Category: Gadgets & Tech

Want to experience a tech show too?

Having just got back from the Mobile World Congress, we’re now hungry for more. What’s next? What’s big? What is just 10 miles from my house? Yep, it’s The Gadget Show Live. Microsoft will be there, as will Samsung, Nokia and Sony Mobile. You’ll also get to see …

Screenproof screen protector review

The other day I received some long awaited Screen protectors from a small company called ScreenProof. They are a relatively new kid on the block with regard to screen protection and having used the camera protector on my Lumia 1020 I thought it would be worth trying them …

MWC – What’s in my bag?

I’ve seen a lot of these articles and, looking around the hordes of press people today it all seems to be a pretty similar setup. Usually it involves a MacBook Air, some camera equipment, a phone, another phone, possibly a tablet. So after heading to my makeshift office …

Want to see the next big thing? It’s right here

Sure, those big stands are OK. The companies at them have spend colossal sums of money to be here in Barcelona to push their products, but I personally prefer to go to those smaller stands where there’s just a monitor and a guy standing under it trying to …

RealVNC – Use your car to control your phone

We’ve just come back from a rather cool demonstration with the guys at RealVNC. Their in-car management system will connect to your smartphone, iPhone or tablet and allows you to control all aspects of the device through a screen-mirroring system. The demo, as you’ll see below, shows how …

Let’s face it, batteries are rubbish

At Mobile World Congress I’d love to see someone announce a phone battery that actually lasts more than a day. I mean, Duracell have the Powermat and we all have chargers in the car… at home.. at the office. Now we’re even seeing more of these mobile device …

Mobile World Congress – Let’s do this

For those of you who’ve heard me banging on about this “MWC” thing for days, let’s just give you a bit of background. Mobile World Congress, or MWC for short, is a rather huge event held yearly in Barcelona. New handsets are launched, services are announced, accessories are …

There’s gold in them thar.. err.. Smartphones

Now, I’m not going to talk about those trade-in websites that’ll offer you a few quid for your mobile. I’m actually going to talk about those slightly different websites that constantly ask whether you’ve got any gold.  Me, I know the answer already. I’ve got no gold. I …

Sure, break my heart, but don’t break my phone

If you have a crafty look at the phones people carry around town then you’re bound to see a few with broken screens. It seems that there’s a fair few of them and, quite often, once it’s broken people don’t tend to fix them. There can be a …

Virgin Atlantic to check you in via Google Glass

Flying with Virgin Atlantic, especially in Upper Class, is the height of bling. For me, I’ll be trying hard to imagine I’m in an Upper Class seat as I jam my backside into an EasyJet bench next week. However, if you’ve got slightly more than £30 for a …

STM Scout 2 bag – Review

I’ve got too many laptops and tablets lying around at home at the moment and I’ve been on the lookout for a bag that’ll allow me to safely store 3 or 4 devices plus cables accessories. I’ve often looked at STM bags in the past, so when I …

LG G Pro 2 to feature OIS and 4K video.

LG is to unveil it’s flagship device – the LG G Pro 2 – at Mobile World Congress. Details of the devices camera and video capabilities have been also revealed. On the photo front the camera will have OIS Plus, which is believed to create clearer shots and …

Chromecast open to all

Since the launch of Google Chromecast there’s been the promise that it would be open to all developers instead of the few it’s been since launch. Today is the day they do just that. The documentation is now open over on the Google Developers . Developers do need …

Kensington EVAP Rescue Pouch review

I’ll be honest, Kensington sent me this a long while ago and it sat in a drawer for far too long. I’d forgotten about it until this last weekend, when “something” happened. The EVAP Rescue Pouch is a step up from the “bag of rice” solution should your …

The Basic Big Friendly Phone Review

We’ve all got very modern and well-equipped smartphones. They can take pictures, locate you from space, navigate you home and let you browse the internet. With a smartphone you can achieve a great deal, but you’ve still got a fairly short battery life and, for some, it can …

Smartphone shipments hit new high

One billion. It’s a big number. It’s like the APR on a Wonga loan. IDC reckon that just over one billion smartphones were shipped last year – the first time this many smartphones have ever been shipped in a single year. Ryan Reith, programme director at IDC, stated …

Acer C720 Chromebook review

Chromebooks. Are they a good alternative to your day to day laptop? That is the question we are going to try and answer over the course of this review. I have been using one now for the past few days courtesy of Acer who lent me the device …

Nokia Normandy could this be the replacement for the Asha range?

So. over the last few weeks the interwebs have been getting in all sorts of a muddle over a phone called the Nokia Normandy. This phone is purportedly Nokia’s Android handset. What? Nokia running Android? Yep, you read that right. It is believed that the boys and girls …

Want a Lumia 1520 but worried by the size?

