Category: Mobile News

Microsoft swipes SwiftKey. We have the exclusive boardroom transcript *

Well. I guess there’s some sort of logic to this. Perhaps there was a meeting at Microsoft that went something like this… “Hey guys, you bought Swype didn’t you?” “No, not yet. We bought Skype…” “Ohh bugger. I thought we’d bought that software keyboard company…” “No, we were …

Mobile World Congress 2016 from Coolsmartphone

Followed us for a while? You’ll probably be aware of Mobile World Congress. Each year in Barcelona the latest and greatest mobile kit gets shown off to the masses for the first time. It’s a frenzy of hastily-built stands, canapes, demonstrations and thousands of people from the mobile …

Google handed $1 billion to Apple for search provider privilege

Further embarrassing news for Google today following our earlier story revealing just how much Android makes. Today Bloomberg reports that Google paid $1 billion in 2014 to ensure that they were the default search provider on the iPhone and iPad. It seems that the deal was done on …

Heard it on the grapevine. The Huawei P9, won’t you be mine.

Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei (which is the parent company of the Honor brand) continues its stride and for world dominance (in the phone world that it is), with the company’s latest device – the P9. Leaks now contain further detail, including pictures and information on a “Lite” and …

And so it begins. BT EE purchase waved through

Yes, unsurprising, and without any backhanders whatsoever, the, Competition and Markets Authority has rubber-stamped the £12.5bn takeover of EE by BT. The group will now grab EE and create a huge quad-play provider offering home phone, home broadband, TV and mobile solutions. Expect to see more adverts, more packaged …

How Digital Pay will appear in businesses

Back in December, we put up a thorough piece on the future of Digital Pay as it relates to our day-to-day purchasing habits. Much of the discussion was dedicated to online shopping and the habits we form buying goods on the Internet. But the advent of Digital Pay …

Goodbye Moto G and E

Here at Coolsmartphone we universally loved the Moto G. It was our go-to phone when we were asked “What’s a decent inexpensive Android phone ?” I think that all of us here have owned at least one. Well yesterday Chen Xudong, Lenovo’s Mobile head honcho, was interviewed and we …

iOS 9.3 – Relax, you are in good hands.

Unusual title, but the new iOS 9.3 has moved with the times and is thinking about you. The latest update incorporates a new mode called “Night Shift”, which helps to reduce the exposure to blue light. The latest reports from health experts have recently stated that looking at …

O2 launches new concept store with customer experience at its heart

O2 has announced the opening of a new concept store on Manchester’s Market Street, with customer experience taking centre-stage with and digital exploration. At three times the size of O2’s typical stores, the location comprises over 2,300 square feet of floor space and has been designed to revolutionise …

Huawei launch the Mate 8 Globally – CES

Huawei has been busy at CES this year. They released two new variants of their Watch aimed specifically at the female market, and aficionados of  “Mockadile” (this should keep our resident Pixel Density Enthusiast editor Matteo happy). Huawei also unveiled an update to their tablet lineup in the …

Honor to launch in the US next year.

Don’t know who Honor are? For one they are the company that pinched our own James Pearce, secondly they are part of the phone manufacturer Huawei. They’re based more on-line than having retail outlets, but they’re still able to supply high spec’d devices with reasonable price tags. As …

OnePlus makes phones invite free

The most annoying thing about trying to get a phone from OnePlus has been their insistence on using an invite system in order to allow you to buy one of their phones. It seems like there is some good news on that front as for the next few …

Christmas Tree Lights Slow Down Your WiFi

Double checking the date to ensure its not April the 1st, today Ofcom warns Christmas Tree Lights can slow down your home WiFi and have released a smartphone App that allows you to check your connection. The app tests WiFi signals to ensure data flows uninterrupted between your …

How has the release of the iPhone 6S affected shares?

As with all new announcements by Apple, the launch of the iPhone 6s in September generated a great deal of hype among consumers. However, whether you have knowledge of spread betting and trading terms or not, the overall impact on the company’s share price offers us all an …

Samsung pay coming to UK

Samsung pay, which is the company’s mobile payment system, is reportedly coming to the United Kingdom, China and Spain in the first quarter of 2016. Currently only limited to a number of handsets, Samsung Pay, has not been as big as Apple Pay to date. However, one way …

YouTube kids coming to the UK and other regions

My little boy loves YouTube: he particularly loves watching people playing Lego video games. But I’m constantly worried he might come across something inappropriate for him. Seven months ago, I thought my prayers had been answered when YouTube announced its YouTube kids app. However (unsurprisingly, yet again) unfortunately …

Gartner reports another slide for Windows Phone

Figures released by Gartner make for yet more uncomfortable reading if you are involved in Windows Phone. The share of the smartphone market has now dropped to just 1.7%. The figures are for Q3 and compare to a 3% share from the same period a year ago. According …

Nexus 6P camera glass cracking

First it was Bendgate, now it’s Crackgate. More supposed tales of woe to hound the new Nexus 6P flagship. Some users are reporting that the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 panel that sits in front of/protects the camera is spontaneously cracking. It appears that this piece of glass isn’t …

Huawei have new chip on its way… UPDATED

We are quite fond of Huawei here at Coolsmartphone. We also have a soft spot for Honor. Now what is these companies have in common? Well, there are several things. One is the daddy brand and the other the offspring, they use the same design language etc. The …

Oh wait. iMessage and other messaging apps soon to become illegal?

