mobile World Congress this year. It’s both thin and light with a 0.3mm-thick OLED screen on top which lets you keep in touch with “your daily life”. A quick 2-hour charge will keep the device going for an impressive 6 …

Get yourself a free Chromecast

Now, as is usual in our wonderful consumer society, you’re not getting the free Google TV dongle without at least buying something else first. The deal is by waiku and no, we’ve not heard of them either. They’re an online video service and, provided you buy one of …

Connect to EE 4G Moo-Fi at Glastonbury

If you’re going to Glastonbury and want to keep hooked up to the web then EE (and previously Orange) can usually be counted on for a solution. This year, even if you’re not an EE customer, you can hook onto the internet via the EE “Highspeed herd”. These …

Remote kill order initialised!

Thought that might get your attention 😉 Imagine the scene, you are on a bus /train/aeroplane/horse drawn cart or other mode of transport. You are minding your own business and get off without a care in the world. A while later you go to get your phone and …

Get a Tesco Hudl for £59

As you know here at Coolsmartphone we love to bringing cracking deals and bargains. The latest that we have found is on the Tesco Hudl tablet. We’ve already written a rather spiffing Hudl review and it was already cheap, but now the thing is down to an almost …

Garmin Vivofit unboxing

What do we have here then? A wearable that doesn’t need to be charged everyday? Is that possible ? I have been really excited to get this gadget. This, for me, is where wearables become useful. The big thing that holds them back is the fact that you …

What’s on the end of your stick? Oh, it’s your phone.

Yes, you really are seeing this. That “joke picture” circling around the internet featuring a guy holding his phone on the end of a stick is an actual product. It’s called the Me-Shot Deluxe and, to be fair, is a bit more than just a big stick. A …

Give your phone flower power!

If there’s one thing I’m never really much good at, it’s watering the plants. During my recent bike ride to Paris pretty much everyone at home forgot and my hanging baskets sadly fired dried up and became hanging soil carriers. It’s either a sad statement on modern life …

AirDog – A camera-equipped copter that’ll follow you round

This man knows how to make Kickstarter videos. He walks towards the camera like Hugh Laurie in House. Nice style. He basically wants you to invest in an aerial sports drone. If you’ve got enough cash and a penchant for outdoor sporting activity, this could be your thing. …

BBC Playlister can now export to iTunes

BBC Playlister is a service that lets you save the tracks you hear on BBC radio so you can find them with your favourite streaming service. When it launched in October it had support for Deezer, Spotify and YouTube, this has now been expanded with iTunes so the …

Top tips to help you afford the latest gadgets

Here at Coolsmartphone we’ve already had a look at the cheaper smartphones and we’re always quick to let you guys know if there’s a good deal online. However, let’s be honest, for the most part phones are an expensive habit. The old way of getting a handset used …

LG’s G Watch Specs have been leaked. Check them out.

Another day and another leak for the LG G Watch… One of LG’s worst kept secrets now.  @UpLeaks have got hold of the specifications for the LG G Watch which is expected now to be available on the 7th July possibly making an appearance at Google IO this month. …

A meeting destined to shape our future?

This evening I am having a meeting. This meeting will be taking place in a bar. Some drinks will be drunk and words will be exchanged. It sounds quite dull and mundane. However, the meeting is with a very interesting chap by the name of James Hepburn. Chances …

Meze 11 Deco Headphones review

Headphones are ten a penny. Getting the right ones is a tricky task and sometimes you’ll either need a software equalizer or that rather clever Beats technology to make the sound better. These headphones, Meze, are made from handcrafted beech wood. This, according to the makers, produces a …

Google buys Skybox

Remember those mini satellites we told you about? They’re about the size of a shoebox and whizz around space with fairly standard (compared to other satellites) technology inside. The company responsible for them is called SkyBox and Google were sniffing around them last time we covered the tech. …

20% off Kindle Fire family HDX tablets in Amazon UK sale

Amazon the online retailer has announced a 20% sale off its entire line of Kindle Fire HDX tablets here in the UK. This means you can pick up your own Kindle Android tablet from just £159.20 (7-inch, 16GB, Wi-Fi only). Spec’s Include. A HDX display. 2.2GHz quad-core processor. …

Now watch Google Play movies and TV shows offline on your Chromebook

Are you like Ronnie and I? We are owners of Chromebooks.  Back in May, we were promised the ability to view offline any movies or television shows that had been rented or purchased from Google Play. On Thursday there was an update to ChromeOS that now allows this feature, along with …

Is Apple killing off the 3.5mm headphone jack ?