For those of you out there who want the Lumia 1520 but are little bit “size conscious” then worry not. Nokia have got you covered if these shots are to be believed. What you are looking at may be the Lumia 1520 z. These leaks come from China …

Update LG G Flex Coming To O2

Good morning folks and I hope you all had a pleasent weekend. For those of you that have been keeping up with the latest tech news, you will no doubt be aware that the LG Flex has not just made it out of prototype stage but it is …

Note 3 Lite not coming to the UK

Some time ago our own Ronnie posted about a rumoured device this being the Note 3 Lite which you can read here, at that time this was only speculation. But now Samsung’s fan site SamMobile have been releasing spec’s of the Galaxy Note 3 Neo aka Note 3 …

Garmin announce a new wearable the Vivofit

The wearable device market is hotting up. What with SmartWatches, fitness wristbands and eyewear being the current favourites. Garmin the well known and long established GPS device manufacturer have branched out into the fitness wristband arena. Which isn’t too far from the GPS watches they’ve been making for …

Connecting your gadget – A simple solution to finding the right cable

Smartphones and tablets can be complicated, but the cables to connect them all up have got a little easier to understand in recent years. Generally speaking, if you’ve got a smartphone or Android tablet it’ll have a microUSB cable and that’ll plug into a wall socket. However, if …

HOYO wants to get you wet while you fondle your phone

Well that’s my New Years Resolution busted. I promised myself that I wouldn’t post another random Kickstarter project, but heck, I’ve lasted 21 days. 🙂 First though, a bit of a back-story. Mobile World Congress kicks off next month and, in my opinion, it’s more difficult than ever …

Acer Chromebook C720 unboxing

Here is a little something different. A thin and light laptop on Coolsmartphone. What’s going on? Am I reading the correct site do I need an eye test? Whoa there before you run off to Optical Express, relax because even though this is a laptop it share a …

£25 off Kindle Fire purchases till 20th January

Amazon UK was voted number 1 for customer satisfaction over the Christmas period, and to celebrate, any of the Kindle Fire range can be had for £25 off list price. The offer only runs until January 20, and the discount will be applied at checkout with the use …

Nokia Lumia 1520 Review

Lets start with a short story. Nokia was circling the drain at the beginning of 2011 and the good ship Symbian was struggling to stay afloat. The anchors of the hefty N8 and E7 were pulling it down into a whirlpool of dispair. The liferaft of the the …

The Stratus – A wireless gaming controller to get your thumbs twerking

So, we’ve got really good mobile games and we’ve got the odd Android-powered console that plugs into your TV. The latter hasn’t quite taken off as yet, but how about a wireless controller for your iPhone? One that’ll give you the classic gaming experience? This is the Stratus, …

LG announces wearable technology

LG today announced a pair of wearable technology; the Lifeband Touch and the Heart Rate Earphones.   The Lifeband Touch is a wearable band that clips onto your wrist in a similar way to the Jawbone Up or Nike Fuelband. It is designed to monitor the users activity …

Tough on microbes, gentle on primates

Hands up who washes their hands after using their smartphone? What about, who uses an antibacterial screen cleaner or wipe on their smartphone or tablet? Anyone, anyone at all? Given that the average smartphone has more germs on it than the average toilet seat it might be worth …

Android App Review – Skiplock

If you’re using today’s super powerful smartphones like me, you are now carrying everything in your pocket, your bank details, your social networks and normally some irreplaceable photo’s of loved ones. So your phone should have some kind of password/PIN/pattern/facelock protection to stop unwanted eyes to getting to the …

Nvidia unveils the K1 chip at CES

Nvidia have started CES a little early by announcing the K1 family of chips for mobile devices. However, they won’t just be in mobiles, they will also be appearing in 4K TVs, consoles and cars (more on those later). The K1 is Nvidia’s attempt to reclaim lost market …

Keeping ahead of the scammers

Yes, I’ll confess to watching a TV show about scams last night. A lot were scams that you’re probably already aware of, such as the card skimmers on cash and ticket machines and 419 scammers trying to fool you out of your money. However, I’d not heard of …

Christmas, online.

The festive season is definitely a good time to “people watch”. On Christmas Day you’ll see tablets and smartphones getting unwrapped and, as the new owners get online, you’ll see a surge of traffic onto major websites around the internet. This year and last I have witnessed a …

Can you fall in love with your phone?

Yesterday I went to watch the Harry Hill Movie. It is, I’ll confess, utterly insane. The kids seemed to like it, although there weren’t a great of laugh-out-loud moments. I was just utterly puzzled about the whole thing and how on earth it had got into a movie. …

New Advanced 3G Dongle on Three UK

When it comes to data access in the UK, many customers flock to Three due to their great pricing and high data allowances. Oh – plus the fact they have a very fast DC-HSPA network offering 3G speeds of up to 42Mbps. This new dongle, made by ZTE, …

Nokia Lumia 1520 unboxing

The day has come when Nokia will stand up and be recognised as a force to be reckoned with. This stance comes in the form of the stunning Lumia 1520. This large (there is no hiding it really) phone is the one that has been designed to bring …