Apps like WhatsApp and iMessage are great because they have a level of encryption which cannot be “sniffed” or decrypted. Indeed, if you drink lots of tea and have a read of the Apple security guide, it clearly states the following… Now – according to The Telegraph, this …

Moto X Force released

Did anyone else notice that Motorola had released a new phone in the USA over the last few days? Well they did and it was called the Droid Turbo 2. Now Motorola have decided that we UK buyers are also worthy of such a powerful device too, albeit …

OnePlus have a new device… The OnePlus X

OnePlus have been busy as of late and have just launched the OnePlus 2. They have just closed off the reservation list and are busy sending invites out to the millions of people who had registered. Not only that, but there’s flash sales to appease the masses of …

Nexus 5X also available from Expansys

I had the familiar ping of my inbox this morning as I awoke. In amongst all the usual detritus I had an email from our friends at Expansys. It seems that they have managed to secure some stock of the Nexus 5X. The are carrying the 32GB version …

Sony set to buy Toshiba’s camera sensor business

Mobile image sensors embedded in smartphones are revolutionising journalism and photography. Ever taken a selfie or a picture of your pizza? Or maybe a high quality image of the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal for bragging purposes? Yep, we’ve all been there. There’s no doubt image sensor …

Three hit the boost button – 4G speeds increased by 50%

We here at Coolsmartphone towers love UK mobile operator Three. They were the first operator to roll out a 3G network here in the UK, plus they rolled out unlimited data and 4G for no extra cost etc. I think nearly all our writers have a least one Three …

Blackberry Priv official!

Who’d have thought it, a desirable Blackberry? Well, that is exactly what has happened with the newly announced Blackberry Priv. This one has been in the pipeline for some time now, and it’s got a few of us at CoolSmartPhone Towers rather flustered. We have written about it …

Lollipop, now pounding on a quarter of Androids

The release of a new version of Android always means a good look into how the versions are distributed. The ‘good’ news first: Android Lollipop is now up to 22.9% – almost a quarter of current handsets. Next up is KitKat (which is specifically Android 4.4) at a …

Z3 or Z3c owner? Want to test Marshmallow?

I like the Sony Z range. They look like well-designed and distinctive pieces of kit, but I was a little hesitant. I never knew what their upgrade strategy would be from handset to handset, so when I heard about this Concept for Android initiative, where Sony allows you …

HTC unable to commit to monthly security updates

Android security is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons after the latest round of vulnerabilities have made international press. The background problem is that Android is supported on multiple platforms via a wide range of manufacturers from Samsung to HTC, and all those in-between. …

How smartphones have changed the way we live

I’m old enough to remember a time when there weren’t a great deal of mobile phones. I also remember a time when a “smartphone” had never been heard of. What made me think of all this was when I met an old college friend. We sat down, drank …

Nexus 5X preorders at Carphone Warehouse

Whilst perusing my favourite deals site earlier today, I spied this link which will take you into the land of Keith Lemon. No seriously though, head to Carphone Warehouse and you will find that they’re taking pre-orders for the Nexus 5X. Not only that, but they are cheaper …

Nexus, Nexus… 5X and 6P finally land

The Chocolate factory went all-in on one of their more interesting annual events. The speakers were tight, and the announcements flew by. We were expecting two Nexuses and boy did Google deliver. First up, there was the Nexus 5X. This was the second 5 inch phone made by …

HTC One M9e passes through certification.

Today China’s official certification database — TENAA, passed a previously unannounced HTC branded handset from HTC. It’s believed to be the HTC One M9e, a scaled-down model of the standard M9. M9e Specs Aluminium unibody. 5-inch Full HD display as per the M9. 2.2GHz octa-core Helio X10 processor. …

New Microsoft Lumia 950, 950 XL revealed.

It’s well-rumoured that Microsoft have a new handset or two just over the horizon, namely the Lumia 950 and the 950 XL. It’s believed these will be shown to the world at the beginning of next month at an event in New York. Well, on Forever Nokia Latinoamérica’s Facebook, they …

This years Nexus 6 up to 128 GB

Last years Nexus 6 was the first Nexus handset to have a maximum storage capacity of 64 GB. Before that, the maximum storage space that Google offered in a Nexus device was a measly 32 GB. As apps grow in size, (I remember when I though that 12 …

Texting and driving. Try it. You’ll crash.

I’m not totally sure how this video has gone viral suddenly, because it’s around three years old now. Anyhow, this happens all around the world. Nobody is perfect and I’ve seen drivers across Europe, America, China and here in the UK doing it at the wheel. The familiar …

Upcoming tablet 8 coming to the Google estate?

If It wasn’t such a possibility from the Chocolate Factory, I’d dismiss it as yet another rumour, but it makes a weird type of sense. Whilst we have absolutely no confirmation yet that there is any truth to this, some photos have come online from China that purport …

Google launches Android Wear App for iOS

As discussed on this week’s Podcast, many people have been looking for ways to get Android Wear devices working with iOS devices. Fortunately this task has now been made significantly easier thanks to launch of an official iOS Android Wear App. Currently rolling out to Apple App Stores …