During a developer session on “Designing Accessories for iOS and OS X” at Apple’s annual World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC), Robert Walsh, manager of platform accessories at Apple, announced the new Lightning headphone module. This, of course, means that those “Made for iPhone” headphones really won’t connect to …

100 000 LG G3’s sold in just 7 days

It has been recently reported that the LG G3 was outselling the Samsung Galaxy S5 in South Korea, well now we’re learning exactly how well. According to a new report, over 100,000 units of the smartphone have already been sold since its launch in the region on the …

Amazon tease the release of a 3D phone.

Over the past few months the internet has been rumouring the existence of a Amazon phone, to join their line up of e – readers, tablets and now set top boxes. The phone is expected to feature multiple front-facing cameras for a 3D user interface that reacts to …

Google to launch 180 satellites for global internet access?

If you want more people viewing your adverts content then one rather expensive solution is to whack a load of satellites into orbit so that a stack more people can get online. Here in the UK we’ve had satellite internet access for some time, and those living “out …

Acer Liquid Z5 – Review

I recently received the Acer Z5 budget smartphone through for review, and despite there being a dual-SIM variant, this is the single SIM version. After unboxing my first impressions were… “Hang on, someone has put a Nexus 5 in here by mistake!” Good Points Good feel in the …

Wait a minute, that’s not a phone…

It’s nearly the weekend, so we’ll let this one through the official Coolsmartphone “stuff that we should publish” filter. It’s a shaver. Yeah, I know. Put this against your ear and it’s not going to be a great smartphone. However, thanks to the Apple-esque addition of the letter …

You are being replaced. Google unveils driverless car prototype

Driving is a pretty dangerous pastime. You’ve got to watch out for truck drivers watching movies on their laptops and other drivers texting and fiddling with GPS apps while trying to negotiate a roundabout. When you get into town there’s pedestrians crossing the road without looking up from …

Voda dishes up some cheap smartphones

Smartphones. Usually high powered. Usually pretty pricey. Usually they tie you into a long contract where you’re paying a bit more per month for the latest shiny thing. Vodafone got in touch with us to promote their “Affordable Smartphone Campaign”. They didn’t send us any money. They didn’t …

Let the birds fly – EE introduce a range of mobile WiFi solutions

Getting 4G is one thing, but turning that ultra-fast 4G speed into a WiFi hotspot is another. Today EE have revealed a number of options for getting yourself a mobile WiFi cloud to hop onto. The first is something called “Buzzard”. It’s a little widget that basically plugs …

Quick cycle-related news update

Was my previous post just a cheap way to get donations to the Douglas Macmillan Hospice? Well yes, it probably was a bit, but they provide care for those with progressive diseases and a limited life expectancy. It’s a bloody good cause and I’ve only had 11 donations, …

Xperia Z2 BookCover by Roxfit

For those of you out there who are lucky enough to have picked up a brand new Xperia Z2, well I’ve done this one just for you. Roxfit have been specialising in covers for the Xperia range for the past few years and I have tested several of …

Mini-satellites could bring live Google Maps views

Google Maps is something we’ve all used daily. The initial thrill of viewing our homes in the “satellite view” changed recently to the popular “street view”. However, actually getting those initial satellite views (many of which are actually supplemented with shots from planes) takes time. So step forward …

Bebop-alloo-la. She’s my.. err.. Parrot Drone

Parrot have really improved their AR Drone and this is the new Bebop flying machine. It comes equipped with a fisheye lens and uses clever software to chop out bits of video to give you a lovely stable image. A controller can work with an Oculus Rift headset, …

Dixons and Carphone Warehouse to merge

Will Carphone Warehouse now change to a more modern name? Or will the two companies merge names? DixPhone? DixWarehouse? Well no, actually. Dixons, who own Currys and PC World, are to merge with Carphone Warehouse in a £3.8bn deal and they’ll be known as… (drum roll please..) Dixons …

Google Glass now available to everyone ( in the USA )

Starting today, Google Glass is available for practically anybody in the USA, as long as they are over 18 and have $1500 to spend. The Explorer version of the Google Glass wearable was sold only to developers who intended to write apps for the device, this was changed to a invite …